The PSAC 901 strike isn’t just happening on the picket line—it’s also being fought online, where misinformation and hostility threaten to divide our campus and weaken our ability to fight for fair working conditions.
On March 10, graduate student workers at Queen’s University—Teaching Assistants (TAs), Research Assistants (RAs), and Teaching Fellows (TFs)—went on strike after of trying to bargain for a fair deal from Queen’s istration. The bargaining priorities are fair wages, affordable housing access, tuition minimization, paid hours to learn course content, and an equitable funding to labour ratio.
As a TA and a member of PSAC 901, I’ve been a part of a collective effort to hold the line on both fronts. But the vastly different atmosphere on campus versus online would have you believe there are two entirely separate strikes happening.
We know the strike has disrupted coursework for some undergraduate students, and we sympathize with their concerns. I love teaching and ing undergraduate students, and stepping back from my work as a TA has been painful. But graduate students are desperate for better conditions. On average, we receive less than poverty wages.
When I arrived on campus last Friday after a few days away, I was shocked by the peaceful yet determined atmosphere I saw. I’d spent the previous night scrolling through the Queen’s subreddit to get a sense of how the community was reacting to the strike. I got the impression things were going badly.
Contrary to the respectful picketing happening on the line, the online discourse was full of exaggerated complaints that the strike was disrupting traffic and blocking the library. Comments that proliferated all through the subreddit were demoralizing for those of us on strike. I saw strikers accused of acting like “yahoos,” told to stop complaining because they’re replaceable. Those who tried to defend themselves and describe the poverty wages that they deal with were insulted. When the union countered misinformation online, even that drew backlash.
I’ve been on the line, and I’ve talked to countless others who have been there every day. I watched traffic flow through as cars honked in . Strikers waited for the light to change before crossing the street. Graduate students were handing out flyers at the library doors and engaging with the community. Everyone was making noise and making their cause known, but they were largely doing so in a way that didn’t disrupt life on campus.
The level of disruption from the PSAC 901 strike is quite low compared to academic strikes that have happened on other university campuses.
When I was an undergraduate student at Carleton University in 2018, 850 istrative and technical employees went on strike in the final semester of my final year. The impact on students was huge. Mental health services were cancelled, classes and labs were disrupted despite the University claiming classes could continue, and buses weren’t able to enter campus due to the picket lines.
Even though students at Carleton were inconvenienced, many of us rallied behind the workers. We understood their fight was our fight too—because fair treatment of employees affects the whole university. The blame was generally understood to lay squarely on the istration for refusing to come back to the table and negotiate a fair deal.
So why has the reaction at Queen’s not been similar?
To start, I believe the way the community is interacting on social media, particularly on Reddit is a huge factor. Besides complaints about the strike that encourage angry sentiment, there are also posts that misinform the community about PSAC’s bargaining priorities.
By selectively sharing offers made in the negotiations and omitting key details, the istration is responsible for shaping a narrative that makes graduate student workers look unreasonable. It’s a classic tactic that of course ended up in a Reddit post. The offer highlights wage increases that appear generous, while hiding the fact that without tuition relief and guarantees about graduate stipends, these gains are meaningless.
The truth is we need real changes to our funding packages, such as equitable funding to labour ratios and tuition minimization. Without these significant changes that PSAC 901 is fighting for, a wage increase will hardly impact our funding packages that are already at unlivable levels—a minimum of $23,000 for PhD students, which doesn’t for roughly $7,000 of yearly tuition that also needs to be paid.
The istration is trying to divide graduate students. We’ve received an email from the School of Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs telling us we can return to our TA/RA/TF duties by using a Request to Work form. Working during a strike can result in hefty fines under the PSAC constitution, a fact that was conveniently left out of the email. The Principal has e-mailed the Queen’s community suggesting the strike has created an atmosphere of fear, meanwhile it’s been the istration who has sent private security forces that surveil and intimidate us on the picket line.
The hostile comments online aren’t the harmless venting of frustrated undergrads. They’re the result of a narrative spun by the istration that the strike is somehow unacceptable. They delegitimize legal, peaceful action. They turn the Queen’s community against workers who just want fair compensation for their labour.
Queen’s has also never experienced an academic strike before, so maybe the community doesn’t know what to expect. Strikes historically have been vital for improving working conditions. A campus where workers can’t strike isn’t a campus that valuesresearch, innovation, and community engagement. You may be frustrated by the disruption of the university—but respecting and protecting our right to collective action builds a stronger community for us all.
Legal strikes like PSAC 901’s are protected by the Canadian Labour Code. Strikes are fundamental to the freedom of academic communities. Yes, strikes are disruptive—that’s the point. Disruption forces attention, provokes dialogue, and demands ability. Peaceful picketing, chanting, handing out flyers, withholding grades—these are all normal, legal, and acceptable strike actions.
