The UNBC strike is a story reporters are going to hound any way they can, but media on campus is caught between two ideologies.
Kelley Ware is the Multimedia Coordinator for “Over the Edge”, the campus newspaper.
She says their journalists aren’t crossing the picket lines, choosing to work from home, while trying to keep students updated on negotiations.
Ware says people caught in labour disputes often sympathise with one side over the other.
“Students on campus really don’t have that luxury, we know all of these people,” she says. “It kind of feels like divorcing parents, in a way, and you’re the kid caught in the middle.”
Ware is hoping to graduate this year and is feeling a bit nervous.
“There is a lot of uncertainty, but no strike in Canadian university history has resulted in a lost semester,” she says. “Depending on how long this goes depends on how long the semester could be extended … but they have another semester starting in May.”
Down the hall, the story is the same at the campus radio station, CFUR, where the door is locked and the lights are off
Station Manager Fraser Hayes says their staff and programmers won’t be crossing picket lines, either.
“We’re still on the air, we’re just not updating new shows,” he says. “We are posting on social media for the course of the strike, to try and keep people informed with what’s happening.”
He says the station isn’t supporting either side during the strike. “Hopefully they get this sorted out soon, so we can get back in the studio,” he says.
Hayes says their station is going to rely on a backlog of live performances accumulated during the Winter Games.
Negotiations between UNBC faculty and management are scheduled to continue, Friday.
For ongoing updates, visit their Faculty relations page.
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