Ryan Reiset / McGill TribuneIn the first week of November, two students created Exposing MUNACA, a blog aiming to denounce many of MUNACA’s claims and positions in the recent labour dispute. As stated on the blog, which has received over 40,000 hits to date, the students’ mission is to “reveal [the] truth behind MUNACA and the MUNACA strike,” as well as to create a discussion and allow people to think critically before pledging their support for the union’s strike. They state that all information used on their blog is taken from official, public sources such as the MUNACA website, as well as McGill University’s website and emails to students.
Until recently, the blog remained entirely anonymous, working under the name Pienonymous. Following an interview with the Montreal Gazette on Nov. 21, Kayla Herbert, U1 English literature and Peter Guo, U2 physics, revealed their identities to the community, putting to rest the rumours that the McGill administration was behind the creation of the blog.
“Initially the … anonymous identity would give us no prejudice—people [could] just look at the blog objectively without saying, ‘okay, these are students, we’re not going to listen to this,'” Guo said.
“There’s something comforting about an anonymous blog,” Herbert added. Comments can be made anonymously as well, which Herbert says encourages comments from visitors.
“[Now] we also wanted to reveal our identities … because we’re hoping that other people will come forward and feel comfortable [doing so, too],” she said.
When asked what inspired their creation of the blog, Guo and Herbert explained that they wanted to address the many assumptions held regarding the labour dispute.
“At some point you’ve got to ask yourself, why are they on strike? What are the reasons?” Guo explained.
“You go in with an unbiased view. But I think as you look more into it and discover more things, you realize you start to [take] one side. And for us, we [took] the more unpopular stance, to go against MUNACA in their strike,” he said.
“I think the Gazette worded it well,” Herbert said. “It started as a whisper, everyone’s scared to say anything against the union … this is a university, we’re supposed to be encouraging dialogue and discourse, that’s what it’s all about.”
“A lot of the demands they’re asking for are just fiscally impossible,” Herbert said, explaining her stance. Both Herbert and Guo recognize that negotiation tactics require parties to aim high in their demands, but noted that demands have to be rooted in practicality. MUNACA employees are losing money every day that they are on strike.
“You have to look at MUNACA [which] has 1,700 employees. If the union tries to get an offer that’s just impossible, they’re wasting everyone’s time,” Guo argued.
They emphasized that their blog is not opposed to MUNACA workers themselves.
“We are against this strike, we are against the union leaders [and] executives … we are against the bias and lies in which the union leaders presented these blanket terms,” they wrote in an email to the Tribune.
The numerous comments on blog posts by MUNACA members suggest that others share the two students’ sentiments, and that the blog is providing a forum for these views.
One anonymous comment reads: “I’m unfortunately a MUNACA member. Thanks for giving a voice to those of us whose voice has been silenced through intimidation and coercion. I’m living proof that we aren’t all on the union’s side.”
“As an ‘M’ with a spouse on the picket lines, I see both sides daily and unfortunately MUNACA is completely misrepresenting the information to their own members,” another comment reads.
“Misleading the public is never a good thing, especially when you’re trying to look for the public’s support,” Guo said. “As you can see … MUNACA members are speaking up that they did not sign up for this strike.” In an effort to inform the union members, an unknown individual printed copies of the Exposing MUNACA blog and distributed them to the picketers the week of Nov. 21.
These allegations of misinformation point to a tangled web being unravelled by Pienonymous. “We’re definitely seeing that there’s this kind of divide between the union leaders and the members,” Herbert said. In a blog post dated Nov. 22, Pienonymous discussed the Aug. 24 vote which led to the strike. Of the 1,700 MUNACA members, approximately 700 attended the meeting to vote for a strike mandate. Of those 700 attendees, 88 per cent voted for the mandate. This represents approximately 616 members, or 36 per cent of all MUNACA members.
Herbert and Guo are currently investigating these allegations brought to them via anonymous comments. They address the larger issue of representation within MUNACA, and Herbet and Guo are working with a source who has emailed them with information regarding this specific issue.
Not everyone, however, has agreed with Pienonymous’ blog. While Herbert and Guo have seen support from many MUNACA workers, teaching assistants, and professors following the release of their names, they have also received hate letters and personal attacks from MUNACA to their personal McGill email addresses.
On Nov. 25, somone else created a blog titled ‘Defending MUNACA,’ replicating Exposing MUNACA’s format. It’s an anonymous blog, but the author does identify him- or herself as a student. On the blog the author explains his or her reason for its creation: “I feel a broader contextualization of the strike and the highlighting of some key facts might offer a different perspective,” he or she wrote.
Kevin Whittaker, president of MUNACA, spoke to the Gazette in response to the Exposing MUNACA blog.
“I don’t think they’re well aware of what our demands are,” he told the Gazette. According to Pienonymous, their blog was only recognized by Whittaker after he was approached by the Gazette on Nov. 21. Guo maintains he sent him the link to the blog earlier this month.
Joël Pedneault, SSMU’s Vice-president External Affairs, also voiced his criticism of the blog.
“A lot of the information that’s presented there is presented in a bit of a sensationalistic way and with very little context,” Pedneault said. “In some respect I think it’s fine that people are formulating criticisms, but at the same time, this format doesn’t seem to be very convincing or very respectful.”
In response to the Exposing MUNACA blog, SSMU Council expressed interest in the SSMU executives sending a listserv to students with information regarding the strike.
“I think it’s difficult for students who don’t feel they have enough information. Most of what’s been put out there is clearly partisan,” Maggie Knight, SSMU President, said.
“People are obviously welcome to dissent and criticise … [but] there’s a difference between doing th
at with the aim of arriving at a more equitable situation for every party, and doing that to the aim of specifically attacking one group of people,” Pedneault said.
“You really need to think critically,” Guo said. “We’re not really trying to just pull people to one side or the other, what we want to do is to create that dialogue.”