On February 11, 2016, OCUFA launched an online pledge where faculty, students, and members of the community can show their support for fairness for contract faculty. The pledge is the latest version of OCUFA’s We Teach Ontario campaign, which has been drawing public attention to the issue of precarious academic work.
In less than 24 hours after its launch, the pledge had already garnered over 250 signatures from across the province and beyond.
Precarious academic work – characterized by unfair pay, poor access to benefits, and little job security – is on the rise at Ontario universities. These working conditions trap talented teachers and researchers in stressful and unsustainable jobs, with serious consequences for their students, their families, and their health.
The pledge was launched alongside a new OCUFA public opinion poll that showed Ontarians are overwhelmingly in favour of better working conditions for contract faculty. Nearly all Ontarians – 85 per cent – believe that contract faculty should receive fair pay, while 84 per cent think they should have equal access to benefits. The poll also found that 94 per cent of Ontarians expect universities to be model employers and bring good jobs into their communities.
So what are universities waiting for? Time to give them a little push to make every academic job a good job- sign the We Teach Ontario pledge today!
I’m overwhelmed with the number of student emails and marking assignments.