It must surely be to the relief of everyone involved that students returned to classes this week at Vancouver Island University (VIU) after a month-long strike and the looming threat of a cancelled semester.
Not that anything has actually been settled, but with the appointment of a mediator both sides have seen fit to put their disagreements aside for the time being and resume work. This means students, who have paid large tuition fees, who have set aside time for their studies and who have in many cases moved in order to attend classes at other campuses, will be able to finish the year and earn their credits. This is important.
Strikes are an essential and valuable tool for labour organizations and are often well worth the inconvenience that they may cause others. But they should never be used lightly and especially not when a student’s education may be an unfortunate casualty. This is a particular concern for a community like Powell River where educational opportunities are limited and sorely needed as the economic landscape of the community shifts.
Strikes tend to get mired in he said/she said-style debates and this strike has been no different. Conflicting information over statistics and financial information, along with long periods of time where one or both parties won’t even sit at the negzotiation table, makes it difficult who to believe or side with. After a month off, VIU’s faculty is returning to work still without a settled agreement. This does not look good for the reputation of the most important educational institution on Vancouver Island north of Victoria and the only post-secondary institution in Powell River.
Even though students are back to classes the effects of the strike have taken their toll. The semester has been extended but time has still been lost. Students will have to scramble to catch up and without an exam period their marks will be based on compromised criteria. Some, faced with financial considerations and a lack of information on when the strike would end, opted to scrap the semester and have their tuition refunded.
Labour contracts are important but at this point it’s difficult to say whether or not this strike has been worth the costs, especially as nothing has been settled. For now let’s just hope that the students who are back to class stay there and that the negative effects of the dispute can be healed.
