After a lackluster round of negotiations, postdoctoral scholars are apprehensive about the next round of bargaining with Queen’s.
Collective agreement bargaining between the University and PSAC 901 unit 2, representing postdoctoral scholars, is set to continue starting Nov. 30, continuing into December. The union is advocating for access to childcare and affordable housing.
The bargaining team completed four days of negotiations with the University this fall. The previous collective agreement expired this past June.
For Andrea Reid, a postdoctoral fellow and adjunct faculty member in the School of Kinesiology and Health Studies who sits on the bargaining team, discussions with the University so far have been disappointing.
“Their tone and approach to bargaining hasn’t communicated a real urgency to address these issues. We have been quite disappointed with their response and feel as though they’re delaying the process,” Reid said in an interview with The Journal.
In October, the University opened negotiations, describing the budget deficit and hiring freeze at Queen’s. This did little to quell PSAC 901 negotiators’ fears that a fight for better compensation and coverage would be imminent.
“We’re in a precarious position where we don’t have long term employment and our wages are low. We don’t have access to healthcare and, quite frankly, the job market for academic jobs is not very good either,” Reid said.
According to the previous collective agreement, the minimum base salary for postdoctoral scholars was $35,958 in 2022.
Amy Fedeski, a postdoctoral fellow in Jewish history, explained for many of her colleagues with families to , their salaries aren’t sufficient.
“The larger your household size, the harder it is to your family with a post-doc wage,” Fedeski said in an interview with The Journal.
Postdocs at Queen’s teach classes or other students as faculty adjuncts, contributing to the University’s teaching mission. They continue to feel undervalued as employees, lacking benefits such as healthcare, according to PSAC 901 President Justyna Szewczyk-El Jassem, who explained postdoctoral scholars’ access to healthcare is an important agenda item.
Under the previous collective agreement, postdoctoral fellows could access a family doctor through the Queen’s Family Health Team (QFHT), which was terminated due to “capacity issues.” Current QFHT patients can continue to access the services, but other postdocs are unable to do so.
Though QFHT has been denying postdoc patients since August 2022, PSAC 901 wasn’t informed about the cancellation by Queen’s until Oct. 13.
“The previous collective agreement was in place [in 2022] so the University was in continuous violation of that collective agreement,” El-Jassem said in an interview with The Journal.
The University agreed to provide access to family healthcare services for postdocs and their families through QFHT in the previous collective agreement.
“To meet its legislated duty in the context of collective bargaining, the University informed PSAC 901 on October 13th about the decision to end the pilot project,” the University said in a statement to The Journal.
The University told The Journal they hope to reach a tentative agreement both parties can ratify.
Moving into the next round of discussions, El-Jassem wants to emphasize how limited healthcare distracts postdoctoral scholars from their research, which they have a one-to-two-year timeline to complete.
“Explaining the importance of health care [to the University] in 2023, it just feels ridiculous to be doing that,” El-Jassem said.
While El-Jassem and Reid are both disillusioned with the University’s negotiations, they’re approaching the next round of conversation with cautious optimism.
“If the employer comes really willing to work with us and find solutions, we might be able to achieve a lot in those four dates, but if we receive the response that we have so far, I can’t imagine a whole lot,” Reid said.
If postdoctoral scholars’ needs are not met, a strike is always on the table for them, El-Jassem said.
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