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This may come as news to some of you, and is old news to many, but York University’s classes have been suspended for six weeks and counting due to a strike of CUPE local 3903. This union represents 3,400 people comprising contract and part-time faculty and teaching assistants.

There have been countless media releases and discussions on the strike, and many of them are ill-informed or incredibly biased. The university’s press releases have been inexcusably biased and lie directly to the 50,000 undergraduates who are waiting around for this dispute to end, but CUPE 3903’s have not been all that virtuous either; third party media often fail to get the full picture, and instead stir up panic because of presumptuous statements (such as mentioning a forfeit year when the strike was three weeks old).

As you can imagine, it’s difficult to get the idea of what’s happening here. The more it is discussed, though, the easier it is to formulate one’s own opinion. Here are some starting links, though:

CUPE local 3903 official website
CUPE 3903 strike microsite
York University FAQs on labour disruption
York University: Academic remediation
York Strike 2008 — a blog by a disgruntled student
And of course, there’s always Google.

After constant complaining from uninformed students and members of the public, bickering between sides, and general spreading of misinformation, one York faculty member has resolved to set the record straight, at least from their side. Gerard Naddaf, a philosophy professor, recently released an open letter, and in his own words, it is “is meant for York students, parents and the general public. It was written to promote serious consideration and dialogue both about the validity and implications of the present strike. Hopefully this piece will do its part to help both sides to reach an acceptable agreement and get our students back into class where they belong.”

I remain neutral on this issue, but there have been few chances for educated dialogue that isn’t union- or establishment-bashing and I am glad someone from York has finally taken the plunge. As such, I’m reproducing Professor Naddaf’s letter here for anyone who’s interested in reading it. It’s long, but it touches on quite a few important issues related to the dispute, such as how professors are chosen, the difference between contract and tenured faculty, and what the professor’s role really is. If you’re interested, feel free to read ahead (after the jump if you’re reading on the main page or an RSS).

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