Authority: Executive Committee
Approved: 12 October 2011
Revised: 5 October 2015
Policy Statement:
Solidarity contributions, whether made to other unions on campus, to the CAUT’s Academic Freedom Fund, or to our sister associations across the country, advance the interests of TUFA members by contributing materially to the advancement of sound labour practices in higher education. TUFA has been the beneficiary of other associations’ commitment to union solidarity when we have been on strike and has received assistance from the Academic Freedom Fund to defray the costs associated with several complex grievance cases.
Procedures:
1) Each year the Association’s budget shall include a line item appropriation for “Solidarity Contributions.” The amount of this line item shall be no less than $10,000, except as modified by an approved motion at a general membership meeting of the Association. Solidarity contributions are to be disbursed until the annual appropriation has been exhausted according to the protocols described below.
2) The Association shall make solidarity contributions in support of workers locked out or on strike as follows: to a CAUT member association, $1,000; to another union of employees at Trent, $2,500.
3) The Executive Committee may authorize solidarity contribution of up to $1,000 to support other striking or locked out workers in the Canadian higher education sector.
4) The Executive Committee may authorize solidarity contributions of up to $500 to support any other Canadian union that is on strike or locked out over a principle or issue that is germane to the interests of TUFA members.
5) The Executive Committee may authorize solidarity contributions of up to $500 to support initiatives of our affiliates or other labour-related organizations.
6) In the event that a CAUT member association is on strike or locked out for longer than one week, TUFA may contribute up to an additional $1,000 to that association each week for the next four weeks. Any such additional contributions shall be made at the discretion of the Executive Committee.
7) In the event that another union of employees at Trent is on strike or locked out for longer than one week, TUFA may contribute up to an additional $500 to that union for each week that the labour dispute persists. Any such additional contributions shall be made at the discretion of the Executive Committee.
8) At the end of its fiscal year, the Association may, by action of the Executive Committee, contribute some or all unexpended funds allocated for “Solidarity Contributions” to the Academic Freedom Fund of the Canadian Association of University Teachers.
9) The Treasurer shall report to the fall general membership meeting the amounts of all expenditures made from the Solidarity Donations budget line item during the previous fiscal year.