8-week strike 'the only resort,' say McGill TAs fed up with wages, working conditions

One day into an eight-week strike, the union repre‐ senting McGill University teaching assistants (TA) hopes a return to the nego‐ tiation table Tuesday is a step toward a deal that in‐ cludes higher wages and better working conditions for its 1,600 members.

Negotiations have been ongoing since last Septem‐ ber. Earlier this month, union members voted 87.5 per cent in favour of a strike mandate, sensing that it was the only way to be heard.

"We've seen a lot of resis‐ tance from McGill. They've been giving us low ball after low ball," said Dallas Jokic, a TA in the philosophy depart‐ ment and a member of the bargaining committee for the Association of Graduate Stu‐ dents Employed at McGill (AGSEM).

"They've done nothing to address the problem of infla‐ tion or higher TA wages in other schools in Canada."

On Monday, union mem‐ bers gathered in front of McGill, ringing bells, waving flags and brandishing signs to get their points across.

One of those signs was meant to illustrate the pay gap between teaching assis‐ tants at McGill and those working for other schools.

Union members have stated that McGill TAs make $33.03 per hour and that hourly wages for their counterparts in other schools are north of $46.

The eight-week strike comes on the back half of the winter semester, which is leaving Aiden Mehak, who's also a TA at the university, feeling "conflicted" about the effects it could have on stu‐ dents.

But Mehak also believes TAs have no other choice but to strike.

"I would love to be there for my students and students that are graduating are quite concerned that this will inter‐ fere with their graduation," they said.

"[But] I think is really the last resort and the only re‐ sort at this point."

The union also says McGill is reducing the number of hours included in the con‐ tracts of TAs.

By reducing the number of hours in a contract from 180 to 150, for example, TAs say they're forced to choose between giving less support to students or working un‐ paid hours.

During Monday's protest, one protester held a sign that read "No more free hours."

The union wants the hours in contract to be pro‐ portionate to the number of students a TA has.

WATCH | CBC's Sandra Hercegova breaks down labour dispute between McGill and TAs:

TAs want their work to be valued, professor says

According to Barry Eidlin, an associate professor of so‐ ciology at McGill, the labour dispute is connected to a concept he describes as "the corporatization of the univer‐ sity" - which he says involves relying on more casual work‐ ers like teaching assistants to carry an increasingly heavy workload in an effort to max‐ imize profits.

"They do a lot of the es‐ sential work at the university. Many undergrads have stronger relationships with their teaching assistants than their professors because they are the ones they inter‐ act with most closely," Eidlin said.

"What the TAs are asking for, why they are on the pick‐ et lines, is for their work to be valued."

Eidlin says he hopes Tues‐ day's bargaining session moves negotiations forward and that it's time for the uni‐ versity to begin negotiating in good faith.

In a statement, the univer‐ sity said it "deeply values the contributions of teaching as‐ sistants and recognizes their right to labour action within the parameters of the law."

"McGill looks forward to continuing discussions with the union for the renewal of the collective agreement," the statement reads.

"The university is contin‐ uing its operations, prioritiz‐ ing the measures necessary to ensure that students are not unduly affected by the labour action."