Dear members,

AASUA is a member of the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT). As such, we wanted to pass along the two memos below from CAUT about actions they are encouraging academics across the country to engage with in some way. The first covers action around the UN climate emergency letter, the second discusses support for the #scholarstrike campaign for racial and social justice in the US.

Please note that while AASUA is supportive of engagement by staff in larger social and community issues, by circulating this information we are neither encouraging staff to engage in work stoppages nor to neglect their job responsibilities as covered by the collective agreement.

Memorandum 20:42

Date:  August 25, 2020

From:  David Robinson, Executive Director

Re:  Request to circulate climate action petition to members

The Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) is asking for your support to circulate a petition to members before the end of September. The petition calls on university presidents across the country to endorse the United Nations (UN) climate emergency letter. This letter calls on endorsing institutions to declare a climate emergency and commit to: 

• Mobilize more resources for action-oriented climate change research and skills creation;
• Go carbon neutral by 2030 or 2050 at the very latest;
• Increase the delivery of environmental and sustainability education across curriculum, campus and community outreach programmes. 

The UN letter currently has the support of 60 national associations that work to advance sustainability goals in higher education, along with endorsements by 259 post-secondary education institutions from about 46 countries, including 14 Canadian institutions. 

The petition is an initiative of the Climate Action Coalition at the University of Alberta. Their plan is to the send the petition to Universities Canada and presidents of post-secondary institutions across the country, urging them to sign the UN climate emergency letter. 

Please help to spread the word to demonstrate strong support from academic staff for greater leadership at post-secondary institutions to tackle climate change.

Memorandum 20:44

Date:  September 2, 2020

From:  David Robinson, Executive Director

Re:  Scholar’s Strike Canada – September 9-10, 2020

On September 9 and 10, academics in Canada are planning to pause their regular teaching and administrative duties to participate in activities and actions to protest racism and police violence. Inspired by the actions of professional athletes and the #ScholarStrike campaign in the United States, academic staff will be standing in solidarity with protest movements fighting for social and racial justice in Canada and around the world.

A series of virtual teach-ins are being planned, as well as a twitter storm using the hashtags #scholarstrike #scholarstrikeCanada. CAUT encourages academic staff associations and their members to show their support for racial justice by joining or organizing activities with Scholar Strike Canada. We also call on university and college administrations to support all staff and students who participate on September 9 and 10, and not penalize those who do. 

More details about activities being organized in Canada will be available at https://scholarstrikecanada.ca/.