Achi news desk-
Around 1,600 teaching assistants at McGill University announced they would be on strike starting Monday as the final sprint of the winter semester began.
Teaching assistants at the university voted 87.5 per cent in favor of an eight-week strike mandate last week.
The main point of dispute is still wages, says Fanny Teissandier, TA of anthropology since the fall of 2023.
In an interview with The Canadian Press, he said the goal of the negotiations is to reduce the difference between the average wages offered at McGill and other similar universities, which is $46.36 an hour.
“There’s a very, very big difference when we know teaching assistant salaries (at McGill) come to $33.03,” he said.
Vice-president of the National Federation of Teachers Quebec-CSN (FNEEQ-CSN) Christine Gauthier responded in a news release on Saturday.
“The negotiation was disappointing for the union, as the negotiating committee showed flexibility and received very little in return from the university,” he said. “The strike mandate is strong and our members will not back down until they have been offered a respectable wage.”
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The workers also want the course hours allocated to them to be indexed in relation to the number of students, a measure that would guarantee them a certain number of hours.
“McGill is reducing the contracted hours for teaching assistants (which) jeopardizes the salary of teaching assistants and also compromises the quality of education that teaching assistants can provide,” Teissandier said.
The negotiating committee includes three members of the McGill Graduate Student Employees Association (AÉÉDEM) and an advisor from the FNEEQ-CSN.
Negotiations regarding the renewal of the collective agreement for these workers began last September.
Starting on Monday, a strike fund will be available to teaching assistants.
If they participate in 20 hours of weekly strike, they will be eligible for $350 per week, with the majority paid by the FNEEQ-CSN.
Impact on students
Teaching assistants are graduate students registered at McGill University who help and supervise students in their studies.
They are often responsible for correcting academic work, leading seminars, taking care of some administrative tasks and responding to emails, as well as meeting with students outside of class hours to help with work and exam preparation.
According to Teissandier, the strike could have repercussions on undergraduate students.
“These repercussions will really depend on the length of the strike. Otherwise, indeed, undergraduate students could have difficulty getting their final grades for the courses they are currently registered for,” he said.
She hopes the university will not drag the labor dispute out until the end of term.
“Teaching assistants are really essential workers,” he added. “It is time for teaching assistants to be treated with respect and dignity in order to protect their living conditions, but also McGill’s educational mission.”
& copy 2024 The Canadian Press
