On Nov. 9, the Association of Graduate Students Employed at McGill (AGSEM) entered its third bargaining meeting with the McGill administration. Since Sept. 21, AGSEM—the union representing teaching assistants (TAs) at McGill—has been negotiating terms for improved working conditions and wages following the expiration of their collective agreement in July.[Read More…]
Tag: AGSEM
McGill and AGSEM hold second bargaining meeting for new collective agreement
A second round of negotiations between the McGill administration and the Association of Graduate Students Employed at McGill (AGSEM) took place on Oct. 19. According to the union’s press release, the four-hour session was focused on aligning the new contract with McGill’s policies on intellectual property, labour relations, and university[Read More…]
‘United we bargain, divided we beg’: AGSEM begins negotiations with McGill
The Association of Graduate Students Employed at McGill (AGSEM) commenced a series of bargaining sessions with the McGill administration on Sept. 21. AGSEM’s collective agreement with the university expired on July 31, 2023. Since then, the union has been negotiating a new collective agreement and is demanding several changes be[Read More…]
PGSS says Bill 96 costs the society $7,000 per month, seeks monetary compensation
The Post-Graduate Students’ Society (PGSS) gathered for its first council meeting of the Fall 2023 semester on Sept. 6. Led by speaker Nora Delahaye, the hybrid session’s agenda included teaching assistants’ (TA) rights and Bill 96. The meeting began with a presentation from Kiersten van Vliet, a representative from the[Read More…]
McGill TAs allege $1 million in wage theft by the university
As McGill students returned to campus for the first day of classes on the morning of Aug. 30, they were greeted by food trucks and music on McTavish Street as part of the Association of Graduate Students Employed at McGill (AGSEM)’s rally for better contracts. AGSEM, the union representing teaching[Read More…]
Cautious optimism for McGill unions as year closes on historic faculty unionization
McGill stood for 200 years without a faculty-specific union until Nov. 8, when the Association of McGill Professors of Law (AMPL) was certified by the Tribunal administratif du travail (TAT) after a year-long litigation process. As another collective agreement (CA) negotiation is added to the overwhelmed McGill Human Resources (HR)[Read More…]
McGill’s volunteer-based note-sharing service falls short according to users and volunteers
Three years ago, Student Accessibility and Achievement (SAA) transformed the note-taking role from a paid to a voluntary position. Note-takers are students who provide their notes to other students registered with the SAA. Since the change, many students registered for the SAA’s note-taking accommodation and note-takers themselves have been disappointed[Read More…]
Students march in protest at annual climate strike, renew calls for McGill to divest
Divest McGill, a student activist group on campus, held a rally and march for the climate on the afternoon of Sept. 23. They started at the bottom of McTavish Street before leading sign-wielding and chanting students up to the George-Étienne Cartier Monument at Parc Jeanne-Mance. There, the McGill group joined[Read More…]
PGSS Council votes to endorse climate strike on Sept. 23
The Post-Graduate Students’ Society (PGSS) convened for its first council meeting of the Fall 2022 semester on Sept. 14. Led by speaker Adrienne Tessier, the meeting’s agenda covered issues such as McGill’s fossil fuel investments and teaching assistants’ (TA) rights. The meeting began with an overview of the various PGSS[Read More…]
McGill unions frustrated with ongoing delays in collective agreement negotiations
As of Sept. 13, only one of McGill’s 14 labour unions—the teaching assistant unit of the Association of Graduate Students Employed at McGill (AGSEM)—has an active collective agreement (CA) in place with the university, according to McGill’s Human Resources (HR). CAs govern salaries, hours, benefits, and working conditions of unionized[Read More…]
