Who Is Impacted By The Strike?

Students at Capilano University need your help NOW!

Capilano University employees have been engaged in strike action because their union, MoveUP Local 378, initiated job action on May 15.

As of June 6, the Capilano University Faculty Association (CFA) has joined the strike in solidarity, which means that course instructors will not be working for the duration of the strike action.

As a result, student classes, activities and events on campus are suspended until further notice.

For the indefinite future, students at Capilano University:

• will not be able to attend classes and lectures;
• will not have their in-person classes changed to online classes;
• will not be able to contact nor meet with instructors to ask for help with course content, 
• will not be able to receive grades or feedback on submitted assignments;
• will not have any of their submitted assignments counted towards final grade calculation, as reflected on transcripts; and
• will not have tuition fees refunded for cancelled classes.

But...

Students are allowed to continue working on course assignments, readings, and materials on their own time, with no support from the university nor their instructors, with no clear guidelines for the remainder of the semester, and possibly beyond.

What Happens If The Strike Continues?

Students at Capilano University have no remedy against the damages that are being caused by employee engagement in the strike action. 

Students are feeling stressed, confused, and overwhelmed because of the lack of information and timelines relating to the strike and the completion of the summer semester. 

The strike will continue for an indefinite period of time, disrupting our learning and educational program / course completion.

If a resolution to the strike is reached only after the end of the current semester (June 23rd), then students will need to worry about fulfilling final course requirements and assessments after the official semester end date. This is not fair to us, nor is it acceptable.

Many students are either beginning the second half of the summer semester on July 4, or have other activities to attend to. Instead of preparing for the next semester or enjoying the remainder of the summer, students will need to continue attending to their unfinished courses.

Even worse, if the strike is not resolved at any point during the summer and extends into the fall semester in September, then every single student at Capilano University will have the completion of their degrees, certificates, or diplomas jeopardized.

Why Do We Need To Act Now? 

We empathize with and value all the employees and faculty members working at Capilano University, and we wish there was an alternative to the strike action, but it seems as though our university is not empathizing with us, the students, who are paying to attend classes every semester.

Everyone including the students, employees, and faculty at Capilano University deserves to be treated fairly, but it's certainly not fair for students to be disregarded in the process of the university's employees pursuing solutions to their own concerns.

It is not fair for us to suffer because of the employee strike, especially when we, the students, have done nothing wrong. We all pay our tuition fees, attend classes, complete assignments, work hard, and show respect towards the university's employees and faculty members, and in return we expect the same respect and care from our university, who should, at the bare minimum, allow us to finish the semester without disruptions.

We, the students at Capilano University, are asking you to please end the MoveUP Local 378 employee strike at Capilano University, and to withdraw the Capilano University Faculty Association's (CFA) participation in the strike, to allow us to return to our classes and finish the summer semester in peace. 

We trust that the issues facing the employees at Capilano University can be resolved quickly and efficiently, without the need to continue a campus-wide full walkout and work stoppage. 

We thank you for your consideration and attention to this matter, and we hope that our concerns can be heard and responded to.