Our Bargaining Demands

CREW has been bargaining for a new collective agreement with Concordia since spring 2024. We have made progress in securing some of our rights as unionized student workers, but our most urgent demands have yet to be met.

We are calling for crucial changes that will enable student employees to cope with the rising cost of living and to count on stable employment across our academic careers. We TAs and RAs need real wage increases, job security, a fair workload, and a workplace where our rights as research and education workers are respected.

Teaching and Research Assistants demand:

A pay raise to $45/hr to fight the rising cost of living

• We need vital wage increases to combat the cost of living crisis, including rising prices and soaring rent, along with regular adjustments to match pay with inflation.

• We are also seeking retroactive pay dating to the expiration of our last collective agreement on May 31, 2023.

Job security so we can plan our lives

• We need a priority system in TA hiring and minimum contract hours, so we can rely on stable employment as we plan our academic careers.

• We also ask that TA contract hours be indexed to the number of enrolled students, so the university can’t undercut pay raises by shrinking our contracts.

A fair workload and no unpaid hours

• We need clear contract and workload form standards to guard against the rampant problem of overwork and insufficient hours.

• Indexing contract hours to student enrolment is also crucial to prevent TAs being assigned impossibly heavy workloads.

An end to academic retaliation and political repression

• We need stronger protections for members who come forward to report exploitation, harassment, discrimination, or other grievances.

• We also insist that the university only be able to discipline employees for incidents that take place on the job. No member should lose a contract for exercising their legal rights to free speech and political protest.