On January 20th, an email was sent out to the UW Employees contact list by Vivek Goel, President and Vice-Chancellor, and James W. E. Rush, Vice-President, Academic and Provost, to provide employees the chance to give feedback on the February return to campus plan. In text, the email was addressed to the UW Community. Didn't get that email as a graduate student worker (i.e., TA or RA)? Guess you aren’t considered a UW Employee.
Who is OrganizeUW? What happens once TAs, RAs, and sessionals unionize? Could student-faculty relationships be impacted? How can faculty best offer support? As a prof, lecturer, or other faculty member, you may be wondering what unionization would look like at UW and how it could impact you. In our new guest post on the FAUW Blog we work to directly address such questions and concerns. We also list some easy ways you can help, including spreading the word and filling in our quick form to register your support. Click here for the link to the full post!
The next blog post in our ongoing series tackles the issue of unfair pay practices. This spring, UW announced a TA pay raise from $33.89 to $45/hour. But because it engages in scholarship clawbacks to offset such increases, as a grad TAs you will very likely see *zero* increase, or even a slight *reduction*, in your take home pay. But did you know that grads at other universities get to keep their scholarship pay regardless of their work? So #WhyNotWaterloo? This unfair, exploitative, and potentially illegal practice doesn’t happen where TAs have a union. Read on to learn more and find out how you can take action to protect your pay raise from university clawbacks.
OrganizeUW calls out the University of Waterloo with new survey data suggesting graduate students are doing much worse now than before the start of the pandemic
OrganizeUW is pleased to announce that our "Name The Clever Goose" contest has concluded and our mascot finally has a catchy name that suits an intelligent, dignified, friendly, and good-humoured goose who can bring people together across campuses and advocate for us with the help of the innovative instincts befitting a UW-graduate-goose.
A response to graduate student questions about uWaterloo's recent TA wage increase proposal that have arisen in light of subsequent communications from the UW Administration.
(PRESS RELEASE) In a clear response to unionization efforts, the University of Waterloo (UW) has provided notice that it will raise wages for graduate student workers from $33.89 to $45 an hour. The move would bring wages for UW teaching assistants up to sector-wide norms, although they would still lag on total compensation relative to peers at other universities.
The next blog post in our #WhyNotWaterloo series -- which explores the difference a union *really* makes -- examines quarantine packages for international students coming to UW in January 2021. Did you know that graduate TAs at other Ontario universities are able to quarantine through their university for free, whereas UW is charging over $1000? But #WhyNotWaterloo? Read on to find out more.
Despite the fact that international students make up over 50% of full-time equivalent graduate students in some faculties at UW, they are often ignored when the university makes decisions about policies that directly impact them. This is the third post by our international student sub-committee in their series on how a union can help make international students' experiences at UW better.
Despite the fact that international students make up [over 50%](https://uwaterloo.ca/performance-indicators/students/international-students) of full-time equivalent graduate students in some faculties at UW, they are often ignored when the university makes decisions about policy. This is the third post by our international student sub-committee in their series on how a union can help make international students' experiences at UW better.