Sid Ryan, you have disgraced our union
To Mr. Ryan, we say this: We are academics. Without academic freedom, there is no civil society. The boycott he champions in our name undermines civil society by weakening the very freedom on which it depends. The freedom of thought is arguably the most important foundation and fruit of civil soc i e t y. The boycott of academic institutions is an attack upon this freedom, which an enlightened union should be supporting, rather than limiting. For Mr. Ryan’s boycott limits the freedom not only of the academics he wishes to prevent from speaking (in this case, Israeli academics), but also of those who might wish to listen (Canadians).
For all of the above reasons, we, as Ontario academics, call on Sid Ryan to resign for undermining our union.
We do not consent to have our wages used to support resolutions on which we have not been allowed to vote, which violate the spirit of the union’s constitution and which compromise our integrity at a most fundamental level.
Signed by members of CUPE 3902, University of Toronto:
Paul Nahme, Jenn Cianca, Carolyn Reimer, Ian Richards, Callie Callon, Lindsay Ann Cox, Jonthan Newman, Sarah Kleeb, Shari Goldberg, Jade Weimer, Tim Langille, Emily Springay, Matt King, Amy Fisher, Zvi Halpern, Aldea Muldhern, Tema Smith, G. Anthony Bruno, Kathleen Gibbons, Nicholas Dion, Benjamin W. Carter, Jason McKinney.
