Postdoctoral fellows from Queen’s took their wage fight to the streets, marching to Kingston’s downtown in protest.
The protest was held by the University’s Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) 901, Unit 2, the union representing all Queen’s postdoctoral students at the University. The protest started at 11:30 a.m. on Oct 1 at the Biosciences Complex on campus and worked its way to Delta Hotels Kingston Waterfront, where Queen’s and PSAC were engaged in a conciliation meeting with a neutral third party. A conciliation meeting resembles a mediation setting, where both parties try to reach an agreement.
PSAC 901 co-chief steward Emerson MacNeil attended the protest and outlined their objectives to The Journal. While wages are the primary goal, MacNeil notes relocation fees along with other issues.
Stewards are departmental union representatives who connect with the Executive. They meet monthly to share updates, address concerns, and keep informed about union issues and events like meetings, elections, and workshops.
According to MacNeil, the base salary for postdoctoral scholars is around $33,000.
READ MORE: Postdoctoral fellows still fighting for fair pay after a year of bargaining delays
“The big ask is for an increase in wages for postdocs because they are generating knowledge at the University [and] doing valuable research at the University,” MacNeil said in an interview with The Journal.
MacNeil explained the stark difference in how other schools are paying their postdoctoral students, citing the University of Toronto’s (U of T) recent change.
“Recently at U of T, their postdoctoral scholars bargained with U of T, and their base salary now is $50,000. So, the fact that Queen’s isn’t willing to get anywhere close to that is pretty telling of how they value postdocs,” MacNeil said.
MacNeil thinks the University sees postdoctoral scholars as largely undervalued.
“Queen’s has shown a lot of disdain for postdoctoral scholars and a lot of disrespect for the work that’s being done by postdoctoral scholars, which makes it even harder when you get to bargaining,” MacNeil said.
MacNeil said the protest was a success, adding the group was able to demonstrate the they have for their cause as well as get their message out to the broader Kingston community and those ing by.
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