[Fdu] Please sign by Friday! Supporting U of T staff in an era of Covid-19

[Cynthia Wright]

apologies for x-postings.

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*From:* OpenLetterFaculty-l: monthly social space for progressive 
faculty at UT <OPENLETTERFACULTY-L at LISTSERV.UTORONTO.CA> on behalf of 
UTFaculty <openletterutfaculty at GMAIL.COM>
*Sent:* March 31, 2020 9:23 PM
*To:* OPENLETTERFACULTY-L at LISTSERV.UTORONTO.CA 
<OPENLETTERFACULTY-L at LISTSERV.UTORONTO.CA>
*Subject:* Please sign by Friday! Supporting U of T staff in an era of 
Covid-19
Dear friends - please consider signing this important and time sensitive 
letter by *FRIDAY APRIL 3RD @ NOON*. Please also circulate widely 
through your networks. Many thanks!

SIGN HERE! https://forms.gle/yrJdgMFnUz5pNYkRA

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March 31, 2020

Open Letter to President Gertler re: Supporting our staff in an era of 
Covid-19

Dear President Gertler,

We write with regard to the COVID-19 crisis and the crucial steps that 
the University of Toronto must take in order to protect its most 
essential workers: the staff that keep the institution running.

We applaud the University for so far stepping up and exceeding its own 
contractual obligations to staff. This is admirable and the right thing 
to do. Demonstrating ongoing leadership in this moment must entail the 
protection of lives and livelihoods and the enhancement of a collective 
sense of responsibility and care. We are in this together and U of T’s 
labour practices must affirm this fact.

We understand that currently, the University of Toronto has only 
committed to paying administrative and technical staff until April 30th, 
2020. This is unacceptable. An institution that claims to be a model 
employer, dedicated to advancing the public good, must do better for all 
members of our community at a time of crisis.

We ask you to reassure all workers at the University of Toronto that 
their employment will be protected. This includes renewing contracts for 
casual workers, and implementing a “right of first refusal” when 
operations start up again. It also includes providing an Employment 
Insurance ‘top-up’ and continuing all benefits. Staff at the University 
of Toronto should not be evicted from their jobs just as no one should 
be evicted from their homes as a result of the current pandemic. In 
particular, staff who are supporting elderly family members and/or those 
with child care responsibilities should be able to direct their focus 
and energy primarily if necessary towards fulfilling those essential 
duties. Staff should not be required to undertake this vitally essential 
care work under the shadow of income uncertainty and professional 
precarity as a result of the University of Toronto’s response to this 
crisis. The University should consider redefining a full-time work week 
to 25 hours for staff working from home who are also juggling child and 
elder care responsibilities, following the example of the Australian 
National University, and other institutions of higher education.

Indeed, we are seeing many Universities worldwide step up to enhance job 
security for their workers in the context of COVID-19;  this is the 
model of a caring institution that we would be proud to call our own.

In this fraught moment, we implore you to consider our collective 
responsibility to more than just the bottom line. Crises like the one we 
face today are a dimension of the vast, human-led global ecological 
transformations that promise to multiply. Novel viruses have been tied 
to increasing interaction between wildlife and human settlements in the 
context of habitat destruction fuelled by global urbanization fuelled 
and massive agribusiness operations.. The unprecedented speed and scale 
of the coronavirus’ spread is a feature of globalized supply chains and 
human movement. There is clearly no separation of human and natural 
disasters in this era, but we can shape outcomes by actively planning 
for a just transition.

Now is the time for the senior administration at U of T to show how 
BOUNDLESS our institution can be in supporting everyone who makes this 
institution so strong. We urgently call on the University of Toronto to 
commit to a just transition through this crisis by firstly committing to 
salary continuance for all staff well beyond April 30th, 2020.

Yours sincerely,

Divestment and Beyond: Building Climate Justice at U of T Coalition

*SIGN HERE! https://forms.gle/yrJdgMFnUz5pNYkRA*

c.c.: Cheryl Regehr, Vice-President and Provost
Kelly Hannah-Moffat, Vice-Provost Human Resources


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