OPEN LETTER IN SUPPORT OF THE TEACHING SUPPORT STAFF UNION (TSSU) STRIKE

Google form for signatories: https://forms.gle/YpPfEgpkxoZ2AnT86

Dear President Joy Johnson,

We, the undersigned community members of Simon Fraser University, express our solidarity with the members of the Teaching Support Staff Union (TSSU), who are currently on strike. TSSU members, many of whom are graduate student workers, have been without a collective agreement for over a year. It has become clear that a deal will not be reached unless the TSSU membership, with the wider SFU community behind them, go on strike to show SFU admin that labour is what makes the university work.

The average annual take home pay of TSSU members is just under $14,000, which represents a third of the living wage required in the Metro Vancouver Area. This is not a livable wage.

The work of Teaching Assistants and Sessional Instructors is also precarious, requiring reapplication each semester. This means long stretches of time where people doing important teaching work don’t know if they will have a future job at the university. The university has also pushed for removal of both the TA priority, and Sessional Instructor seniority systems, systems that help provide much-needed stability and job security.

TSSU members are facing various issues which affect their mental and financial well-being. Reports of harassment from faculty members and administrators are unfortunately common, as are reports of inconsistent pay. Members are regularly given increased workloads in terms of both hours and class size, without commensurate raises in wages.Many TAs deal with outdated and unfair pay structures which penalize those working in labs–in fact, TAs who facilitate open labs earn only ⅓ as much as those leading discussions in classrooms. With this in mind, it is not surprising that a large portion of individuals who rely on SFU’s Food Bank are part of this exploited group.

TSSU members are valuable members of our community, who shape the educational experiences of students, and uplift the community through the services which they provide. SFU repeatedly has claimed to be the first public university to become a living wage employer. They are exploiting the current cost of living crisis for their image, and yet have failed to substantiate these claims.

Like all of us, TSSU members are struggling with constant increases in costs of housing, food, and tuition. The university administration has ignored all efforts from students to establish a minimum funding level that allows them to live without constant financial pressure. SFU has continuously responded to the asks of TSSU members with phrases like, “We hear you!” without implementing any actions that align with their words. At the same time, SFU wastes money by delaying bargaining sessions and choosing to pay to fly out their chief spokesperson from Victoria on his own plane. As community members we are frustrated with SFU’s behavior, and support TSSU’s strike as an important step in ensuring that their demands are finally respected.

As long as the university does not address the problems it is imposing on TSSU, the university administration is effectively passing on the burdens of inflation, the pandemic, and austerity budgets on to its graduate workers. They have chosen to do this while reporting financial surpluses in the millions of dollars in recent years.

The work that TSSU members do—supporting education—is what makes a university function. As members of the SFU community, we support a livable wage and sustainable working conditions for all teaching support staff.

How can we, as students at SFU, continue to study at an institution where the work of the individuals who shape our learning and support our development is continuously being devalued?

How can we, as faculty members at SFU, continue to teach at an institution where the support staff with whom we work are continuously being exploited and mistreated, while also being expected to keep upholding SFU’s reputation for quality education?

How can we, as fellow staff and workers at SFU, continue to work at an institution where our colleagues are being underpaid to the point of directly facing an onslaught of financial hardships?

How can we, as members of the SFU community, not support our TSSU members in their fight for a living wage and fair treatment?

Demand and recommendations

We demand that Simon Fraser University Administration negotiate a fair contract for TSSU members and stop stalling negotiations. A new contract must (1) address the issue of overwork for TAs, (2) improve the working conditions of sessional instructors, and (3) include graduate facilitators and education mentors within the Collective Agreement, providing them with the same rights, protections, and benefits as other TSSU members.

We demand that SFU makes good on their, so far empty, promises and increase workers wages and graduate student funding to be in line with a living wage. This includes a commitment to continue to adjust funding in line with inflation.

We are calling on the SFU administration as well as the provincial government to live up to and uphold their mandate to establish not only a university that is livable for students, but also one where students and student workers can thrive. We stand in solidarity with TSSU until they win a fair contract that reflects their immense dedication and hard work.

In Solidarity,

Caelin Crosby, Very cool local guy about town, Various public libraries

Paul Dean, Writer, journalist, Organisation

Shirleen, Alumni, Department of Economics

Sage Marcel, Undergrad Student, BSc

Rachel Macarie, Student teacher, Education

Emma, Student, Criminology

Dan Zilsel , Student, Education

Emily, Student, Communications

Ahsan Senan, Graduate Student (alum), Department of Economics

Rifayat Raisa, Alumni, Department of Economics

Hazelle Langlois, I support the TSSU strike, Philosophy

Lucille Stewart, Program Assistant (Cupe 3338), Student Services (International Services for Students)

Dobrinka Dimitrova , Community member, Capilano University

eric roberts, public - CapU, n/a

Kelly Quinn, Community Member, Retired Union Member

Sarah Derasp, Graduate Student, French

Charlotte Clegg , PDF, FAS

Kathleen Inglis, Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Victoria

Ciaran Camman, community member and non-union contractor to SFU, independent consultant

