GSA Bargaining Update

Dear GTA and PDA members,

Our Graduate Student Assistant (GSA) Unit is currently in bargaining. The Bargaining Team is negotiating a first contract with the Employer, Western University.

Here are a few important points to note:

1. As the newest unit in our Local, the GSAs do not yet have a Collective Agreement and are negotiating a first official Collective Agreement.

2. We continue to work with our negotiator, Elpis Law, who has experience negotiating with the Employer.

3. GSA bargaining officially began on August 20th and continued the weeks of September 15th and 29th. Future dates are scheduled at the end of November and in December.

4. Some foundational language has been agreed to, and there remain a number of articles that need to be negotiated within the non-monetary package before proceeding to monetary negotiations.

Who is on the GSA Bargaining Team?

The bargaining team has three elected members: Lucas Riboli Besen (he/him), Alex Mendes Cursino (they/them), Jessica Irene Joyce (she/her), with the support of the President of the Local.

How can you support us?

1. Stay informed – read all emails from PSAC 610 and follow us on social media to know what’s going on in our union.

2. Spread the word – let your colleagues know that GSAs are in bargaining, inform them of the updates you receive, and encourage them to read union emails and follow us on social media. 

3. Show up and bring your friends – over the coming months, there will likely be rallies and events held by the GSA unit that you will be invited to attend. Showing up to these events is one way to show the university that we collectively stand behind our GSA colleagues as they fight for better working conditions. 

We learned from GTA bargaining that the Employer likes to apply pressure to force us into a bad deal. GTAs fought against this and won. We owe this success to the solidarity between our GTA and PDA units to stand united against the Employer. We showed them that we will not be bullied and we will stand together until a fair deal is reached. As our GSAs (and soon our PDAs) start bargaining, it’s time for us to do the same for them. There is strength in numbers—let’s stand together to show the University that our colleagues are not alone, and that we will not rest until they have a fair deal.

Further updates will be shared with members as they emerge.

In solidarity,

PSAC 610