Queens graduate workers hold the line against ruthless administration

Now in their second week of strike, over 2000 members of PSAC 901, representing teaching assistants, teaching fellows and research assistants at Queen's University are showing strength and determination in the face of a ruthless administration.

Since negotiations began in November 2024, Queen's University has stonewalled graduate workers' demands for fair pay and respect. These workers are the most precarious segment of the university's workforce. They face low wages, high tuition, food insecurity, unsustainable workloads and unaffordable housing.

Key demands in this strike are a living wage; tuition minimization; affordable housing; fair funding:labour ratio; paid course development/revision for teaching fellows; and a $1500 lump sum payment in compensation for the unconstitutional wage suppression they faced under Bill 124.

As the Queens University Faculty Association wrote in a solidarity letter, "The work carried out by PSAC 901 members is integral to the research, scholarship, and teaching of all QUFA members. Their work makes our work possible. Their working conditions are our working conditions. When they are not adequately supported, our work is not adequately supported and our students suffer."

Picket lines remain strong and solidarity visits have been warmly received, including a delegation of postal workers who were themselves recently on strike, and guest lectures on the picket line by supportive faculty.

On Friday March 21st, a faculty day of actionin solidarity with the strikers will feature a rally and teach-in. Such solidarity actions are vital to build the momentum of the strike, especially as the critical period of final exams approaches. As well, this Friday the strikers are organizing an "office hours" BBQfor undergrads.

To date, an open letter from facultyto the Queen's administration has gathered 160 signatures since it was published March 17th. The letter states, "Despite their critical role for the university, especially the quality of teaching, many of our graduate students live at the poverty line because their funding packages are grossly inadequate. This means they experience food and housing insecurity. The knock-on effect of this is that they need to find additional work outside of Queen’s, which then affects their ability to attend to their studies and their students, leading to burnout and other mental health challenges. You have proposed below-inflation wage increases in a context where PSAC wages have been held at a 1%/year increase during the unconstitutional wage restraint of the provincial government. This means that PSAC workers’ real wages have in fact fallen, while you have given yourselves salary increases of up to 4.75%. This violates a basic sense of dignity and fairness."

Indeed, top administrators including members of the Queen's U bargaining team, get top dollar while they push to keep graduate workers in poverty:

• Queen's CEO Patrick Deane's compensation is $418,577 a year
• Bargaining team member Sharon Ragan takes home $203,634 (an 8.9% increase from 2023)
• Lynnette Purda, another bargaining team member, receives $289,117 in compensation (up 8.7% from 2023).

In a March 19th article published by Press Progress, PSAC 901 president Jake Morrow said that Kingston resembles a "company town" from the 19th century: “Queen’s is not just the largest employer in Kingston Ontario, it’s also the largest landlord and landholder,” pushing continual rent increases in double digits year on year.

He continued, “Queen’s likes to hold up itself as this place of specific values, but it betrays them at every step of the way… It put out a statement saying it wouldn’t divest from the Israeli genocide, but started with a land acknowledgement.”

“That’s what Queen’s University is.”

University administrators have super-exploited graduate labour for too long. The cost of living crisis is hitting this sector very hard. It is in the interests of every campus worker and student for PSAC 901 to win this battle. The longer the line, the shorter the strike – Join the picket line weekdays at Stauffer library (intersection of University and Union!).

Crucially, this is not a fight for Queen’s graduate workers alone. The “Amazonization” of post-secondary education must be stopped, and Queens grad workers have drawn a line in the sand. This fight is your fight! Solidarity donationsare welcome and needed – pass a motion in your union or organization to support the strike.