Stronger Together

September 6, 2021

‘Togeth­er we are stronger’ is a short, but mean­ing- and pur­pose-filled phrase.

Join­ing togeth­er to affect pos­i­tive change in our work­places and the broad­er soci­ety has been a con­stant focus of work­ers since the first Labour Day in 1872 when the Toron­to Print­ers Union went on strike seek­ing a short­er work week. 

URFA’s 1500+ mem­bers car­ry on this tra­di­tion by work­ing togeth­er to pro­tect and fos­ter aca­d­e­m­ic free­dom and col­le­gial gov­er­nance in a safe and healthy cam­pus and workplace. 

Our vision is that URFA mem­bers are diverse, engaged and secure in their employ­ment and phys­i­cal, men­tal, spir­i­tu­al and emo­tion­al health. In an envi­ron­ment of aca­d­e­m­ic free­dom, free­dom of expres­sion, col­le­gial­i­ty and respect, they dri­ve a cul­ture of teach­ing, research and com­mu­ni­ty engage­ment that makes the world a bet­ter place.

The pow­er of togeth­er­ness can­not be under­es­ti­mat­ed. By act­ing togeth­er, we ensure that our vision is oper­a­tional­ized. By stand­ing in sol­i­dar­i­ty togeth­er with post-sec­ondary col­leagues across the coun­try, we advo­cate for the pro­tec­tion of aca­d­e­m­ic free­dom and col­le­gial gov­er­nance. By rais­ing our voic­es togeth­er, we con­tin­ue to cre­ate a bet­ter world. 

To bor­row words from Pete Seeger, ​“We can bring to birth a new world from the ash­es of the old, for the union makes us strong.”

Have a safe and healthy and hap­py Labour Day in solidarity,

Britt Hall

URFA pres­i­dent

Lis­ten to Sol­i­dar­i­ty For­ev­er, by Pete Singer: https://​www​.youtube​.com/​w​a​t​c​h​?​v​=​p​C​n​E​A​H​5wCzo

Read the Sol­i­dar­i­ty For­ev­er lyrics: https://​genius​.com/​P​e​t​e​-​s​e​e​g​e​r​-​s​o​l​i​d​a​r​i​t​y​-​f​o​r​e​v​e​r​-​l​yrics