Date: Thu, 21 Dec 2000 22:01:50 -0800 (PST)
From: York University Student
To: message@esmartstudent.com
Subject: Re: Lawsuit Against York University


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I've got to admit that I find the entire lawsuit
against York University sickening. It's not the
desire of people to sue York University which upsets
me, but rather that no one wants to sue CUPE 3903: a
union whose directly influential role should be
apparent to anyone who would merely look at the past
two months.

With all the talk of York University's responsibility
for the prolonged strike, I think the union is
attempting to hide it's own role by playing the
"friend" to the students of York: holding rallies for
tuition rebate, marches to the offices of prominent
York staff, etc. The TAs, contract workers, and GAs
are some of, if not the highest paid in all of Canada,
yet their equal inability to negotiate reasonably with
York prolonges the strike. It is the CUPE 3903
bargaining team that refused to put York's latest
offer to vote, and that's just the tip of a two-month
iceberg, in my opinion.

Of course, there's much more to be said on the issue,
but perhaps my fellow York University students need to
stop blinding themselves to the union's role in this
extended leave from school. Maybe you all need to
open your eyes and see beyond the "corporation vs. the
underdog" that everyone is captured by. The CUPE
3903 union bears an equal if not greater role of
responsibility in this strikes length. Underdog? Not
the way I see it. What each of us has to do is read
the facts, and NOT the propoganda that we are fed from
left, right, and centre. Make your own conclusions
and decisions, it's the only way to truly have an
opinion on this strike.

As a side note, I find it hard to believe that an
organization (The Student Circle), which, based on the
emails I have received, is clearly pro-CUPE 3903 can
properly represent the "facts" without an anti-York
bias. The slant is already there. Just read the web
page. York's position is always associated with
strong wording with negative connotation: "blames
CUPE 3903" and "refuses to negotiate". I don't see
the same connotation on the union. You don't even
have to go to the site, just read the emails we have
been receiving, which always point the finger at York
University. Non-biased opinions written by undergrads
for undergrads? Maybe the last part is true, but, to
me, the former is the most transparent lie that has
been spoken in the past two months.

Hooman Rowshanbin writes that "All messages...will
then be posted at The Student Circle". We'll see if
you do print mine. After all, if it truly is an
unbiased page, the opinion of an undergraduate student
from York University should matter, right? We'll see
how unbiased you really are in the coming weeks. As
of yet, you've failed so far as I'm concerned.

A Disgruntled YU Student.




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