Letter to the Editor of the Marlet (Victoria), 7 January 2004
Since 2001, tuition fees at UVic have been artificially inflated to serve the BC Liberal agenda of privatizing the costs of post-secondary education. How else do we explain an $18-million budget surplus? A government-funded model, accessible to low-income students, is being replaced with a user-fee model, where only the rich can afford an education.
Sadly, UVic administrators have been complicit in this unethical plan. The current labour dispute has situated teaching assistants at the forefront of the struggle for publicly funded education. It is the duty of all progressive members of the university community to stand with CUPE in this fight.
“The longer the line, the shorter the strike.” Students, professors and other workers must band together, striking a blow against the agenda of greed that is sweeping across this province. A line has been drawn in the sand. Which side are you on?
