Welcome Back to a New Semester and a New Year!
This coming semester will be an eventful one for our Union. We will most likely have a ratification vote on our first Collective Agreement within the next few months which all McGill casual employees are entitled to participate in. The reason members organized a union was to improve our working conditions through a Collective Agreement. Soon it will be your turn to vote on it!
We will also soon hold elections for new members of the Executive Council and the Board of Representatives for the following year.
But for now, the following updates:
- Bargaining updates: Conciliation dates
- Board of Representatives Meeting
- AMUSE at SSMU’s Activities Night!
- First time hearing about AMUSE? Contact us!
1. Bargaining updates: Conciliation dates
As you may already know, the AMUSE Bargaining Team called for conciliation during the last bargaining session in December. We now have dates from a Conciliator appointed by the Labour Commission. We will meet on January 26th and 31st, 2012. We hope to have an agreement by the end of these two sessions.
To recap our decision to enter into conciliation: After reviewing McGill’s position, the AMUSE bargaining team decided to request that a conciliator be sent in from the Ministry of Labour to work with our two teams. AMUSE voted to unionize in 2009 because, as McGill hires more and more casuals, members wanted to ensure they received fair wages and reasonable conditions. The McGill team’s offer on a number of key economic issues, such as salary scale, benefits compensation, and holiday pay, do not represent a significant improvement over the status quo. Our team feels that at this point, our visions are too far apart to proceed without a third party present.
Filing for conciliation means that a representative from the Ministry of Labour will be present at meetings to help our two teams work together and see eye to eye. Since we began meeting with McGill’s team in March, we’ve been able to reach agreements on many issues. Asking a conciliator to come in is our way ensuring things continue to go smoothly and quickly as we approach the end of bargaining.
As always, if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to email the bargaining team at [email protected].
Yours in solidarity,
Farid Attar
Dave Howden
Sheehan Moore
2. Board of Representatives Meeting
We invite all members of AMUSE to attend the Board of Representatives Meeting on Monday, January 16 at 5pm in the AMUSE office at 3483 Peel Street.
The Board of Representatives is the second highest governing body of AMUSE. Its task is to oversee the work of the Executive Council, and it is responsible for the constitutional and legal matters of the Union. Although the Board of Representatives consists of members of the Executive and Chief Stewards, we would like to extend an open invitation to all members to attend this next meeting during this very important period in the negotiation of our first Collective Agreement.
The agenda of the meeting is:
- Call to order and adoption of agenda
- Announcements
- Approval of last meeting’s minutes (attached)
- Reports of the executive (Farid)
- Financial report (Kevin)
- Bargaining report
- PSAC National Congress
- General Meeting (elections, bylaws amendments, etc) & Ratification vote
- Office Move
- Other business
- Setting a date for next meeting
- Adjournment
A pizza dinner will be served!
3. AMUSE at SSMU’s Activities Night!
AMUSE will have a table at SSMU’s Activities Night next Thursday, January 19, 2012 in the SSMU Building at 3600 McTavish. Stop by to meet with AMUSE Executives and Stewards and to find out information about bargaining, elections, and other AMUSE activities.
See you there!
4. First Time Hearing from AMUSE? Contact us!
Is this the first time you’ve received a newsletter from AMUSE? We’re still working on our new website, but you can visit our temporary blog
Please contact us for further information. We are happy to answer any questions and to hear about any concerns that you may have!
Association of McGill University Support Employees - Public Service Alliance of Canada
3483 Peel Street, Montreal, Quebec, H3A 1W7
tel: 514-398-8896 , fax: 514-398-6892, cell: 514-589-6450
For general questions and comments: [email protected]
For questions about your rights or to file a grievance: [email protected]
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