This term, McGill TAs are done with working for free.
McGill steals a million dollars of TA wages every single year. That’s an average of over $420 each stolen from half of TAs.(1) We collected that data in 2017, and since then things have been getting worse. In departments across the university, TA budgets are getting cut, while the amount of labour stays the same.(2)
This money matters. Grads are going hungry.(3) Grad student associations across the university are reporting students in poverty, including in departments like Physics where stipends and TAships are guaranteed.(4) Grads are unable to afford healthcare.(5) Grads are unable to live in dignity and do their research effectively.(6)
TA labour matters. Quality education requires the essential work of running tutorials, giving detailed feedback, grading, holding office hours, and so much more.
The scale of the problem is huge. In some departments, TAs with 45 hour contracts are regularly working twice their hours. That’s nearly $1500 a term per TA. This has to stop.
We’ve been dealing with this alone for too long. We thought there was nothing we could do about it. We thought our labour was not worth a living wage. All the while we know the reason why we keep working is because without our work courses wouldn’t finish. The grades would never be submitted.
So what do we do about it?
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Commit this term to not working for free. Sign the pledge. Fill out your workload form. Track your hours, from every email written to every lecture attended to every paper you give thorough feedback to. Stop when you hit your contract hours. Follow the No More Free Hours participation guide.
This is a work-to-rule action: it just means we’re following the rules. We work as many hours as we’re paid for. If McGill wants more work, they’ll have to pay us. Simple as that.
Talk to other TAs. Talk about how close you are to your hours. Talk to your departmental delegate.(7) Join an active support network grouped by faculty. There are loads of people who will have your back. Contact your Grievance Officer directly if you are ever being pressured to work for free.
Spread the word. Tell your friends this time we have each other’s backs, all across the university. Wear a No More Free Hours pin while you work.
If you aren’t a TA, sign the open letter. Let McGill know you want the university to pay for every hour worked.
If and when you come close to using all the hours in your contract, follow the strategy below in the No More Free Hours guide. Inform your course supervisor, talk to your support network about it, and let everyone know that if the hours run out, you won’t work for free.
What will happen?
We are acting together to show McGill that we are no longer working for free. We are showing that there aren’t enough contract hours to maintain a high quality of education. We are showing McGill that if they want functional classes, they are going to have to pay us what we are worth—every hour.
TAs are going into bargaining this fall. No More Free Hours will show McGill that our current contracts aren’t functional. Working together in solidarity will show that we have the power to change our working conditions.
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This term, we’re following the rules. No more free hours.
No More Free Hours Participation Guide
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1. Wear a No More Free Hours pin while you work and around campus!
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2. Sign the pledge! Get access to support networks by signing!
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3. Fill out the workload form with your supervisor! Do a midterm review of your workload form to adjust hours from the initial estimate.
4. Track your hours! You can use this spreadsheet, the app toggl, or whatever works for you! You are paid by the hour, not the task!
5. Let your course supervisor know when you are close to your hours. Meet with them to review the workload form in the middle of term. Let them know you won’t work for free!
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The course supervisor should request additional hours from the department. If these additional hours are approved, you can accept or refuse them. If you refuse them, a supplemental TA job must be posted.
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If more hours are not granted, stop working.
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Tell your faculty support network and the Grievance Officer about what happened!
In detail:
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Wear a No More Free Hours pin/button while you work and around campus! They’ll be available at rallies, events, tabling, and from your delegate and support network! If you can’t find one, ask!
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Join your faculty support network by signing the pledge! These are groups of TAs who will be sharing with each other stories of how much McGill has stolen from their wages before, strategies to resist whatever particular difficulties exist in your departments and faculty, and be able to show up for each other when we need to!
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Fill out the workload form with your supervisor at the beginning of term (8) (Article 11.02.03 of our Collective Agreement). This is an agreement between the two of you to decide how you will spend your hours. You have the right to review previous workload forms for the course you are working to see the breakdown from previous semesters. Send a request to the departmental administrator for access to previous workload forms. Make sure that all the tasks that are part of your TA work are on that form—this includes attending class, mandatory readings, all lab or conference hours, grading, office hours, mandatory training, and meetings with your course supervisor, including the meeting where you fill out the workload form. Be clear that you won’t work more hours than are in your contract unless the department approves more funds to pay you!
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Keep track of all of your TA hours throughout the semester. This includes additional hours that you may have originally budgeted for student emails, additional office hours, or grading that takes longer than expected. Always remember that you are paid by the hour, and not by the task. Class prep, attending class—any hours you spend working should be paid. Use a tool like this hours tracking spreadsheet or an app like toggl. It is important to be able to show to your supervisor how you spend your time to assert your rights.
