Frequently Asked Questions

Wage protections against the rising costs of tuition are a standard negotiating demand once TAs and TFs form a Union. Here are some additional examples of gains achieved within TA-TF collective agreements:

Intellectual Property Rights

• As TAs and TFs we should receive name recognition consistent with our contribution to course material, design, research that we may assist in developing during our employment.

Leaves:

• Paid maternity leave
• Sick leave
• Compassionate leave
• Bereavement leave
• Conference leave

Vacation Pay

Special Funds:

• Books/Supplies fund
• Child care fund
• Bursary fund
• Research cost fund
• Needs and Bursary fund

Caps on class size

Long-Term Disability Plan

Supplementary Health and dental coverage

Academic Freedom

• TAs and TFs who are primarily responsible for the content and/or presentation of a course should be granted academic freedom in the design, shaping of course content, methodology, and/or presentation of that course.

Office Space and Facilities

Health and Safety Regulations

A Labour/Management Committee

Grievance Procedure

Protection against:

• Sexual, racial, and ethnic discrimination and/or harassment
• Overwork
• Discipline without a just cause

The process of forming a Union has already started, but we are always looking for more volunteers. If you would like to get involved please do not hesitate to contact us (contact information below).

1. Choice of a union

a. We conducted an extensive search of existing Unions and decided upon PSAC. TAFA will have strong local autonomy to make decisions that affect our workplace.

2. Signing of union cards

a. By filling out a union card you are voicing your support for having a union and/or a democratic union vote. You are legally protected under the Ontario Labour Relations Act against reprisals (i.e. unfair practices such as discipline) should our employer attempt those tactics.

b. If we can collect signed cards from at least 40% of Graduate TAs and TFs on our campus then we can move to the next step.

3. Application to labour board for certification

a. PSAC will file a “certification application” once we obtain sufficient membership support to request a Union vote.

4. Vote

a. A vote will be put to all Graduate TAs and TFs within 5 working days of the application to the labour board. If 50% (+1) of those who vote are in agreement of forming a union, we move onto the next step.

5. Defining terms of our collective agreement

a. Once certified, the local structure will be formalized, bylaws adopted, a collective bargaining team established and notice to bargain given to the employer. For the first time you will have a role to play in determining your pay, benefits and working conditions!

A Bargaining Unit is all of the people who would be covered by our collective agreement. For the current drive that comprises all graduate Teaching Assistants, and Teaching Fellows. When we take this process to a vote, all members of the bargaining unit will have the right to vote.

A union local (local for short) is a locally based union organization, which forms part of a larger union. In our case we will be a local union of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC). As graduate students at Queen’s we can decide upon the name of our Local Union i.e. Teaching Assistant and Fellow Association. A local is a democratic body whose primary mandate is to represent the interests of bargaining unit members (you) to the employer. Our local will be made up of graduate Teaching Assistants and Teaching Fellows. Local Union representatives will establish and be involved in all aspects of our official working relationship with our employer, Queen’s University, initially by negotiating a collective agreement. A collective agreement is a formal contract between a local and an employer that determines wages, benefits, hours of work and other working conditions. The local is the body that will be involved in negotiating a collective agreement, addressing work-related grievances and distributing local level benefits. The PSAC has committed to providing us with human, financial and legal assistance throughout the union drive and following certification. However, the PSAC stresses the importance of local autonomy, which means that the strength of a local depends on the commitment of its membership.

YES. The fact that graduate TAs and TFs at Queen’s are unrepresented is the exception to the rule. Graduate TAs and/or TFs have already formed Unions at universities across Ontario including: Brock University, McMaster University, Carleton University, University of Guelph, Trent University, University of Ottawa, University of Toronto, University of Western Ontario and York University.

NO. Your decision to support TAFA by signing a Union card shall not be disclosed to your employer including any representatives of the employer. TAFA and PSAC representatives maintain the names of those graduate students who have signed Union cards in strict confidence. It is up to your discretion to disclose that you have signed a Union card.

Unlike a collective agreement that is negotiated by a Union, decisions reached by the Consultative Committee are not binding upon the university. Committee decisions are still subject to the approval of Senate and the Board of Trustees when considering possible wage increases and policy changes. Further, the committee is structured in such a way that there is no guarantee that a TA will be a member of the committee. In many cases the policy changes and proposals put forth by the committee resulted from issues advanced through previous union campaigns. The collective bargaining process is a far more effective channel to deal with these issues. Furthermore, there is no equivalent committee or set of policies regulating teaching fellowships. Finally, there is currently no set of policies or committees regulating the employment conditions of TFs.

Tuition rates and wage rates are not directly co-related because the University incurs costs unrelated to wage rates that affect tuition rates such as debt servicing payment and infrastructure costs. Our reality is that tuition costs are increasing with or without a union. By forming a Union we can make sure that we secure fair wage increases and adequate benefits. The goal, as in other unionized campuses, is to index the wages to the tuition to ensure that when tuition goes up our wages follow.

