8 
     
    
   
   
    
     The Cadre 
     
    
   
   
    
     * © 24 March 1998 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     Dal students rally against impending strike 
     
    
   
   
    
     BY SHELLEY ROBINSON 
     
    
   
   
    
     (With files from Kaveri Gupta, Natalie MacLellan and Paul Mansfield) 
     
    
   
   
    
     HALIFAX (CUP)--Students 
     
     rallying at Dalhousie Univer- 
     
     sity last week had a few words 
     
     to say about the impending 
     
     faculty strike — and the word 
     
     ofchoice was “bullshit”. 
     
    

    
     Between 700 and 800 
     
     students marched through cam- 
     
     pus March 17 and staged a 
     
     protest outside the building 
     
     where the university’s board 
     
     of governors was meeting. 
     
     They expressed anger at be- 
     
     ing caught in the middle of the 
     
     stalled faculty contract nego- 
     
     tiations, and demanded a set 
     
     for students at the bargaining 
     
     table. 
     
    

    
     Faculty could legally 
     
     walk out, orthe university could 
     
     lock them out, as early as 
     
     March 25. The administration 
     
     has announced that in the event 
     
     ofa strike, classes will be can- 
     
     celled. 
     
    

    
     The meeting was broad- 
     
     cast to protestors over a PA 
     
     system, and shouts of “bullshit” 
     
     greeted university president 
     
     Tom Traves as he described 
     
     the three options the university 
     
     has — increased government 
     
     funding, cutbacks or increased 
     
     tuition fees to deal with its 
     
     current funding crunch. The 
     
     university has repeatedly said 
     
     that it does not have the funds 
     
     to meet the professors two 
     
     central contract demands a 
     
     healthy pay increase and re- 
     
     placement of faculty who leave 
     
     or retire. 
     
    

    
     Traves addressed the 
     
     students interruption. 
     
    

    
     “These problems 
     
     will not magically go away. 
     
     Shouting ‘bullshit’, shouting 
     
     "boo' does not make the prob- 
     
     lems we face go away. It 
     
     would be nice but it doesn’t 
     
     work that way in the real 
     
     world,” he said. 
     
    

    
     At the rally, Brian 
     
     Kellow, an incoming member 
     
     of the student union, presented 
     
     an alternative to Traves’ plans. 
     
    

    
     “{ The] fourth option is to 
     
     allow students into the talks 
     
     and allow us to take part in 
     
     determining our own future, 
     
     for Christ’s sake.” 
     
    
   
   
    
     Student union president 
     
     Chris Adams wants a chance 
     
     to sit in on the negotiations as 
     
     a student observer. 
     
    

    
     “The faculty will be fight- 
     
     ing for their interests, the ad- 
     
     ministration will be fighting for 
     
     their interests,” he said. 
     
     “Who’s fighting for student 
     
     issues? Without that seat there, 
     
     student issues [are ignored].” 
     
    

    
     Earlier this year, the stu- 
     
     dent union president of Acadia 
     
     University in Wolfville, N.S. 
     
     was permitted to sit in during 
     
     faculty contract negotiations, 
     
     and it was considered a first in 
     
     faculty labour relations history. 
     
    
   
   
    
     coming Soot 
     
    
   
   
    
     Although he was origi- 
     
     nally opposed to the idea, Ismet 
     
     Ugursal, president of the 
     
     Dalhousie faculty association, 
     
     says he is now in favour of 
     
     having a student presence at 
     
     negotiations. 
     
    

    
     “In retrospect, it would 
     
     have been better if we had a 
     
     student observing the negotia- 
     
     tions [from the beginning], be- 
     
     cause they would have first- 
     
     hand information on how the 
     
     board stalled and didn’t co- 
     
     operate. 
     
    

    
     “The students have to 
     
     put their voice in this thing, 
     
     [and] have to be heard. I’m on 
     
    
   
   
    
     (-i@ See 
     
    
   
   
    
     May 3 Otis OU ri 
     
     May 5 Toromta 3 Wak Ha 
     
    
   
   
    
     aa) 
     
     Ss 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     their side.” 
     
    

    
     While Traves has not 
     
     explicitly said whether or not 
     
     he is in favour of students par- 
     
     ticipating in negotiations, he 
     
     has invited Adams to a meet- 
     
     ing to discuss the matter. 
     
    

    
     At the rally students ex- 
     
     pressed frustration with a va- 
     
     riety of issues connected to 
     
     thestrike, including high tuition 
     
     fees, their professors low sala- 
     
     ries, the deteriorating quality 
     
     of education and the lack of 
     
     information they have been 
     
     getting about the status of ne- 
     
     gotiations. 
     
    

    
     “I’m tired of not know- 
     
    
   
   
    
     ley ol! myibig (sky 
     
    
   
   
    
     ing what is going on with the 
     
     strike and the [administration] 
     
     and the [faculty] are not listen- 
     
     ing to us,” Dal student Michael 
     
     Arbuckle said. 
     
    

    
     Students did get some 
     
     good news a couple of days 
     
     before the rally, however, 
     
     when they learned that the 
     
     union representing teaching 
     
     assistants and at-time instruc- 
     
     tors at Dalhousie (as well as 
     
     Mount Saint Vincent Univer- 
     
     sity in Halifax) accepted a ten- 
     
     tative deal from the adminis- 
     
     tration, effectively ending the 
     
     threat of strike by those uni- 
     
     versity personnel. 
     
    
   
   
    
     eur ee Met 
     
    
   
   
    
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     Please aroner the following shill testing questions (10+5-11) 42 + be 
     
    
   
   
    
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