Statement in Support of AGSEM’s Strike
McGill students and campus organizations support the Association of Graduate
Students Employed at McGill in their strike for a new collective agreement with
the university. At noon on Thursday, 10 April, we call on all students to join
us in a demonstration of support and solidarity with our teaching assistants.
The demonstration will take place at the Roddick Gates (corner of McGill
College and Sherbrooke).
Why is undergraduate support for AGSEM so important?
The administration has made a concerted effort to divide undergraduate
students, faculty, and teaching assistants from each other. In a mass email to
all undergraduates[1], Deputy Provost Morton J. Mendelson portrayed the strike
as a threat to students, suggesting that TA’s would attempt to obstruct
students’ access to classes or exams. In an FAQ to students[2], the
administration has misrepresented the demands of the TA’s as being primarily
monetary, and fails to recognize AGSEM’s demands with regards to improving
the quality of services to students, such as development of academic training
for TA’s and the creation of caps on the size of conferences. This
misrepresentation of the tactics and goals on the part of Mendelson and others
in the McGill administration underscores the fact that their negotiations with
AGSEM are not in good faith. It seems the administration would rather quash a
strike with broad support of the university than take cooperative steps to
improve the quality of educational services at McGill.
We recognize that the interests of the TA’s are our interests. We refuse to
be divided from our teaching assistants.
The administration’s attacks on our TA’s’ union is particularly worrisome
in the broader context of the administration’s assault against progressive
organizations on campus. From CKUT, required to drop “McGill” from its
station name, to the McGill Daily, an independent newspaper threatened this
semester with funding cuts, to various student-run cafeterias on campus that
have subsequently been contracted out to multinational food service
corporations or forced to accept administrative controls by ancillary services,
the administration continues to wage a war against autonomous student
initiatives to improve the quality of life and democratic culture at McGill
University.
What can I do?
Come out to the demonstration at the Roddick Gates at noon on April 10! We need
as many undergrads as possible to put their weight behind the efforts of AGSEM
if their demands are to be taken seriously by the administration.
Encourage your professors to cancel classes at noon at the time of the
demonstration. Like you, faculty at McGill have been targets of divisive and
untruthful communications by the administration regarding AGSEM’s
demonstration and demands. Many professors feel threatened and afraid to take
action in support of their TA’s. Reach out to your professors and send the
message that their support is welcome!
Have your campus club, service, organization, departmental or faculty society
endorse this statement of support and solidarity, which will be faxed to local
media outlets on Thursday morning.
Let’s make sure that our voices are heard, and that we don’t leave our
teaching assistants standing alone in the struggle for better educational
services!
[1] Strike by Teaching Assistants and Demonstrators at Mcgill, mass email sent
by Mendelson to all undergraduates at 3:44 AM on Tuesday, April 8, 2008.
[2]TA Strike FAQ for Students
http://www.mcgill.ca/channels/announcements/item/?item_id=29880
