Is your grader… okay? Seriously, that’s a real question. Graders at McGill are one of the most overworked, underpaid, and invisible labour groups on campus. No wonder many of them report stress and anxiety as a result.

What about your tutor – do they look overworked and underpaid? They might be. We’ve learnt the hard way that when academic labour isn’t taken seriously by employers – , it frays at the edges, hurting both the workers and the quality of education they can provide.

Did you hear about the recent pay cuts to note-takers with The Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD)? Workers who were previously paid are now given a line on their CVs, and made to compete for the chance to win a gift card.. Their work is important – note-takers make our university a more accessible learning environment – and should be treated as such by McGill.

We are tired of seeing McGill administration take advantage of teaching support workers.

We are tired, and deeply regret, the serious mental health concerns that arise from these working conditions.

And we are very, very tired of the elephant in the room: that many departments at McGill continue to create jobs that are similar in nature to Teaching Assistantships, with none of the job securities, basic protections, and better wages that McGill TAs are afforded through AGSEM, the teaching assistant union within McGill.

McGill, your learning conditions are your working conditions. You deserve better.

We, the Association of Graduate Students Employed at McGill (AGSEM), are proud to launch a unionization drive for all teaching support workers at McGill (undergraduate, graduate, student, or non-student). 

If you currently work, or have worked in the last 12 months as a grader, tutor, marker, note-taker, demonstrator, facilitator, mentor, course assistant, student assistant, academic casual, placement exam administrator, or similarly-titled teaching support job at McGill, join AGSEM now to create better working conditions for all.

All it takes to create a healthier work environment is two minutes of your time, and a legally-required union membership payment of $2.00.

You can do it. We can do it.

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