Collective Agreement
The Latest
- The 2022-2024 Collective Agreement is now available
- Collective Agreement Stipend Rates Increase September 1, 2023
- University Human Resource Services has compiled a brand new document on key information for Academically-Employed Graduate Students (AEGS)
Resources
- GSA Labour Union - Know Your Rights - eClass for Academically-Employed Graduate Students
- Q&A for Mitigating COVID-19 Risk on Campus
- GSA Labour 101 Presentation - learn more about your rights and responsibilities under the Collective Agreement
Who is Covered?
The following graduate students are covered under the Graduate Student Assistantship Collective Agreement.
- All graduate students holding assistantships:
- Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) (including Principal Instructors)
- Graduate Research Assistants (GRAs)
- Graduate Research Assistant Fellowship holders (GRAFs)*
- Academically-Related Employment other than Assistantships (ARE):
- Casual Academically-Related Employment
Students who are funded through scholarships are not covered under the Graduate Student Assistantship Collective Agreement.
* GRAFs provide funding to graduate students to pursue their own research and are not defined in the Collective Agreement as being an employment relationship. While included in the Collective Agreement, GRAF stipends consist of solely an award component (not an award and salary component) and are not subject to the deduction of either income tax or union dues.
About the GSA as Labour Union
Under provincial legislation, the GSA is "the bargaining agent for academically-employed graduate students" and is to act with "exclusive authority" in representing graduate student workers in negotiating a Collective Agreement (Post-Secondary Learning Act).
The GSA bargains with Board of Governors' representatives—primarily the Provost and Vice-President (Academic)—to negotiate changes to salaries, benefits, and working conditions for Graduate Teaching Assistants, Graduate Research Assistants, and Graduate Research Assistant Fellowship holders, who are otherwise known as Academically-Employed Graduate Students (AEGSs).
In October 2021, the GSA signed a service agreement with the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC). This agreement grants us access to the extensive resources of the PSAC, including professional negotiators, researchers, outreach and education programs, and a well-established strike/lockout fund. The PSAC represents graduate students across Canada, and most notably, has signed service agreements with the three major graduate student unions of Alberta – University of Calgary, University of Lethbridge, and us. We look forward to working with the PSAC and our Alberta counterparts moving forward.
Pursuant to a vote of members of the bargaining unit, the GSA collects a union due. This due amounts to 1.0% of the salary portion of all AEGSs' stipends. Collected dues are held in the GSA Labour Union Fund and used solely to support the GSA’s activities pursuant to the Labour Relations Code on behalf of AEGSs, including collective bargaining and representation of members of the bargaining unit.
See GSA Bylaw and Policy, Section Q: Collective Bargaining for details on this aspect of the work of the GSA.
Previous Updates
- 30 April 2022 - 2021-2022 Vice-President Labour's Year in Review
- 16 February 2022 - Read our Pledge of Solidarity with the other labour unions on campus
