1. State of the Union Address from Amber

Hi! My name is Amber, and I am so happy to work for you this year as AMUSE’s president! One thing I have learned after five years of working as a casual at McGill, is that it isn’t as easy as the name would have us believe. Yet by calling us “casuals,” the university shows less respect to our work than most others’ at McGill. At AMUSE, we see this every day - when supervisors have no knowledge of our collective agreement, or when casual positions - and the employment of the member working there - are ended with very little notice and recognition of just how important our jobs are to us.

Constantly improving the way casual workers are treated and compensated is a big priority for AMUSE this year. The newly elected members of our Bargaining Team will soon start preparing to negotiate a second collective agreement with McGill, and hope to create a university-wide shift in how departments and faculties consider our work.

So if you’re reading this – great! But if you’ve ever wondered who the people behind this newsletter are, I invite you to come by our office during office hours or our next Board of Representatives meeting (see below). Because you, the casual support staff at McGill, are AMUSE, and all of us involved on AMUSE committees, the executive, and Board, are people like you. We don’t all have the same relationship to the university; some are students, some are not, some work full-time, some part-time. But we all share a commitment to improving the conditions of casual work at McGill, and in the long run creating a university where no worker is treated as if they are only “casual.”

Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me or any of the other execs or stewards this year. Give us a call, or just come by for coffee and a chat during office hours. Just as our office is your office, our union is also your union!

In solidarity,
Amber Gross
AMUSE President

2. Results of the Annual General Meeting

We held our 5th Annual General Meeting on Tuesday, January 28th. At the AGM members voted for the new Executive Committee and Board of Representatives, voted on motions, and approved the Annual Report.

The new Executive Committee is:
Amber Gross as President (from the Faculty of Arts)
Ben Patrick Stidworthy as Media and Outreach Officer (from Service Point)
Molly Swain as Internal Affairs Coordinator (from the Bookstore)
Carolyn Qin as Treasurer (from the McGill Executive Institute)
Agatha Slupek as Labour Relations Officer (from the Ferrier Computer Labs)

3. Join the AMUSE Board of Representatives!

The next AMUSE Board of Representatives is scheduled for Wednesday, February 19th at 6:00 PM, at our office located at 2015 rue Drummond, suite 901. Come at 5:30 for pizza and to meet other delegates!

Six delegates were elected to the Board of Representatives out of a total of twelve. This means that there are still six spots available on the Board. If you are interested in becoming a Delegate please email Molly Swain at [email protected]. We especially encourage members who work at the Macdonald Campus to get involved.

The Board of Representatives (BoR) is the second highest governing body of the union after the Annual General Meeting. The Board is made up of twelve Delegates and the five members of the Executive Committee, and meets every month. Its duties are to recommend and approve internal policies and regulations, form committees and to ensure that the union continues to serve the best interests of its members.
Attendance at Board meetings are open to all members of AMUSE. We encourage you to attend if you want to raise your concerns or questions directly to the Executive Committee and Stewards or if you just want to know better how AMUSE works.

4. New AMUSE Office Hours

With new execs, comes new exec schedules and new office hours! Come by and met us any day of the week at our office on 2015 rue Drummond, Suite 901. It’s just 5 minutes from campus, one street west of Stanley. Unfortunately our office is not wheelchair accessible, please email [email protected] if you would like to meet on campus or elsewhere.
Monday: 11:30-1:30 with Carolyn
Tuesday: 2-4 with Molly
Wednesday: 3:30-5:30 with Agatha
Thursday: 3-5 with Ben
Friday: 4-6 with Amber

5. Labour Quote of the Week

“Dignify and glorify common labor. It is at the bottom of life that we must begin, not at the top.”
-Booker T. Washington