PSAC Local 40004 Bargaining Update

20 May 2020

More Progress in Bargaining for New Graduate Student Employee

Collective Agreement

 

 

The bargaining team for Graduate Student Employees, PSAC Local 40004, met with representatives of the University of Saskatchewan on May 14 to continue the process of negotiating a new collective agreement. The team can report that it made significant progress in negotiations of non-monetary issues in this third bargaining session with the Employer.

 

Negotiations have taken a different form during the COVID-19 pandemic, as face-to-face meetings are not an option.  So the teams meet in virtual caucus rooms and in a shared virtual bargaining room, exchanging documents electronically.  While this is neither the most efficient nor most effective way to bargain, the Union team is making the best of the best of this difficult situation to advance the members’ interests.

 

Your team made progress on the following issues during the two most recent sessions: management rights provisions, improvements to training provisions, disciplinary procedures, processes around discrimination and harassment complaints, appointment processes, and statutory leaves.  Several significant non-monetary proposals remain on the table, including proposals on hours of work, a proposal for an employment equity study, and a proposal to ensure that faculty supervisors receive training on how to administer the collective agreement fairly.  We hope to tackle these remaining issues during the next bargaining session.

 

Dates for the next bargaining session have yet to be determined, but we expect to meet in June. We thank you for your support.  You are our strength at the table.

 

In solidarity,

 

Your Graduate Student Employee Bargaining Team

 

Naheda Sahtout

Sam Netzke

Jeffery Zielinski

Jesse Todd (PSAC Rep)

Silja Freitag (PSAC Researcher)

John Eustace (PSAC Negotiator)