The Leveller is Hiring!!

Opportunity Knocks

The Leveller is looking for a Production Manager.

The successful applicant will be:

• Responsible for layout and design of the paper
• Proficient with InDesign and Photoshop
• Able to work under pressure and to a deadline
• Familiar with typography and image management
• Able to provide samples of recent layout and design work

Application Deadline: May 15th

The Leveller publishes six times each school year — three issues per semester. Production takes place over a weekend. If you have the skills, want some money, need practical design experience, and would like to participate in vital student media, you could be the new Leveller we’re looking for.

This position is paid with an honourarium.

Please forward your resume and pdf samples to: operations.the.leveller@gmail.com

Job Posting

Vol. 4, No. 6

A Crime Against Nature • Quebec Students Strike Back • The Great Union Retreat • Prioritizing Equity • An Airing of Grievances • Student Group Claims Carleton Violated Freedom of Speech • Much Ado About Levelling • Les Sans-Culottes – Protection à coups de matraque • • Les Sans-Culottes – La priorité à l’équité • Editorial • Don’t Starve! • Feature – From Slacking to Hacking • A Safe Space to Speak • TD Economist Drums up Misleading Report • A Shadow CIA • NDP MP Proposes Human Rights Bill • Pass the Herpes • Lorax Speaks for the Environment • Shaming Sex • Pina
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Carleton Admin Errs on TA Tuition Rebate: Some stand to lose upwards of $1,000

by Mat Nelson

CUPE 4600, the union representing nearly 2,500 teaching assistants (TAs) and contract instructors at Carleton University, learned on Feb. 2 that the university administration has made a significant error in the calculation of a tuition increase rebate currently in place for TAs.

The university informed the union that it intends to reduce future TA paycheques of those affected in order to account for the mistake. At the high end, some TAs could face deductions of $170.33 over six paycheques for a total of $1022.00.

Lise Labine, assistant vice-president of human resources, told the Leveller, “There has been a pay error and the university is taking measures to correct. All affected TAs will be advised accordingly. The university will consider all situations to ensure there is no undue hardship.”

“This is completely unacceptable. We refuse to stand by and let our fellow TAs suffer undue hardship and financial difficulty because of this error,” said CUPE 4600 Co-President James Meades in an email to the Leveller.

Tuition Increase Protection (TIP) is a mechanism which protects against increases in tuition in the form of a rebate that is paid out on the last paycheque of each term worked as a TA. TIP is outlined in section 23.04 of the collective agreement between the university and the union.

All TAs have a reference tuition fee based on the rate charged on the first day they began employment. The rebate constitutes the difference between the current tuition paid by the employee and the tuition fees that existed at the time of their initial hire.

For TAs hired prior to April 2009, tuition is frozen at 2005 tuition fee levels. During the 2008 round of collective bargaining, the rebate mechanism was renegotiated as a “rolling index,” whereby new TAs receive a reimbursement calculated on the basis of the time they were hired, rather than 2005 tuition rates.

Despite this change, Carleton’s Human Resource Department incorrectly applied across the board rebates based on 2009 levels for those TAs appointed after May 1, 2010.

Now the university wants this money back.

Human Resources has indicated that they will be seeking repayment from members who began as TAs on or after Sept. 1, 2010.

Commencing on Feb. 28, they are planning to retrieve the money over the next six pay periods.

Each TA is expected to receive an email explaining what is happening, and notifying them of an emergency loan system established to assist those TAs in financial difficulty.

In response to the proposed repayment scheme, CUPE 4600 has been in consultation with the legal department at CUPE National, and has requested a special meeting of the Joint Consultation Committee, a body consisting of representatives from both parties, to deal with the issue. The union has also asked for a report from the administration that indicates from whom they are planning to retrieve the money, and how much will be deducted. The university administration has refused to do so, citing privacy issues – an argument the union disputes.

According to an email the union sent to its members, “the union works to protect you and to advocate on your behalf. In terms of the employer attempting to deduct money from your paycheques, we are exploring every possible avenue to ensure that you don’t pay for their mistake.”

“It is our position that the employer, Carleton University, can begin enforcing your collective agreement properly as of now. That is, we understand that they want to extract the maximum amount of tuition dollars from students and are not willing to freeze the tuition of all TAs to 2009 levels. However, to repeat, we do not believe that they are entitled to take upwards of $200 off your next five paycheques because of their mistake.”

The email also indicates that the specific amount to be deducted will vary from person to person, based on factors such as when students began work as a TA.

In the meantime, union officials have indicated they are determined to fight back against the proposed repayment plan.

According to Meades, “Our members have expressed grave concern over the possibility that they should pay for an administrative mistake. We will use all the resources at our disposal to make sure TAs are protected against the negative effects of the university’s plan to take back  our members’ money.”

This article first appeared in the Leveller Vol. 4, No. 5 (Feb. 2012).