Faculty Discussion Series on Unionization #4: Physics Department
Abstract
Organize uWaterloo and CUPE in partnership with the Physics departmental GSA are pleased to present the next town hall in our Discussion Series on Unionization. First the guests will give brief remarks identifying workplace issues in the department and outlining the role of unions to address them. Then the floor will be open for discussion, including questions and concerns from audience members. Finally, we’ll turn to brainstorming issues/concerns in the department that we’d like to see addressed to improve our graduate student workplace. All graduate students in Physics-related areas are welcome!
Check out the meeting notes (PDF) here.
Featuring:
- Andrew Reeves, Grad student organizer (Waterloo Centre for Astrophysics)
- Nikolay Videnov, Grad student organizer (Institute for Quantum Computing/RAC)
- Stephen Harrigan, Physics GSA President (Institute for Quantum Computing)
- Hadiya Ma, Grad student organizer and grad student rep on UW’s Science Anti-Racism Task Force (Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology)
- Graham Cox, CUPE Researcher and Organizer
Note: In order to facilitate open sharing and discussion, this webinar/town hall meeting will not be recorded. Minutes will be taken and shared afterwards, within the Physics Department, among attendees, and on this page. Attendee names will remain anonymous.
Outline
First half:
- Introduction to town hall and land acknowledgement (moderator)
- Brief introduction - Physics GSA
- Introduction to OrganizeUW (Grad student organizer)
- Intro to CUPE and what unions do (CUPE organizer)
Second half:
- Brief Q&A
- Brainstorm/discussion of issues we’d like to see improved in the Physics Department and how to address them.
- Let’s get thinking about what we want in our collective agreement once we form a union!
Committee to Organize UWaterloo
supported by CUPE
The Committee to Organize UWaterloo is a grassroots campaign to unionize the academic workers at the University of Waterloo. The campaign is supported by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), Canada's largest union.