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AGSEM demands sent today to McGill higher administration due to the increase in COVID-19 cases

December 22, 2021

Dear Professor Manfredi,

In follow up to the letter that was sent to you on June 21, 2021, we would like to reiterate some of our requests based on the current sanitary condition in the province of Quebec.

After fluctuating for almost two years now, COVID-19 cases are again rising in Quebec and all over the world. Since McGill is already prepared to deliver most classes remotely, AGSEM would like to request , once again, that you opt for a precautionary approach by moving teaching activities to the fully or partially remote mode of delivery in Winter 2022.

Read our latest update about Workday here.

Communication from HR for unions to share with members regarding delays in pay (AGSEM, AMUSE, AMURE)

October 30, 2020

Prepared by Sharon Sharma, CRHA

In an effort to provide immediate financial relief to students that are experiencing a delay in pay, the University is implementing the following measures to assist students in the short term:

• Unpaid tuition fee balances for Fall 2020 will be automatically deferred, without interest, to January 6, 2021.
• Any interest charged on Fall 2020 tuition fees will be reversed.
• An interest-free loan in the amount of $1,500 will be made available via credit to their student account. This loan is repayable on January 6, 2021. Student Accounts will be in contact with the students that have been identified by the University as having a delay in pay. These students will be contacted via their McGill student email address. The email will contain details on how to request the disbursement of this short term loan for deposit into their bank account.

If you have not been contacted by Student Accounts and have a delay in pay, you may reach out to them at student.accounts@mcgill.ca to begin the process of accessing the loan, should you require it. The subject line of the email must include “Student employee.” You must also include your McGill ID number and the department/unit in which you are currently employed.

Read our latest update about Workday here.

Communication from HR for unions to share with members regarding delays in pay (AGSEM, AMUSE, AMURE)

October 30, 2020

Prepared by Sharon Sharma, CRHA

In an effort to provide immediate financial relief to students that are experiencing a delay in pay, the University is implementing the following measures to assist students in the short term:

• Unpaid tuition fee balances for Fall 2020 will be automatically deferred, without interest, to January 6, 2021.
• Any interest charged on Fall 2020 tuition fees will be reversed.
• An interest-free loan in the amount of $1,500 will be made available via credit to their student account. This loan is repayable on January 6, 2021. Student Accounts will be in contact with the students that have been identified by the University as having a delay in pay. These students will be contacted via their McGill student email address. The email will contain details on how to request the disbursement of this short term loan for deposit into their bank account.

If you have not been contacted by Student Accounts and have a delay in pay, you may reach out to them at student.accounts@mcgill.ca to begin the process of accessing the loan, should you require it. The subject line of the email must include “Student employee.” You must also include your McGill ID number and the department/unit in which you are currently employed.

La version française suit.

As of November 2, all TA applications for Winter 2020 should now be open. The union signed a letter of agreement with McGill moving the TA posting deadline. Some departments may have posted their Winter 2021 TA positions in advance, but all departments must have them posted by Monday, November 2.

IMPORTANT: the deadline to apply for Winter 2021 TA positions is November 20. McGill HR has communicated this to departments but if you see an application deadline earlier than Nov. 20, let us know ( grievance.1@agsem-aeedem.ca), and keep in mind that they must accept all applications submitted up to that date.

La version française suit.

As of November 2, all TA applications for Winter 2020 should now be open. The union signed a letter of agreement with McGill moving the TA posting deadline. Some departments may have posted their Winter 2021 TA positions in advance, but all departments must have them posted by Monday, November 2.

IMPORTANT: the deadline to apply for Winter 2021 TA positions is November 20. McGill HR has communicated this to departments but if you see an application deadline earlier than Nov. 20, let us know ( grievance.1@agsem-aeedem.ca), and keep in mind that they must accept all applications submitted up to that date.

La version française suit.

Update, November 14: There was confusion among student employees who received the loan in their Student Account without sufficient communication by the employer/university. We reached out to HR for clarification surrounding the loan: “The loan was given to students that were identified as having a delay in pay via credit in their student accounts. The student would have had to request it to be deposited in their personal banking account to have access to it. If the student did not request the loan to be deposited in their bank account, Student Accounts will reverse the loan on December 4th from their student account. There will not be any interest charged when the loan is reversed on December 4th.”

La version française suit.

Update, November 14: There was confusion among student employees who received the loan in their Student Account without sufficient communication by the employer/university. We reached out to HR for clarification surrounding the loan: “The loan was given to students that were identified as having a delay in pay via credit in their student accounts. The student would have had to request it to be deposited in their personal banking account to have access to it. If the student did not request the loan to be deposited in their bank account, Student Accounts will reverse the loan on December 4th from their student account. There will not be any interest charged when the loan is reversed on December 4th.”

La version française suit.

Update, November 14: There was confusion among student employees who received the loan in their Student Account without sufficient communication by the employer/university. We reached out to HR for clarification surrounding the loan: “The loan was given to students that were identified as having a delay in pay via credit in their student accounts. The student would have had to request it to be deposited in their personal banking account to have access to it. If the student did not request the loan to be deposited in their bank account, Student Accounts will reverse the loan on December 4th from their student account. There will not be any interest charged when the loan is reversed on December 4th.”

Dear TAs,

Thank you to everyone who has reached out to us regarding your ability to access the Workday HR system, your employee email, and/or Zoom Pro. This is a follow-up to the emails we sent September 15 and September 28 and we are able to provide some updates at this time.

Filling out our survey is still the best way for us to keep track of issues and address potential violations of your labour rights. We will follow up with you before we pursue any next steps. We have also forwarded and will continue to forward all survey information we receive to HR. Below we have included other courses of action that have been described to us by McGill to help expedite solutions.

On September 15, we sent an email to all TAs about technical issues with activating or signing into their McGill employee email account (@mcgill.ca). We have followed up with McGill HR for everyone who has filled out that survey. Some issues have been resolved, but many are still outstanding.

Due to the number and variety of issues TAs are experiencing (see #1-5 below), the union does not have the capacity to follow up with everyone individually, but we have created a more comprehensive survey to help AGSEM / McGill Human Resources / McGill IT / McGill Workday address these issues in batches. In particular, we are concerned that many TAs are not going to receive their pay on time.