As the ice finally began thawing on the sidewalks, unionized workers and their allies gathered in a wave of unity outside Richardson Hall.
In an hour-long rally garnering approximately 40 attendees, Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) 901 called on the University on March 3 to meet their Unit 1 bargaining demands. Unit 1, representing roughly 2,000 Graduate Teaching Assistants, Teaching Fellows, and Graduate Research Assistants, is currently bargaining with the University to renew their Collective Agreement, which expired on April 30.
Unit 1 filed for a No Board Report with the Ontario Ministry of Labour on Feb. 21 after a majority voted in favour of a strike between Feb. 11 and 14. The No Board Report allows workers to legally strike and the University to lock out workers after 17 days. If a tentative agreement isn’t reached between Unit 1 and the University, PSAC workers will be picketing as early as March 10. The bargaining meeting has been scheduled for March 9, according to PSAC 901 President Jake Morrow.
ed by unions such as the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), United Steelworkers (USW) Local 2010, PSAC 610 of Western University, and PSAC 555 of Ontario Tech University, the push for increased wages for graduate students includes a $1,500 lump sum due to wage caps under Bill 124. This bill, which capped wage increases for public sector employees at one per cent per year, was repealed in February 2024. The proposal calls for a four to six per cent increase in wages.
“We [Unit 1 ] are ready. We’ve been doing [strike] training for months. […] Our hopes going forward are for a fair deal, for fair wages, dignity and respect in the workplace,” Morrow told rally-goers.
Society of Graduate and Professional Students (SGPS) Vice-President (Graduate) Zaid Kasim reminded the crowd of the importance of graduate students at Queen’s and the problems they face.
“Graduate workers are the backbone of Queen’s University. We [graduate students] teach, we research, we undergraduate learning, and we contribute to the academic excellence that this institution likes to pride itself on,” Kasim said to the crowd.
Despite these contributions, Kasim emphasized the daily financial struggles faced by workers, citing struggles of affording food, rent, and a worsening cost of living crisis.
“Let’s be clear, this isn’t just about wages. This is about equity. It’s about ensuring graduate workers have the basic financial security to focus on their research and teaching without wondering how they’ll pay their bills,” Kasim said to the crowd.
The same day, students received a school-wide e-mail from the Office of the Provost. It detailed while the University is currently in negotiations, they’re optimistic a tentative deal will be reached. In the case of a strike or lockout, the University will remain open and classes are expected to continue as scheduled. They noted they have contingency plans prepared in the event of a strike occurring. A University news release the following day echoed the same sentiments.
Bargaining updates will continue to be posted to the PSAC 901 Live Tracker.
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Undercat
Thank you for this excellent reporting and information! I put together a primer on University financial management that may be of interest. Just finished double checking the numbers and posting
Understanding the University’s Pooled Investment Fund and Zero-sum Ethos
https://substack.com/home/post/p-158559274
In solidarity,
Jeff
How do you reconcile the desire for higher wages with the University’s operating deficit? Grant the wage increase AND reduce the headcount to ensure the total labour cost does not increase. But before making the headcount reductions, identify how each person spends all of their time, and their end products. Then determine which end products and the activities required on them have the least or zero value. Cut those end products and activities and then eliminate the FTEs dedicated to the low value end products. This way the remaining people are not left with the same amount of work to do. I’ve cut 15-20 percent of variable costs in Fortune 500 corporations through this Activity Value Analysis (AVA) approach.