Faculty Support of Student Protests
walking the line
Almost 8,000 of UBC’s 60+ thousand students voted to endorse a walk out of classes March 24 & 25, 2025. The AMS administered referendum met the bylaw criteria to be approved. In the absence of UBC offering any official comment as of time of publication I share the following observations for faculty deciding how to navigate this line.
Withdrawal of Labour
Faculty should be cautious in our own interventions. Our collective agreement specifically bars us from either going on strike or urging the withdrawal of labour by others in our workplace. I am personally aware of this for being called upon the carpet, so to speak, by HR, the Dean and the faculty association numerous times over the years for advocating support of other campus unions when the were on strike.
One time when two colleagues and I organized a noon hour rally, HR sent a letter to all CUPE employees stating that what they did on their lunch break was their business, but if they stayed longer than their allotted break they would lose pay and face discipline for an illegal walkout. Our rally continued just the same.
One should also be conscious of one’s administrative and governance roles as this will increase one’s responsibilities (and potential consequences).
During one of my terms as an executive of the faculty association I joined an early morning demo on the doorstep of the President’s house. CUPE 2278 was engaged in a protracted struggle with UBC Admin and were in the process of rotating strikes. One of their actions was called ‘Breakfast with Martha.’ I spoke to the small demo at the president’s doorstep. I said words to the effect that many faculty supported the TAs in their action and we were there for them. Upon return to my office nearby in AnSo I had a series of frantic messages waiting for me from the president of the FA demanding I call her immediately. When I did I found HR had immediately called the FA president reminding them that faculty can’t strike and a member of their executive was speaking to CUPE claiming faculty would back the TAs. I’d do it again in an instant, but I would be more careful distancing my personal support from any formal calls to ‘drop tools and wobble the site.’
I have learned to avoid direct counsel of the withdrawal of labour by UBC employees. I also appreciate there are consequences and I need, within reason, to be ready to accept them. UBC policy allows faculty to respect legal picket lines, but in so doing we can expect to be docked pay for the labour we withhold by refusing to cross a picket line. However, if we counsel other faculty or staff to withdraw their labour we may find ourselves in violation of the collective agreement and subject to discipline.
Academic Freedom
UBC’s policy of academic freedom (also part of the faculty collective agreement) allows for expression of academic opinion and criticism. The AF statement gives us the right to express unmolested by others. The AF policy was first passed in Senate in the late 1970s after law librarian Alan Soroka disrupted (with a bull horn) a speech by a moderate South African politician. As a consequence, the AF policy allows for disagreement, but not disruption.
It behoves us all to respect difference of opinion. It can be hard for some of us to see the humanity of those who hold views we do not respect. Yet we must find the strength to do that. The global conflicts we see around us -from within the former soviet block, to Africa, the middle east and in our neighbour to the south- stem from the cultivation of hatred and animus that can only see others as less than human enemies.
As a survivor of inter-generational trauma I note that instructors and speakers often appear not to appreciate how their expressed views -and expectation that ‘of course all listening agree with them’- may at times trigger and harm someone sitting quietly in their audience. As instructors we are obligated to consider whether ad libbing on our current thoughts is really that appropriate, especially if our views might come across as strident and intolerant of student disagreement.
Perhaps what we all need is a lunch hour yoga session on the mall in front of Koerner Library where we can come together, relax, and focus on being humans together.