On Feb. 15, Daniel Fournier, Associate Director of McGill Residence Life, announced that the Floor Fellow position, a staple of the McGill residence system, would be abolished effective May 2024. This callous decision leaves McGill as the only major Canadian university without Floor Fellows or a comparable position; it will[Read More…]
Tag: floor fellows
Floor fellows need a better foundation, not elimination
Content Warning: Mentions of suicide, sexual assault, and racial discrimination. On Feb. 15, McGill’s Student Housing and Hospitality Services (SHHS) informed their 65 Floor Fellows via Zoom that their positions would be eliminated, effective this fall. SHHS announced the meeting only two hours in advance and the call lasted a[Read More…]
Floor fellows file grievance against McGill over poor working conditions
The union representing floor fellows at McGill, the Association of McGill University Support Employees (AMUSE), has filed a grievance against the university over changes to floor fellows’ accommodations. Floor fellows are upper-year students hired to live in residences and support the primarily first-year students living there, who are often new[Read More…]
Protect our Floor Fellows, or lose them
McGill employees will once again bear the brunt of poor administrative choices. AMUSE (Association of McGill University Support Employees) has been fighting for better living conditions and wages for residence Floor Fellows, but they now have to make yet another sacrifice: Their living space. In March 2023, the McGill administration[Read More…]
AMUSE elects new slate of executives following two months of leadership vacancy
The Association of McGill University Support Employees (AMUSE) welcomed eight new members to its Board of Representatives (BoR) and five new officers to its Executive Committee at a Special General Meeting (SGM) held on Nov. 2. The SGM was convened to fill the seats left vacant after a contentious ruling[Read More…]
McGill students, staff “stressed” about lack of COVID-19 guidelines in residences
For the first time since 2020, a semester has begun with nearly no pandemic restrictions in place at McGill. Mandatory masking and social distancing were dropped in May 2022 and campus activities, including all classes and Frosh, have resumed at full capacity. Those in residences, however, report feeling that COVID-19[Read More…]
Floor fellows rally as bargaining for collective agreement with McGill continues
On March 24, the Association of McGill University Support Employees (AMUSE) held a rally outside of the James Administration building to bolster support for the floor fellow’s bargaining team. Floor fellows, upper-year students who work in McGill residences, have been on strike since March 18 over failure to reach a[Read More…]
McGill floor fellows go on strike, demand new Collective Agreement
On March 17, by way of a town crier, the Association of McGill University Support Employees (AMUSE) announced that floor fellows—upper-year students living and working in residences to provide support to first-year students—will be on strike as of March 18 at noon. The floor fellows’ last Collective Agreement (CA) with[Read More…]
QPIRG-McGill’s panel on labour exploitation at McGill discusses ongoing contract negotiations and unionization efforts
The annual Social Justice Days event series, organized by the Quebec Public Interest Research Group at McGill University (QPIRG-McGill) and the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU), was held from March 7 to 12. Centred on themes of harm reduction and sustainability, the series featured interactive workshops and panel discussions[Read More…]
McGill floor fellows fight for better wages, meal plans, working conditions as collective agreement negotiations drag on
It has been 15 months since the expiration of the collective agreement (CA) between floor fellows—upper-year students who live in residences to support students—and McGill. A new agreement has yet to be instated as parties remain in deadlock over issues such as the fellows’ wages, meal plan dollars, guest policies,[Read More…]