The Graduate Students’ Union (GSU) has issued another statement addressing common questions amid a petition raised by TAUMUN executive calling for a vote on its dissolution.
Distributed by the School of Graduate Studies on GSU’s behalf, the email correspondence and accompanying pamphlet aim to debunk ‘5 Myths about Dissolution,’ and answer some frequently asked questions swirling about the union and its possible dissolution.
It also confirmed that GSU has $1.6m in debt to Greenshield, $355k to the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS), and $45k to other unspecified persons/organizations.
Regarding the lack of transparency and communication from GSU, the statement says that it’s because GSU lacks proper communication channels for directly emailing graduate students.
The School of Graduate Studies has a full email list, but due to privacy reasons, it cannot share it with the union.
The statement also rejects that “GSU is deliberately withholding financial statements,” and says that no financial statements after 2022 are available.
These statements were not completed “due to lack of sufficient supporting documentation.” The correspondence says that the current executive has been working with auditors to prepare the next financial statement, which would be for the Fiscal Year of 2023.
It also says that dissolving GSU will not absolve outstanding debts, MUNSU cannot take on management of graduate health insurance without taking on GSU’s debts, and health insurance cannot be administered by the School of Graduate Studies.
The statement cautions against dissolution, warning that if a dissolution vote is passed, any subsequent unions created in place of GSU would risk being sued by Greenshield.
According to the statement, GSU has confirmed its clear financial standing with the university itself, and finalized a 10-year repayment plan with the Canadian Federation of Students, to whom they owe $355k.
Regarding the debts owed to Greenshield, GSU says that upon taking office last Spring, they discovered unpaid invoices dating back to August 2024. $1.64m has been repaid to Greenshield so far, and the union states that they are “working to ensure regular payments moving forward.”
The statement says that proposing to increase membership fees is to adjust by Consumer Price Index, which have not been implemented in 10 years. GSU is proposing this be corrected, with an additional $5 increase to “help stabilize our financial position.”
The email also states that GSU executives are also discussing renting out Bitters pub to a third party so they can receive additional monthly revenue to rectify their financial situation.
GSU’s statement overall urges against dissolution, saying that “The issues facing GSU did not build up overnight or a single year, and nor can they be solved in that amount of time,” and says that the fee increase and dissolution will be separate motions.
CFS responds
The Muse also received a statement from Canadian Federation of Students (CFS), which confirmed the figures provided by GSU.
GSU currently owes $177,680 to CFS National, and $177,680 to CFS-NL, totalling $355,260.
In a joint statement from CFS National Chairperson Mary Feltham and CFS-NL Chairperson Nicolas Keough, they say that this debt accumulated from 2021 to 2025, as the Graduate Student Union did not allocate any membership fees to the CFS dues during this four-year period.
According to Feltham and Keough, dues owed to CFS for this academic year have been remitted.
Keough said that CFS-NL has been “working extremely closely with the current GSU Executive in order to create a payment plan in order to repay these debts, and we are pleased that they have remitted fees during this academic year.”
“We have been happy to have had constant communication with and transparency from the GSU this year regarding their financial challenges and appreciate their willingness to work with us to address these remittance issues.”
Registration is open for Graduate students to attend the Annual General Meeting this evening from 6-9.
The Muse will provide updates as the story continues to develop.
