Hey Team,

Hope the snow is treating you magically, and that everything is falling in to place for a relaxing and great vacation to come! I unfortunately couldn’t find a good cute animal video for this week, so I guess important union news will have to sustain you!

Group 1 & 2 Pay Adjustments: A long over-due follow up

Human Resources has sent out a communication to all HR advisors and Direct Service Representatives on November 19th 2014 regarding AMUSE Group 1 and 2 pay retroactive pay adjustments. Here is an excerpt of the letter:

“Those Group 1 and Group 2 employees who are replacing in positions which are pay equity adjusted should, retroactively to June 1, 2012, initially be receiving respectively 100% or 80% of the entry level pay equity adjusted rate for that assignment. Thereafter, the casual employee shall receive the greater of the increase applicable to all AMUSE members or 100% or 80% as the case may be of the entry level pay equity adjusted rate for the position occupied. It is up to each Faculty/School/Department to modify the casual employee’s rate of pay as required, calculate retroactive adjustments, and ensure that they are paid by December 12th, 2014.”

So, good news! You should keep an eye out for your adjustments on December 12th 2014 and our Labor Relations Officer encourages that you calculate your deserved adjustments yourself in order to ensure they are correct. A copy of the letter, and the new MUNACA rates applicable are available in a table here.
As always, if you have any questions or run into any problems calculating or receiving your retro payment, you are encouraged to be in touch with Agatha at [email protected].

Want to get more involved with AMUSE?

This is a great time of year to become more involved with the union - at our Annual General Meeting in the early New Year we will be electing a new Executive as well as new Delegates to the Board of Representatives. If you are interested in running for a position and want to learn more about what it takes to be part of the guiding bodies of AMUSE, please don’t hesitate to email [email protected] with any questions you might have, or to schedule a meeting, or drop-in to any of the Executives’ weekly office hours!

Floor Fellow Bargaining Update

McGill’s floor fellows were certified in May 2014. The parties held their first bargaining session on October 31, where they exchanged proposals. The session also included a presentation of floor fellows’ roles and responsibilities and their objectives. Finally, the parties discussed how the bargaining process should unfold, preferred dates for negotiations, timelines and communications. Floor fellows are affiliated with AMUSE/PSAC. The bargaining unit represents approximately 70 employees.

At the November 28 session, the parties reviewed the document comparing the list of demands of both parties. They agreed on shared communications throughout the bargaining process and on the negotiations calendar for 2015, with seven meetings scheduled until March 2015.

The parties also outlined the order of discussions. Negotiations were initiated on the following topics: purpose of the collective agreement, union recognition and definitions. These topics will continue to be discussed at the next meeting, set for December 5.

Rank and File is looking for Submissions

Rank and File - a Canadian online labour publication - is looking for submissions from workers who have experienced sexism and harassment in the workplace. “ [RankandFile.ca] would like to bring these issues to light through publication on RankandFile.ca’s website in an effort to educate workers about sexism and harassment, and how we can fight it together. Please contact Samantha Ponting at [email protected] if you have a story you would like to share with us. If you wish to stay anonymous or have other concerns, please let us know.”