"With this trampling of labor and human rights, what will be next? Will freedom of speech be next?" said Barry O’Neill, president of the public employees union (CUPE) in British Columbia. The act, which is known as Bill 21, was passed by the provincial government March 12. It orders strikers back to work, prohibiting any strike action on the campus until March 31. Both student and faculty associations have stated their opposition to the back-to-work law.

Some motorists entering the campus expressed anger at the protesters for slowing traffic. In one case, a car struck and injured two women, both of whom were hospitalized.

Teaching assistants, commonly known as TAs, began their walkout February 10 in support of their fight for increased incomes. They are members of CUPE Local 2278. Library and clerical workers in Local 2950 joined the action March 7.

The Public Sector Employees Council, which negotiated between the union and the university, announced in the fall of last year that its guidelines did not permit it to give the assistants a raise.

In January the university unsuccessfully attempted to divide them by offering a tuition waiver to assistants with PhDs and not to those studying for their Master’s degrees. The demand for an across-the-board waiver, rather than a selective one, is central to their strike, explain the TAs. A waiver would offset a university fee hike of 16 percent for graduate students.

The university administration claims that being a TA is "just another job" and the question of tuition fees should be removed from the union contract. The assistants explain that enrollment is a condition of employment, and that many get their tuition fees deducted directly from their monthly salary, leaving them with little to live on.

The university also wants to end its contributions to employees’ health-care benefits.

The first day of the strike, the teachers put up picket lines at the university gates to stop buses from reaching the campus. In addition to withdrawing from teaching and marking exams, they have picketed one or two buildings at the UBC campus each day.

"At our meeting last night a union leader told us we’ve been effective--that was the feeling of everyone present--but they still haven’t addressed the key issues so we’ll keep up the escalating job actions," said Chris, a chemistry teaching assistant.

The university administration called the strike-breaking legislation "a positive step for students" trying to complete the academic year, the campus newspaper reported.

Many students are worried about the consequences a prolonged strike could have as the end of the semester grows near. Some student associations, however, including the Coalition Against War, have endorsed the teaching assistants’ efforts and urged students not to cross picket lines. The faculty association also declared its support, but left the decision of whether to cross picket lines up to individual professors.

The teaching assistants’ fight comes at a time of workers’ resistance to government efforts to privatize public services such as education and health care.

The three CUPE locals at the university placed an ad in the March 23 Vancouver Province explaining the issues in their fight and their opposition to the drive to privatize education. At the same time, 750 clerical workers at Simon Fraser University, members of CUPE Local 3338, were poised to walk out over wages and benefits March 24.

Christian Pistor is a UBC student. Beverly Bernardo is a meat packer in Langley, British Columbia.  
 
 
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