URSU Blues

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I've got them URSU Blues

Pretty much anyone that has had a lengthy conversation with me regarding the University of Regina Students Union as of late knows how I feel about our union. To paraphrase URSU's mission statement, the union's purpose is to make our university a better place and to address/accommodate the needs of the students.

Most times, the union does a great job of this. They do tons of great stuff to improve our post-secondary experience. However, I believe that our students union has become a forum for partisan politics instead of discovering and truly addressing our students' needs over the past few years.

As of recently, I am talking about URSU taking a stance and becoming vocal regarding the Canada Post Worker's Strike. As viewed in current URSU President Kent Peterson's blog, our president has all but officially declared our union in support of the workers. The group of executives even took to the streets in Ottawa during a CFS conference to rally with workers.

Now I'm not saying I'm in favour or opposed to the strike, and I believe that the workers have every right to fight for more wages, but how relevant is the issue of a Post Office strike to University of Regina students? Is this really going to drastically affect our education? Why does our union have to take a stance? Recently, teachers in Saskatchewan were negotiating with the Provincial government for a new contract. URSU also decided to take a stance in support of the teachers. This action made perfect sense, since the issue is directly linked to our prospective students' education. Our union should only get involved with these types of issues if they directly affect our university.

Now according to the blog, it appears as if this stance stemmed from the CFS conference in Ottawa a few weeks back. I don't like the idea of having any organizations, political parties or personal agendas interfering with the voices of our students. Between the previous left-wing partisan associations of our current president and our past president appearing on right-wing radio shows to campaign for elections and promote the 'vote no' side for the CFS referendum, I can't help but feel that our student union has become a theatre for provincial politics. It's a shame. The union should belong to our students.