The Negotiating Committee will prepare a report with recommendations for the next round of negotiations, which will start after the expiry of the new agreement on 31 July 2023. The Committee`s report will also help maintain the institutional memory of the recent negotiation process. The Executive Committee or the Bargaining Committee never makes a unilateral decision to strike. A strike may only take place by a majority of the votes of the members of the collective bargaining unit at a general meeting. Any member may submit a strike motion to the General Assembly, but the Executive Committee may submit this motion itself if the bargaining process is at a standstill. A strike vote may be presented at a general meeting if the university habitually violates the provisions of the collective agreement or if the union is in a bargaining phase and the university does not reach an agreement that suits the members. A strike is not automatic if McGill does not agree to the union`s terms. Members will have the opportunity to vote on whether or not to change the union`s demands; whether the offer should be accepted by McGill; and whether or not McGill`s offer should be rejected, but continues to negotiate without a strike. “There were a number of obstacles … In this round of negotiations, I expected COVID-19 to be the biggest hurdle, but it didn`t happen that way,” Rose wrote. “I believe that members voted overwhelmingly in favour of ratifying this agreement in order to reaffirm what we have achieved and not to give up what we have not yet accomplished. As far as TAs are concerned, preparations for the next round of negotiations begin today. The Unit 1 collective agreement is in effect until July 31, 2023. One year before the expiry of this Agreement, the Assembly of Unit 1 shall elect a pre-negotiation committee to prepare for the next round of negotiations.
“[Article 6 on discrimination, harassment and sexual violence] was a time-consuming negotiation,” Rose said. “Our mandate was to update this section to include the sexual violence policy that did not exist when we […] Negotiation … of the [previous] collective agreement. We wanted to broaden the language that flows from [McGill`s] policy on sexual violence to be more specific to the TA`s working conditions and to provide additional protection with respect to teacher-student relationships, which applies to TAs in several ways. In the coming weeks, the detailed terms of the agreement will be communicated to the community. The collective agreement will soon be published on the union`s and university`s websites. Supervisors were collectively fired during the COVID-19 outbreak in March 2020. They look forward to more personal work opportunities, but stress that worker safety is a priority and that personal protective equipment must be provided by the employer. With 89.91% of union members voting in favour, the ratified agreement will now be submitted by mcGill`s Bargaining Committee to McGill`s Board of Governors.
Once both parties have signed the contract, THE EMSA will contact current and former union members to inform them of any changes that may affect them. In an email to the McGill Tribune, CMEA President Kiersten van Vliet noted that much remains to be done to improve working conditions for TAs and that this round of negotiations has helped set priorities for future agreements. The Negotiating Committee will submit a proposal to the General Assembly (GA), and members will have the opportunity to modify part of it by proposing an amendment and participating in a simple majority vote. Throughout the negotiation process, the Committee will continue to seek input from members. If McGill agrees to the union`s terms, the Bargaining Committee will submit an agreement in principle to the General Assembly for ratification. If McGill does not agree to the union`s terms, the collective bargaining committee will continue to bargain until it determines that an impasse has been reached. It will then be up to the General Assembly to decide whether to modify the bargaining objectives or to pursue them, possibly through a strike. All decisions are submitted to the highest authority of the union, which is the popular vote of the members. We are pleased to announce that on December 23, 2020, the McGill Graduate Students` Association (AGSEM-FNEEQ) and McGill University signed a new collective agreement […].