#FreeSoftware, #OpenAccess, and #LinkedOpenData are (some of) my jam.
Dad to four kids (two human, two #BeardedDragons).
#Librarian at Laurentian University (Canada). Systems, health, education, #ScholComms, #ResearchDataManagement, statistics, and other stuff.
Unions rock.
| Web | https://dscott.ca/ |
| Pronouns | he/him |
@sean @evan Rough indeed. Everything in Sudbury was shut down as of last night, and will still be shut down tomorrow. A blizzard that ends with freezing rain makes for quite the slog to clear driveways, sidewalks, roads, etc.
A good friend of mine was scheduled for open heart surgery this morning; that's been pushed back (luckily only a couple of days).
My response to a service provider's post-chat session survey:
It's very annoying that you have chosen to use a "dark pattern" (forcing them to interact with an agent either on the phone or through chat) to try to prevent people from cancelling your service. Respect your customers, and let them cancel the service themselves rather than forcing them to jump through hoops--it will increase the chance that they return to you later, rather than leaving a bitter taste in their mouths.
For the record, our President denies having any prior knowledge of the province's intended action.
It only took our union a year of requests, a Labour Board hearing, 2.5 weeks of striking, and a mediator to get the employer to confess that, actually, they *are* under provincially-imposed limits for what they could offer.
With such a great track record of openness and transparency, why would anyone question their most recent claims?
It's hard to see this news release coming out literally days after our strike ended without suspecting more collusion between the province and our employer.
Sure, it could be pure coincidence that our employer pressed their final offer and warned that they would escalate their measures (impose terms and conditions of employment, cancel the term entirely). But the simplest explanation is that they knew the 8-year tuition freeze was going to be lifted.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-college-university-funding-osap-9.7086776
Edit: better link
The province announced billions in new funding for Ontario's colleges and universities Thursday, along with the end of a years-long tuition freeze and changes to the Ontario Student Assistance Program grant structure.
@ppival my spouse has a good relationship with her employer (local college), and youngest daughter wants to attend her college. Plus after 20 years most of my friends are also prisoners of Laurentian / faculty.
After CCAA, I applied for remote positions in the free software/culture tech sector. Made it through several rounds of interviews, but they went with younger, less expensive candidates.
Golden handcuffs it is, I guess.
My union is heading back to work.
We voted on the employer's final offer today. Our bargaining team told us they got as much out of the employer as they could. Sounds great eh?
They couldn't get more because the province has colluded with our employer to put artificial constraints on bargaining parameters.
So we'll continue to be near the bottom of 21 universities in terms of average faculty salary. There's so much more fuckery. I don't have the energy.
Just filled out the Mozilla Foundation 2026 supporter survey. I identified as a long-time supporter, contributor, donor, etc.
On this question, I might have blurred lines between the Foundation and the Corporation, but the brands are heavily intertwined so I have no regrets.
