(Sudbury – Oct. 19, 2018)

LUFA is joining with CAUT members across Canada in hosting events on campus in support of fair treatment for all academic staff during Fair Employment Week from Oct. 22-26.

Laurentian faculty members will be staffing an information desk in the Bowling Alley (Faculty of Arts) next Wednesday and Thursday from 11 am to 1 pm.

On Thursday, Oct. 25, the film, Degrees of Shame, will also be shown in Room C-206 from 2:30 to 3:30 pm.  Refreshments will be served. The documentary explores the economic situation and working conditions of contract academic staff in the US, suggesting an information economy parallel to migrant farm workers.

On Friday, Oct. 26, Sudbury MPP Jamie West, who has taught in the University’s Labour Studies program, will be speaking about fair employment for academic staff at the Atrium at 2:30 pm.  Nickel Belt MPP France Gélinas will also be in attendance.

An increasing number of teachers at Canada’s colleges and universities are trapped in precarious contract and part-time work, according to a CAUT release. What used to be a short-term stepping stone has instead become a career-long condition, with many earning less than a living wage.

The release also notes that part-time and contract professors are denied the opportunity each year to participate in (and be paid for) all aspects of academic work – research, teaching, and service. This has serious implications, not only for contract academic staff, but for students, their regular academic staff colleagues, and the integrity of post-secondary institutions.

We join our CAUT colleagues in affirming that the working conditions and job security of contract academic staff must be improved.