LISTSERV mailing list manager LISTSERV 16.0

Help for CASLL-L Archives


CASLL-L Archives

CASLL-L Archives


CASLL-L@LISTSERV.UTORONTO.CA


View:

Message:

[

First

|

Previous

|

Next

|

Last

]

By Topic:

[

First

|

Previous

|

Next

|

Last

]

By Author:

[

First

|

Previous

|

Next

|

Last

]

Font:

Proportional Font

LISTSERV Archives

LISTSERV Archives

CASLL-L Home

CASLL-L Home

CASLL-L  January 2008

CASLL-L January 2008

Subject:

Re: Inkshed 25 and the strikeout at St. Thomas: an update

From:

Graham Smart <[log in to unmask]>

Reply-To:

CASLL/Inkshed <[log in to unmask]>

Date:

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 17:31:25 -0500

Content-Type:

text/plain

Parts/Attachments:

Parts/Attachments

text/plain (165 lines)

Hi Russ,

What a difficult time for you guys!  I'm on the steering committee of the 
faculty committee here at Carleton, and in November 2006 I was in the hotel 
where our last round of union-management negotiations were playing out at 
2:00 a.m., just a couple of hours before our picket lines were scheduled to 
go up.  We ended up settling that night/morning at about 3:30 a.m., but it 
was really grueling. And then our office staff did go on strike here last 
September, and I could see how rancorous and draining that was for the 
employees. All to say that I can imagine what you're going through at St. 
Thomas.

I'm wondering whether I might be able to forward your message, or at least 
paragraphs 3-5, to our union Executive Director?  I could see her using the 
information (not the actual text) when the steering committee meets with the 
union council on Friday to talk about approving additional financial support 
for your union.

Hang in there.

Take care,
Graham




----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Russ Hunt" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, January 22, 2008 10:04 AM
Subject: Inkshed 25 and the strikeout at St. Thomas: an update


I had planned to put together, and issue, a call for proposals for Inkshed 
25, and the
information about the venue and costs, over Christmas.  But, as I said in my 
last
communique from my foxhole, things intervened.

For three weeks, I've been thinking, well, in the next day or two, or by the 
beginning of the
week, or, well, look, within a few days . . . I'll _know something_. But it 
simply hasn't worked
out that way. Yesterday, for a couple of hours, I thought we were within 
sight of an armistice,
but today I'm far less sure.

Here's the short version (if you're interested, I've put a couple of links 
below to further
information: I think this has resonance for all of us -- all of us who are 
academics, anyway. As
a long-time union supporter, and one of the founders of the union here, I'm 
thinking hard
about the traditional industrial model for bargaining in this context).

St. Thomas and the union have been negotiating for ten months. At the end of 
last term the
process went into conciliation, which failed, and then mediation, which 
failed as well.  The
Union called a strike vote for three days after second term was scheduled to 
begin.  In
response, the administration imposed a lockout -- the motive being to 
prevent the union from
going on strike a week into the new term, and stranding a couple of thousand 
students in
Fredericton (there was, in my view and that of many others, no possible 
question that the
union intended to go on strike). As a consequence of various fits and starts 
at negotiation,
the administration postponed the start of the new term for a week (till 
January 10), then to
January 14, and then indefinitely. The union declared a strike during that 
process.

As a result of this, I have no access to my STU email, or to my records, or 
to the server the
Inkshed Web site is on (thus I can't even transfer it to inkshed.ca, which 
was on my Moebius-
strip list of things to do). Further, the delay in the term may mean -- I 
can't tell, because
there's no information on what will be done to squeeze a term in once we get 
back, if we do -- 
that we can't hold the conference where we'd planned, and which we'd booked, 
at the St.
Thomas Conference Centre -- which is actually a pretty nice facility. If St. 
Thomas's
convocation schedule gets moved, we'll be bumped; it was clear that that was 
the case when
we booked it, but it's never happened before.

So here we are.  I have a union meeting in an hour, at which I'm pretty sure 
the
recommendation is going to be to vote against the administration's "final 
offer" (the second
mediator gave up on the process Sunday night, and said in his report the 
administration's
offer was the only one that made any sense, so the administration is asking 
the Labour Board
to force a vote). The vote will be Monday, probably, and if it's No my guess 
is that we'll lose
the term (the first time in Canadian history, anyway, that a labour dispute 
has shut a place
down). What _that_ would mean for our booking at the conference centre, I 
have no idea, but
my expectation would be that a lockout would be put back in place and the 
administration
would wait for the union to collapse. Or maybe we'll go on negotiating into 
the term, though
on what basis isn't clear to me.

Yes, I know, this is not believable.

I should put off sending this till after the union meeting, I guess, but I'm 
not going to
procrastinate yet again: probably at the end of the meeting I'll really know 
no more than I do
now.

