Fair Employment Week Starts Today: Take Action on Behalf of Contract Academics

Dear Members,

Fair Employment Week (Oct 21-25) acknowledges the inequitable working conditions faced by those among us who work contract to contract, course to course, without job security, equal benefits, academic freedom or equitable pay. Canadian universities, including Queen's, have come to rely on Contract Academics to deal with budget shortfalls and rising enrolments. Contract Academics are usually only paid to teach, which often leaves them unable to maintain research portfolios, and leaves their regular academic colleagues to pick up additional service obligations - this isn't fair for anyone.

Please join QUFA in bringing attention to this in the following ways:

• Sign the open letter to Canadian university and college presidents to give Contract Academics fair working conditions: http://www.fairemploymentweek.ca/take-action/.
• Join us for the QUFA Adjuncts & Allies Social on Thursday (Oct 24) at 4:30pm at the Grizzly Grill (directions here: http://www.thegrizzlygrill.ca/#/contact/4545860418).
• Read and circulate the latest issue of QUFA Voices which highlights some of the problems with contract work in academia: http://www.qufa.ca/publications/qufa_voices_2013/qufa_voices_2013.10.pdf.
• Learn more and spread the word: http://www.fairemploymentweek.ca/.
• Acknowledge and support the Contract Academics (Term Adjuncts) in your unit or faculty and encourage respect for the work they do.

Every time you see a bright green QUFA Fair Employment Week poster around campus this week, it represents a colleague working under unfair, contract conditions. There are over 200 Term Adjuncts at Queen's. It's time we ended the inequity - fair is fair.

On behalf of the QUFA Executive,

Leslie Jermyn
Executive Director
Email: jermynl@queensu.ca