Karen Harper
Participation in two events this past summer provided me with insight into two national/international organizations that represent contract academic staff or contingent faculty in Canada. I presented a communication on ‘Research potential for contingent faculty: How to make ambition become reality in Canada’ for the 15th International COCAL Conference in Gatineau. COCAL is the Coalition of Contingent Academic Labor, a grassroots organization representing contingent faculty in Mexico, the United States and Canada. A few weeks later I was back in the Ottawa region for a meeting of the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) Contract Academic Staff (CAS) committee.
I have been a member of the CAUT CAS committee for a couple of years and have participated in numerous CAUT Councils, Forums, webinars and workshops. The CAS committee discusses issues that are relevant to part-time instructors. At our meeting in August we went over preparations for CAUT Fair Employment Week, an event that highlights the precarious nature of our work. We and other CAUT committees develop CAUT Policy Statements on issues such as collegial governance and the use of AI, which we discuss as they relate to CAS. We also receive reports on CAUT activities and learn about resources such as the list of CAS stipends across Canada.
This year’s COCAL conference in Gatineau was my first experience with COCAL, although as CUPE 3912 Communications Officer I helped send two CUPE 3912 members to the COCAL conference in San Jose in 2018. The conference was attended by CAS from all three North American Countries, although I met mostly Mexicans, Californians and Québecois. I seemed to be the only attendee from Atlantic Canada. The conference had plenary sessions on marginalization, working conditions, academic freedom, AI and mobilization. There were parallel workshops on working conditions. I presented in the one on ‘Ambitions and research potential for contract teachers: a reality!’; we were a small but enthusiastic group. Recognition of contract academic labour was a theme throughout the conference. The conference ended with a fabulous dinner at the Cabane en Bois Rond with plenty of drinks and dancing. There was such a friendly atmosphere as we used the dance party to celebrate birthdays of two attendees including Rosa from Mexico, who gave a presentation in my workshop on ‘Las condiciones laborales, de promoción y retiro como profesores de asignatura en la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México’ (‘Working Conditions, Promotion, and Retirement as Per Course Instructors at UNAM.’)
At the end of the COCAL conference I decided to join the COCAL International Advisory Committee and I attended their meeting the next day. I learned that COCAL is a very informal grassroots organization that does not have subcommittees or any formal structure. But it is the only organization that I know of that represents only CAS. CAUT and COCAL are both organizations that represent CUPE 3912 part-time instructors that are very different but complementary. I believe that it is important that Atlantic Canada has a strong representation in both organizations.
In solidarity,
Karen Harper
Member, CAUT CAS committee
Member, CUPE 3912 SMU mobilizing committee
Karen Harper continues her dedication and commitment to helping improve working conditions for CUPE 3912 members and contract academic staff across Canada through her roles as a member of the CAUT CAS committee (Canadian Association of University Teachers Contract
Academic Staff committee). She also recently joined the committee for COCAL (Coalition of Contract Academic Labour). Her experience with CAUT is extensive, having attended numerous Council meetings, forums (for presidents, bargaining officers), webinars and workshops. Within
CUPE 3912, Karen was Communications Officer from 2016 to 2019 followed by President from 2019 to 2022. She currently still helps CUPE 3912, particularly with mobilization for SMU. Karen has taught in Biology at the Mount; in Biology, Management and Environmental Science at Dal; and in Applied Science, Biology, Geography and Environmental Science at SMU. Her main motivation for being involved in the labour movement is to try to get more paid research opportunities for CAS – see her article in the CAUT May 2018 Bulletin. Her research focuses on vegetation at forest edges.