Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) Local 610 – the Graduate Teaching Assistants at Western University – are in a legal strike position as of 12:01 am on Thursday, April 11, 2024.
How Can UWOSA Employees Support PSAC 610 Employees?
Walk the Picket Line: Meet at the Richmond Gates at 7:30 am on Thursday, April 11, 2024.
If you have time during your breaks or lunch, before work or after work, you have the option to join the picket line, or walk with and talk to PSAC 610 members to better understand the issues they are fighting for at the bargaining table.
Do not perform Graduate Teaching Assistant Work: As per Article 5.04 in our collective agreement, you have the right to decline performing PSAC 610 work such as proctoring exams or running research experiments usually done by PSAC 610 employees. Article 5.04 states, “Employees have the right to decline to perform the normal duties of striking or locked out employees of the Employer during a legal strike by another bargaining unit of employees of the employer or during any lock out of another bargaining unit by the employer.”
If you are unsure if the work you are being asked to perform belongs to a PSAC 610 member, please reach out to the UWOSA office immediately at info@uwosa.ca.
Reporting to Work on April 11, 2024: Our Collective Agreement, Article 5: Strike or Lockout, specifically Article 5.05 states, “Where individuals in a labor dispute, other than those in the bargaining unit, engage in a strike and maintain picket lines, and where employees of the bargaining unit could suffer personal harm, the employer will endeavor to safeguard such employees.”
This means we, as UWOSA members, are required to report to work, even if this means crossing a picket line. It will be the University’s responsibility to ensure that employees are safe when crossing the picket line, so if you would like a police escort, please contact special constable services on campus for assistance (wscs@uwo.ca, ext. 83300).
How do I know if PSAC 610 has chosen to strike? You can either check the PSAC 610 website (Union | PSAC Local 610 | Ontario (psac610.ca)), or you can check the Western University negotiations website (Contract Negotiations – Western University (uwo.ca)).
Driving to Campus: In the event PSAC 610 chooses to strike or the University’s Administration chooses to lock PSAC 610 members out, please allow yourself extra time to get to campus, and time to cross the picket line. If you are driving a vehicle, please be respectful to those picketing at the crosswalks and at the corners of the entrances to Western University.
London Transit: Please note that city buses will not enter campus during a strike or lockout. LTC will reroute so as not to cross picket lines and may instead stop on Richmond Street/ Western Road instead.
Crossing a picket line: When passing by or crossing picket lines, please be respectful and courteous to PSAC 610 members. Please avoid arguments or confrontations of why you are crossing, you may simply state that in the UWOSA collective agreement, you are required to report to work. If you would like a police escort to safely cross the picket line, please contact the special constable services (formerly known as campus police) for assistance (wscs@uwo.ca, ext. 83300).
If you are told by a supervisor to go home after reporting to work, please contact the UWOSA office at info@uwosa.ca before leaving campus.
If a supervisor is insisting that you perform tasks or duties normally performed by a Graduate Teaching Assistant or Postdoctoral Fellow/Associate, please contact the UWOSA office at info@uwosa.ca immediately.
Unionized workers on campus are united. UWOSA strongly believes in the collective bargaining process and stands in solidarity with its brothers and sisters of PSAC 610. Their fight today for fair compensation may be our fight in this summer’s round of collective bargaining for equitable compensation and fair working conditions.
Contact: PSAC 610, communications@psac610.ca for more information.
In Solidarity,
Nikki Grozelle, Jen Heidenheim, Meg Perinpanayagam, Lori Johnson, Natalie Samuel, Emericks Rivas, Cleusa de Oliveira
UWOSA Executive Officers
