The Graduate Student’s Union (GSU) has responded to the petition put forward by the TAUMUN calling for a vote on its dissolution.
The petition calls for an Extraordinary General Meeting for graduate students to vote on the dissolution of the GSU, citing proposed fee increase, financial mismanagement, and issues with transparency.
The Muse received comment from the GSU’s Executive Director of Communications, Gaayathri Sukantha Murugan, responding to the motion proposed by the TA’s union.
“GSU strongly disagrees with this proposition,” says Murugan.
“While we understand the concerns raised by TAUMUN, a vote of this nature cannot happen until robust conversations are had with the Canadian Federation of Students to ensure the continuation of membership benefits available to graduate students, especially health insurance.”
In recent years, GSU ended its Grammarly Premium subscription service offered to students, and closed Bitters pub following extensive renovations.
Murugan says that despite financial hardships, the student union still offers important services.
This includes the Health and Dental services administered by Greenshield, to whom the GSU says it owes $1.6 million in outstanding fees.
The student union is part of a national health plan it accesses by being members of the Canadian Federation of Students. Murugan says that if the union were to be dissolved it would no longer have access to this health plan.
“The loss of this affiliation, and access to student-oriented insurance plans, would significantly impact all students who rely on health insurance including international students, student parents, students with disabilities, as well as all students without any other coverage, all of whom rely on this coverage for life-sustaining care while being enrolled in academic programs,” says Murugan.
She cautions that “voting to dissolve the GSU before establishing a safety-net for students may generate more harm than intended.”
She also cautioned about the loss of funding for ratified graduate clubs and societies, as well as a projected lack of student advocacy, representation, and input within both internal and external institutional decision-making processes.
She says that “the impacts of dissolution cannot be captured in words alone, as it would represent a loss of community, safety, and support that would be felt for years to come.”
Murugan also says that dissolving the GSU will not absolve outstanding debts to Greenshield and both provincial and national chapters of CFS.
According to Murugan, GSU would be required to work with a lawyer, Memorial administration, and impartial third parties to liquidate all assets.
Failing to repay outstanding debts in full will “[affect] the abilities for any newly formed graduate unions to obtain health insurance through providers such as Greenshield or other reputable companies.”
Murugan says, should the membership vote to dissolve the GSU, it would lose the opportunity to investigate past financial mismanagement and hold guilty parties accountable.
Proposed fee increases
Murugan says the proposed increase of around $15 dollars a semester would only amount to an additional $5.56 if GSU had been increasing fees based on the Consumer Price Index.
According to the statement, the union’s governing documents require membership fees be adjusted annually to reflect the CPI, and the GSU membership fee has not been updated in approximately 10 years. MUNSU and CFS adjust their membership fees annually based on CPI.
The Muse will provide updates as the story develops.
