Austerity at McGill
In the spirit of anti-austerity week, we wanted to remind everyone how austerity affects us as casual workers.
As AMUSE members, our everyday working conditions and quality of life are affected by provincial and federal austerity measures, including cuts to university budgets – at McGill alone, at least $45 million will be cut between 2014 and 2016. McGill has implemented a hiring freeze and is reducing the number of employees working at the university. Casual workers – the non-permanent, non-academic workers that are unionized under AMUSE – already hold some of the most precarious positions at McGill. The hours in your contract are not guaranteed, nor is the availability of your position. As a part-time employee and AMUSE member, you may have to re-apply for a job that you had last term, have had hours cut, or work fewer than three hour shifts at a time. Despite the hiring freeze, McGill continues to create casual positions, increasing the number of precarious jobs while destabilizing positions across the university and reducing employees’ financial security. Full-time AMUSE members cannot depend on benefits and, similarly, cannot count on secure employment. In this way, McGill benefits from provincial budget cuts: they provide a convenient excuse for reducing the number of good, stable jobs on campus. These problems are not unique to you or to McGill University – they are rooted in a growing austerity mindset that is devastating people and their environments across the country.
Health and Safety
A lot of buildings in Montreal are not exactly brand-new. But we need to make sure that the buildings we work in everyday aren’t crumbling down on us and endangering our health and safety! If you have complaints about your workspace conditions, bring them to our Health and Safety committee. It will be meeting once or twice a month to ensure that your working conditions are keeping you healthy (and happy!) Contact us for more info.
QPIRG Endorsement
The AMUSE Board of Representatives has formally endorsed a YES! votefor the QPIRG-McGill referendum regarding a fee increase for SSMU and PGSS members. Students can VOTE until tomorrow, March 2nd.
QPIRG McGill is an organization that connects students with the wider Montreal community while promoting social and environmental justice. QPIRG runs an applied student research program; helps students engage with pressing social and political issues through events and programs; and supports student initiatives focusing on issues like local food sustainability, independent media projects, feminist and queer organizing, and migrant justice.
QPIRG has been a campus organization since 1980, and has received one fee increase, of $0.75, in that time. While continually increasing the services they offer to students, combined with 30 years of inflation, QPIRG is struggling to maintain current programming and service levels. They are asking for students support in increasing their fee to $5.00 for SSMU and PGSS students, and we are supporting them in this request!
We believe QPIRG is an important part of a vibrant, healthy and diverse student community.You can learn more about their work at qpirgyes.ca. Most of all, don’t forget to VOTE.
Events
Israeli Apartheid Week: Demonstrations, discussions and art, standing in solidarity with Palestine; March 8 -17th.
International Women’s Day March: “We Will Build the World We Want!” This women’s 
day we march for equal opportunity for women in the workplace, and against precarity in women’s employment; March 8th.
Forum: 10am - 12pm; Concordia University, 7th floor, Hall Building, 1455 de Maisonneuve. Demo: 1pm; Norman Bethune Square (Guy & de Maisonneuve).