Queen’s university is one of the few universities in Canada not to have a TA union. There has been no reduction of TAships in other universities represented by the Public Service Alliance of Canada. Indeed the number of graduate TAs at the University of Western Ontario has tripled over the past 10 years since graduate students formed a Union. Similar to our experience at Queen’s, universities rely upon more TAs every year. (And when it comes to TFs, it is far less expensive to hire a graduate student to teach a course than a full-time faculty member.) On the other hand, if the university or a department decides to reduce the number of TAs, because of budget cuts, for example, the union offers us the possibility to protect our jobs. A collective agreement will force them to consult us on such an important decision.

One way of ensuring a real wage increase is to negotiate a bonus awarded to TAs at the end of each term that is excluded from the calculation of the funding package. At the University of Western Ontario that bonus is now $705 (2008/9 academic year), and is indexed to increase over the life of the collective agreement. In other words, someone whose funding package is $20,000/year would make $21,410 if they TA for two semesters. Such a bonus ensures that the wage increase is real and that they have to find the money somewhere else.

PSAC average dues rates are set at 1.5% of your base pay. The Local portion of dues is 0.6% of this 1.5% should graduate students at Queen’s form a Directly Chartered Local like Graduate TAs at the University of Western Ontario. Depending on the number of TA hours you work, the rate of 1.5% results in dues of upto approximately $160 for an eight-month contract. This number is steady for TFs earning the base $6669 rate (i.e $100) for a one-term contract. Union dues are tax deductible and are not deducted until a first collective agreement is negotiated.

The current grievance process for TAs does not include independent representation or an impartial arbitrations process. The employer is the final arbiter under the current policy unless the graduate student pursues legal action which is costly and must be taken upon by the student and the student alone. In instances where the current process fails to reach a resolution, TAs can appeal to the University Student Appeals Board (USAB). However, the USAB is tasked primarily with resolving academic disputes and not employer-employee relationships. There is absolutely no room within this policy to address concerns about wages, office space, benefits, and so on. It’s also important to note that TFs are without any similar policies and regulations.

Collective agreements consistently overcome these shortfalls by providing a formal and legally binding framework through which TAs and TFs can address their concerns.

By forming a Union graduate TAs and TFs will obtain additional recourse through the grievance procedure under the collective agreement. The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that all collective agreements automatically incorporate the Human Rights Code, the Employment Standards Act, and other human rights and employment-related statutes. Human rights protection is strengthened by giving labour arbitrators the authority to enforce human rights and other employment-related statutes, and the grievance process has the advantage of being able to resolve disputes relatively quickly, informally, and in a manner that allows for a continuing relationship between the parties. Teaching assistants and fellows who believe that they have been unfairly treated are empowered by collective agreements that provide formal support through the union structure. By organizing with a union, students who feel harassed or discriminated against won’t have to face these challenges alone.

A union is a membership driven body, which means that a strike can only occur if graduate TAs and TFs democratically decide, through a secret ballot vote, to take job action. Despite what many believe, strike action is extremely rare in the academic environment, and it is always considered a measure of last resort.

Under the Ontario Labour Relations Act the employer and the Union are obligated to negotiate a “No-strike/No-Lockout” clause in the collective agreement which means that strikes are not legally permissible during the term of a collective agreement. Strikes are only permissible upon the expiry of a collective agreement following a mandatory conciliation process. Over 95% of collective agreements are negotiated without recourse to job action.

NO. Unions encourage positive relationships between graduate students and their supervising instructors. A union’s objective is to protect your rights under the collective agreement, but when, where, and how you do your work is still left to your discretion. A Union collective agreement ensures that you have recourse should you be asked to do something outside the terms of your contract.

NO. What TAFA believes to be a central bargaining issue is a supplemental pool of funds devoted to health and dental purposes that compliments the SGPS plan, particularly the services not covered 100% by our Green Shield package. Since this money will come from the employer it will not increase the costs of the SGPS plan or disadvantage non-TAs or TFs. We argue that an additional pool of money should be made available specifically for UHIP. These demands are achievable and have been successfully negotiated at other universities such as the University of Western Ontario.

Other locals of the PSAC have successfully negotiated collective agreements that outline the procedure for filling open positions. One of the priorities of our drive is to bring this demand to the bargaining table to have a more equitable and transparent allotment procedure.

In all collective agreements, a definition of what constitutes hours worked is standard. Furthermore, our demands will include that all preparation work be considered as hours worked. For example, sessional adjuncts who believe that the actual time necessary to carry out the duties of instructing and evaluating a course exceeds the pre-set employment hours already have a recourse under their grievance procedure.

TFs perform the same work as sessional adjuncts but earn lower pay. What can a Union do about this inequity?

TFs should be paid at minimum the same as sessional adjuncts for performing the same work and this demand can be tabled during negotiations with Queen’s university. In addition non-monetary gains that sessional adjuncts have obtained through the QUFA collective agreement should also be extended to TFs such as academic freedoms, protection of intellectual property, grievance and arbitration procedures, protection from harassment (students and colleagues), and privacy protection – just some of the clauses in the QUFA collective agreement that were achieved at no financial cost.