Role reversal

What a weird afternoon I had today. Earlier in the day, I had been invited to join the BUFA Strike Action Committee, the committee that plans strike strategy and job action. My first call to the lines was a mere two hours later, when BUFA staged an information picket in front of Senate.
I have been wearing my "I Support BUFA" button for a week already, engaging my students in dialogue about the issues in this dispute. This afternoon, I strapped on my armband and handed out information sheets to surprised students as they walked to their bus or to their next class. Usually, this hallway is full of students standing in front of their display tables, passing out information.

It was heartening to see how many students actually wanted to hear about the issues at stake here, the issues that affect their educational future at Brock.

As Senators and administrators filed into the Senate Chambers, they were offered pamphlets as well. President Lightstone made a point of asking for an information sheet, but one of the Deans kept his head down, increased his speed and with a scowl, waved off the proffered pamphlet.

The whole event lasted less than an hour.

It is a tough decision for me to make, to support a strike that will remove me from the classroom. It is my mantra that there is no other place that I would rather be than in a classroom discussing ideas with my students.

I feel such a personal commitment to my students, as past students can attest and current students can see and feel. But the long term benefit of permanent, tenured faculty in the primary teaching positions at Brock is worth this action, in my estimation.

I have agonized over this, and this is one of the reasons I am blogging -- so the people to whom I feel such a commitment can gain some insight into why I feel so strongly about supporting this action.

BWKJ