Thread by @barrypower31

Looong thread, so buckle up. #FairDealAtMUN

I've had a few people tell me they've heard a radio interview last week where a student says their Chem Prof will make more on strike than in the classroom. Wish I caught that interview, because, well...

Strictly in terms of take-home pay, it's true. $150 of strike pay per day, paid 7 days a week for 5 days worth of strike duties, is $1050 per week. Not "income," so no deductions. My typical take-home pay is roughly $925 a week, give or take.

So to that student: please know that even though I shared that in class, it's not just your Chem Prof. It's everyone on a teaching term contract like me, and even some newer tenure track folks.

If you're in first year, that likely means MOST your profs - between us and LUMUN (criminally underpaid), we do a lot of heavy lifting in terms of first year & service teaching. Think about that in terms of the value the University places on your education.

There are 15 comprehensive Universities considered Memorial's peer group; we rank 14th in that group for faculty salary (senior administrative salaries are much more competitive!). Across the board, faculty have been frozen since 2016.

Sure, that hasn't been great during generational inflation; but where it really hurts is our ability to attract and retain top talent. Academia is an international market - and let's be real, this is NL we're talking about.

Those who love it here REALLY love it, but it's not attractive to everyone. It’s difficult to get to/from here. We just had 50cm of snow dropped on us! We want top notch people for top notch programs, but they need incentive to come and stay (and the ability to afford to stay).

Getting in to academia means going to school longer, incurring more debt, and entering the workforce much later in life (side note: the 15 years needed to qualify for post-retirement benefits that the employer is trying to push this time around is INSANE!).

Speaking of administration - here's an interesting little tidbit:

https://twitter.com/rubbishmaker/status/1605601101679513609?t=t57ja6Nitv7AhJ3UhCvarg&s=19

Since 2001: faculty positions down 5%. Student population is up 20%. For us, that means larger workloads and larger class sizes. But! Administrative positions up 40% over the same period.

Compelling evidence of administrative bloat. The University is currently in a budget crisis, but that's largely been downloaded to the faculty and staff (through cuts) and students (through tuition). The funding allocation seems... off.

We've been told point blank by the President that there was no strategy behind where to target the latest round of budget cuts. Similarly, in these negotiations, there's been lots of talk of "the template" and how the University's hands are tied on what it can offer.

To me, "the template" is little more than a convenient excuse:
1. The University controls its own budget and can decide where to allocate the funding it receives. However, that allocation model is demonstrably broken.

2. No two unions are the same, each have their own issues and identity.
3. The supposed "template" is a 4 year deal; we've been offered 6.
4. There was no "template" when everyone else agreed to 4% increases over 18 months in 2020. Instead, we extended our wage freeze.

5. Ask Doug Ford how template bargaining worked in ON (it just hasn't been made law here).
6. If Gov’t truly is telling the University what they can/can't offer in a negotiation they're not directly part of, that raises some legal questions. Who are we really bargaining with?

I'm at the top of my pay scale. As a teaching term appointee, I'm called "Teaching Assistant Professor," but not paid as an Assistant Professor. All teaching faculty, regardless of rank, are paid on the Lecturer scale. Our scale ends where the tenure / tenure track scale begins.

I'm also teaching an overload course this semester, beyond my normal assignment (by choice). The rate? A $5144 for a 3 lecture hour course. This is just below the first step of the LUMUN scale - who are lowest paid sessionals in the country.

There are more steps to the LUMUN scale, topping out at $5875. I'm saving the University money by teaching an extra course, rather than having it contracted out to a member of the lowest-paid instructor union in the country. Make it make sense!

Also: no idea why there are also "Teaching Associate Professor" and "Teaching Professor" ranks in our collective agreement, because we are ineligible for promotion. Even if we were, it does not come with a pay bump. A full "Teaching Professor" is still paid on the Lecturer scale.

The "Teaching" title is relatively new - it used to be "Visiting." Maybe because of how transient we are due to contract status? Just a guess. What a way to feel part of the University... nah, you're just a visitor. Glad that changed.

I'm in year 4 as Teaching Faculty (non-consecutive), but hit the top of my scale in year 2! There are very few steps, a PhD puts you one from the top. Bad enough for me, already out of room to grow - so imagine how it is for my colleague in Chem who's been on contracts ~20 years.

My first contract in 2017-18 was for one year and was not renewed. My current contract is over this year. Will I be renewed? Who knows! But I’ve already been assigned teaching (including another overload!) in a semester that I don't have a contract for yet. Good sign, I guess?

But I still have to reapply and be vetted by a committee of peers from within my Dept. Should a position be authorized by the administration, I do have right of first refusal – a slight win that came about from the last round of negotiations. But that shouldn't be how it works.

I like to think I'm good at what I do, hopefully students agree. I could win teaching awards, and still could be gone by the end of the year because I'm a line item in a budget that's easily trimmed by non-renewal – low hanging fruit. It weighs heavily on me.

The University has been loud and clear that trimming the budget is the number one priority. Performance means absolutely nothing. I have no professional incentive to do a good job, other than truly caring about giving the students a good experience.

That's not just me though. There's not one single person at MUN who is employed specifically to teach and has any form of permanency. None! At a University! A place designed to educate, does not permanently employ anyone whose primary role is to teach.

It would take ~3 tenured / TT faculty to replace the teaching done by one of me (and there are lots like me). Each one of us is saving the University ~200k per year just on salary (forget about startup costs)… and likely more, since most contractuals aren't employed year round.

Although the job description is strictly teaching, everyone acknowledges we do much more (without getting credit). Committees, advising, admin, community outreach, some research. Without us doing WAY more than we're supposed to, for free, the University would be sunk.

MUNFA have been pushing for more of us to be designated "Regular Term" - an underused classification in our collective agreement. Still contract work, but recognized, and paid, alongside our tenured and TT colleagues for doing the same work. The University refuses.

MUNFA have also been pushing for those on 4 or 8 month contracts (there are lots!) to instead be 5 and 10, respectively, to compensate the prep that goes into a course before the semester and submitting your grades after – work that needs to be done. The University refuses.

The pandemic was a real turning point. The work needed to pivot and continue to deliver our courses while doing everything we can to support our students was massive. We heard all the platitudes from the admin, but now it’s time to show us what you *really* think we're worth.

Morale is through the floor, the overall governance of the University is at a critical juncture (@rgwhitaker 's article on this is fantastic: theindependent.ca/commentary/we-…) - honestly, it's not a great place to work right now. Love my work, but can’t say the same about WHERE I work.

Family keeps me here, but I'd be lying if I didn't say I don't keep an eye out for jobs elsewhere – places that offer a tenure route for instructors, and provide equal (or at least better) pay for equal work. Which is just about everywhere else. MUN does none of these things.

If nothing else, a 93% turnout with 90% in favour of strike action, in the dead of winter, should show we're pissed off and won't stand for the continued deterioration of an institution so vital to the future success of this province and its residents.

We don't want to strike, but we will. Student support has been overwhelming, and they get it. Our working conditions are directly tied to their learning conditions. The sparsity of course offerings recently, and sizes of classes that are offered, is telling.

So with last-ditch conciliation underway today, it's time for leadership to step up - whether that's the University admin, or Gov’t pulling strings in the background (which is a whole other issue). /endrant

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