January 5, 2007
We are disappointed by your decision of Nov. 10 not to run the ad which CUPE 3287, the Sessional Lecturers’ Union, had submitted to On Campus News.
The On Campus News website states that the publication’s mandate is to “support employee morale by providing University employees with forum for free communication and discussion of issues related to the University.” We believe that our ad is not so offensive to anyone as to violate such a broad, liberal mandate. Rejecting our ad means censoring the views of the union.
In addition, rejecting such a harmless ad after it had been submitted for scrutiny seems arbitrary and inconsistent with any broader OCN policy as it existed at the time: OCN has published similar ads in the past.
You state that “this newspaper is operated by the University of Saskatchewan which, as you know, is currently in contract negotiations with a number of its bargaining units. I cannot justify running an ad that could potentially jeopardize those negotiations, the credibility of this paper or the reputation of the University.”
We fail to see how our ad could jeopardize negotiations, especially since the same ad appeared elsewhere on campus. Arguably, it is not our ad but rather its rejection that detracts from the credibility of OCN. We fear that OCN is no longer a forum for free discussion.
Heather Wagg, Chair
CUPE 3287
for the Executive Board
Editor’s Note: Every item in OCN, whether a story, a photo or a paid advertisement, appears at the discretion of the editor. The advertisement in question was rejected because OCN does not believe it has any role to play in the collective bargaining process. Communication between various employee groups and the employer should take place through established channels.
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