Recent and ongoing demonstrations against police violence and anti-Black racism are responses to deep-seated structural and systemic racism. Our academic institutions are not exempt from these systemic issues and faculty unions across the country must recommit to the fight for racial justice in our own institutions and organizations as well as in the wider society. According to the Canadian Association of University Teachers: “Our universities and colleges must do better. We need to be part of the solution by addressing the inequities that exist and by leveraging the knowledge and expertise of academic staff and students to develop concrete ways to end racism and inequality in our society.”
Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour (BIPOC) members who are interested in forming a caucus to discuss these issues at Memorial and identify ways that our union can use collective bargaining and other tools to contribute to Indigenizing the academy and building racial justice at Memorial and more widely are invited to contact MUNFA at membership.munfa@mun.ca. MUNFA will organize an initial meeting and commits to providing ongoing support for meetings and other initiatives.
