The Association of Graduate Students Employed at McGill (AGSEM) is the oldest Teaching Assistant Union in the province of Quebec. As a labour union, AGSEM represents graduate Teaching Assistants, Invigilators, and Course-Based Academic Casuals at McGill. AGSEM has bargained with the McGill administration to produce TA and Invigilator Collective Agreements, which are legal documents that protect student workers.
Recent NewsTrick đ»đ( Workday Job Applications Pending Eternally) or Treat đŹđ(Clear Conflict of Interest Policy; BBL Mentioned in Bargaining?!)âBargaining Updates 9 and 10
On two equally rainy, tempestuous Wednesdays, our intrepid bargaining committee came from far and wide to fight for the contract unit 3 deserves. That is right, this is a double-update covering the bargaining sessions on October 22nd and 29th! By and large, both weeks were focused primarily on Articles 12 (job postings), 13 (Hiring, Onboarding), and 14 (Health and Safety, General Provisions). Regarding Article 12 (and 13), McGill had given their proposals piecemeal over the course of the summer, and we took these two sessions to engage with them in full, trading proposals back and forth.
Conflicts of Interest, Safe Spaces, and Union Democracy at the Table â Bargaining Update #8
This week, we brought McGill our counter-proposal for Article 14, which covers general provisions within the unit. Within Article 14, we were able to secure important health and safety protections at this session, and we presented a clear conflict of interest (COI) policy, as per the mandate our workers gave us. Our proposed policy built upon McGillâs existing COI, but specified to apply in situations like when a grader has friends in that class.
New article signed! Health and Safety in the works, but McGill reluctant to add protections against harassment and discrimination â Bargaining Update #7
Despite the foggy morning, the mood in the negotiation room was brightâafter setting the groundwork last week, we signed off on Article 3, preserving AGSEMâs ability to receive relevant information from McGill that impacts your working conditions. We are looking forward to carrying this momentum into our upcoming negotiation sessions. On our side of the table were Jordan Cowie (1L, Grader & Course Tutor, Management/Law), Bronwyn Walsh (Recent Graduate, Grader & Course Assistant, Math & Stats), Connor OâKeefe (Undergraduate, Course Assistant, Math & Stats), Donald Morard (PhD Candidate, Grader, History), and Guillaume Forest-Allard, our advisor from our affiliate union FĂ©dĂ©ration nationale des enseignantes et des enseignants du QuĂ©bec (FNEEQ).