Let me say this: We'll have Inkshed 25 in Fredericton, and it'll be the 
scheduled dates, May
15-18 (I know there've been questions raised about the dates, too, but I 
don't think there are
realistic alternatives), and there'll be a call for proposals in the next 
few days. Bear with us . .
.

-- Russ

For further information:

My position at the outset of this (short version: a plague on both your 
houses) is here:
http://tinyurl.com/3bljch

A pretty full analysis of what's at stake, really, is here: 
http://tinyurl.com/2xqwk3

And a summary of the  mediator's final report is here: 
http://tinyurl.com/27ccb7


Russell A. Hunt
Department of English
St. Thomas University
http://www.stu.ca/~hunt/

                -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
  To leave the list, send a SIGNOFF CASLL command to
  [log in to unmask] or, if you experience difficulties,
         write to Russ Hunt at [log in to unmask]

For the list archives and information about the organization,
    its newsletter, and the annual conference, go to
              http://www.stu.ca/inkshed/
                 -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

                -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
  To leave the list, send a SIGNOFF CASLL command to
  [log in to unmask] or, if you experience difficulties,
         write to Russ Hunt at [log in to unmask]

For the list archives and information about the organization,
    its newsletter, and the annual conference, go to
              http://www.stu.ca/inkshed/
                 -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Top of Message | Previous Page | Permalink

Advanced Options


Options

Log In

Log In

Get Password

Get Password


Search Archives

Search Archives


Subscribe or Unsubscribe

Subscribe or Unsubscribe


Archives

May 2023
February 2023
December 2022
November 2022
March 2022
September 2021
September 2020
August 2020
March 2020
February 2020
January 2020
November 2019
October 2019
September 2019
August 2019
July 2019
June 2019
May 2019
April 2019
March 2019
February 2019
January 2019
November 2018
October 2018
September 2018
August 2018
May 2018
April 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018
December 2017
November 2017
September 2017
June 2017
May 2017
April 2017
March 2017
February 2017
January 2017
December 2016
November 2016
October 2016
September 2016
August 2016
July 2016
June 2016
May 2016
April 2016
March 2016
February 2016
January 2016
December 2015
October 2015
September 2015
August 2015
July 2015
June 2015
May 2015
April 2015
March 2015
February 2015
January 2015
November 2014
October 2014
September 2014
August 2014
July 2014
June 2014
May 2014
April 2014
March 2014
February 2014
January 2014
December 2013
November 2013
October 2013
September 2013
June 2013
May 2013
April 2013
March 2013
January 2013
December 2012
November 2012
October 2012
September 2012
July 2012
June 2012
May 2012
April 2012
March 2012
February 2012
January 2012
December 2011
November 2011
October 2011
September 2011
August 2011
July 2011
June 2011
April 2011
March 2011
February 2011
January 2011, Week 1
January 2011
December 2010
October 2010
April 2010
February 2010
January 2010
November 2009
October 2009
September 2009
August 2009
July 2009
June 2009
April 2009
March 2009
February 2009
January 2009
December 2008
November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006
April 2006
March 2006
February 2006
January 2006
December 2005
November 2005
October 2005
September 2005
August 2005
July 2005
June 2005
May 2005
April 2005
March 2005
February 2005
January 2005
December 2004
November 2004
October 2004
September 2004
August 2004
July 2004
June 2004
May 2004
April 2004
March 2004
February 2004
January 2004
December 2003
November 2003
October 2003
September 2003
August 2003
July 2003
June 2003
May 2003
April 2003
March 2003
February 2003
January 2003
December 2002
November 2002
October 2002
September 2002
August 2002
July 2002
June 2002
May 2002
April 2002
March 2002
February 2002
January 2002
December 2001
November 2001
October 2001
September 2001
August 2001
July 2001
June 2001
May 2001
April 2001
March 2001
February 2001
January 2001
December 2000
November 2000
October 2000
September 2000
August 2000
July 2000
June 2000
May 2000
April 2000
March 2000
February 2000
January 2000
December 1999
November 1999
October 1999
September 1999
August 1999
July 1999
June 1999
May 1999
April 1999
March 1999
February 1999
January 1999
December 1998
November 1998
October 1998
September 1998
August 1998
July 1998
June 1998
May 1998
April 1998
March 1998
February 1998
January 1998
December 1997
November 1997
October 1997
September 1997
August 1997
July 1997
June 1997
May 1997
April 1997
March 1997
February 1997
January 1997
December 1996
November 1996
October 1996
September 1996
August 1996
July 1996
June 1996
May 1996
April 1996
March 1996
February 1996
January 1996
December 1995
November 1995
October 1995
September 1995
August 1995
July 1995
June 1995
May 1995
April 1995
March 1995
February 1995
January 1995

ATOM RSS1 RSS2



LISTSERV.UTORONTO.CA

CataList Email List Search Powered by the LISTSERV Email List Manager