Jen Wrye, Faculty, North Island College

Sebastian Guias, Student, Political Science

Jin Song, Student, CS

Nat Begg, Undergraduate, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

Dausha Leghorn, Student, BPK

Denise Ticman, SFU Student, SFU - Communication

Heron Finlay Groves, Undergraduate student, Beedie School of Business, Psychology

jerin shanjana chaity, undergraduate student, psychology

Steve Frost, Staff, Student Services

Kathryn Hoang, Student, Faculty of Health Sciences

Kaira Cowasjee, Undergrad student, Psychology

Simran Sarai, Student, Resource and Environmental Management (Faculty of Environment)

Finlay Wright, Student, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

Brandon Ly, Undergrad Student, BPK

Toby Mustill, Member at Large, BCGEU

Michelle Berea , Undergrad, FASS

Sarah Vilay, undergraduate student , applied science

Sacia Burton, Digital Media Manager, BC Poverty Reduction Coalition

Juan Guevara, student, fass

Noor Afzal, SFU 1st year student, Faculty of Applied Social Sciences

snigdha , student , psychology

Asha Makalai, Undergraduate Student , Psychology

Brendan Stolth, Student, Arts and Social Sciences

Katie Marsh, Community member, Burnaby Teachers Assn

Nikki Hessami, undergraduate student, Arts and Social Sciences

kiran, under grad student , health sciences

Ambar Gill , Undergraduate Student, FASS

Tejasvita Saini, undergraduate student, FASS- criminology

Grace Zulynik , Undergrad student , Political science

Lauren Han, Undergraduate student, School for Contemporary Arts

Caitlin Astrom DeWitt, Student , Psychology

Logan , student, FASS

Madi "Smitty" Smith, Undergraduate Honours Student, Department of Archaeology

Junelle Knihniski, Student, Health Sciencez

Tamlin Vetter, Undergrad student, SCA - Theatre and department of French

Jeslin Bal, Student , Psychology

Kathryn Simpson, Student, SFU Community

Sumaiya Islam, Student, FASS

Sara Wong, Undergrad student, Humanities

Heather Legak, Parent of two SFU students, MEdECE and advocate for learning and teaching

Karina Hill, Student, History

Matt Greaves, Union staffer, BCITFSA

Peter Thorarinson, Outside , Community

Ghazaleh Taheri, Student, Psychology

Taryn van Hemmen, Student, REM

Cindy Molemba, Family Well-Being Worker, Non sfu

Joshua , With the TA’s, Beedie

Riya Daiya, undergraduate student, interactive arts and technology

Cedar Chiv, Alumni, Community member, Psychology

Ian Li, Undergraduate, Political Science

Vanessa Yuen, Student, Artist, Contemporary Arts

Noah Jozic, Undergraduate, Humanities/History

Rea Chatterjee, Student, Psychology, Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies, Counseling and Human Development

Vitoria Monteiro , Curator of Learning and Engament , Contemporary Art Gallery

Stella, International Student, Faculty of Science

Francis Kwon Cho, Student, UBC or UBC Social Justice Centre

Serena Smith, Undergrad student, International studies

Dalia Veauli, Student, Community member

Diana, Solidarity with TAs/sessional instructors, Psychology

Alexandre Lambert, Student, Philosophy

Geography Student Union, DSU, Geography

Alayna, Community Member, Community Member

Nicole Jarvis, Secondary School Teacher, BC Early Career Teachers’ Association

Harsha Walia, Author, organizer, Signing individually, affiliated with different orgs

Alyssa Mossman , Student , Labour Studies

TJ Tupechka, SFU Alumni , Social Geogrpahy MA Alumni

Parth Joshi , Community , community

sogand, student, Health science

Jackson Cyr, Undergraduate Student , Criminology

Cristina Figueroa , TSSU members deserve a living wage!!!, Labour studies

Tori cooper , Community member , Community member

Max Turmel, Student, FASS

Ehren Felser, Undergrad student, FASS

Tracy Poon, Student, Psychology

Arman Bains, Student , Health Science

Lauren Knight, Alumni of the Faculty of Communication, University of Toronto

Sophia Castillo, Student, FASS

Erin Lum, Undergrad student, Communications and Sociology

Chantal Fiola , Undergraduate student, Earth Sciences

Timothy Tan, Undergraduate Student, Applied Sciences

Mackenzie Bosch, Graduate Student, Public Health

Gabrielle McLaren, SFU Alumna, Concordia University

Simon Thistlewood, Community Supporter, N/A

Zarena Zaidi, Student Recruitment and Information Services , SFU Student Central & Admissions Office

Lindsay Dober, Undergraduate, Department of Arts and Social Sciences

Angelina Van Dyke, Alumni of Education, ELC Instructor, SFU community

Ka Kin Chan, Student, Faculty of Environment

Constance Ruan, Research Assistant, Undergrad Student, Political Science

Sam, Student, Communication, Art and Technology

Vanessa Chow, student, behavioural neuroscience

Kaitlin Kelly-Thompson, Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Political SCience

Rori Satya, Student, Psychology

Jaden Nicholson , Community member / partner to student, Unaffiliated

Stephanie Korolyk, MEd Student, University of Calgary

Lindsey Carmela Cruz, Undergraduate Student, School of Communication/Department of Pscyhology

Sneha Shah, Student, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences