Unionized workers are fed up.
Unions across campus, including United Steelworkers (USW) Local 2010 and Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) 901 units 1 and 2, ask their to sign petitions urging the University istration to provide employees with fair wages and manageable workloads.
READ MORE: Queen’s lays off 16 employees ahead of September
The petition for USW Local 2010 , including academic assistants and staff, states layoffs—implemented to address the University’s $28.2 million operating budget deficit—along with cuts to core academic programs and prolonged periods of understaffing have led to low morale amongst steelworkers, impacting their ability to deliver quality service.
Kelly Orser, USW Local 2010 president, aims to have 60 per cent of steelworkers sign the petition, a goal the union is on course to meet. USW Local 2010 will release a second petition, aiming to secure signatures from 80 to 85 per cent of its .
The union will then move forward with a strike mandate vote. Around 95 to 98 per cent of steelworkers would need to sign the strike mandate vote to be deemed successful.
“This would mean 95 per cent of steelworkers said yes to striking if the University doesn’t meet the union’s proposals,” Orser said in an interview with The Journal.
The solidarity amongst unions as they urge 5,000 employees across the University to step towards a strike, is unprecedented.
“This is history unfolding. So, there’s a part of it that’s kind of exciting to see everyone pulling together. And you know, nobody knows where it’s going go, but it is absolutely unprecedented,” Orser said. While Orser expressed excitement about looming changes, she remains concerned about issues steelworkers face.
During her 12 years as President of USW Local 2010, she’s witnessed the highest level of anxiety among steelworkers.
Staff who help the University deliver key academic programs to students continue to receive unlawfully restricted wage raises of one per cent, Orser explained. Since Bill 124, which capped salary increases for broader public sector workers at one per cent, was declared unconstitutional and repealed in February this year, the University could adjust steelworkers’ wages.
They haven’t budged, Orser confirmed. Meanwhile, the University’s Managerial & Professional Group was given raises of 4.25 or 4.75 per cent in July, she added.
Due to the University’s inaction, some staff aren’t earning livable wages, Christina Salavantis, program associate in the department of sociology, explained in an interview with The Journal.
They can’t pay for their rent, gas, or groceries, the former union executive claimed. As well as low wages, staff are experiencing increased workloads leading to extreme exhaustion and burnout.
“They care about their team and want the University to succeed, yet they’re exhausted. When they leave their job at 4:30 p.m., they go home and do three more hours of work at home, usually with approved overtime. That’s impacting your family. That’s impacting your self-care, your personal life,” Salavantis said.
Laid-off staff’s work is made redundant, yet Miranda* claims she’s shouldered the tasks of two recently dismissed employees.
The steelworker signed her union’s petition. She’s worried when USW’s collective agreement with Queen’s expires on Dec. 31 and the union heads to the bargaining table, the University’s senior s won’t meet steelworkers’ demands.
“I want a salary that measures up to inflation. It’s not like we’re asking for anything wild. My rent has gone up by five per cent the last couple of years,” Miranda said in an interview with The Journal.
Also heading for and currently seated at the bargaining table are units 1 and 2 of PSAC 901. Unit 2, representing postdoctoral scholars, has been at the bargaining table for nearly a year, while unit 1, including teaching assistants and fellows, collective agreement expired in April and they’re waiting for the University to provide them with bargaining dates.
For Jake Morrow, PSAC 901 president, the University is demonstrating a lack of urgency when it comes to securing bargaining dates for unions across campus. The University is saying they can’t bargain until October, Morrow claimed in an interview with The Journal.
Like USW Local 2010, Morrow is circulating a petition amongst PSAC 901 , urging the University to provide increased funding for graduate students so they can cover their tuition, housing, healthcare, and basic living expenses. Morrow intimately understands the financial struggles PSAC 901 face, making under $20,000 a year himself.
“This petition gets at the heart of what a union is. A union is a group of workers who come together to use what is their collective strength to influence their employers to provide better working conditions, to better their community, to better their lives,” Morrow said.
Issues can’t be resolved just by the union’s “incredible bargaining teams,” Morrow explained. They will be adequately addressed if 5,000 unionized employees together and demonstrate to the University their commitment to change, he added.
*Name changed due to safety concerns
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