While we haven’t previously experienced disruption through academic strikes, other collective actions have been successful at Queen’s before. In the 1970s and ’80s, the Queen’s community mobilized to divest from South Africa. Protesters interrupted board meetings, staged walkouts, and rallied. The movement took 10 years and was only successful when the faculty ed in—proof that collective action works when we stand together.
Ask yourself: who gains when we’re divided and distracted? Not students, not staff, and not faculty. Only an istration that’s determined to $85,000 on flights for the principal while paying PhD students a minimum funding package below the poverty line?
This strike is just the beginning. Whether you’re a graduate student, undergrad, or faculty member, austerity hurts us all. Program cuts, rising fees, and understaffed departments are the real threats to education on campus. Let’s stand together as a community that values quality education and fair working conditions for all.
Christina Frendo is a first year PhD student in Global Development Studies.
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anonymous
I was pulling into the parking garage today and as I was going the protesters someone jumped out and blocked my car… the other strikers seemed upset with him for doing that. However, these are the actions that frustrate me. It is hard to say that we have peaceful protests going on when I am just a worker and I have protesters jumping out at my car. This morning could have resulted in a serious accident.
John Sherbino. BAH, MIR
Queen’s (the business) continues ask my wife and me for contributions. We think of our undergrad and grad degrees and shake our heads at the decline in leadership and management at the school. Queen’s is far from broke—financially. It’s treatment of faculty and graduate TAs is surely bad enough, but to use and roll around in the social media gutter to defer any real conversation or progress in its human resources management shames its self-professed image as an educational and social leader. It is adrift in a sea of greed and mismanagement.
Student and staff deserve better but the school’s actions say ‘better’ is far beyond reach.
John
These protestors are motivated by greed alone and don’t give a damn about students. Turned down $50/hour. What makes them deserve more money? What more are they contributing to deserve a raise? Why do they think they can’t be replaced? We’re doing just fine without them. And good riddance!
USW member - In solidarity with PSAC
Your comment leads me to believe that you haven’t read the entire, well-written piece. Try again. And then do better.
Anon
Just to correct John, $50/hr sounds great, but it doesn’t mean much when you are only allowed to work 10 hrs a week. This equals around 23k after tax. Average rent for a 1 bedroom apt in kingston is about $1800. Which means, after paying rent, a grad student who works every possible TA hour (not usually possible due to the limited number of positions) only has $1400 left to spend on everything else, for the ENTIRE YEAR. Even if we drop things down to a studio (ave $1300), a grad student would still only have $7400 to spend in 1 year. Not only is this not much, when considering you have to pay tuition to Queens (about 6k a year), it basically works out to nada. Plus the fact that there are limited studio apartments in this town. Oh, but what about roommates? Sure, if you are fresh out of undergrad and feel comfortable sharing a house, you could make that work. But what about the older students who come to do a masters or phd after years away? Or even just the ones who come from other unis?
How things are supposed to work is grad students get a funding package, which is supposed to cover their financial needs somewhat comfortably, so they can focus on the work they are doing for the university. It’s not supposed to be extravagent, but enough to not have to constantly stress about your next meal. This funding package also includes TA positions, ie. You work as a TA for X amount, and the University will cover the rest, basically paying you a small amount for the research you are doing for the university. But in recent years, this funding package has declined or been outright slashed. Keep in mind that the university benefits from the research grad student produce. It’s meant to be a symbiotic arrangement.
Point is, it’s not simple greed. The vast majority of grad students live below the poverty line while contributing research that Queen’s benefits from, and ensuring that day to day operations run smoothly. They’re replaceable? Who are you going to get to TA your 4th year courses? Other 4th years? You’re doing just fine without them? Maybe your small pocket is, but most other courses haven’t had anything graded for a month. Professors are now being overworked because of the lack of and lord knows how much worse it will get if things can’t be resolved before exams. Most exams are graded by TAs, after all. Even now, university recruitment has seen grad applications for next year crash because of the lack of care that Queen’s upper istration has for their grad workers. And look, it’s not like they don’t have the money to pay grad workers fairly.
Robbie
John, we are certainly not ok. I have 7 assignments waiting to be graded, 2 exams that are completely up in the air, and 2 final projects that might never get graded. I have no from the teaching team for work I’m doing in 3 courses.
They rejected 50 because it wasn’t accompanied by a promise that they wouldn’t claw it back in funding, among other things.
Who will replace them?
Cameron
$50 as an hourly wage is a lot. But I accept the point that there are limited hours placed on this but my question is, can TA’s also work other jobs or is the scheduling such that they cannot?
Nevertheless, my main concern is that I (a foreign parent) am paying $75k a year for my daughter’s tuition, plus $14k a year to the school for room and board, and she is currently not being taught. That is unacceptable. I need this resolved!
As a foreigner I am not familiar with the union and workers rules but I would expect the teachers/professors to take up any slack and make sure that my child has the opportunity to attend all scheduled classes and that all tests are given and marked. If my staff/assistants don’t show up then I have to step up. I thought that this was a global standard?
