Teaching Support Staff Union: Bargaining, Financial Realities, and Job Action

TAs, TMs, Sessionals and ELC/ITP Continuing Instructors

Teaching Support Staff Union:Bargaining, Financial Realities, and Job Action


June 2012

August2012


Teaching Assistant (TA) Proposals

• Give students priority to TA work outside their dept.• Use an already existing, campus –wide centralized

posting system so TA’s can find jobs in other depts.• Give equal pay for equal work: some TA’s currently

make $1,000 less per TAship than TA’s in other depts for the same work.

• Protect tutorial preparation time• Lower student to TA ratio in W (writing) courses• Create a scholarship so that undergrad TA’s get equal

pay for equal work


Tutor Markers (TM)

• Modernize language in the contract– Language has not been updated since the 1980’s

when TM work was completed on cassette tape and over the phone

• Create a straight forward system of supervision and mentorship

• Give TM’s priority comparable to TAs


Sessional Instructor Proposals

• Create a seniority system for Sessionals– Reserve some Sessional jobs (15%) for graduate

students

• Create TA triggers for number of students– A Sessional can receive a teaching appointment

with 500 students and no TA’s

• Offer extra preparation time for writing (W) courses


ELC / ITP Proposals

The Employer denies job security and benefits to English Language and Culture Instructors at Harbour Centre. The TSSU proposes that these instructors…

•Get the same benefits as comparable to other permanent workers on campus

– full health and dental benefits– tuition waiver– pension plan

•Protect them from any attempt to eliminate the current employees


Benefits

• Update the childcare bursary to a fund so it is distributed properly and is available to all members with children.

• Make our already-existing benefit of university-paid basic medical care (MSP) more accessible by automatically enrolling Sessionals, TA’s, TM’s, ELC/ITP

• SFU covers GSS dental plan and extended benefits plan


• Increase our scholarship as tuition increases

• Keep wages proportional to the Consumer Price Index

• Provide a 3% base increase to wages in 2013 and 2014

Scholarship / Wages


Employer’s Response

• NO to all non-monetary items,• NO to all benefits increases,• NO to centralized posting,• NO to improvements in graduate priority, but

• YES to a monetary increase of:– Year 1: 0%– Year 2: 0%– Year 3: 1.25%– Year 4: 1.25%

A 1.25% increase over the course of 2 years equates to recovering 1/3 of your tuition back.


Facts, Numbers and Statistics


Why We Should Care ...

[5] “Living Costs,” TSSU research, http://bargaining.tssu.ca/sources


Sessional Reality• From 2005-2011 Sessionals taught 5902 sections at SFU.• These sections contained 264,675 students.• These students paid $180 million in tuition to SFU.• Sessionals received about $30 million in pay and benefits.• Sessionals now do about 22% of the teaching at SFU.

[11] “Sessiontal Teaching Load”, http://bargaining.tssu.ca/sources


Total SFU Tuition Revenue

$0

$20

$40

$60

$80

$100

$120

$140

$160

$180

$200

2004-05

2005-06

2006-07

2007-08

2008-09

2009-10

2010-11

2011-12

2012-13

Year

Re

ve

nu

e (

Mill

ion

s)

International Undergraduate Students Enrolled at SFU

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

4500

1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010

Year

Nu

mb

er

Is there money to fund teaching? Yes

1. Huge increases in international undergraduates (250% over 7 years) [7]2. Huge increases in tuition revenue (58% over 7 years) [8]

[7] http://www.sfu.ca/content/dam/sfu/irp/students/documents/ST22.ST23.db.xls

[8] Calculation and excel spreadsheet available at http://bargaining.tssu.ca


Percentage of TA Budget by Group

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

2004-05

2005-06

2006-07

2007-08

2008-09

2009-10

2010-11

2011-12

Year

Pe

rce

nta

ge

Undergraduate

Externals

Graduate

TA expenditures as a percentage of tuition fee revenue

0.0%

1.0%

2.0%

3.0%

4.0%

5.0%

6.0%

7.0%

8.0%

9.0%

2004-05

2005-06

2006-07

2007-08

2008-09

2009-10

2010-11

2011-12

Year

Per

cen

tag

e

Are students being respected? NO

1. TA budget has decreased as a portion of tuition revenue, (was 8% now 6.4% of budget) [9]

2. The percentage of TA’s going to students has decreased (was 95% now 90%) [10]

[9] Calculation and excel spreadsheet available at http://bargaining.tssu.ca[10] Calculation and excel spreadsheet available at http://bargaining.tssu.ca


Bargaining for 26 Months

• The TSSU put forward over 60 unique proposals to update the collective agreement.

• The Employer put forward 2 unique proposals and withdrew them both.

• As an act of good faith, the TSSU sacrificed 3 of their proposals in hopes of motivating the Employer to bargain.

• It took over 2 years of bargaining and 7 mediation sessions to get the Employer to sign off on updating Occupational Health and Safety Standards to reflect the law.

• The Employer has only signed off on two language changes: Health and Safety and changing the job title of an employee in HR from “director” to “executive director.”


• In the summer 2012 Sessionals, TA’s, TM’s and ELC/ITP voted 91% in favour of job action (strike).

• The union sought the assistance of a mediator for 7 days with no substantive dialogue.

• In September Sessionals, TA’s, TM’s and ELC/ITP voted in favour of “booking out” of mediation and beginning job action.

• Job action is happening now.

Where are we today?


Job Action• The first stage of a strike is to commence job action – a

creative tactic used to put pressure on the Employer to bargain with the Union. The TSSU does not want job action to interfere with students’ education.

• The more effective we are at accomplishing job action, the less likely the TSSU will have to escalate to a full work stoppage. Everyone wants to avoid a full strike.

• Examples of job action include:– Wearing a TSSU t-shirt or button to tutorials– Talking to students about the strike– “Working to rule” or following the outdated work contract exactly

as it is written


How can Faculty support the TSSU?

• Sign and display a Faculty Support Card on your office door. Ask your departmental steward for a card.

• Sign a letter to SFU President Andrew Petter expressing your desire for fair bargaining. You can find the Letter of Support here: http://www.tssu.ca/2012/05/17/new-bargaining-website/

• Keep the lines of communication open with your TA’s• Stay informed by talking to your departmental steward and

by visiting bargaining.tssu.ca

Documents

Teaching Support Staff Union: Bargaining, Financial Realities, and Job Action