Teaching assistants at McGill warn of ‘major disruption’ after voting to strike

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More than 2,300 McGill teaching assistants are preparing to strike after months of failed negotiations with the university and are warning of a “major disruption” for students and professors.

The Association of Graduate Students Employed by McGill (AGSEM), which represents the teaching assistants, overwhelmingly passed a motion on Saturday to authorize a strike following a week of voting.

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Members agreed on a mandate to strike for up to eight weeks, which has yet to start, but could be begin when necessary, according to Dallas Jokic, 28, a member of the AGSEM bargaining team.

“We’re prepared to strike and we have a strong mandate to do so from members. If McGill is willing to offer a fair deal, that can be prevented. But, otherwise, we’re ready to strike,” Jokic said.

Teaching assistants are responsible for a large portion of exam grading and help professors with teaching and organizing in most faculties.

“McGill works because TAs do. And if we are on strike, it is going to be a major disruption to the university’s educational role,” Jokic added.

The teaching assistants are asking for wages that align with those offered by other leading Canadian universities, like the University of Toronto’s $47 hourly rate. McGill’s teaching assistants’ pay is around $33 per hour.

They are also calling for pay to rise with inflation rates, enhanced health-care benefits and the adjustment of their allocated hours to reflect actual workloads.

Negotiations have been continuing since September 2023 after their previous collective agreement expired.

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After multiple proposals, the AGSEM rejected McGill’s latest offer at the end of February, which included a 2.25 per cent pay increase, 1.25 per cent adjustments with inflation for four years, but with no provisions for health care or indexation of hours.

AGSEM said they will meet McGill again on Tuesday.

If strike action is taken, teaching assistants won’t be paid by McGill, but members will have access to the Confédération des syndicats nationaux strike fund and the AGSEM’s own fund to offset the cost, according to AGSEM president Mario Roy.

“The union will be able to count on the support of the CSN for as long as it takes,” said Chantal Ide, vice-president of the Central Council of Metropolitan Montreal-CSN, said in a statement.

Roy, 30, said all of the teaching assistants, more than 2,300 members, would be involved with the strike if taken.

McGill professors seeking legal advice

Professors say the university assumes them to take on grading responsibilities of teaching assistants in their courses.

However, lawyers representing the professors in the Education faculty — the Association of McGill Professors of Education (AMPE) — believe the added grading responsibility to professors would violate Quebec labour laws and sent a cease and desist letter to the university on Friday.

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“We view instructions we have received from McGill administration to do our TAs’ work for them as a change in our work conditions and thus requiring our association’s consent, which we have not given,” said Dennis Wendt, associate professor in the Education department and interim president of AMPE.

The McGill Association of University Teachers (MAUT), which represents about 1,000 McGill staff, has also sought legal advice in anticipation of the strike vote.

Victor M. Muñiz-Fraticelli, associate professor of law and political science, said the advice suggested any additional grading work assumed by professors could be considered strikebreaking and “expose both the university and individual professors to penal liability.”

Michael Hendricks, a professor of biology, said he relies on four teaching assistants for about 360 hours of work each term, primarily grading.

“For some, this would be physically impossible,” Hendricks said. “For others, it would eliminate our ability to perform any other academic duties (let alone disrupt personal lives) for weeks.”

The university did not respond to a request for comment on Saturday.

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