Unit 3 Newsletter: All course-based Academic Casuals have a union!

All graders, course tutors, undergraduate course assistants, graduate student assistants, student course assistants, course assistants, and graduate teaching fellows now have a union as AGSEM’s Unit 3!

What we are able to win in our upcoming negotiations with McGill depends on the work we can accomplish, together.

This newsletter has some important information to get involved in your new union.

In light of the recent events in Bangladesh, the AGSEM Executive Committee condemns the extreme police brutality and spread of disinformation in response to the student protests, which took the lives of at least hundreds of students, left many with life threatening injuries, resulted in a nationwide, multi-day Internet blackout, police enforced curfews, and hundreds of arrests.

The AGSEM Executive Committee stands in solidarity with all Bangladeshi students advocating for equitable access to employment and a fair and transparent democracy. Protesting a job quota system in public sector employment that does not equitably serve the people of Bangladesh, the student movement stands for justice and equity in labour and education. As a labour union representing graduate student workers at McGill University, the AGSEM Executive Committee acknowledges the students’ legitimate and urgent demands for reform.

On June 6th, 2024, an autonomous group of students peacefully occupied the James Administration building at McGill University in the name of Palestinian liberation. In response, university administration authorized the presence of the Service de Police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) on campus and granted them permission to enter the James Administration building. The police response included riot police (Section du support et interventions spécialisées or SIS).

The police unequivocally displayed excessive force against protestors. Students and community members, including elderly people, were subject to pepper spray and tear gas. The brutality, documented in many independent videos, included the SPVM officers shooting tear gas canisters directly at protestors. Officers used riot shields and batons to beat protestors who had fallen to the ground while fleeing, resulting in multiple students sustaining serious injuries, including concussions after taking blows to the head. Some fallen protestors were kicked by police.