Year-end Reports by the outgoing TA Executive Committee for 2011-2012
AGSEM TAs: A Snapshot of Who We Are, by Lerona Lewis, outgoing President
In March 2012, we had 1299 members employed as TAs in 82 departments at McGill. There are 22 departments in which only one TA is employed. The highest number of TAs (111) is employed in the Physics department. There are eight departments with more than 40 TAs, but the majority of us (60%) work in departments with less than 40 TAs. The average number of TAs employed by a department is 15.
What does this mean? Essentially, many of us have the opportunity engage in dialogue at the departmental level where we can decide on the direction that we would like to take the union and communicate this through our departmental Delegate who can bring our ideas forward to the Delegates Council (formerly called the Union Council) and the Unit Executive Committee. For the small departments, the Unit Executive Committee will have to work to ensure that the TAs are kept up to date and are aware of how to contact and contribute to the continued success and development of our Unit. [Figure 1: Proportion of Departments with over 40 TAs in March 2012].
AGSEM’s Top Ten Key Achievements, by Lerona Lewis, outgoing President
1. For the new TA Collective Agreement, we successfully negotiated an increase in wages, paid certified training, and an end to negative financial impacts on departmental funding when TAships are awarded.
2. We successfully worked to Unionize Course Lectures at McGill.
3. We increased the size of our Union Council by 50%.
4. We worked with Human Resources to implement direct deposit for membership dues in place of paper checks.
5. We increased our presence on social media using facebook and Twitter, and networked to make contacts in other graduate student unions and course lecturer unions in places like Toronto and New York.
6. We received coverage in media such as Le Délit, The McGill Daily, CKUT, the Montréal Gazette, CBC Radio Montréal, McLean’s Magazine, and Le Devoir.
7. We made strong collaborations with other unions on campus through the McGill Inter-union Council.
8. We successfully secured financial compensation for members who were not hired because of violations in the Collective Agreement.
9. We supported various student led initiatives in support of organizations such as CKUT and QPIRG.
10. We participated in and mobilized members for several activities in support of the movement against tuition increases in Québec
President’s report, by Lerona Lewis
During the past year AGSEM TAs successfully completed negotiations with McGill, for the first time in our history, without having to engage in strike action. Through the work of the Bargaining Committee led by chair Renaud Roussel, along with committee members Kait Pinder, Annick Lavogiez and Jonathan Mooney, we were able to secure a 3.0% wage increase for the first two years and 1.2% increase for the third year of our new contract. Our FNEEQ advisors Patrice Racine and Molly Alexander provided us with tremendous support.
In the new Collective Agreement, which expires in 2014, we were able to make significant improvements in the Workload Form and ensure adequate meeting time between the Teaching Assistant and the Course Supervisor. Additionally, the new Collective Agreement guarantees that there is no claw back of funding sources in the department when a graduate student receives a TAship. Paid, certified, pedagogical training will also be offered to all first time Teaching Assistants beginning this Fall 2012. This was a significant gain in our new Collective Agreement because we sought to ensure that our gains brought benefit not only to our members, but also to our undergraduate counterparts.
This year we continued our participation in FNEEQ conferences so as to remain connected to the wider issues of the union movement. In March, I participated in a workshop at the CSN that was designed to explore the very important question of how to integrate immigrant workers into the Union Movement. We also participated in many public demonstrations against tuition increases. The Executive Committee shared my perspective that not only was it necessary for us to remain relevant to our McGill community, but to also show concern for the issues that affecting the wider society of Québec. The next FNEEQ conference is in Grandby and we encourage our delegates to avail themselves of the opportunity to attend and participate actively in the sessions.
