The Association of Graduate Students Employed at McGill (AGSEM) is the union of Teaching Assistants, Invigilators, Academic Support Workers, and the McGill Writing Centre. The MTAA
In 1974, the McGill Teaching Assistant Association (MTAA) was founded by McGill Graduate Students. While it was not legally certified as a Labour Union, the MTAA’s activists, with very serious concerns, succeeded in fo
rcing McGill to begin negotiating. In 1976 MTAA held an 8 day illegal strike and temporarily won major concessions from McGill: a base pay rate for all TAs, cost of living increases and a maximum 12-hour workweek; all nearly three decades before any other TA union was founded in Québec, but setting basic standards other Universities were forced to live up to. Also among the first demands were efforts that would improve undergraduate education, with TA training and a lower TA to student ratio. Certification and Joining CSN-FNEEQ
Despite major victories, the MTAA’s history was difficult, and McGill was a challenging opponent, often going back on deals it agreed to. In the 1980s, graduate student activists concerned about the situation faced by Teaching Assistants began discussions about legal certification as a union, partly as a response to changing labour law in Québec. After conducting a survey of TA working conditions and producing a report, the PGSS established the Teaching Assistants’ Organizing Committee (TAOC), considering unionization necessary but challenging. In 1992, the Association of Graduate Students Employed at McGill was founded by the TAOC, and it began a card-signing campaign to become certified with the CSN (a major labour union federation in Québec). In 1993, the campaign succeeded, and AGSEM began negotiations for its first collective bargaining agreement as a certified union. Collective Agreements
With unionized TAs outside of Québec setting labour standards much higher than those at McGill, McGill’s offers did not meet AGSEM’s demands. After three years of zero progress, in 1996, AGSEM held the second strike of teaching assistants in Québec – this time, as a legal Labour Union. While a first contract was only finally reached in 1998, the strike set a very important precedent. The first Collective Agreement addressed limits to workload and helped bring TAs salary parity–the lowest pay rate at the time was $7 for Anatomy TAs, while the highest-paid Arts TAs made $18.13. Negotiations for the second contract, in the early 2000s, went relatively quickly. For the third contract, however, additional demands began to arise. Among others, TAs were concerned that many more hours were often being worked than were being paid. Negotiations in 2007 demanded that all hours worked be paid, as well as the massive pay increases which would be required to bring McGill’s wages on par with those of universities like the University of Toronto or the University of Ottawa. A very difficult two-month strike in 2008, while not accomplishing everything, won very important rights for TAs including a significant pay increase and the TA Workload Form. We signed our fourth Collective Agreement in December 2011. The most significant progress from our last CA includes the addition of paid training for new TAs. U-Drives
As the name indicates, “AGSEM” was originally intended to represent all graduate students who work at McGill. In April 2010, an important step forward was taken when AGSEM successfully unionized nearly a thousand exam invigilators. A year and a half later, in August 2011, Course Lecturers and Instructors were unionized after two decades of failed attempts. These victories are extremely important for those workers, but they also make AGSEM, as a united force, incredibly strong in fighting for all students and workers at McGill. Today AGSEM represents over 3000 employees at McGill University and is the largest labour union on campus.
