The administration at Queen’s University is trying to cut funding to academic programs. In response all the bargaining units at the University — including five CUPE units, as well as PSAC 901 and USW 2010 — are joining forces in an historic coordinating bargaining campaign. Together they represent over 5,000 workers including lab technicians, library technicians, food service workers, custodial and trades staff, graduate teaching assistants, and other support staff. Spring Magazine spoke to Qazi Mustabeen Noor, a PhD candidate in the department of English at Queen’s University and a member of PSAC 901.
Spring: Can you let us know a bit about how you’re involved in organizing with your union?
I am currently a rank and file member at PSAC 901.
Can you break down where things are at in terms of the various locals in bargaining and preparing for bargaining?
This is an exciting time for all the unions at Queen’s University because CUPE locals 229, 254 and 1302 are currently looking at a strike deadline, plus USW and PSAC 901 are also in their bargaining process. PSAC 901 has filed for conciliation recently. Even though our faculty union, QUFA, is not in bargaining this year, they’re also wholeheartedly supporting us and are a part of the Unity Council.
The Unity Council has also obtained a new office space to organize our joint strike action from, since we’re potentially all going on strike at around the same time. Since we don’t want to cross the picket line of CUPE (since they represent custodial workers among others), we’re going to work from an office space off campus. This is a historic moment for labour organizing at Queen’s.
What are the main negotiation issues for the workers?
If we had to pick one major issue that PSAC 901 is negotiating, it’s the funding-labour ratio. Graduate workers (teaching assistants, teaching fellows, research assistants—i.e., Unit 1 of our local) are overworked and have to earn 50% or more of their funding through academic labour that doesn’t directly contribute to their research. This disproportionate workload leads to burnout, overwork and underpayment.
Here’s our live bargaining tracker that shows the progress of all our bargaining articles as we proceed at the table: https://psac901.org/unit-1-collective-bargaining-live-tracker/
As far as I know, for CUPE 229 workers, the top bargaining priority is ending the two-tier wage system for Caretakers and Custodians. Under the current system, workers classified as “Caretakers” earn from between 6-7 dollars less per hour than workers classed as “Custodians”, despite doing the same work.
For all the bargaining unions, getting back our affected wages and halted wage increase due to Bill 124 is also a major issue.
CUPE members have voted overwhelmingly to strike if necessary. How have the locals and the Unity Council engaged rank-and-file members?
Our mobilizers are working hard in rank and file member engagement. We’re having frequent information sessions and town halls with members, and they’re brimming with questions. We’ve had good turnout in both indoor and outdoor events so far.
What support are you getting from the labour movement? From the local community in Kingston?
The fact that we’ve formed the Unity Council with all our supportive sister unions is a huge support in itself. In the community, we have our allies in the Kingston and District Labour Council (KDLC) and Labour for Palestine Katarokwi Chapter, as well as other community organizations such as OPIRG and Levana Gender Advocacy Center. They’ve been prompt in circulating our messaging in the greater community. In the event of a strike, we’re expecting an overwhelmingly positive response.
What are your strengths as you continue negotiations? What are some challenges you face? What will it take to win?
Our strength is in our bargaining team, mobilization committee and executive who are currently operating on an “all hands on deck” mode. The bargaining team at PSAC has been tirelessly working to bring less palatable issues like affordable housing and tuition to the table, despite the employer’s hostile attitude and stalling. CUPE has just six days left [at the time this interview was conducted] to a strike deadline and they are ready to go, as is USW.
Our collective drive and motivation are our strengths. Some challenges we face come directly from the employer: stalling, using exclusionary language (for example, they told our bargaining team that we don’t deserve a raise like CUPE units do, because we at PSAC don’t do as much work) and intimidation.
How can those outside Queen’s show their support?
Please follow our union social media handles and share our posts widely. If your children are going to Queen’s, please email the university as a parent expressing your concern for the students’ academic life. The campus cannot function without all its workers, from custodial staff to graduate student workers to librarians. Please email the Queen’s administrators expressing concern about their vision for the future of the university and how an educational institution needs to think about the wellbeing of those who make education possible. The future of our universities is indeed an Ontario wide and national conversation.
Social media:
Unity council: https://www.instagram.com/unitycouncil.queens/
PSAC 901: https://www.instagram.com/psac901/
Key email contacts:
Provost Matthew Evans who began austerity cuts on a large scale at the university, threatening Arts and Science programs: provost@queensu.ca
Principal Patrick Deane who recently sent out a message to the university community that he wants to envision Queen’s as a technical school rather than a liberal arts university. This sort of exclusionary messaging is harmful for the survival of ArtsSci programs: principal@queensu.ca
Did you like this article? Help us produce more like it by donating $1, $2, or $5. Donate