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A UWOFA strike obit

When Western’s Board of Governors ratified the agreement with the UWO Faculty Association on Tuesday, it brought an end to one of the ugliest periods in recent Western history.

Months of negotiations between administration and UWOFA bred an almost daily cycle of misinformation and a general air of uneasiness and tension on campus.

It quickly became evident that administration would be digging its heels in the mud on several issues and UWOFA would diligently challenge them to defend what they called “an attack on tenure and academic freedom.”

What could have made the process easier for the tens of thousands of students was improved communication from both sides.

As the rumour mill spun, UWOFA simply dumped fuel on the fire by constantly reiterating their will to strike, using words like “attack” and “shameful” to describe administration’s bargaining.

Negotiation tactic or not, students don’t deserve to be manipulated.

Meanwhile, administration spoke vaguely and ambiguously, if at all. They never learned that simply explaining how strikes work — and that anything they say can be used against them at the bargaining table — would have placated many students.

But it seems like $5,200 a year doesn’t buy you an honest answer.

But easily the biggest culprit of feeding campus confusion, anxiety and stress was the University Students’ Council, who appeared unprepared, unwilling to communicate and, in some instances, more confused and uninformed than the majority of students.

The council released a press release shortly after the Nov. 3 strike deadline that was rife with spelling, grammatical and factual mistakes. They quickly covered their tracks, issuing a new, accurate edition. But it was the keystone in a series of poor communication that branded how they handled the strike.

Members from the USC executive gave few meaningful contributions on the eve of the strike and some were absent entirely. Why, on the most critical night the University has had in years, was the executive not chasing updates from administration and tending to the flurry of student questions online?

Even leading up to the strike, the USC did little more than post an FAQ on their website — which largely repeated Western talking points — and produce an unpolished video reiterating information students already heard.

We trust the USC, our elected representatives, to not only fight for us, but be informed about happenings on campus and disseminate information to the student body — whether during times of labour strife or not.

Many students looked to the USC on the eve of the strike and during negotiations. They came away disappointed.

— The Gazette Editorial Board

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