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 NewsFollowing a month's delay, motion at the table! - Unit 3 Bargaining Update #20
The month of April has been unusual, with McGill cancelling multiple sessions as they needed time to go back and reevaluate their position. This followed March, where the Unit 3 bargaining committee tabled its monetary proposal and McGill responded with a wage offer that was not only a real wage pay cut, but furthermore, a pay scale that would allow your wages to be decided arbitrarily by the manager. First, we will cover our session with the McGill Writing Centre (MWC) on March 25th before discussing our latest (brief!
McGill's Underbaked Monetary Proposal - Unit 3 Bargaining Update #19
On Wednesday, March 18th, we met with McGill to receive their monetary response to our proposal, and it was bleak. Regarding leaves and absences, McGill said they still need some time, so we expect to hear those items during one of the next two bargaining sessions. However, for non-monetary items, McGill separated their proposal into three distinct sections. Starting with section one (articles 4 to 14), McGill proposed liberating 2 “average contracts” of 30 hours per semester.
Paying Workers What they Deserve is Not a Radical Proposal - Unit 3 Bargaining Update #18
With freezing rain battering Montréal, we met virtually with McGill on Wednesday to present our global offer, that is, an offer on every item we have not yet agreed upon. including monetary items! This was a unique session, as there was less back and forth between the employer and ourselves than usual. Rather, we walked them through our monetary proposal, to which they will respond next week. So what exactly was in our proposal?