Contract academic staff at McGill University have become the latest unionized group on campus.
The 1,300 members in the bargaining unit that includes all course lecturers and instructors were balloted for certification earlier this year and voted overwhelmingly to join the Association of Graduate Students Employed at McGill.
“This is a huge victory for the part-time teaching staff and has been a long time in the making,” said Lerona Lewis, president of AGSEM.
Contract academic staff at McGill were the only ones in Quebec not unionized until now and earn significantly less per course than their colleagues in the province’s other universities, even after pay hikes aimed at dissuading potential union members during the campaign.
University administrators and the union now have 90 days to begin negotiating a collective agreement for the new unit.
AGSEM also represents separate bargaining units of teaching assistants and exam invigilators, both of which are in prolonged contract negotiations with the employer — the 1,500 teaching assistants to replace their contract that expired June 30, and exam invigilators for their first contract after being certified last year.