The Teaching Assistants’ Union of Memorial University (TAUMUN) has rolled out a new website featuring a petition demanding the dissolution of the Graduate Students’ Union (GSU).
The petition demands that the GSU Board of Directors convene an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) to vote on dissolving the union and proposes that it be held no later than March 18, 2026.
At the time of publication, the petition had 30 signatures, five more than the required 25.
As previously reported, the GSU has accumulated more than $1 million in debt to GreenShield.
The petition includes a cease-and-desist order barring the Board of Directors and the Executive from entering into any new long-term liabilities, including university-backed loans, lines of credit, or fee-increase agreements, effective immediately upon the filing of the petition.
If passed, the emergency resolution would require the GSU to immediately enter into formal dissolution. It calls for the appointment of an independent third-party liquidator to oversee the orderly settlement of assets, 24-hour notice to staff of the impending termination of the corporation as a legal employer, and the conclusion of the representative mandate, with actions limited to supporting the administrative requirements of the wind-up process. It further demands notice of insolvency and non-succession to Memorial University and the Canadian Federation of Students, rendering all existing representative and service agreements null and void upon the entity’s cessation.
In a statement of necessity, the petition asserts: “The membership finds that the GSU has reached a state of irremediable insolvency. Dissolution under Article 13.4 is the only remaining mechanism to protect graduate students from further financial exposure and ensure that student fees are no longer redirected toward unserviceable legacy debt.”
Petitioners also reject what they describe as a proposed “debt tax”: “We stand firmly against the proposed annual $135 debt tax (membership dues) and view any efforts to increase the graduate student financial burden without any services to be unethical and unsustainable for the future of graduate students’ representation.”
The petition further states that the continued allocation of funds toward full-time management and leadership compensation represents “a fundamental breakdown in fiduciary responsibility.”
It warns that a contingency plan involving a university-backed loan constitutes “a surrender of organizational independence” and that such an agreement creates a conflict of interest, allowing the university “to co-opt student representation, fundamentally deteriorating the autonomy and dignity of the graduate student voice.”
The petition concludes: “The organization has reached a state of irremediable failure and is no longer a viable vehicle for student advocacy. To protect the graduate student body from further mismanagement, the current entity must dissolve.”
View the petition below:
Matt Barter is a graduate of the Humanities and Social Sciences Faculty at Memorial University of Newfoundland, holding a degree in Political Science with a minor in Sociology. He enjoys reading thought-provoking articles, taking walks in nature, and volunteering in the community.
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