The Dalhousie University board of governors’ ongoing decision to lock out the Dalhousie Faculty Association is unfairly hurting students. We are being used as bargaining chips in a fight between the administration and the union. But it’s our education at stake. It’s our money at stake. This is our fight too.
On Sept. 5, I participated in the DFA precarious worker rally. I am far from a perfect protester — I have not been on the picket lines, nor have I been vocal on social media — but it was important for me to support the faculty at the moment it mattered most.
At the rally, I was struck with déjà vu. I thought back to April 2019, when I stood in front of the Ontario legislature with thousands of educators and their supporters, protesting the Ontario government’s proposed budget cuts and changes to the province’s education system.
I was there with my mother, a high school teacher, because it was important to her to show up for her colleagues and for her kids. Later that year, my mom went on strike with the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation.
Every level of my education has now been disrupted in some way by labour action. I am upset about this, but my anger has never been directed at a union. It has always been, and always will be, directed at the institutions that prioritize their own profit over the needs of the people who work for and rely on them.
In 2025, the institution hurting me is the same one that has taken thousands of my dollars and whose name will be on my resumé for the rest of my life. I am upset that the board of governors cares so little about students that they have chosen to lock out our biggest supporters and put our education at risk.
This is supposed to be my final year at Dal. I am so excited to graduate, but right now, even that milestone feels like it’s in jeopardy.
Like many students, none of my courses are currently running. I have no way to contact my professors. I don’t even know what books I need for the semester.
While I’m trying not to wallow in my anxiety and frustration, I am concerned about what this semester is shaping up to be. It seems likely reading week will be cancelled, and my workload will be heavier than normal when classes do start. I might miss out on important material that my professors will simply not have time to cover.
Every day that goes by is one less day to work on my thesis and get my GPA up before graduation. It is also one more day my professors are going unpaid.
In the crowd on Sept. 5, I saw those professors. I cheered and chanted alongside them. I listened to their speeches and heard about their struggles. Again, I remembered my mom and how much she wanted to work back in 2019.
Dal’s professors have given me so much guidance over the past three years. They’ve regularly opened their doors to talk about papers, life, careers and the future. They’ve repeatedly demonstrated how much they care about my happiness and success.
I am therefore happy to support the DFA in their demands for reasonable compensation, job security, childcare and health services. Doing so is simply recognizing the union’s members as people who have needs and deserve respect, just like my mom, and just like me.
Students succeed when their teachers have the compensation and support to do their jobs well. Students suffer, monetarily and mentally, when they are manipulated in a ploy to withhold those supports.
I am hopeful that the board of governors will end this lockout soon and will come to a rational and conscientious agreement with the DFA. This is the only fair solution for students. Until then, I will continue to stand with my professors.
