Unit 3 June Bargaining Newsletter: Progress! McGill finally gives us a proposal PLUS two articles signed!

June was a very big month for AGSEM’s Unit 3. Back in 2024, we successfully formed this unit for Course-Based Academic Casuals by unionizing hundreds of student workers in a wide range of positions, such as graders, course tutors, and course assistants. We began negotiating the inaugural Unit 3 agreement with McGill in March 2025, and we have been discussing our non-monetary proposals. Last month represents a huge step forward: over the course of three bargaining sessions, we signed two articles and we have laid the groundwork to finalize more in the upcoming months! 

Have you recently worked as a grader, course tutor, course assistant, or graduate teaching fellow? If you have, make sure to sign your union card through this link! This officially gives you the right to participate in AGSEM, allowing you to help shape our policies and attend future negotiation sessions. We are stronger together, and your voice deserves to be heard! 

During the June sessions, our side of the table consisted of Jordan Cowie (1L, Grader & Course Tutor, Management/Law), Bronwyn Walsh (Recent Graduate, Grader & Course Assistant, in Math & Stats), and Donald Morard (PhD Candidate, Grader, History), along with our advisor from the Fédération nationale des enseignantes et des enseignants du Québec (FNEEQ), Guillaume Forest-Allard. We also had workers participating through open bargaining at every session! Keep reading below to find out what happened in June:

Session 4 - June 10th

After our last meeting on May 2nd, McGill still hadn’t provided us with a full counterproposal. This was unnecessarily delaying negotiations and we were fed up. We strongly requested that they bring their complete counterproposal to the table on June 10th. More than 2 months after we gave them our proposal, McGill finally delivered on their obligation. 

Unfortunately, their counterproposal came with many troubling elements that demonstrate McGill’s lack of respect for Unit 3 workers. McGill wanted to strike a majority of our health and safety proposals, such as a standard response training for workers in crisis situations. We brought up recent incidents across Canadian universities (including McGill) where student employees were not trained on how to respond in emergency situations, but McGill insisted that their existing policies on health and safety are good enough. Protecting our members and fellow students is absolutely non-negotiable. We will continue fighting McGill until we have secured protections that guarantee workplace safety.

McGill also proposed the exclusion of our proposed workload form. This is a key document that lays out a worker’s expected tasks and time commitments. For TAs, this has proven to be one of our most important tools to prevent overwork, and McGill wants to remove it from the proposed agreement to save themselves a few minutes of filling out paperwork. 

At the end of our session we agreed on an order of priorities for future negotiations, and we are preparing to establish written agreements with McGill as soon as our next session on June 19th.

Session 5 - June 19th

During this session, we were able to reach an agreement on three different areas of our non-monetary proposal: Article 1, Article 7, and Article 4.07.01! This is a very encouraging start and we are looking forward to building on these wins as we continue discussing our non-monetary proposal.

After some debate during earlier rounds of bargaining, we finalized the language of Article 1. As the introduction to our proposal, Article 1 represents a mutual recognition of the value of AGSEM workers to McGill, and it sets the tone for the rest of our negotiations. It states that the agreement aims to establish fair and equitable working conditions, promote mutual respect and cooperation between the parties, and clearly define the rights and responsibilities of both the employer and the employees. Article 7 governs the Labour-Relations Committee, which gives us the opportunity to meet with McGill representatives after our contract has been established. We have agreed to more seats on the committee and a more flexible scheduling policy, strengthening our presence and contributing to a stable post-bargaining future. Lastly, Article 4.07.01 will improve our day-to-day operations by granting us access to a vacant room attached to the AGSEM office.

Session 6 - June 25th

This session of bargaining started with us questioning McGill’s terminology in specific clauses. For example, we were particularly troubled by McGill’s proposal to remove the word “administrative” from a clause on discipline, as this could allow for discrimination and a more arbitrary process around disciplinary decisions. McGill did not seem to share our concern for this important qualifier! 

We also received McGill’s proposal for clause 14.06, which establishes the formal method of correspondence between the union and the university. We also received their Article 3 proposal, much of which attempted to remove communications between the union and the University Senate. McGill argued that Senate proceedings were “unrelated” to our members and our Union, despite the fact that many Senate committees are related to academics and grading. 

On our end, AGSEM provided a proposition on a clause that would ensure that employees who participate in a strike or choose to not cross a picket line will not be subject to reprisals, including disciplinary measures. We continued to receive pushback on this from McGill, who would want to include language to take pay away from members choosing to not cross a picket line.    

We ended on an incredibly high note by signing two articles. We signed article 1 (Purpose Clause) and article 7 (Labour-Relations Committee). It was a great day to be a Unit 3 member!

What’s next?

In our future sessions we are aiming to finalize the first block of articles, which represent the non-monetary points that are closest to being agreed upon. In particular, we will be focused on articles related to union management, disciplinary measures, and employee files. By securing these articles, we can make negotiations more focused and build on established wins as we continue moving toward a final Unit 3 agreement! 

We are currently crafting our strategy and preparing proposals for our next session on July 29th, and we would love to see you there! Open bargaining is an AGSEM policy that allows Unit 3 members to attend our negotiations. This shows McGill our collective power, and it allows workers like you to experience the process firsthand! Interested in attending our next session or future sessions in the fall? Sign up by clicking this link! At AGSEM, we are stronger together, and your participation makes us united 💪💙

In solidarity,

Your Bargaining and Bargaining Support Committees