Lessons in Solidarity: One Year After the 2021 UMFA Strike
Image courtesy of SSUMFA & ASBC
Writing by UMIH Student Intern, Alex Rana
Every student who was at the U of M in Fall 2021 is almost certain to have a strong reaction when you bring up that semester. Going into the second year of remote learning, dealing with the challenges of the pandemic, and having professors go on the longest strike in UMFA history is sure to stir up some memories. It's more than understandable that some students relished the break from their classes, perhaps enabling them to catch up on some work or pick up extra shifts at their jobs. Some spent the time frustrated at the administration or their professors, unable to communicate with them. Considering it was a month wracked with tension, rallies, and the looming fear of the entire term being scrapped, it would be unsurprising if students agreed that we’d rather forget the strike ever happened. However, witnessing the strike taught me more than I would have learned from any lecture: I learned about how unions work, how to organize a collective, and what it means to stand in solidarity.
“We began meeting weekly and put together a campaign centred around supporting UMFA”
From the beginning, talks of a potential UMFA strike were circulating amongst students, and concerns were raised at an UMSU meeting in early October 2021. One director suggested that UMSU look into preparing for a potential strike and invited interested students and councils to join a group he was starting for those wanting to support UMFA. We held the first meeting of what would be known as Students Supporting UMFA on October 15th, two weeks before the strike deadline. There, we discussed past strikes and strike votes, how we could spread awareness of what steps students could take to prepare for a potential strike and show their support for UMFA, and tactics for countering misinformation about the strike. After that, we began meeting weekly and put together a campaign centred around supporting UMFA. We started sharing student and alumni testimonials, preparing and passing a motion through UMSU to show that the student union supports the faculty union, and connecting with past and present student advocates.
By the time the strike was called, we had amassed an internal group of students interested in contributing their unique skills and connections. One of the main projects I took on was to draft a joint statement that student associations and groups across campus could sign in support of UMFA. Others involved in Students Supporting UMFA spoke to the media to show that students supported our faculty getting a fair deal, created the art graphics and posters that we used at pickets and rallies, managed the social media and Discord that our members used, organized teach-ins on subjects relevant to the strike with professors they knew, and marched on the picket lines every day with the faculty.
“At one point, we had over 200 members on our Discord. While more involvement was undoubtedly beneficial, it led to some issues we had to figure out.”
Looking back at what the community of students, staff, UMFA members, and external supporters were able to accomplish together is inspiring to me even to this day. That's certainly not to say it was without significant stress and challenges.
Initially, the group of students involved was smaller, but as the days wore on without any sign of the administration letting up, more and more students expressed interest in being involved. At one point, we had over 200 members on our Discord. While more involvement was undoubtedly beneficial, it led to some issues we had to figure out. Primarily, we needed to create a structure for this group, which had grown quite large, while avoiding traditional hierarchies. We studied different organizational models and spoke to those with community organizing experience to find a way to function as a group, delegate tasks to the people equipped to handle them, and ensure that everyone who participated had a voice in meetings.
Eventually, those who had been most involved and could look after specific areas we needed continuous work on ended up becoming coordinators. Although some were upset that they had not been given that role, having a group that size with no formal structure was not effective in our situation.
The entire experience, though not without struggle, gave me a chance to learn about the labour movement and how unions worked. I also met other faculty members and students with the same goals and experienced firsthand what it takes to organize a campus-wide student movement starting from nothing but an idea and the desire to stand in solidarity.