We also saw our initiative to revitalize and formalize the McGill Inter-Union Council (IUC) come to fruition this year, and we were able to collaborate in an organized way with other unions including AMURE, AMUSE, SSMU, PGSS, student groups and professors through MFLAG to support the members of MUNACA during their strike action. We were happy to welcome a member of the Graduate Student Mobilization Group to our recent IUC meeting. The continued collaboration and trust that we have built among our unions, even if we are affiliated with different federations, is extremely important for us at McGill and should be maintained. it is through our collective strength that we will be able to best represent our individual membership. After all, we each have one thing in common, our employer, who over these past few months has shown us that our rights to a decent wage and good working conditions are not easily attainable.
When I began my term of office in 2009, AGSEM was the TA Union; today, we are McGill’s Teaching Union. Through the efforts of many, we had two successful unionization drives in 2010 for Invigilators and in 2010-2011 for Course Lecturers, increasing our membership to just over 3000 members. We must recognize the efforts of the previous Executive Committees, the members of the Course Lecturers Union Drive led by Lillian Radovac with the assistance of Michal Rozworski; the immeasurable support of Marc Paquette and Sylvi Jolie; the support of the legal department of CSN; the financial support of CSN; and the continuous support of Marie Blais and the FNEEQ. On August 31st 2012 when AGSEM welcomed Course Lecturers to our union it was also due to the commitment of the TA Unit who worked tirelessly to make this happen, and we must be proud of all our accomplishments.
As we move forward with our new structure, governed by our Union-wide Constitution, we must remain confident of our role within the McGill community. We are a voice for our members and for those who seek to promote justice and dignity for everyone in our community.
VP External’s report, by Sheldon Brandt
This certainly shaped up to be an interesting and busy year. The year started to pick up steam in July, with a few AGSEM-AMUSE events on the lower campus of McGill. In August, Annick Lavogiez, a member of the Bargaining Committee, and I attended the 2011 C/CGEU Conference in New York City. This conference not only provided an opportunity to discuss common concerns with other graduate employee unions, but also had seminars that provided valuable information for the Executive Committee to utilize throughout this bargaining year. Shortly after my return from this conference, MUNACA voted to strike. In the four months that followed, I participated in the planning of AGSEM-funded solidarity events, wrote solidarity letters on behalf of AGSEM, and coordinated with other labour and student unions on campus in our collective effort to support MUNACA. Throughout MUNACA’s strike, the mobilization for TA bargaining also picked up steam. Jonathan Mooney, a member of the TA Bargaining Committee, and I visited SSMU Council to inform them of the developments of TA and Invigilator bargaining; both the PGSS and the SSMU councils passed motions to support the bargaining priorities of TAs and our use of pressure tactics. I gave interviews to CKUT, the McGill Daily, and the McGill Tribune to publicize TA bargaining issues, to express AGSEM’s support for MUNACA, and to voice AGSEM’s stance on other campus issues including the events of November 10th and the impending tuition increases. The events organized by this Executive Committee and the Mobilization Committee in support of MUNACA and TA and Invigilator Bargaining certainly made for an eventful autumn. The last big task I had as VP External was to participate in the revisions of the AGSEM Constitution and the TA Bylaws. Over the last couple years, AGSEM’s membership has nearly doubled and my work on the Constitution ensured that the structure of AGSEM reflects its current membership and that future groups that are unionized at McGill can easily join this exceptional labour union.
VP Internal’s report, by Ankush Madaan
My stint with AGSEM started in July last year when I was appointed as the Delegate Liaison. My priority was to rebuild the Union Council by tirelessly recruiting passionate and competent Delegates. This experience not only helped strengthen AGSEM’s Union Council, but also gave me an insight into the functioning of our union. After working as Delegate Liaison, I was elected as the VP Internal/Grievance Officer in late September. In my capacity as VP Internal/Grievance Officer during the past 5 months, I have focused my efforts on two primary goals: (1) educating our diverse membership on their rights and responsibilities as graduate Teaching Assistants while encouraging them to approach AGSEM whenever required; and (2) making myself more accessible to our members as often as when required, especially on sensitive issues requiring immediate attention.
