{"id":21130,"date":"2018-03-25T06:00:12","date_gmt":"2018-03-25T14:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/?p=21130"},"modified":"2018-03-26T16:58:06","modified_gmt":"2018-03-27T00:58:06","slug":"rouge-forum-dispatch-crisis-of-empire-sort-out-the-rats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/rouge-forum-dispatch-crisis-of-empire-sort-out-the-rats\/","title":{"rendered":"Rouge Forum Dispatch–Crises of Empire! Sort out the Riff-Raff."},"content":{"rendered":"

We Say Fight Back!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Arizona<\/p>\n

Arizona Teachers Walk Out; Oklahoma May Follow Suit<\/h1>\n

Nine schools around Phoenix had to close as teachers staged a walkout wednesday. Meanwhile, Oklahoma teachers are considering a strike. San Diego is at Impasse.
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PHOENIX, AZ \u2013 Nine elementary schools in Phoenix and surrounding communities were forced to close Wednesday as teachers staged a protest over low pay. More than 300 teachers in the Pendergrast Elementary School District staged a sick-out, affecting schools in Phoenix, Avondale, and Glendale.<\/p>\n

The district said that the nine schools were forced to close for the day because there wouldn’t be enough teachers to supervise the students.<\/p>\n

Arizona teachers have been increasing their activities to raise awareness to the fact that they are among the lowest paid teachers in the country. One teacher posted her pay stub online last week to drive the point home.<\/p>\n

“No one goes into teaching for the money,” wrote Elizabeth Milich<\/a>. “But we do need to eat and have a home!”<\/p>\n

The Arizona protests \u2013 dubbed the “RedforEd” campaign as protesters are urged to wear red \u2013 are part of a growing movement around the country. It started last month in West Virginia where teachers went on strike for eight days.\u00a0 patch.com\/arizona\/phoenix\/arizona-teachers-walk-out-other-states-may-follow<\/a><\/p>\n

UBC\u2019s Faculty Association is corrupt and must change, say professors<\/h1>\n
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UBC’s Okanagan campus.\u00a0UBCO<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s academic mobbing,\u201d said Peter Wylie.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cThey\u2019re trying to stop me.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, the\u00a0UBC Faculty Association<\/u><\/a>\u00a0(UBCFA) emailed an unusual\u00a0advisory<\/u><\/a>\u00a0to its more-than 3,200 members about Peter Wylie, a professor of economics at UBC Okanagan. The advisory was sent during the UBCFA elections, in which Wylie is a candidate for vice-president. The\u00a0online elections<\/u><\/a>\u00a0are open to faculty members until April 5.<\/p>\n

\u201cDr. Wylie alleges that the staff of the [UBCFA] are in collusion with University administration and human resources on the Okanagan campus, and working against the interests of our membership,\u201d reads the advisory.<\/p>\n

\u201cDr. Wylie\u2019s allegation is false and unfounded. In our opinion, it constitutes bullying and harassment against our staff.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wylie\u2019s allegations were supported by a 31-page report he\u00a0published online<\/u><\/a>and emailed on Monday \u2014 the first day UBCFA elections were open \u2013 to 310 professors at UBC Vancouver and 104 at UBC Okanagan. The document is a case-by-case accounting of his interactions with the UBCFA as a professor and as a member of the UBCFA Okanagan Faculty Committee and its Member Services Grievances Committee.<\/p>\n

The UBCFA represents faculty on both the Vancouver and Okanagan campuses in their dealings with UBC. The UBCFA is governed by a faculty-elected executive committee of nine. Its operations are handled by a professional staff of six.<\/p>\n

Wylie is running for the executive committee on a loud campaign of \u201csweeping changes to the UBCFA.\u201d He says that the professional staff of the UBCFA are corrupt and must go. He\u2019s framing this year\u2019s UBCFA election as a battle between \u201cthe faculty members like you and me who fund [the UBCFA],\u201d and \u201cthe executive director and her professional staff.\u201d\u00a0 www.ubyssey.ca\/news\/is-ubcs-faculty-association-corrupt\/<\/a><\/p>\n