Dear Members,

It is with great gratitude and humility that I write to you in my capacity as the elected president of your union, the AASUA. This is my first full week in the position, and my initial official task is this message to all of you.

I want to begin by extending my sincere thanks to Kevin Kane and Rachel Milner who have come to the end of their terms as AASUA president and vice-president respectively. Both of them have put in countless hours and shown tireless commitment to the AASUA and the University as a whole over the past two years. Kevin has provided calm, stable, and thoughtful leadership in the midst of tumultuous and rapidly changing times. Rachel, in her capacity as chair of the Governance Committee, has helped lay a solid groundwork of policy and procedures for the Association coming out of our complete overhaul of bylaws and governance a few years ago. It’s hard to fathom where we would be today without their work and commitment, and I’m sure you all join me in thanking them for their dedicated service.

I also want to issue a word of appreciation to all of you. There is no doubt that the only reason the U of A was able to continue functioning as the pandemic rolled through Alberta was the commitment and dedication of the academic staff. People willing and able to figure out how to change direction and completely transform how they work, often with little or no support from the employer, is what continues to make it possible for the university to carry on its activities. For many of you these challenges were met while facing the additional tasks of caring for and home-schooling children, and taking care of family members who were ill or in lock-down. Others of you had to incur costs out-of-pocket to pay for internet upgrades or web-cams or additional computers in order to continue doing your jobs. We see you and know how difficult it has been, and we are actively encouraging the employer to recognize these sacrifices with more than just words.

There is no way to sugarcoat the many challenges we currently face. The Alberta government has cut $110 million in funding from our institution and is in the midst of an all out attack on our governance structures, our collegial governance, and our ability to determine what and how we research. Partially in response to those financial pressures, the employer has launched a major reorganization process that will fundamentally alter how the university is structured, how we deliver on our mission, and how we do our jobs. We know that some of our members will inevitably lose their jobs throughout this process. Yet, somehow, administration has seen fit not to include AASUA representation on either of the committees leading this change process, and will not be sharing the data and information (provided by multi-national management consultant Nous Group) that will form the basis and rationale for their recommendations. At the same time the university’s leadership continues to make decisions about how we deal with the ongoing covid-19 pandemic, with little to no advance consultation with the AASUA.

If all of that were not enough, yesterday the provincial government introduced legislation that can only be described as a full-frontal attack on the democratic and constitutional rights of unions. This Bill, which will certainly be challenged and ultimately struck down by the courts, seeks to impose serious limits on our ability to collect dues from our members and on what we can do with those dues, and fundamentally sets out to silence unionized workers from any kind of engagement with the community beyond our workplaces.

In the face of all these challenges we need a strong, active, and engaged AASUA now more than ever. We do not have a strong culture or history of organizing, advocacy and resistance at the U of A, but if we want our university and its public interest mandate to thrive, we will need to adopt that culture quickly.

I am aware that many of you are already organizing on the ground to do things like pushing publicly and on campus for greater transparency, coordinating work at GFC, studying the equity and diversity implications of the restructure, and doing research on Nous Group and Uniforum. I guarantee that you can fully count on support from AASUA and the Executive toward those efforts. Our interest is not to brand or co-opt the work you are already doing, but to encourage, support, and amplify it. We welcome your input and feedback on how we can be of help.

The AASUA’s ability to support advocacy and engagement on campus depends significantly on us knowing what members are feeling, what members need, and what members want from their union. To that end, we want to talk with you. We want to hear you.  Our structure of elected Council Representatives and constituency Directors on Executive was purposefully designed to facilitate and encourage that form of communication.  I encourage you to organize a meeting, of any size, of any sub-set of members or part of campus, and invite me, your Council Representatives, and the Directors of your constituency group to attend. It can be 5 people, or 50, or 500. The size of the forum doesn’t matter. What matters is that we get to hear what’s on your mind and what you need from us. It’s also a great opportunity for your elected leaders and representatives to share with you what we’re working on and doing on your behalf.

I know you are all concerned about the future and have many questions about what is happening at the university today. In addition to my offer to meet with you whenever, wherever, and however, I encourage you to send me your questions, or put them in the comments below. I will endeavour to answer them in future messages on this page, which I hope to post regularly to ensure that we remain transparent, accountable, and relevant in our work.

I want to end this first message by thanking you for putting your trust in me, and the other elected members of Executive and Council to provide effective leadership during these difficult times. It’s a challenge we take seriously.

In solidarity,

Ricardo