I further streamlined the TA verification process for the Delegates and staff to ensure that the TA hiring process was fair and transparent. One thing I can proudly reflect back onto is my ability to answer/address any sort of queries or questions from our members in a timely fashion. My core focus remained towards solving the complaints at their earliest stage, and in many cases this approach was well received and fruitful for our members. Furthermore, I frequently consulted with McGill’s Employee Relations Advisor and our FNEEQ Union advisor to ensure that AGSEM’s Collective Agreement was duly respected. I actively confronted the pragmatic fears of many graduate student TAs who expected reprisal from their academic and course supervisors for speaking up in defense of their rights. Delegates were always encouraged to report potential grievances and refer their colleagues to me to discuss any sort of issues pertaining to their TAship. Finally, I joined members of our active Mobilization Committee for MUNACA solidarity events, and I provided instrumental input that shaped important articles in our new Collective Agreement.
Information and Research Officer’s report, by Megan Mericle
I began to work for AGSEM as Mobilization Coordinator on August 8th, 2011. At that point negotiations at the bargaining table were not progressing in favour towards AGSEM’s key demands, so I began to work on a mobilization plan on how to communicate this to our members. I worked with Sheldon Brandt, VP External and Jonathan Mooney, member of the Bargaining Committee to create pamphlets to update members about our core bargaining demands and the status of our negotiations. Then on September 1st MUNACA voted to go on strike, so this created a new dynamic in terms of how to mobilize our members around our collective bargaining. I worked with former IRO Arash Nourian to help with communications work and to help organize mobilization events such as the pizza solidarity event for MUNACA. Many of our mobilization activities required a substantial number of volunteers so I worked to recruit Delegates and members of the Mobilization Committee to successfully execute these events. I continued to create pamphlets, flyers and posters for special events and general assemblies and worked to mobilize AGSEM members to stand in solidarity with MUNACA workers on strike.
By late September McGill was still refusing to move on our key demands. I began to increase our mobilization efforts and recruited more members for our Mobilization Committee, which I was also asked to chair and convene on a weekly basis. Around this time Arash Nourian resigned as IRO and I temporarily assumed his duties until I was elected as IRO in October. Shortly thereafter on October 19th AGSEM held a General Assembly in which TAs voted in favour of a pressure tactics mandate and I recruited even more members for the Mobilization Committee. We continued to plan and execute events and rallies to support TA negotiations and MUNACA’s negotiations, and we also worked to mobilize students to attend the November 10th demonstration against tuition hikes. I gave interviews on CKUT in support of our bargaining demands and I also spoke on the poor state of negotiations for Invigilators just before they were going to hold a strike vote in December. This vote was quickly called off because McGill agreed to go to arbitration to set the terms of the new Collective Agreement for Invigilators.
Throughout the year I used social media platforms such as Twitter, facebook, and our web site to post information on events and I also assisted with drafting and editing email communication with our members. AGSEM has a mandate to oppose tuition increases, and throughout the Winter 2012 semester I participated in “(Reclaim Your) Education Week” and the “Introduction to Tuition Hikes” workshops to better educate graduate students and TAs for the fight against the planned 75% increase. It was amazing and powerful to see so many TAs marching in solidarity with over 200,000 Québec students at the historic protest against tuition hikes on March 22nd. I also worked with Méliane Laurier-Cromp, former Mobilization Officer for Course Lecturers and Instructors, to inform our members about our new Union-wide Constitution and to organize events such as “AGSEM Open House and International Women’s Day,” and “AGSEM Goes Mobile Week.” Throughout the year I worked closely with our CSN-FNEEQ Union advisors, Molly Alexander and Diane Ford (in charge of mobilization), and I would like to thank them both for their support and contribution to the union over the year. Many people made this a dynamic year at AGSEM, including the Executive and Bargaining Committees; but I would like to send a special thank you to all of the volunteers and members of the Mobilization Committee for their hard work, dedication, spirit and energy that they gave to the union over the year to secure a better Collective Agreement for TAs and beyond.
