Braving the cold, graduate students and community rallied outside Dupuis Hall to PSAC 901, Unit 1’s contract negotiations with the University.
Graduate students and community gathered to attend a “street party” hosted by the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) 901, which represents over 240,000 workers nationwide. The event, held at 11 a.m. until three p.m. in front of Dupuis Hall, aimed to rally for Unit 1’s bargaining efforts as the team negotiates a new contract. PSAC 901 is advocating for higher wages, affordable housing, and other priorities. Bargaining began on Nov. 18 after the previous contracts expired on April 3.
“We [graduate students] teach classes, grade assignments, and conduct world-class research, yet they don’t mention that Queen’s University isn’t a living wage employer. They don’t mention the number of people who are relying on food banks to feed themselves because their jobs at Queen’s University doesn’t pay them enough to feed their children, their families and themselves,” PSAC901 President Jake Morrow said during the event.
READ MORE: PSAC 901, Unit 1 Kicks off negotiations with solidarity rally and strike preparedness
Between January and November 2023, PSAC’s Emergency Food Fund provided assistance to over 800 graduate student employees and their dependents, distributing more than $80,000 in grocery gift cards through over 1,500 applications. The fund closed after PSAC ran out of resources to distribute.
Morrow also criticized the province’s now-repealed Bill 124, which capped public sector wage increases at one per cent annually for four years. According to the Unity Council, which is composed of presidents and delegates from each of the unionized groups at the University, Ontario’s Supreme Court struck down Bill 124 as unconstitutional in 2023.
Other campus unions ed the rally, expressing for PSAC 901’s demands. Representatives from the Canadian Union of Public Employees stood in solidarity in sending off the PSAC 901 bargaining team to the negotiation table.
“We just wanted to let you guys know that we’re behind you guys, and we you 100 per cent of the way. We can all relate with what’s going on here at Queen’s with the budget cuts affecting us all from the quality that of service that we can provide to students to just our own lives,” a speaker from the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) 1302 (Library Technicians) said during the event.
CUPE is Canada’s largest union, with over 750,000 across the country, according to its website. CUPE locals include CUPE 229, which represents maintenance and custodial employees; CUPE 229-1, which represents food services employees; CUPE 229-3, which represents Donald Gordon Centre employees; CUPE 254, which represents technical and lab technicians; and CUPE 1302, which represents library technicians.
Street party speakers repeatedly stressed the importance of collective action, urging attendees to continue showing up and speaking out.
“Negotiations happen right here. This is [the gathering outside of Dupuis Hall] negotiating. We’re not the only ones at the table. It’s all of us here right now, telling them—demanding our rights, recognizing our labour and the values that it gives to the school,” a PSAC 901 mobilizer said during the event.
The crowd marched inside Dupuis Hall to accompany the bargaining team to the negotiation table, and later left but remained nearby to show their during negotiations.
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