Teaching assistants at Mcgill set to begin strike today
Mcgill University's 1,600 teaching assistants have announced they will be on strike starting Monday, as the final sprint of the semester gets underway. The university's teaching assistants voted 87.5 per cent in favour of an eight-week strike mandate this month.
According to Fanny Teissandier, a teaching assistant in anthropology since last fall, the main point of contention remains salaries.
In an interview with Presse Canadienne, Teissandier maintained the negotiations are aimed at reducing the disparity between the average salaries offered at Mcgill and those at similar universities, which stand at $46.36 an hour.
“There's really a very, very big difference when you consider that teaching assistants' salaries (at Mcgill) are $33.03,” Teissandier pointed out.
Christine Gauthier, vice-president of the Fédération nationale des enseignantes et des enseignants du Québec (FNEEQ -CSN), reacted in a statement issued on Saturday.
“Negotiations were disappointing for the union, because the negotiating committee showed flexibility and received very little openness in exchange from the university,” Gauthier said. “The strike mandate is strong and our members will not back down until they get a respectful wage offer.”
The teaching assistants also want the hours they are assigned to be indexed to the number of students, a measure that would guarantee them a certain number of hours.
“Mcgill is in the process of reducing the hours contracted to teaching assistants, (which) jeopardizes the remuneration of teaching assistants and also jeopardizes the quality of education that teaching assistants are able to provide to students,” Teissandier said.
The negotiating committee is made up of three members of the Association of Graduate Students Employed at Mcgill (AGSEM) and an adviser from FNEEQ -CSN. Negotiations to renew the workers' collective agreement began in September.
Starting today, a strike fund will be available to teaching assistants. If they participate in 20 hours of strike activity per week, they will be entitled to $350 per week, most of which will be paid by FNEEQ -CSN.
Teaching assistants are graduate students enrolled at Mcgill who assist and mentor students in their studies.
Generally speaking, they are responsible for correcting academic work, conducting seminars, taking care of certain administrative tasks and answering emails, as well as meeting with students outside class hours to advise them on their upcoming assignments and exams.
In that sense, Teissandier said, the strike could have an effect on undergraduate students.
“These repercussions will really depend on how long the strike lasts,” she explained. “Undergraduates may indeed have difficulty
Undergraduates may indeed have difficulty obtaining their final grades for the courses in which they are currently enrolled.”
obtaining their final grades for the courses in which they are currently enrolled.”
Given that, Teissandier said she hopes the university won't drag out the labour dispute until the end of the session.
“Teaching assistants really are essential workers,” she said. “It's time for teaching assistants to be treated with respect and dignity to protect not only their living conditions, but also Mcgill's mission of education.”