Policy 30 - the policy that outlines the terms of employment for TAs - was updated as of December 13, 2022. We want to explain some of the issues we see with Policy 30 - both the process and the content - and how it would be different if we were already unionized.
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.
As the pandemic shutdown looms onward, TAs across campus continue to struggle to meet deadlines and departmental expectations. Join OUW for a casual evening conversation led by your GSA reps for Civil & Environmental and Systems Design Engineering to discuss experiences, challenges, and opportunities for TAs in the Faculty.
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.
Our new series considers the question of what difference does a union *really* make? In other words, how does working as a TA, RA or Sessional at UW compare to other schools? What concrete results has unionization brought elsewhere? In our first post we examine TA wages and hours. Did you know that graduate TAs at other Ontario universities earn 25-35% more per hour AND work 12-25% fewer hours per course? But #WhyNotWaterloo? Read on to find out more.