Re: Faculty Letter of Support for TSSU RA Union Drive

[Enda Brophy <ebrophy@sfu.ca>]

Thanks Behraad.

When I began at SFU and hired my first RA, I asked the manager in our program what the rate was. I was told that it was whatever I wanted. In other words, I could hire two RAs to do essentially the same work and pay one ten dollars an hour more than the other. That hasn’t changed (SFU now has a minimum and a maximum amount for MA and PhDs, but no standard rate) and is only one of the reasons a collective agreement would, one hopes, decrease the administrative burden expected of us as supervisors of this work, clarify employment relationships, and give RAs a much needed voice in determining their working conditions.

I think the risk a unionized RA workforce at SFU would pose to our research output is a bit of a red herring, to be honest. RAs at Carleton, Concordia, Lakehead, McGill, McMaster, Memorial, Ottawa U, Queen's, Ryerson, and York have all negotiated wages and working conditions which are appropriate to the research requirements and pedagogical conditions and cultures of RAs in at those institutions. None of them seem to me to be plummeting down the rankings as a result of RA unionization.

RA unionization will give research workers more voice in determining the conditions under which their work is carried out. As someone that has hired dozens of RAs over the years I have no issue relinquishing at least some of the power I hold in that employment relationship.

Best,

Enda


Enda Brophy
Associate Professor | School of Communication
Associate | Labour Studies
Simon Fraser University | K9662
8888 University Dr., Burnaby, B.C. V5A 1S6
E: ebrophy@sfu.ca | T: 778-782-8085 | www.cmns.sfu.ca

Simon Fraser University lies on the unceded traditional territories of the Coast Salish peoples of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), Səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations and Kwikwetlem (kʷikʷəƛ̓əm) Nations.

> On Nov 1, 2019, at 9:48 AM, Behraad Bahreyni <bba19@sfu.ca> wrote:
> 
> Dear Enda,
>  
> I think this is a terrible development. I am certain all of our faculty members want the best situation for our RAs. However, when a faculty member has a large group of RAs (many have more than 10) that they are supporting through grants whose success rates are around 5-20% that you plan for years to get and had to talk to 10 companies so that maybe one goes along with you, you need to be able to stay on the agenda for your research. You cannot lose momentum in research in many fields as there is global competition. Many certainly do not want their research to be disrupted because of the problems at other units. In many other cases, spending 20 hours a week on research for an RA is not even close to enough to get them to a level that they can publish results. If it goes through, this unionization will severely harm the research competitiveness of SFU. We will soon after lose our faculty members, will be unable to bring in the ones with potential, and the quality of our applicants will go down hill after that.
>  
> Thank you.
>  
>  
>  
> From: Enda Brophy <ebrophy@sfu.ca> 
> Sent: Friday, November 1, 2019 9:18 AM
> To: academic-discussion@sfu.ca
> Subject: Faculty Letter of Support for TSSU RA Union Drive
>  
> Dear colleagues,
>  
> As you may have heard, RAs here at SFU are seeking to unionize with the TSSU. I support this decision and hope that they are successful in this drive. I’m also hoping that as SFUFA members we can support their effort.  
> 
> A public letter of support from faculty for the union drive was published earlier this week. You can read it here. 
>  
> Please do consider signing the letter (there’s a form at the bottom to fill out if you want to sign) and circulating it to other members of faculty and/or librarians across the university who you think are likely to sign.
>  
> All the best,
>  
> Enda
>  
> Enda Brophy
> Associate Professor | School of Communication
> Associate | Labour Studies
> Simon Fraser University | K9662
> 8888 University Dr., Burnaby, B.C. V5A 1S6
> E: ebrophy@sfu.ca | T: 778-782-8085 | www.cmns.sfu.ca
>  
> Simon Fraser University lies on the unceded traditional territories of the Coast Salish peoples of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), Səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations and Kwikwetlem (kʷikʷəƛ̓əm) Nations.