Following various technical issues with Workday, McGill’s new human resources (HR) system, the Association of Graduate Students Employed at McGill (AGSEM) has filed several individual, union, and collective grievances against the university in accordance with their Collective Agreement (CA). Some problems included lack of access to technology necessary to teach[Read More…]
Tag: teaching assistants
Unresolved issues with Workday HR system leave hundreds of TAs unpaid
A variety of issues have persisted since McGill’s Human Resources (HR) system transitioned from Banner to Workday in August 2020. Eight weeks into the Fall 2020 semester, hundreds of McGill employees—teaching assistants (TAs) in particular—experienced delays in payment, and some have still not been paid at all. McGill staff have[Read More…]
Online discussion forums are the future of conferences
In light of McGill’s announcement that instruction will continue primarily online during the Winter 2021 semester, students in the Faculty of Arts must prepare for the possibility that most of their conferences will remain remote. This new reality will disappoint those who miss direct face-to-face interaction with their peers. However,[Read More…]
Graduate student workers must not be taken for granted
The COVID-19 pandemic has toppled the higher-education house of cards, scattering vulnerable academic support staff into uncertain workplace predicaments. McGill forced these employees into dire straits well before the pandemic: Overburdened by faculties and underappreciated by students, the university treats teaching assistants (TAs) and other academic support staff like raw[Read More…]
Collective agreement ratified at AGSEM’s TA General Assembly
The Association of Graduate Students Employed at McGill (AGSEM) held its Teaching Assistant (TA) General Assembly online on Sept. 30 to vote on the new tentative TA Collective Agreement (CA). After two years of negotiations, AGSEM’s Bargaining Committee presented the tentative contract to the AGSEM Unit 1(TA) membership. The meeting[Read More…]
Tribune Explains: Association of Graduate Students Employed at McGill (AGSEM)
What is AGSEM? The Association of Graduate Students Employed at McGill (AGSEM) is the union to which teaching assistants (TA) and invigilators for McGill university belong. Founded in 1974 as the McGill Teaching Assistant Association (MTAA) and certified in 1993 as a union to represent Teaching Assistants, AGSEM is the[Read More…]
The ineffective weekly conference: Getting past 10% participation marks
"And be sure to say your name before speaking, so I can put you down for participation marks," a teaching assistant instructs a room of blank-faced undergraduate students. An attendance sheet circulates. A pen taps against a desk. To break the silence, someone offers a summary of the week's course[Read More…]
