Three days into the strike, it’s clear that FA members have started to hit their stride. After years of dealing with a range of workplace issues as individuals, the last few days have helped us understand that we are collectively dealing with an unparalleled level of dysfunction and mismanagement. The more we share our individual experiences with one another, the more we appreciate our common purpose of building a better UPEI!
Friday Rally, March 24, 2023, 4:30p-5:30p)
175 Richmond St., in front of the Coles Building (next to Province House).
We encourage all FA Members, students, Island workers, and other members of the community to join us for this important event. We’ve invited a number of speakers to share their perspective on our strike in particular and the challenges of Island workers more generally.
FA Time for UPEIFA Members @ the Pourhouse
Friday, March 24 (6:00p-8:00p)
189 Great George St.
After the rally, we’ll have an FA Time for UPEIFA Members at The Pourhouse (upstairs at the Old Triangle). Join us for drinks, appetizers, and stories from the picket line.
Students Supporting the Faculty Association – Concert Music Event
St. James Presbyterian Church, 35 Fitzroy St.
Friday, March 24 (7:30p – until)
A number of UPEI students have organized a concert music event in support of our strike. A flyer for the event is available here.
Picket Teams – Week #2
We want to begin by saying that the picket lines this week have been outstanding! Each team has made their line their own and made it clear to everyone driving by how committed we are to improving our working conditions and our students’ learning conditions.
The support on the lines from our students, Island workers, and other members of the community has been extraordinary.
Next week, we’re planning on reorganizing the picket teams a bit. Please look for an update on this by Friday.
Friday Pickets
This Friday, our colleagues in the region and across the country will be flying/driving to PEI to support our struggle to reach a fair and reasonable agreement. As such, a few things will be different about our pickets on Friday:
- From noon-2:00p, all pickets should converge on the main UPEI entrance (University Ave.) and plan to spend their entire shift at that entrance. Atlantic Superstore is probably your best parking option for this event. Pickets from 2:00p-4:00p will take place at the assigned entrance.
- Because we will be having a large rally downtown during the 4:00p-6:00p picket shift, FA members on that shift will need to complete their strike duty at the rally (175 Richmond St.). Please let your picket captain know when you have arrived at the rally.
Political Outreach
As you are no doubt aware, our strike is taking place against the background of a provincial election. Given the unprecedented level of government interference that we’ve experienced throughout the collective bargaining process and the Board of Governors’ unwillingness to return to the table to negotiate a fair and reasonable agreement, we’ve become increasingly concerned that the Board is sidelining negotiations and counting on the next government to legislate us back to work.
To address this, we’ve reached out to the major provincial political parties to get their assurances that they would neither introduce nor support back-to-work legislation.
Media coverage of this issue is available on CBC – Could UPEI faculty be forced back to work? Not during an election campaign.
We are pleased to report that the Green Party and NDP have both committed to NOT introduce or support back-to-work legislation. We were also happy to see the leaders of these parties join FA Members on the picket line in a show of solidarity.
Unfortunately, the Progressive Conservatives and Liberals have not provided similar assurances.
Our letter to the Progressive Conservatives is available here.
Our letter to the Liberals is available on the FA website here.
We encourage FA members to continue to press candidates to commit to not introduce or support back-to-work legislation.
Solidarity!
