So apparently the University has moved a bit on a few issues; but there's been some sort of ruling upholding professors' rights to grade everything. I don't know the details, I only got the update from the administration (below.) So it sounds to me, so far, like striking has won us Something... but the power of the *pressure tactic* is coming to an end? The admin is also making plans for the fall, in case the strike goes that long. Yikes.
On the Not So Nice end of things, McGill fired any of the exam invigilators who are also TAs. The latest word is that they've threatened "striking employees with more layoffs, this time for TAs who hold summer sessional instructor jobs and research assistantships." That came from a union email, I don't know more than that.
A student in our dept proposed a meeting with faculty, to keep up good relations. I doubted the Chair would agree since there's no way he'd be allowed to talk about these issues. Sure enough he was reluctant at first, but has now set a meeting for next Monday. As Star Wars would say, I have a bad feeling about this.
*
From Admin (April 24): "On Wednesday, April 23, the Commission des Relations du Travail du Québec
issued an order that supports McGill’s interpretation of Quebec labour law as
it applies to professors marking papers and exams, submitting grades and
teaching summer courses.
As you may know, AGSEM, the Union representing the teaching assistants,
had argued that the University did not have the right to assign this work to
professors. At a Commission hearing April 18 to deal with a Union complaint,
AGSEM agreed during a mediation session to the terms of an agreement that
formed the basis of the April 23 order. The Union’s subsequent attempt, on
Monday, April 21, to pull back from that agreement was dismissed on April
23. "
From FNEEQ site (April 17): "Cette semaine, un enquêteur du ministère du Travail a conclu dans son rapport que McGill se sert de scabs pour effectuer le travail des grévistes. Lors d’une visite à un laboratoire de chimie de l’université, le 11 avril, l’enquêteur, Thomas Hayden, a constaté que les professeurs de McGill remplaçaient les auxiliaires dans leurs taches normales, ce qui contrevient l’article 109.1"
2 comments:
I'd be interested to see where the dept. chair stood on this - it could be that McGill poli sci profs skew a little more to the right than do the profs in my dept, but from my experience the profs are usually going to be on your side in these sorts of things. Chairs are in an interesting in-between position, though - somewhere between the lefty prof and the suits in administration; it must be a tough line to walk.
Will any of this affect your graduation?
-p.
Will you go to the poli sci meeting, or are you just holding out until you graduate now?
You know... If I were still there, I'd be really, really stressed out about the pay loss, and I suddenly wouldn't have enough money to make it (Well... I might not. How many pay weeks are you losing? Anyway, I know the union pay is a lot less than the TA pay.), and I'd have to go through all sorts of bureaucracy to work elsewhere in Quebec... Even thought it would be cool to see my first real strike, I'm kinda glad I don't have to deal with the fall out from that right now.
I am interested in whether or not you've spoken with any professors or heard from them... Are they using it as an excuse to put off grading your MA paper and others' work, or are those things moving along nicely? Let me know.
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