Association of McGill University Research Employees (AMURE)
by seancory
Dear Members, AMURE’s Annual General Meeting is October 24th at 5:30pm over zoom.
The agenda is as follows:
by seancory
AMURE has signed the new collective agreement for post-docs. McGill still needs to sign the agreement, which will then come into force. McGill will then have a maximum of 60 working days to implement salary increases and the new annualized minimum salary of $41,500, and 90 working days to make retroactive payments. A summary of the new agreement can be found here.
Research assistants and associates voted in favour of the agreement in principle between AMURE and McGill. You can read the highlights of the new agreement below and here, with more details here. McGill will provide the translated version of the new collective agreement to AMURE this week, after which AMURE and McGill representatives will sign it. Once it has been signed, the agreement will come into force, and McGill will have a maximum of 60 working days to implement the economic and step increases specified in the agreement, and 90 working days to pay retroactive increases.
Summer Fridays
As part of the new collective agreement, research assistants and associates will be entitled to nine paid Summer Fridays each year. These will be scheduled as specified on the University’s website, with one of the nine days to be taken over the winter break in December. If you are required to work on a Summer Friday, you are entitled to either equivalent time off on another day or overtime pay. If you are a part-time employee, you will be entitled to Summer Fridays on a pro-rated basis – that is, you are entitled to time off equivalent to one fifth of your weekly working hours.
Economic and Step Increases
Research assistants will be entitled to economic increases of 5.5% in June 2023, 2.5% in June 2024, 2.25% in June 2025, and 2.25% in June 2026. Research associates will be entitled to economic increases of 9.7% in June 2023, 4.5% in June 2024, 4.0% in June 2025, and 4.0% in June 2026. Economic increases for all years are automatic.
Research assistants and associates will be entitled to step increases of 2.5% on each June 1st from 2021 to 2026. Step increases for 2021 and 2022 are automatic, granted the employee was employed at the time of those increases, and will be paid retroactively. Step increases for 2023 and future years are dependent on a successful evaluation by the employee’s supervisor. The 2023 step increase is retroactive to June 1, 2023. Research assistants at the top of the scale will receive 2% lump sum payments for each year they were active in lieu of step increases.
Scenario 1: If an RA began working at McGill on May 2021 and is still working on the day the collective agreement is signed, they will receive 3 step increases (2021, 2022, 2023) and the economic increase of 5.5%. The 2021 and 2022 step increases will be automatic and will be paid retroactively. The 2023 step increase will be dependent on a successful evaluation from the supervisor and retroactive to June 1, 2023. The economic increase will be automatic and retroactive to June 1, 2023.
Scenario 2: If an RA began working at McGill on May 2022 and is still working on the day the collective agreement is signed, they will receive 2 step increases (2022, 2023) and the economic increase of 5.5%. The 2022 step increase will be automatic and will be paid retroactively. The 2023 step increase will be dependent on a successful evaluation from the supervisor and retroactive to June 1, 2023. The economic increase will be automatic and retroactive to June 1, 2023.
Scenario 3: If an RA was working at McGill on June 1, 2021, was already at the top of the scale in 2021, and is still working on the day the collective agreement is signed, they will receive the automatic economic increase of 5.5%, retroactive to June 1, 2023, as well as lump sum payments equivalent to 2% of their salaries for each of 2021, 2022 and 2023.
(Scenarios 1 & 2 for research associates are the same, but with a 9.7% economic increase instead of 5.5%. Scenario 3 does not apply to research associates because their scale has been extended by 5 steps).
AMURE’s annual general assembly will be held in the second week of July, during which we will discuss the new collective agreements, budgets, resolutions, executive committee nominations, and more. If you are interested in joining the AMURE executive committee, the position of steward network coordinator is vacant. You can read more about this position in the AMURE bylaws. If you would like to nominate yourself, please contact Sean Cory at sean.cory@aerum-amure.ca.
Please be on the lookout for an email from AMURE President Sean Cory for details about the general assembly.
by seancory
As you know, the AMURE bargaining team has been negotiating with McGill since last year. On September 9th 2022, a bargaining meeting was held in which AMURE members voted on the initial monetary offer to make to McGill. On November 18th 2022, we presented this offer to McGill and started negotiating monetary issues and have met several times since then.
Unfortunately, McGill’s offer for salaries and raises has been insulting, and demonstrates a complete lack of respect for research assistants and associates. McGill’s offer contains no economic or step increases to the salaries of research assistants and associates until June 2023, even though employees have been without a raise since June 2020. Their offer for future annual raises is well below what other employees at McGill and research staff at other universities are receiving (2-4% economic increases, 2-3% step increases per year).
A summary of McGill’s current offer for salaries and raises is available here (LINK).
Due to the lack of realistic offers from McGill, AMURE has filed for conciliation with the Quebec government. This process assigns a conciliator to oversee and aid in negotiation sessions. A government conciliator has been assigned and our first meeting with McGill and the conciliator is scheduled for March 17th.
We will hold an information session before this conciliation session (date TBD). After the bargaining session on March 17th, we will hold another meeting with members to discuss the response to McGill’s offer.
AMURE bargaining team
by seancory
Support Postdocs
We ask AMURE members to support our postdoc bargaining team at this critical time and to sign and distribute a petition in support of our bargaining demands. Please visit the petition here. This petition is important as it will spread news of our bargaining issues and display the support of the McGill community for our bargaining demands. Please share this petition with your friends, family, and anyone else you feel would support a better working environment for postdocs.
Bargaining Updates
The next bargaining meeting between McGill and AMURE for post-docs is scheduled for December 7. AMURE will present a counter-offer to McGill’s latest proposal, in an attempt to secure a higher minimum salary for post-docs at McGill.
For research assistants and associates, bargaining with McGill for monetary issues has officially begun. The bargaining committee met with McGill on November 18 and presented AMURE’s monetary proposal. The proposal includes a salary increase that accounts for high inflation, as well as other monetary requests, such as McGill’s participation in the OPUS+ Entreprise program to subsidize public transit monthly passes, summer Fridays, and more.
Holiday Vacation Days
As the holiday season approaches, a reminder to all regular AMURE members that you are entitled to paid leave for 3 paid statutory holidays (Dec 25, 26, and Jan 1), an additional 3 days between Christmas and New Year’s Day, and to a sixth floating day to be taken during the University’s Christmas break. Since Christmas day falls on a Sunday this year, you are entitled to paid leave on Dec 23, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, and Jan 2.
AMURE Tip of the Month
McGill research employees are entitled to benefits and discounts through their affiliation to the University and as members of AMURE. These include:
* A 15% discount for VIA Rail Canada leisure trips for McGill staff members and up to 3 additional people traveling with the staff member.
* Union Savings discounts in various categories, including insurance, entertainment, travel, home, sports and leisure, fashion, services, electronics, and beauty products. Please note that to benefit from Union Savings you will need to create an account, indicating PSAC as your affiliated union.
* PSAC-Quebec member benefits, including discounts at certain hotels.
* Free $10,000 life insurance from PSAC.