John
Unfortunately, these TA’s think they’re supposed to get a living wage for a part-time job. They should be thankful to be employed and earn so much in this economy. Would be better off if they all quit and we replaced entitled employees with those who are grateful for a job and want to help students succeed.
Anonymous
Cameron, I definitely agree it’s unacceptable, for undergrads too. There is no technical limitation on holding jobs outside of Queen’s but unfortunately, making enough to be financially stable in a minimum-wage job, would mean essentially working a full time job, which would leave no capacity for actually doing the research work grad students came here for.
The unfortunately reality is that the remaining staff are stepping up, but there just arent enough teaching staff to cover for the absence of the unionized workers. Some courses are taught solely by teaching fellows, who are part of the PSAC 901 union. A class of 200+ is likely taught by one professor and 4-8+ TAs. If all those TAs disappear, there’s just no way the prof can handle that much additional work, especially since the prof likely teaches several other courses.
I expect the longer that Queen’s refuses to bargain, the higher the rate of burnout will be among professors and istrative staff.
Greg
@Cameron, 10 hours per week is the limit for all paid work. See Registration Status: https://www.queensu.ca/grad-postdoc/faculty-staff/ission-registration If grad students work more than that, the university could financially (i.e., take away grant or scholarship money) or academically penalize (i.e., suspension, mark inactive, etc.). A lot of people do get a second job off campus to make end’s meet and lie about it, but it’s a risk.
Either way, what matters for TAs/TFs/RAs is total funding package. Each grad student gets an average of ~$23,000 per year (this amount is before the $7,000 tuition is deducted or the money is taxed). This funding package is a combination of grants, scholarships, and wages for TA/RA/TF work. The problem is, if they get a scholarship or extra pay, Queen’s can cut the amount they give in grants to keep them at $23,000 a year. They’ve done that for 30 years at this point. One of PSAC’s key demands is for Queen’s to end its 1:1 cuts in grants for every dollar more TAs/TFs/RAs make in wages since it’s impossible to live on the total package they get. Until this demand is met, the actual hourly pay rate is an illusion since any gain would get clawed back.
I absolutely get being frustrated. Believe me. I have to live this. It gets worse when you realize that workers have been asking to meet to negotiate for more than a week and senior istration has refused. There’s not much workers can do when the university’s senior leaders are insisting that 2,000 people refusing to work because of terrible job conditions has no effect on operations. I don’t know how they expected 800 professors to do those jobs on top of the ones they already have!
Ahmed
Would be nice if they quit and we got TAs that cared about students and were grateful for a job. To expect a living wage for a part time job is ridiculous. This union is fuelled by greed alone and the money they get paid to chant and blow whistles should be credited back to students paying tens of thousands a year. $50/hour is way too much and the union declined it! I’m sure the construction workers who do physical labor rain or shine would kill for that wage, and the TAs who mark essays in front of the TV want more. It never ends, replace them.
flyerdoger99
I find this article frustrating because it completely dismisses the real experiences of students like myself during the strike. The suggestion that people sharing negative experiences are just spreading “misinformation and hostility” feels unfair and inaccurate.
This article claims: “Contrary to the respectful picketing happening on the line, the online discourse was full of exaggerated complaints that the strike was disrupting traffic and blocking the library.” It’s upsetting to read that when these things actually happened. Why would we make this up? We have nothing to gain from the strike.
For example, the other day, my friend and I tried to go to the library to study, but we were stopped by strikers physically blocking the doors. One of them told us, “Don’t study on campus and demand your teachers to cancel classes,” and another said, “Without us, you’re nothing. You’ll never get your grades back if it isn’t for us.” They also shoved flyers at us aggressively. All we did was walk into the building to study but were made to feel unwelcome and intimidated.
The author states, “We know the strike has disrupted coursework for some undergraduate students, and we sympathize with their concerns. I love teaching and ing undergraduate students, and stepping back from my work as a TA has been painful.”
First of all, this affects all undergrads, not “some,” and saying you “sympathize” feels incredibly dismissive when you’re also directly disrupting our education. That quote feels like a pat on the head and saying, “sorry, sweetie, but my pain is more important.” Also, calling the current pay “less than poverty” is misleading and insensitive. Being a TA was always meant to be a part-time academic opportunity and not a full-time salaried job. A lot of undergrads are also juggling multiple part-time jobs, skyrocketing rent, and tuition. We’re all struggling with the cost of living.
The attached hyperlink says the “annual salary of union works out to half of what minimum wage would earn in a year.” Yeah, because you’re not full-time employees. That’s not a scandal; that’s basic math.
This post reads like it assumes anyone who doesn’t toe the line is either lying or being manipulated by spin. I understand the importance of the strike and workers being treated fairly, but it’s possible to do that while also acknowledging that some strikers have behaved inappropriately toward students. Ignoring those experiences just creates more division.