Celebration and Reflection

By Tracy Whalen, Secretary

This final UWFA newsletter of the 2010-2011 year is one of both celebration and reflection. As many Members know, this February marked the thirtieth anniversary of the certification of our Association by the Manitoba Labour Board. Sandra Zuk, who was a negotiator for the UWFA team, communicated this memory to me:

One memory I have from the weekend marathon negotiations that resulted in agreement on all outstanding articles was everyone’s appreciation for the buffet of food set out at midnight Sunday by Gerry Sweet.  She dashed out to buy food and had the negotiation table laid out with juice, donuts, fruit, etc. when the teams returned from a caucus.  The gesture lifted all our spirits and gave us the energy to continue negotiating through the night, concluding around 7:30 a.m. Monday. We all watched the sunrise over Wesley Hall, where then President Robin Farquhar was camped out in his office to provide any direction as required by the Board team. Quite a night to remember!

Thirty years later, we can also celebrate the tenacity and unity that characterized an intense time of negotiations. In my ten years at this institution, I had not before felt such solidarity amongst Main Unit Members, Members of other units both on and off campus, and our supportive students, organized with such energy and success by the UWSA.

It seemed appropriate—especially given our shared goal to take back our university—to invite submissions for this newsletter from different people across campus. In the spirit of reflection, we have photos of our first negotiating teams from Sandra Zuk and pieces from Job Action Coordinator Allen Mills and Picket Coordinator Pauline Pearson in which each reflects on their memorable moments last month. Jim Christie traces the labour and funding history of this institution and Mike McIntyre considers our chronic underfunding and where we might go from here. This year we began running a regular feature in this newsletter, “The University as one might like it.” In this issue, faculty members from Theology, Science, Education, and Arts have offered their thoughts (or rants) on this theme. The perspectives of our Association Members are diverse, as they should be. I’d like to think that the dialogue here will prompt other Members to respond and to contribute to this publication. We cannot rely on the intensity of threatened job action to motivate active discussion and debate.