Editor’s Note: The article was updated on November 15 to indicate that RA’s will be considered part of the union, only once a collective agreement is negotiated.
By: Pranjali J Mann, News Writer
The recent arbitration to include research assistants (RA) within the Teaching Support Staff Union (TSSU) has achieved a “monumental victory.” RA’s will now be considered as part of the union once a collective agreement is negotiated. The judgment called for clarification on the disagreement between SFU and 800 science and applied science RA’s. These RA’s were previously excluded from union and its recognition demands because their payment was executed “through scholarships/stipends from a grant.”
The Peak interviewed Amal Vincent, TSSU chief steward and contract committee chair, to find out more about this judgment.
“SFU’s research reputation is built upon papers that are published and discoveries made with countless hours of RA work.” He added, “Respecting RA’s and treating them fairly is essential to keeping the university functioning.”
Vincent said, “RA’s at SFU have been exploited for decades. Late pay, no pay, and unequal pay, no written contract, no or few benefits. These were all common and among the reasons that RA’s decided to unionize in 2019.”
SFU released an official statement. They said, “There was no process in place to efficiently determine who is an employee of the university [ . . . ] which led to the university not meeting all the terms in Voluntary Recognition Agreement. That is where the university failed, we are sorry for this, and we are committed to doing better.”
As noted, the university administration will be working towards better defining the term “scholarship” in order to “properly differentiate graduate students receiving scholarship from those who should be classified as employees.” SFU is looking to implement the transition and recognize the inclusion of RA’s by “beginning of 2023.” SFU also has until November 14 to bargain with the TSSU on new RA compensation and benefits.
SFU’s statement notes, “SFU will retroactively change payment for the academic term from scholarship to wages where required.” They also added operational issues created by the pandemic affected their ability to meet deadlines.
Vincent signaled to the long fight of recognition the union has undertaken. He stated, “This wasn’t the first try: in the 1970’s research staff started to organize but SFU argued and won a decision that research staff were not SFU employees.” However, the fight continued until November 2019 when SFU agreed to the voluntary recognition of “TSSU as the bargaining agent for Research Assistants and Grant Employees at SFU.”
TSSU’s Research is Work campaign pushed SFU to recognize RA’s and Grant Employees as part of the union. The union’s 2019 Voluntary Recognition Agreement, asked for recognition of TSSU as the bargaining agent. In the interview, Vincent explained this would mean TSSU can demand for providing RA’s with comparable wages, and “MSP coverage for international student RA’s.”
As highlighted on TSSU’s website, this is an ongoing fight. “Our goal remains as always, a fair deal for all RAs that respects their critical contributions to research at SFU. Subsequently, the determination of the ‘true scholarship’ situations and the determination of the quantity of damages will need to occur.”
For more information on the TSSU campaign and RA demands, visit the TSSU website.