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The workload form is something we won in previous contracts to help protect our labour rights. It’s not just pointless bureaucracy! Revise your workload form mid-semester. Your course supervisor is obligated to meet with you to revise the workload form. If they do not, this is a serious violation of the collective agreement. (Article 11.02.03). Tell your supervisor if you are using more hours than expected, and adjust your workload accordingly. Be clear that if they want you to work more, they must request additional overtime funds from the department.
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Inform your supervisor BEFORE you reach the limit of your contract. Sit down for another meeting to review your workload form. Tip: You can review this form as many times as necessary throughout the semester. On that form, there is a space for the course supervisor to request additional hours to complete the work for the course. (Article 11.04)
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Additional hours beyond your contract must be acquired or fulfilled by the course supervisor. That means it is not your responsibility to make sure the work gets done—you are paid by the hour, not the task.
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A few things can happen from here:
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If additional hours are approved and you want to work them: Great! These hours MUST be paid at the TA rate, no less. (Article 11.04). Wait for written confirmation from the department that the hours are approved. Double-check your pay stubs to make sure you do indeed get paid. If there are any issues, contact grievance.1@agsem-aeedem.ca as soon as you are aware of any discrepancies.
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If there is still more work to do for the course but you do not want to work any more: Great! That’s totally fine. Even if the department approves additional hours, you are not obliged to work them if you have reached the hours you were initially contracted to work. The department MUST offer you these hours at the TA rate before they are offered to anyone else, but it’s always your right to say “thanks but no thanks.” Only after you refuse can these hours be offered to a new supplemental TA hire (Article 11.04). Contact grievance.1@agsem-aeedem.ca immediately if your department outsources your work without your permission!
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If additional hours are NOT approved by the department: you stop working because you will not work for free. If your department or course supervisor tries to force you to work for free, or if your TA labour is outsourced to a non-TA, this is a violation of your rights. Contact grievance.1@agsem-aeedem.ca immediately.
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FAQ
Citations
(1) AGSEM Membership Survey 2017. See also AGSEM’s 2019 report, Graduate Student Precarity in Perspective, https://www.agsem.ca/graduate-workers-issues-at-mcgill. An average of binned responses put 48% of TAs as working an average of 13 hours over their contract. In 2023 wages, this is $429.39.
(2) The School of Religious Studies standard TA appointment dropped this year from 120 hours to 100 hours. Psychology dropped from 180 hours to 150 hours, and as of this year has stopped covering Fall tuition for grad students who work as a TA.
(3) 38% of McGill TAs forego healthy food due to lack of income. AGSEM Membership Survey 2017.
(4) “My weekly food budget allowed me this week to purchase a single loaf of bread and one bag of chips and some coffee grains. I am very hungry. The amount of money I am able to save per month is in the negatives.” McGill Graduate Association of Physics Students (MGAPS), Report on the financial situation of McGill Physics graduate students, 27 January 2023, https://mgaps.physics.mcgill.ca/files/MGAPS_Stipend_Report_2023.pdf.
(5) Over one third (36%) of graduate Teaching Assistants at McGill are reported to forgo medical, dental, and optical services due to lack of income, and 38% forgo healthy food. AGSEM Membership Survey 2017. McGill’s results in the 2022 Canadian Graduate and Professional Student Survey (CGPSS) indicate that 19.8% of Master’s students and 18.1% of PhD students suffer from mental health disorders, including major depression, bipolar disorder, general anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and obsessive compulsive disorder. McGill Analysis, Planning and Budget, CGPSS McGill Summary Report 2022: Doctoral Students (accessed July 2023); McGill Analysis, Planning and Budget, CGPSS McGill Summary Report 2022: Master’s Students – With Thesis (accessed July 2023).
(6) Approximately two-thirds (62.3%) of grads in physics at McGill do not feel like they are “living in dignity” and (66.4%) report their financial situation has a negative impact on their “ability to effectively carry out research.” McGill Graduate Association of Physics Students (MGAPS), Report on the financial situation of McGill Physics graduate students (accessed July 2023).
(7) If your department doesn’t have a delegate, and you’re interested in helping out your fellow workers, let us know and become a delegate!
(8) This is required by article 11.02.03 of our Collective Agreement. The course supervisor cannot send you a workload form to sign. It must be done during a meeting and it must be agreed upon by both of you.
(9) Bainbridge. March 27, 2023. “McGill senior administration made big bucks last year”. The McGill Daily.
(10) McGill Endowment Fund Annual Report 2021-2022. https://www.mcgill.ca/investments/files/investments/endowment_report_v10_final_0.pdf
(11) Report on Endowment Performance 2020-2021. https://www.mcgill.ca/investments/files/investments/report_on_endowment_performance_2020-2021_-_final_-_en.pdf
(12) Report on Endowment Performance 2020-2021.
