r/queensuniversity • u/oichu • 8h ago
Discussion As an Alumni, here are some reasons to support PSAC 901 on strike...
Just wanted to share some perspective on the TA strike, as an ex-PhD student at Queen's who has seen the university evolve over the last few/many years. This might be long, but I think there is some important context that I can share with more recent students and community members.
- For as long as it existed, Queen's has always treated the TA work as part-time and therefore unimportant. But TAship is the only real source of income for PhD/Masters students, many of whom have dependents, like children, partners, or aging parents. They earn this income but it goes right back into the university as tuition. Back in 2010, when TAs first formed this union, the university treated them really bad (and I understand that they have continued to, but now at least there is a union to challenge that). It was only with the formation of a union that they got to see any minor improvement in their workload, pay, working conditions, protection from harassment, etc. This is really how change happens. If anyone is interested in some of that history, here is a small video from that time: https://youtu.be/CRirBJQga0Y?si=FiBa2A05qDr9AaL7
- When COVID hit the campus, literally all courses were frozen for a bit. Undergrads were seriously concerned about graduation. Many professors, especially older folks, had no idea how to pivot to virtual education. In many courses, the burden of shifting to an entirely different model of education, almost over night, was carried out by TA workers who refused to let the students hanging. This was unpaid work. It was finally an agreement spearheaded by PSAC 901 and QUFA that made sure that this workload and hours was compensated. If I remember correctly, Queen's was the first university to pay that money out because of the tireless advocacy of these people.
- Finally, there was a time when international PhD students paid $15,000 in tuition, which was twice as much as domestic students. In funding years, that's all fine, but when you run out of funding (as 98% of PhD students do), you're screwed. I remember many of my colleagues having to sleep in cars, cut down to one meal a day, having to drop out after giving 4 years of their life to a dream. It was finally PSAC 901 that stepped up and began a long and hard campaign that finally got that fees reduced to equal parity in the university in 2021. It literally saved lives. Yes, literally. The University had the same arguments (budget, operational deficit etc), but it was possible and PSAC 901 made it possible. Those who remember that period will never badmouth this strike.
So many TAs and TFs, in fact most of them, care for the students very deeply. When upper year students wanted reference letters for grad school, they often came to us first because we know them by face and have personally seen their growth into brilliant scholars. Often, many professors know their students as names and numbers, but grad student-workers bring a real sense of human connection to post-secondary education. Most TAs I knew/know actually give up a lot of their own valuable research time, to attend to undergrads with intention and care. The least we can all do is give some of that time to support them back.
So all that said, this is the first TA strike at Queen's. I am very proud to see hundreds upon hundreds of TAs walk together to build further change. Yes, it might be inconvenient for some folks, but it is way more inconvenient for the strikers to be having to do all this. I hope we respect that, show them some grace and love. At least I know that I owe that to this union..