Political action
OCUFA has been busy coordinating political action in support of the Laurentian University Faculty Association (LUFA) and increased funding for the university sector as a whole. OCUFA members from across Northern Ontario have been attending Save Our Sudbury (SOS) meetings to plan upcoming actions to amplify the SOS Car Rally this Sunday.
Our allies have also been actively putting pressure on Romano and the Ford government to provide immediate funding for Laurentian University to end the insolvency proceeding. Last week, the North Bay and District Labour Council issued a statement calling for immediate and long-term funding for Laurentian. The North Bay Nugget has the story here: Labour council pushes for Laurentian University funding. The City of Greater Sudbury has also passed a motion demanding that the Ontario government make funding available to stabilize Laurentian.
Templates and sample motions are available in the Take Action section of the Northern Solidarity website. We encourage you to download them and organize motions at your Labour Council and city council.
Save Our Sudbury coalition actions
Members of the SOS coalition will be hosting a car rally in Sudbury on Sunday, March 28 at 12 noon. If you are in Sudbury, or have contacts in Sudbury, the Eventbrite link to RSVP for the event is here: SOS Car Rally
Campus organizing
The Laurentian Senate had a significant win at its meeting last Tuesday, passing a motion affirming that it will only engage in restructuring for academic reasons, not financial exigency, and reaffirming the bicameral nature of the university. 88% of departments passed their own motions endorsing the Senate motion.
The Sudbury Star covered the Senate meeting extensively in this article: Laurentian struggling to stay alive. OCUFA President Rahul Sapra is quoted on the government’s failure to step in and end the crisis with funding. OCUFA Past President Gyllian Phillips is quoted in relation to the aid the Liberal government provided to Nipissing University following its education cuts.
Social Media and Websites
It is essential that we take every opportunity to pressure Ross Romano and Doug Ford to act now. The April 30th deadline for the completion of the LU restructuring is only six weeks away. Please follow OCUFA and Save Our Sudbury on Twitter (@OCUFA and @OurSudbury) and on Facebook (OCUFA and SaveOurSudbury) and push messages out with these hashtags:
#FundLU, #WheresRoss, #HumansofLU, #SaveOurSudbury, #NorthernSolidarity