Unit 3 Newsletter: All course-based Academic Casuals have a union!

Unit 3 Newsletter: All course-based Academic Casuals have a union!

All graders, course tutors, undergraduate course assistants, graduate student assistants, student course assistants, course assistants, and graduate teaching fellows now have a union as AGSEM’s Unit 3!

What we are able to win in our upcoming negotiations with McGill depends on the work we can accomplish, together.

This newsletter has some important information to get involved in your new union.

Your Next Steps:

• Sign your AGSEM membership form every semester you work as an academic casual!
• Fill out our Bargaining Survey for a chance to win one of two $50 gift cards to Librairie Pulp Books & Cafe!

Get Involved in your Union!

• Attend a Delegates’ Council meeting (any member of AGSEM can attend!).
• Become a Delegate for your department and earn a honorarium for organizing fellow workers! Contact president@agsem-aeedem.ca to get involved!
• Attend the Unit 3 Info Session on October 25, at 5:30pm to learn more about what our new union means. Dinner will be served! RSVP on our website.
• Attend the AGSEM General Assembly on November 20, at 6:00 pm to formally add Unit 3 to the AGSEM governance structure.
• Attend the Unit 3 Assembly (date TBA) to elect a Bargaining Committee and voice your opinion about what should be in our first contract! We will follow up with an official convocation to the meeting later this semester.

Newsletter Contents

1. We Won! All course-based Academic Casuals have a union!
2. Your Rights as a Unionized Worker
3. Unit 3 Bargaining Survey
4. Unit 3 Info Session Oct. 25

1. Course-Based Academic Casuals join AGSEM’s Unit 3

In Winter 2024, AGSEM led a card-signing campaign to unionize all course-based academic support workers at McGill. We are pleased to announce that this campaign was a success!

A majority of course-based academic casuals working in Winter 2024 signed a union card, and on August 13th, 2024, this was verified by the Quebec Labour Board. After the union cards were verified, the Québec Labour Board certified a new bargaining unit to represent the over 1000 academic casuals that work at McGill each semester: graders, course tutors, undergraduate student course assistants, graduate student assistants, student course assistants, course assistants, and graduate teaching fellows. AGSEM Unit 3 is the Union of Course-Based Academic Casuals.

AGSEM’s Unit 3 addresses changes to the nature of academic work since graduate Teaching Assistants unionized in 1993. Three decades on, it’s not only graduate students who assist in the delivery of education at McGill. Unit 3 also closes a legal loophole exploited by the employer to hire workers outside of the Unit 1 Collective Agreement, paying as low as minimum wage with no job protections or benefits.

Definition of the unit

Tous les employés au sens du Code du travail occupant un poste de correcteur (« grader »), tuteur (« tutor »), assistant de stage étudiant de premier cycle (« undergraduate student course assistant »), étudiant diplômé adjoint (« graduate student assistant »), étudiant assistant de classe (« student course assistant ») et assistant de classe («course assistant ») affecté par l’université à un ou à des cours spécifiques ainsi que ceux occupant un poste de assistant pédagogique gradué (« graduate teaching fellow »).

Read the full decision here.

Workers Unit 3 does not include

There is legal precedent that some workers who do similar work to TAs or course-based academic casuals do not have an employment relationship with their university. They were not included in our definition of course-based academic casual.

• Tomlinson Engagement Awardee for Mentoring (TEAM) TAs (earn a stipend not a wage)
• Academic Tutors for Teaching and Learning Services (contracted by students, paid by grant if applicable)
• Note Takers for Student Accessibility and Achievement (contracted by students, paid by grant if applicable)

For other workers, we needed to identify a shared interest among employees to make it a viable employee group in the eyes of the Labour Board. In the end, this will make the union’s job of negotiating a contract that satisfies the needs of everyone included in that unit a more manageable task.

Tutors and other workers at the McGill Writing Centre

• Academic Journal Editors
• Conversation partners
• Music Accompanists
• Professionals who help with course design or delivery, such as: Mentors, Course/Program Directors, Field Supervisors, Sensitive Pelvic Exam Facilitators, Course Consultants, Alexander Technique Instructors, Language Consultants, Coaching Coordinators

If you work one of these positions and you think there is interest among your coworkers to form a union, contact us at president@agsem-aeedem.ca.

2. Your rights as a unionized worker

Now that course-based academic casuals are unionized, we can collectively negotiate for a contract that governs our working conditions, called a Collective Agreement. This is a lengthy process.

We still have rights before our first Collective Agreement is signed, though! Any major changes to your working conditions can be contested with an Article 59 procedure in the Labour Code before the signature of Unit 3’s first Collective Agreement.

Contact the AGSEM Grievance Department at grievance.department@agsem-aeedem.ca if you experience any of the following:

• Major cuts to your hours;
• Pay decreases;
• Unpaid training (any required training must be paid);
• Delays in pay greater than 30 days;
• Having an offer of employment withdrawn after you are given a contract;
• Difficulty taking sick days or leaves of absence;
• Any violations of your rights as a worker under the* Act respecting labour standards;*
• Psychological or sexual harassment from a student, supervisor, or coworker.

Or anything else that is concerning you about your employment! We are here to help and support you navigate your employment relationship with McGill and ensure your fair treatment under the law and our contracts.

3. Unit 3 Bargaining Survey

The first step toward collectively bargaining for better work conditions is understanding what the current work conditions are for workers across the university and what they would most like to change about these work conditions.

Fill out our pre-Bargaining Survey to help us understand your experience as a course-based academic casual. After you’ve completed the survey, please send it to a few friends who have worked similar positions!

You will have the chance to enter your personal email at the end of the survey for a chance to win one of two $50 gift certificates to Librairie Pulp Books & Cafe!

4. Unit 3 Info Session Oct. 25

Do you still have questions about what it means to be a unionized worker? Do you want to learn more about the process of unionization? Do you want to learn how to get involved in your union and begin the hard and rewarding work to collectively negotiate for better working conditions?

Attend the Unit 3 Info Session on October 25, at 5:30pm to learn more about what our new union means. Dinner will be served!

In the meantime, you can direct any questions about your immediate working conditions to grievance.department@agsem-aeedem.ca.