News Archive: April 2010

Labour Board Certifies Vote Results

On March 23, 2010 a majority of Graduate TAs and TFs voted in favour of joining PSAC. Of the 807 ballots counted 454 were cast in favour of the Union. The Ontario Labour Relations Board reviewed 8 complaints filed following the representation vote and ruled that the issues raised in these complaints did not constitute sufficient grounds to order a new vote.  In addition the Labour Board has found that the employer could not resile from its agreement following the vote wherein the employer signed a Certification Worksheet agreeing to the vote results. The results are now final, a certificate will issue to PSAC, Graduate TAs and TFs will be able to form their own Local. The initial steps of forming a bargaining committee to prepare bargaining demands have begun following a membership meeting on April 19, 2010. The time has come to unite to build a strong Local and reach a good agreement for all Graduate TAs and TFs at Queen's!

Labour Board Decision:
PDF (276.3 KB)

GTA Union congratulates TAFA

The executive of the Graduate Teaching Assistants Union at the University of Western Ontario (PSAC Local 610) congratulate Graduate Teaching Assistants and Teaching Fellows at Queen's University.

Letter from PSAC Local 610:
PDF (111.5 KB)

April 19th: General Membership Meeting

Dear Graduate Teaching Assistants and Teaching Fellows:

This is a reminder that TAFA is holding its first General Membership Meeting tonight (Monday April 19). This meeting will be a chance for you to learn more about the process of Collective Bargaining, share your priorities for bargaining and those of your department, elect your Bargaining Committee and participate in building a strong Local.

In addition, it will be a chance to meet with the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) National Negotiator, Gaby Levesque, who will be joining graduate student members on the Bargaining Team.

We want to hear from all Graduate TAs and TFs so that we can work together to build a Local that is responsive to the needs of Queens' diverse Graduate TA and TF community.

When: 5:30pm for registration
Where: Chernoff Hall 117

We look forward to seeing you there,

The TAFA Team

**Please note: Individuals who were eligible to vote on March 23rd, as per the Queen's University list of current Graduate Teaching Assistants and Graduate Teaching Fellows, will be eligible to participate in the General membership Meeting.*

Message to QUFA President

Message to QUFA President:
PDF (18.2 KB)

TAs & RAs at University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) Bargain First Collective Agreement

April 7, 2010  

Oshawa, ON – Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) Local 555 and the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) in Oshawa have successfully concluded bargaining and reached a first tentative collective agreement after only 5 days of negotiations. PSAC Local 555 which represents over 250 graduate and undergraduate Teaching and Research Assistants (TAs/RAs) joined the PSAC in October 2009. 

Prior to being organized with the PSAC, these members did not have any benefits as part of their pay package and were getting wages below those paid in other Ontario universities.  With this 3 year Collective Agreement, wages will be harmonized across all faculties and in some cases they will increase by as much as 40% from where they are today. “Our members at UOIT have secured wages, benefits and new language in their collective agreement that is as good as, and in many ways better, than others in the university sector,” said Gerry Halabecki, PSAC’s Ontario Regional Executive Vice-President. 

Some of the new benefits include:

• Defined workhours of 280 hours per academic year for full TAs/RAs.
• Order of preference is now written into the Collective Agreement.
• Full grandfathering of all existing non-student TAs.
• Entitelment to a range of leave including paid sick leave.
• Protections of gender identity and expression; work accomodation during religious holidays; and course accomodation for personal or religious objections.
• Funding for the PSAC Social Justice Fund.
• Academic freedom and intellectual property protections.

The Tetative Agreement will be ratified on April 21^st, 2010. Full details of the ratification meeting and the Collective Agreement can be viewed on-line at: http://ontario.psac.com/ontario/negotiations/UOITLocal555.shtml. The PSAC currently represents almost 20,000 university employees among its 170,000 members across the country. 

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For Information:  Brenda Shillington, PSAC Regional Representative: 416-485-3558 x 227

Dear Graduate TAs and TFs:

On March 23rd a significant majority of graduate teaching assistant and teaching fellow voters (454 vs. 351) voted yes to forming a union to make graduate student employees a partner in the workplace. We join our peers in Ontario at the University of Toronto, McMaster, the University of Western Ontario, Guelph, Trent, Carleton, and Ottawa, among others, as unionized graduate student employees.

Our next steps include certifying as a directly chartered local of the Public Service Alliance of Canada and electing a collective bargaining committee. As a democratic and autonomous unit, graduate employee members will have the opportunity to elect representatives of the collective bargaining committee. As part of the process leading to the negotiation of a collective agreement, all members may participate in determining priorities for collective bargaining. Some of the gains made by other unionized graduate student employees include:

• fair and equitable wages

• provisions for paid leave

• freedom from harassment, discrimination and other forms of bias

• no discipline without just cause

• control over professional training and funding for conferences/professional development

• control over TA evaluations

• intellectual property rights protection

• clarity on job duties, hours and expectations

• job security against potential budget cuts

• supplemental health and dental benefits

• a subsidy to offset the cost of UHIP

• pay for all hours worked - no more ‘free' overtime

• a grievance procedure, with guaranteed union representation

• increased transparency in the allotment of TA and TF vacancies

• paid maternity and parental leaves, and subsidized child care

While we cannot guarantee the outcome of negotiations with the administration, we anticipate being able to eventually gain what has been won by colleagues at universities in Ontario. Some of these bargaining points will be easier to achieve than others and we welcome your input to set our priorities. As with other aspects of building a representative local, members will have the opportunity to vote on whether to accept the outcome of collective bargaining (i.e. the Collective Agreement).

Elections for a Union Executive will occur in the Fall 2010 to ensure the inclusion of all members of the local.

To begin this process, we will be holding a general meeting of members on April 19th, location and time to be announced. (As soon as a location is booked it will be announced on the SGPS website and in the 15 April SGPS Newsletter). This will be an opportunity to meet with the PSAC negotiator, Gaby Levesque, who will be joining graduate student members on the bargaining committee.

The TAFA Team

Teaching Assistant and Teaching Fellow General Meeting Agenda

19 April 2010

Time: TBA

Location: TBA

1. Certifying as a Directly Chartered Local of the PSAC

2. Union Name Brainstorming

3. Introducing Gaby Levesque

4. Q&A with Gaby Levesque. Where do we go from here?

5. Collective Bargaining Priorities.

Reports on:

a) TAFA campaign issues

b) Collective agreements at other Canadian Universities

6. Collective Bargaining Priorities - Discussion (with Gaby Levesque)

7. Call for Nominations for the Collective Bargaining Committee

8. Speeches by Nominees

9. Election of the Collective Bargaining Committee