McGill University’s 1,600 teaching assistants on strike starting Monday

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McGill University’s 1,600 teaching assistants have announced that they will be on strike starting Monday, as the final sprint of the university semester gets underway.

The university’s teaching assistants voted 87.5% in favour of an eight-week strike mandate last week.

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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 University and those of other similar universities, which stand at $46.36 an hour.

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“There’s really a very, very big difference when you consider that teaching assistants’ salaries (at McGill University) are $33.03,” Teissandier pointed out.

Christine Gauthier, vice-president of the Fédération nationale des enseignantes et des enseignants du Québec-CSN (FNEEQ-CSN), reacted in a news release 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 in the statement. “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 assistant, (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.

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The negotiating committee is made up of three members of the McGill Graduate Student Employees’ Association (MGSSA) and an advisor from FNEEQ-CSN. Negotiations to renew the workers’ collective agreement began last September.

Starting Monday, 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 the FNEEQ-CSN.

Teaching Assistants are graduate students enrolled at McGill University 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 e-mails, 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 impact on undergraduate students.

“These repercussions will really depend on how long the strike lasts,” she explained. “Undergraduates may indeed have difficulty 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.”

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