AMURE

Association of McGill University Research Employees (AMURE)

Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence & Abuse Counselling Service

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Members of the AMURE executive and board of representatives have worked towards implementing the policy Supporting AMURE Members Who Have Experienced Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence or Abuse, which was passed at our Annual General Meeting in January.  The system devised will provide two means by which any research employee at McGill who has experienced sexual assault, domestic violence, or abuse can anonymously access counselling and support services at the expense of AMURE’s savings.

The first involves working with a licensed counselor and trauma specialist that AMURE has already made arrangements with, for a set of ten sessions, renewable as necessary.

  1. Make an appointment with Lindsay Chipman by calling (514) 237-6643 or by emailing her at lindsaychipman22@gmail.com.
  2. Explain that you are covered by AMURE’s policy as a McGill research employee.
  3. Go to your appointment, schedule follow-ups as needed.

The second option applies to those research employees who would rather work with a counselor whom we do not have on retainer (i.e. someone they are already seeing or feel more comfortable with) for a set of ten sessions, renewable as necessary.

  1. Bring to your counsellor a print off of this letter, which explains the policy in full.
  2. If your counselor can accommodate an arrangement, as described in the form, have them contact us.
  3. Schedule up to ten sessions with them to deal with experiences of sexual assault, domestic violence, and abuse, at the expense of AMURE’s savings.

Please note that the policy allows for very broad definitions of sexual assault, domestic violence, and domestic abuse, and we believe that everyone has the right to define their own experiences.

Should you have any questions, you are welcome to contact us by email or phone, with or without disclosing your identity, or through a third-party.

Lily Hassall, VP Research Assistants
lilya.hassall@aerum-amure.ca

Sean Cory, President
sean.cory@aerum-amure.ca
514-226-1719

Tyler Lawson, VP Collective Agreement Coordinator
tyler.lawson@aerum-amure.ca

AMURE reacts to pay equity agreement

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The following letter was sent on February 11 to Principal Fortier.

Dr. Suzanne Fortier,

On February 11th 2013 your Human Resources department sent an e-mail entitled “Pay equity follow-up message”. The e-mail indicated that employee groups were satisfied with the agreement reached between the pay equity commission and McGill. However, AMURE and other groups have concerns with the implementation of that agreement, and with that lack of transparency about how the pay equity agreement was implemented.

We wish to clarify our concerns regarding the pay equity adjustments.

First, in specific regards to research assistants, although pay equity seeks to bridge the salary gap between male and female dominated job classes, McGill has decided to only adjust the salaries of research assistants hired before 2005. Employees hired after 2005 have received the salaries in the same range as employees hired before 2005. Employees in other job classes at McGill received the same adjustement no matter when the employee was hired at McGill. We do not understand why research assistants were treated differently. It is difficult to understand how McGill’s implementation of the pay equity agreement bridges the salary divide between research assistants and male dominated positions when less than one third of current research assistants are receiving any pay equity adjustment.

Secondly, as described in McGill’s pay equity FAQ, pay equity involves two steps. The first is determining male dominated job classes (jobs with more than 60% men), and fitting a linear regression through the maximum salary of these male job classes. Next, if the maximum salary of a predominantly female job class is below this line, the salaries of employees within that class are proportionally increased so that the new maxim salary is raised to the regression line. In several communications with your human resources staff over the course of the last year, I asked for information as to how the adjustments were calculated and to clarify why research assistants did not receive a 2005 maintenance adjustment. We call on McGill to be fully transparent and to release the following information for the 2001 and 2005 pay equity adjustments:

  1. For each job class, the points assigned to the job, the gender predominance (either male or female dominated or mixed), and original salary maximum.
  2. The equation of the regression line used in pay equity.
  3. For each job class, the new salary maximum and the associated percentage increase.
  4. To demonstrate that all jobs at McGill were treated equally and with the same regression line.

In response to our questions and concerns to your human resources department last week, the e-mail sent on February 11th threatened that “changes may be necessary to the adjustments received, either up or down”. We are deeply upset that AMURE’s and other groups concerns regarding the lack of transparency in the way McGill has implemented pay equity has resulted in McGill threatening to take away adjustments that employees have waited 13 years to receive. We ask that you openly commit McGill not to retract any pay equity adjustments that employees have all ready received.

We also ask that McGill reaffirm its commitment to pay equity at McGill by maintaining an open, transparent pay equity program by addressing AMURE’s and other groups concerns in a timely manner. Pay equity at McGill is already 13 years late, please act now before it’s 14.

Thank you,

Sean Cory

AMURE’s executive committee takes a stand on Quebec Charter of Values

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The Charter affirming the values of State Secularism and religious neutrality and of equality between men and women (Bill 60) has been the subject of many debates since it was announced in the Fall by the PQ government. As public institutions, universities would be subject to the Charter’s provisions, including restrictions on employees’ liberty to wear religious symbols.

Our executive committee has deemed it urgent to react to this piece of legislation. Religious freedoms are protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Bill 60 is a discriminatory effort that would have devastating effects on minority groups in Quebec, not to mention our own membership. We join our voice to several McGill organizations in denouncing it. The motion, as adopted during the January 15 executive council:

Be it resolved that while the executive of the Association of McGill University Research Employees (AMURE) supports the secular spirit of Bill 60, it strongly objects to the restrictions on the right to wear religious symbols, as described in the draft legislation, which runs contrary to AMURE’S mission and values.

On McGill loans to offset changes in pay frequency

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The following does not affect casual research assistants.

You should have all received an e-mail describing the upcoming pay frequency changes at McGill.

On January 1st 2104, McGill will switch to a bi-weekly pay cycle as well as introduce a 2 week delay into the pay system. As a result, the first pay on Thursday January 16th will only be for 3 days’ work (January 1st to 3rd).

In order to compensate for the decreased pay cheque, McGill initially was going to issue an interest free loan and then recover the loan over 2 years. McGill eventually agreed to change the pay back of the loan to the last paycheck the employee receives at McGill.

The loan that your will receive is an interest-free loan. Interest-free loans are a taxable benefit. However, you only have to pay taxes of the amount of interest you should have had to pay. For example, if the loan is for 1000$, the taxable portion is the 10$ you would have had to pay if McGill had charged 1% interest. Depending on your tax brackets, this would amount to about $5 in taxes each year.

You have the option to refuse the interest-free loan. You can pay back the loan prematurely at any time.

If you previously e-mailed HR to refuse the loan, you can e-mail HR to agree to the loan. However, you must do so before December 15th.

Obviously, if it were up to us, McGill would have never introduced a delay in their pay system. We are happy that they listened to our concerns and offered to only take back the loan at the end of an employee’s career at McGill.

We invite you to come to our general assembly on December 16th at 5pm in Leacock 26 to answer any questions you might have about the pay frequency change.