WLU instructional assistants’ attempt to unionize disrupted
Posted Apr 15, 2023 05:30:40 AM.
Last Updated Apr 14, 2023 06:33:51 PM.
Instructional assistants at Wilfrid Laurier University will await a ruling from the Ontario Labour Relations Board in order to continue their unionization process.
The board will have to decide whether proctors and markers should be a part of their bargaining unit after the university added them to the voters list.
Instructional assistant Mason Fitzpatrick told City News 570 that there were three major steps that they had to take to unionize.
Step one was forming a committee, which was made in September. Next, they had to get forty per cent of their bargaining unit to sign cards. From there, the third step was filing for an official vote.
Fitzpatrick said that between steps two and three, the university made 300 markers and proctors eligible, increasing the population of the bargaining unit to a point where they no longer had the forty per cent they needed to hold a vote.
He called the university’s tactic nothing but a deterrent, and isn’t worried about the board’s ruling.
“They don’t really have a leg to stand on, so I think [the agreement] will be rather quick. It just goes to show, they know we have real power and we can make big gains, so they will try all sorts of dirty tricks to stop that.”
The poll was open from Wednesday to Friday, and the ballots won’t even be looked at until the dispute is settled.
The university declined to comment, but they did provide CityNews with a statement:
This matter is before the Ontario Labour Relations Board and out of respect for the process, the university is not commenting.
