by Andrew Robinson
The CBC radio program The Current recently aired a 27-minute feature about the precarious situation of contract instructors in Canada. Contract instructors at York University are on strike, as are teaching assistants at the University of Toronto. Between them, these two universities teach 100,000 undergraduate students.
Originally I was asked to take part in this program, which was going to be broadcast between 8:30–9:00 a.m. I had preliminary discussions with the editor on Thursday morning, and was due to join live via Skype in the morning. This would have been a bit of a rush, because I teach a class at 10:05 am, and would have had to drive into work after the interview. Subsequently the time of the feature was changed to after 9:00 a.m., so I would not have been able to join, although the email I got at 3:00 p.m., merely said “We will not be needing you”. Charming!
So I listened to the program this evening over the internet, and I found that the only contract instructor chosen was someone who earns $88,000 a year, teaching 11 courses.
She was from York University and was one of the contract instructors on strike, but it very much gave the impression that the issue wasn’t about pay.
For the vast majority of contract instructors, the issue is very much about pay. I have posted a rebuttal on the Facebook page of the CBC illuminating the true nature of the problem; it reads something like this:
“I regret to say that this feature gave a very misleading picture of the problem of contract faculty at Canadian Universities, where pay is very much a serious problem. For example, at Carleton University I am limited to teach a maximum of six courses per year, for $6,700 each. I teach five courses per year, giving me a net income of around $34,000 per year — regular faculty members in my department teach three courses per year.
“The Canadian university system is paying very little attention to undergraduate education at present. Universities’ claims that their budgets prevent the hiring of permanent staff is a thin smokescreen for a deliberate attempt to cut undergraduate teaching costs. This is done by hiring contract instructors year after year, teaching core courses, while pretending that this is merely a “temporary expediency.” We should follow the European Union employment laws, which force employers to hire staff permanently when they have been on contract for four years.
“Since going public about this issue of the low pay and exploitation of a substantial part of the academic labour force, I have received many messages of support from current and former students, and from many other precariously employed academic staff all across Canada. Several of them have thanked me for speaking out, because they dare not. Fear of the consequences of free speech should not be allowed to be used by universities as a technique of stifling legitimate complaints. The program really did not paint a sufficiently bleak picture of the issues faced by many contract faculty in Canadian higher education today. We are dedicated teachers, committed to our students, and it is nothing short of scandalous that we continue to be treated in this fashion.”
I am “quite cross” about this, as we British would say.
This article was first published on Precarious Physicist.
