Questions have to be asked about ULFA strike motivation

By Lethbridge Herald on March 17, 2022.

Editor:

A recent letter to the editor by a University of Lethbridge faculty member attempts to justify why he and many of the University of Lethbridge faculty deserve a better deal. 

Much of the material seemed to be selective, such as salary, which is actually in the $150,000 range, plus benefits of 17.5 per cent (Sunshine list). Faculty can also consult, which is a source of income not reported through the university. 

Are faculty salaries “fat”? Categorizing salary is subjective and likely depends on one’s own situation when doing a comparison. For most salaried employees, how much taxes should they pay to support someone who earns many times more than they ever hope to? 

Are professors paid 10-15 per cent below market value? What is their market value? Professors are free to change their employment location if they are valued higher elsewhere. 

If faculty at the University of Lethbridge are being underpaid so much, why has there not been a mass exodus to these other institutions or businesses? 

Perhaps many faculty are over-estimating their own value to the economy. If there is little demand (employment opportunities elsewhere) for the skill set, what is the value of that skill set? 

Compensation comparisons should be made with other sectors of the economy, not just select universities. An alternative employment opportunity might be a researcher in the federal or provincial civil service. Check out these rates of pay and professor salaries can appear attractive. 

Professors are not the only people who have had a long educational journey to obtain a Ph.D. There are many who took that journey and ended up in industry, non-profits, or federal of provincial government organizations. 

They also supervise co-workers and many need to find external funding to finance their program, and for some to finance their own salary. They also pay overhead to the organization that is providing them with required facilities, equipment, and administrative support. 

They too work evenings and weekends but are not entitled to perks such as sabbaticals. Perhaps non-profits would be an appropriate market comparison? 

Compensation appears to be the main issue for the ULFA. But faculty should also look at themselves and their expectations. 

How many are over 65 or 70 and could draw a full pension, but continue to draw salary plus benefits at nearly twice the level of entry level faculty? 

Some of these individuals continue to be productive, but are all? If they are committed to their research, they could become emeriti professors and continue their research with new colleagues.

Is it time for the faculty to be serious about items like tenure and retirement for faculty with adequate years and service to draw a full pension? 

Tenure is important for the security to develop a program and career, but is it necessary later in a career? If productive, tenure should be irrelevant. 

Universities have a limited pot of funds to allocate, so how should it be allocated? 

If group A gets more of the pot, then group B will get less, or maybe the size of group A is reduced. The path of Laurentian University might be an eventual outcome from the current strike – the university declaring insolvency.

Finally, but not least, the students who are caught up in the current labour dispute deserve to not have their education disrupted.

 If the same happened to the current faculty and administration when they were students, would they be where they are today? How many future brilliant careers are being ended? 

Will current students return to the University of Lethbridge next semester – I would seriously look for an alternative after losing a semester and all of the associated costs. 

The university should expect lower enrollment in the future, and as a result there will be less need for some departments, faculty, and administration. Are egos too much at play in this dispute, without regard to the fallout?

Elwin Smith

Lethbridge