A.J. Muste was a labour activist and pacifist whose advocacy of non-violence as a tactic of change was unusual, to say the least, in the USA of the 1930s and 40s. Noam Chomsky, of whom I was a devoted reader when I was a young adult and who I have continued to read and respect my entire life, in the first of his books I read, American Power and the New Mandarins, quoted a speech by Muste that has stuck with me over the years: “In a world built on violence, one must be a revolutionary before one can be a pacifist." It was only a few years later I found myself working in the Nicaraguan Revolution and having to confront, on a daily basis, my understandings and practices of revolution and peace. Chomsky wrote that “Muste believed, with Gandhi, that "unjust laws and practices survive because men obey them and conform to them. This they do out of fear. There are things they dread more than the continuance of the evil.”” Given all that has happened in the US in the past eight years, these words seem more relevant than ever. I’ve heard it said that during the Vietnam War, Muste stood vigil in front of the White House, candle in hand, often alone, sometimes with others. I came across this account by Andrea Ayvazian of The Sun Magazine and, while perhaps apocryphal, like so many good stories, it carries a truth regardless: “A reporter interviewed [A.J. Muste] one evening as he stood there in the rain. "Mr. Muste," the reporter said, "do you really think you are going to change the policies of this country by standing out here alone at night with a candle?" A.J. responded, "Oh, I don't do this to change the country. I do this so the country won't change me.””
Some thoughts:
I am on the picket line once again with CUPE3903 at York University. This is my third strike as a member and the fifth in which I’ve been involved since having been a Master’s student at York in 1991 and beginning tyo teach at York in 2001. The issues are the same: a decent wage, decent benefits, and decent working conditions. But there has also always been a larger story as well and that must be understood to make sense of York’s increasing aggressive belligerence in fighting the union. TAs (who are, of course, themselves students) and contract faculty (who are graduates - most often of York University itself) are, of course, workers who deserve a decent and fair wage, benefits, and a safe workplace. They are also people who care deeply about education and learning and who take pride in the work they do for students to support them on their learning journeys. And, while there is much about University higher-learning about which to be proud, much has been diminished by what appears to be a whole-hearted embracing of neoliberal economics and a move to reinvent the university as an edu-factory. We have learned two things during this strike that supports this rather distressing perspective on the state of higher learning. York University has just announced massive cuts to summer teaching this year (as well as cuts courses in the upcoming Fall/Winter semestres) that directly impacts the livelihoods of many CUPE members. According to one message sent by a colleague “Humanities has been asked to cut 39 courses. Philosophy has been asked to cut 56 courses in the F/W.” Another colleague writes, “We were told last week that 75% of all Gen Ed courses (summer and winter) were to be cut, and the remaining courses would sit 450 - 500 seats. And of course, since we don’t have lecture halls that size, that lectures would be online.” At first some of us thought this might be scare tactics to demoralize the union. But it appears that the cuts amount to 30 million across all faculties. The other thing we learned and which should be used to evaluate these numbers I am reporting, is the December 2023 Office of the Auditor General of Ontario’s Value-for-Money Audit: York University Operations and Capital. This report contains some important findings that throw York’s decision-making into question. For example, of the six “signifcant findings” highlighted in the executive summary, here are four doozies (and the other two are not positive):
York’s deferred maintenance backlog has left many of its buildings and infrastructure in increasingly poor condition. York’s deferred maintenance backlog grew 109%, from $459 million to $1.04 billion, between January 2019 and January 2023.
York did not prepare full business cases for major capital projects before proceeding with them, including fully assessing the financial viability of those projects. We reviewed seven major capital projects and found that in four of them, with total costs of $206.2 million, no financial evaluation at all had been undertaken. (p. 3)
Increase in size of senior administration despite stable enrolment and tuition revenue.
York’s results were lower on many performance indicators, such as those related to its graduates’ academic and employment success, compared to other Ontario universities.
The size of the maintenance backlog means an increasingly unsafe workplace. And how does an institution making decisions in the hundreds of millions get away with “not prepar[ing] full business cases for major capital projects before proceeding…”? And while denying the union’s demands for decent wage increases including making up for the enforced 1% per year increase for 3 years (because of provincial legislation that has been found illegal and is being repealed as we speak) and a cost-of-living-allowance which reflects the consequences of inflation, the university sees fit significantly to “increase the size the senior administration.”
Is it not possible that the last finding quoted above of “lower … performance indicators” is, in fact, a consequence of the previous three findings?
All this makes me realize that while CUPE is fighting a relatively traditional struggle for wages, benefits, and a decent workplace, we are also standing in the way management decisions that are diminishing the quality of education that York delivers. Which means that CUPE is actually defending quality of education. And, as teachers and students perhaps we are standing similarly to why A.J. Muste said he was standing and to paraphrase: “We do this so the university won't change us.”
Storytelling Events:
Transformations (Online), with Jeffrey Canton
March 17 from 2:30 pm - April 21 from 5:30 pm
Jeffrey is a friend and fellow storyteller who I have known for over 30 years and with whom I have performed. And he is one of the best storytellers Toronto has to offer. Please check out his course which will allow you to use the power of storytelling to change your life.
“Transformations (Online), with Jeffrey Canton teaches participants how to craft a spoken word storytelling performance based upon a life-changing moment from their own personal experiences, and, using traditional storytelling techniques, turning this singular “moment of being” into a short 5-7 minute live or video-recorded performance piece.”
Learn more HERE.
Love this. Thank you, Chris. 🙏🏾
Also that storytelling class sounds awesome.