135 Osgoode students urge Dean Sossin to respect the CUPE 3903 strike and not resume classes until a negotiated deal is reached.
Dear Dean Sossin,
We are writing to express our support for members of CUPE 3903 currently on strike at York University. As students and future practitioners of law, we view this strike as the exercise of a constitutionally-protected right, one which deserves recognition and ongoing affirmation from Osgoode Hall Law School.
As others have already made clear, there is no doubt that the strike has caused distress among Osgoode students. We join them in apprehension about the uncertainty of the near future – about finishing coursework by April, writing the bar exam on schedule, and transitioning smoothly to various forms of employment. We too have commitments and responsibilities outside of school that are being affected, along with plans that may be cancelled and opportunities that are in jeopardy. As such, we too hope for a swift resolution to the dispute and the resumption of our normal everyday lives. But all of these anxieties are more than just understandable: they are to be expected in the context of a strike.
Aside from whatever else it may be, a strike by its nature is inconvenient. It disrupts the normal functioning of all operations touched by striking workers. Devalued and stymied at the bargaining table, workers strike to demonstrate and draw power from the integral contributions they make to the institutions or enterprises dependent on their labour. The reason this tactic persists is the same reason it receives protection from law: the very possibility of work stoppage is what animates good faith bargaining in an adversarial employment relationship characterized by inequality. Protecting strikes through law is thus a mechanism to prevent them.
Accordingly, when a strike does occur, it becomes the duty of all those who take law’s purpose seriously to translate legal protection into meaningful protection by refusing to cross picket lines. Otherwise, the constitutional right to strike is reduced to a chimera, a mere paper right enforced in every which way except the way that matters. Because it is contrary to Osgoode Hall’s ethos as a law school to partake in such derogation, we call on Osgoode to respect the integrity of CUPE 3903’s picket lines by maintaining the suspension of all academic activities until the strike is over. In addition, we seek to join you, the Dean, in urging the York administration to negotiate with the union in order to achieve a fair and reasonable collective agreement at the bargaining table.
Osgoode students want classes to resume swiftly as well as justly. A commitment to respect picket lines achieves both these aims: it protects the right to strike and thereby impels resolution of the dispute through good faith collective bargaining. We expect our law school to strike and maintain such a balance in the days and weeks ahead.
Sincerely,
We The Undersigned:
Alec Stromdahl 1L
Allison Williams, 3L
Alyssa Armstrong, 2L
Amina Juma, 2L
Amy Brubacher, 1L
Amy Voss
Andrea Sobko, 3L
Andrea Vitopoulos 1L
Andrew Cox, 3L
Andri Shchudlo, 2L
Anoosha Mussaddeq, 1L
Ashley Bridgeman, 2L
Audra Ranalli, 2L
Benjamin Hognestad, 1L
Benjamin Vandorpe 3L
Bessmah Hamed 1L
Bianca Bell, 3L
Brady Farmer 1L
Brandon Brown, 2L
Brittany Ross-Fichtner, 2L
Carla Martí, 2L
Charlotte Calon, 1L
Chelsea Caldwell, 1L
Christopher McCormack, 3L
Ciera DiBiasi
Clifford McCarten, 3L
Craig Mazerolle, 3L
Cristina Georgiana, 1L
Dana Achtemichuk, 3L
Daniel Goudge, 3L
Daniel Goudge, 3L
David Ionico, 3L
David Nisker, 3L
Debbie Wong
Elise Mercier, 1L
Emily Lewsen, 2L
Emma Landy, 3L
Erin Elias
Erin Epp, 2L
Erin Garbett, 1L
Farshad Azadian, 3L
Giancarlo Passarelli, 1L
Giselle Shareei, 2L
Hannah Ordman
Holly Langille 3L
Jack Lloyd, 3L
James Hayes, 1L
Janelle Belton, 3L
Jasleen Kaur 1L
Jason Edwards, 2L
Jenna Meguid, 3L
Jennifer Danch, 1L
Jennifer Evola
Jennifer Staines, 3L
Jessica Fleming, 3L
Jessica Roher, 3L
Jessica Rosenberg, 3L
John Lee, 2L
Joseph Granton, 1L
Joslyn Currie, 2L
Julián Gómez Biagi, 1L
Julie Falck
Justin Amaral, 2L
Justine Davidson, 3L
Kanchan Dhanjal
Karolina Wisniewski 1L
Kate Siemiatycki, 2L
Katherine Shelley, 1L
Katie Douglas, 3L
Keton Motta Freeman, 1L
Kiran Kang, 3L
Kristin Smyth, 2L
Kristina Manveld 2L
Kristine Gorman, 3L
Laura Mayer 3L
Leah Horzempa, 1L
Lisa Leinveer, 3L
Maame Serwaah, 1L
Madison Robins, 3L
Maggie Kakuk, 3L
Mallory Laurie, 1L
Mandip Grewal 1L
Margaret Robbins, 3L
Maria Di Clemente, 1L
Mary Hurley, 1L
Mary Owusu, 2L
Mary Thibodeau, 2L
Matthew Smith, 2L
Melissa Roque, 2L
Michael Brito, 3L
Michael Johnston, 1L
Mona Zarifian 3L
Nadia Aboufariss, 1L
Nancy Carlson, 1L
Nathan Jackson, 3L
Nelson Lai, 1L
Nicholas Sowsun 1L
Nicole Veitch, 3L
Pamela Stephenson 1L
Parmbir Gill, 1L
Patrick Russell 2L
Peter Kott, 1L
Phil Kariam 1L
Piera Savage, 3L
Ramona Anca Radu, 2L
Robert Hamilton
Robert Watkins
Robin Nobleman, 3L
Robyn Schleihauf, 3L
Rodney Kort, 3L
Ryan Krahn, 1L
Ryan Martin, 3L
Samuel Michaels, 2L
Sandi Janicki, 3L
Serena Dykstra, 3L
Shannon Corregan, 1L
Shubham Sindhwani 3L
Sileny Chamovo 3L
Simon Wallace, 3L
Sophie Chiasson, 1L
Spiros Vavougios, 1L
Stefan Rosenbaum, 3L
Stuart Woods, 1L
Subban Jama, 3L
Sydney Black, 3L
Tassia Poynter, 3L
Tengteng Gai, 3L
Terrance Luscombe, 2L
Tiffany Smith, 3L
Tim Osborne, 3L
Timon Baphometic
Toby Samson, 3L
Tosh Weyman, 3L
Tyler Fram, 1L
Zosia Hortsing, 1L