A confrontation on the picket line escalated when Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) 901 President Jake Morrow claims a member of the University’s bargaining team ran over his foot—sparking a charged exchange over the ongoing strike.
Morrow claims his foot was run over by University bargaining team member Christopher DeLuca on March 27 behind Stauffer Library. DeLuca was attempting to leave a parking lot but was blocked by protesters picketing in front of his car.
In a five-minute video obtained by The Journal, Morrow is seen talking to DeLuca through his car window. Morrow claims when the car began moving up, it ran over his foot. He then tried to get DeLuca’s attention, telling him his foot had been run over. DeLuca apologized and asked if someone should call medical assistance.
“Chris, you just ran over my f—king foot,” Morrow said. “I’m sorry, are you okay? Should we call the paramedics?” DeLuca responded.
After a brief conversation, Morrow shifted the focus to the strike. DeLuca stated the University is ready to return to negotiations. In response, Morrow said the University has shown no interest in re-engaging, adding while DeLuca might want to negotiate, he needs to be “a louder voice at that table.”
The conversation continued for a few minutes after the initial confrontation before the protestors made way for the car to .
In a post-incident interview with The Journal, Morrow claimed his first reaction to getting his foot run over was pain, which then turned into frustration.
“I was flabbergasted that was the level with which they were treating us,” Morrow said. “I was just shocked and appalled.”
Morrow later expanded on the bargaining team specifically. He thinks it must be stressful for them as many of them are of the Queen’s community, referencing the fact that DeLuca is also a Graduate Studies professor of educational assessment in the Faculty of Education.
“When we’re talking about Queen’s bargaining team, it’s not these nefarious people who are out somewhere in the world making these decisions […] it has to be stressful to be making decisions that hurt people, to be doing things that hurt people, and to have to look them in the eyes,” Morrow said.
Morrow expressed how this incident feels like a physical representation of how negotiations with the University have gone.
“You just ran over my foot. You just ran over my semester,” Morrow said.
The Journal reached out to the University to confirm the incident occurred, but they declined to comment.
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Jared
The theatrics are over the top
Jes
His foot was run over by a dean while participating in a legal picket as a grad student. I think anyone in that situation would feel like hey, maybe this is inappropriate?