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…then you decide if asking for these basic rights is too much

• Job security – An employee must have the right to stay on priority points list if she continues to apply but due to the shortage of work does not receive an allocation.
• Recognition for Union work – Delegates who are liaison between the hiring units and the Union work tirelessly day in and day out to minimize grievances, yet their contribution is not recognized and no points are attributed to them – Universities across Quebec do recognize this contribution.
• Teaching Qualification Requirements (TQRs) – Qualifications for a course should not change arbitrarily and members who are declared qualified and grandfather must remain qualified.
• Course Lecturers and Instructors on Priority Points list have the first right of work – Our work share should not be given outside the University. Likewise, hiring faculty lecturers to eat up our courses must stop.
• Allocation of courses to Students – Courses reserved for students must go to graduate students of McGill in order for them to receive adequate teaching training prior to their graduation.
• Professional Development Fund – 1% of course lecturers mass salary must be spent on course lecturers for their professional development. In the past three years not a single penny was allocated to course lecturers.
• Personal leave – A course lecturer having a doctor’s appointment should not lose her salary.
• Leave to care an ailing immediate family member – A course lecturer should not be penalized in terms of her salary if her child, spouse or parent is sick and need affectionate care.
• Salary comparable to other Quebec universities – Salary of course lecturers teaching at McGill is far below their counterparts in other Quebec universities. Such discrimination must end and the rule of equity must prevail.

You decide if asking for these basic rights is too much

Dear members,

On December 6, 2019, the Union’s negotiating team submitted yet another global offer to the employer’s negotiation team in reply to their November 8 revised proposal.

The Union maintains the importance pf respecting job security, namely:

1. No changes to course TQRs at the employer’s own discretion;
2. Stop arbitrarily declaring that your current TQRs no longer qualify no matter how often you taught the course, even if they do not formally change the TQRs;
3. No complete freedom to bypass the seniority list to hire external candidates to replace current course lecturers.

The Union will keep you informed on negotiation developments regarding upcoming meetings, scheduled for January and February 2020.

Your MCLIU negotiation committee

The December 11 arbitration was completed as scheduled. The following are tentatively scheduled hearing dates: June 18, 2020 and September 30, 2020.

Once again, we remind all members impacted by this article to let us know if they wish to attend these hearings.

Dear Members,

The MCLIU negotiating team has been working with global offers: McGill’s October 4 offer, MCLIU’s October 18 response, and McGill’s November 8 revised proposal.

We are currently in the process of preparing our counter-proposal, which we will present at our next bargaining meeting scheduled for December 6.

The employer has adopted a strategy of accepting and mirroring the union’s salary demands as a means of rejecting important job security demands by MCLIU.

While salary gains are important to our members, these gains would come at the cost of job security. The union is certain that if we were to agree to McGill’s offer and conditions, as soon as we sign a new collective agreement, the employer would be able to:

1. Change course TQRs at its own discretion and with no union recourse to contest;
2. Arbitrarily declare that your current TQRs no longer qualify no matter how often you taught the course, even if they do not formally change the TQRs. This would be done without your having a right to grieve;
3. Have complete freedom to bypass the seniority list to hire external candidates to replace current course lecturers.

We need to secure our jobs first for the future! Salary increases with less work equals substantially lower incomes overall.

Rest assured that we will keep you informed on developments in negotiations in the upcoming meetings scheduled for December 6, 2019. We hope to make a full report at a General Assembly in January or February 2020.

Your negotiation committee

The September 24 arbitration was completed as scheduled. New dates are added: May 6 and May 8, 2020. We will keep you posted on the outcome.

After extensive sessions with the Conciliator and several attempts to resolve key issues, the Employer refuses to accept solutions that would address the concerns of the Union.

Your bargaining team has been very open to negotiating in good faith and to recognize certain needs of the Employer, but not at the cost of maintaining the status quo or even in some cases giving up important existing rights, as is being demanded by the Employer.

Since our last update and in the final day of conciliation, we were able to agree to the Union being provided with the list of reserve courses under article 15.03 upon posting periods and the right for the Union to request from a hiring unit a list of applicants for specific courses once the allocation phase has been completed.

In both these cases, the Union fought hard for these gains, which would help both our members have more information and the Employer to avoid unnecessary grievances. Yet, on the key issues that relate directly to job security, the Employer has refused to be flexible. A more detailed update will be provided at the next General Assembly.