From left to right: Jason (BC member), Stephen F (BC member), Isabelle (Art History TA), Alexis (Art History TA), Tori (BC member), Emilie (Geography TA), Sneha (Film Studies TA), Basak (Zoom; Industrial Engineering TA), BeN (That's me!), Sohail (Humanities RA), Nathan (Anthropology RA), Lauren (History RA), Ria (Bargaining Officer), Navid (Political Science TA), Fabrizio (English TA), Marcus (Philosophy TA), Stephanie (Geography TA), Stephen G (Political Science TA), Rob (Communications RA), Sébastien (FNEEQ Advisor), Althea (History RA)
Bargaining Newsletter #8 :
Concordia works because WE do.
Fight for $45! – Bright and early Monday morning, dozens of observers joined our Bargaining Committee as they presented our initial monetary demands to the employer. In summary:
We are demanding a collective agreement that expires no earlier than May 31 2028, with the following pay rate increases:
June 1, 2023: 25%
June 1, 2024: 11% or the rate of inflation for Montreal, whichever is higher
June 1, 2025: 9% or the rate of inflation for Montreal, whichever is higher
June 1, 2026: 5% or the rate of inflation for Montreal, whichever is higher
June 1, 2027: 5% or the rate of inflation for Montreal, whichever is higher
We demand that all CREW members’ wages be raised to equal the PhD RA rate.
We demand that Concordia index TA hours to student enrollment, ensuring we don’t suffer disproportionately from budget cuts.
We demand a priority system that guarantees our members job security with minimum contract lengths to ensure we have enough hours to work.
Concordia’s initial response was that they would take their sweet time responding – and that while they say they care about our financial precarity, they have nothing solid to put on the table even as that precarity worsens. Instead, they tried to divide us by implying that the only reason Master’s and Undergraduate RAs are hired is because their labour is cheap. CREW rejects this. Our members, no matter their degree, deserve to be paid fairly for our vital teaching and research work.
All of us should be able to live without worrying about affording rent and groceries. If you agree, add your name to the hundreds of members who support the Fight for $45!
Updates from our General Assembly
In the past few sessions, Concordia has made it clear they care deeply about stifling our right to effective political expression: both by limiting where we can assemble and organize and by limiting what behavior is “acceptable”. CREW’s membership loudly refused to be silenced either by this or by the possibility of retaliation against us for enforcing our rights.
Contract extensions – This Fall, CREW learned that many of us are expected to work past our contract end dates, in particular to grade final exams. Concordia responded by asking TAs to extend our contracts without allocating extra working hours, which our GA firmly rejected. In line with this, members from the Film Studies department organized together to ensure they got paid for their contract extensions!
Join us for next week’s session as the Bargaining Committee continues to fight for important changes to our rights and protections. SIGN UP TO ATTEND, Monday 9:15am - 12pm in MB 11.101.