Recently, the Government of Quebec proposed a deeply troubling law under the guise of secularism that would prohibit certain Quebecers of faith from participating in public life and in the public sector. The academic community has long been a bastion of diversity and free thought. Pluralism enriches our communities and makes Quebec a more prosperous and welcoming place to live. As the associations and labour unions representing the whole of the McGill Community, we stand together against this divisive law which attacks civil liberties.

Association of Graduate Students Employed at McGill

Association of McGill University Support Employees

Association of McGill University Research Employees

McGill Association of University Teachers

McGill’s Association of Continuing Education Students

McGill Course Lecturers & Instructors Union

McGill University Non-Academic Certified Association

McGill University Non-Academic Staff Association

Post Graduate Students’ Society

Service Employees’ Union

Students’ Society of McGill University

While state secularism is an important value in Quebec, one that is broadly supported by the public and faith communities alike, we believe that the current legislation misses the mark and creates two classes of citizen. Requiring government employees and citizens to remove personal symbols of their faith in order to participate in society is divisive and punitive and dangerous.  Asking a teacher to remove his kippah or a crown prosecutor to remove her hijab is akin to firing these individuals because of their religion.  Nowhere in the modern history of this province is there an example of a government employee attempting to proselytize by way of her or his clothing.  This law is an answer to a problem that does not exist.  It serves merely to send a message to certain of our compatriots that their personal religious beliefs are not wanted here in Quebec.

Even more alarming is that, by preemptively adding the notwithstanding clause to the law, the government fully recognises that this law likely violates freedom of religion – as enshrined in our Charters of Human Rights.  What’s more, the second part of this law – requiring the removal of face coverings to receive government services – creates a scandal where there is none.  For years, various government bodies have maintained the practice of asking veiled women to remove their face coverings for identification.  Never has there been a case of a person refusing to remove a face covering for the purpose of identification.  Why then does the government feel the need to adopt laws to marginalize certain religious Quebecers – laws that disproportionately affect Muslims, Jews, Sikhs, and women?

We call on the government of Quebec to respect the Charter of Rights and Freedom.  A free society cannot be called free when it, without reason, demands certain of its citizens to choose between their faith and participation in public life.  This law has no place in a multicultural, secular, modern Quebec and must be repealed.

The MUNACA Executive

It only takes 2 minutes and seniority is fundamental for questions of employment security, priority for vacant positions, for shift work, and for vacation schedule/entitlement

It has come to our attention there have been some cases of discrepancies in McGill’s calculation of seniority.  MUNACA urges all members to verify their seniority by logging on to the following link: https://www.mcgill.ca/hr/app/munaca-seniority

Please remember that time you spent in continuous employment as a casual prior to joining MUNACA is to be included.

Should you find that your seniority does not correspond to your time here at McGill, we strongly recommend reviewing the Letter of Agreement and then submitting to HR a Seniority Contestation Request (both below).

Questions?  Please reach out to your friendly neighbourhood Steward!

Find the letter of Agreement here.

To contest your seniority, please submit this form to HR with MUNACA cc’d.

Dear Principal Fortier,

As has happened in the past, when inclement weather is coming our way, we have received questions and concerns about the University’s plans on coping with the situation.

First of all, as was done at other universities in the city, serious consideration should have been made to simply closing the campus except for essential services. This would have done much to enhance moral and send the message that the situation – being the safety of all staff – was being taken seriously.

Second of all, communications with staff and students should have been much clearer. The University could have easily made use of its emergency response system, and used, for instance, phone messaging systems. Every other educational institution in the city issued clear winter advisory warnings in the form of banners across the landing pages of their websites the evening prior. They cancelled classes and work for all staff but those required for essential operations. The discrete nature of the message on McGill’s home page placed alongside every other “news” story was missed by some lecturers, who still made their way in to teach or work. The timing of the emails was also unacceptable, as anyone who had a long commute would have had to leave even earlier than usual and thus missed the message. Consistently, by the time those responsible send out emails or post rather imperceptible warnings on the website, it is much too late for many colleagues. In addition, the messages were inconsistent CBC and Radio-Canada were broadcasting that McGill was closed for the day: few who heard them would have thought to question their validity.

We would also like to point out the disparity of treatment between employees. Some staff were permitted to work from home but not all, even where such an option would have been practical for the departments concerned.

We know that you are aware of these issues, and are considering them on an ongoing basis, but we felt it important to communicate our concerns clearly in writing. You may also not have been aware of just how much confusion and inconvenience the inconsistency and lack of clarity in communication caused for many. We believe we can and will do better next time.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. We have included two examples of communications, one from McGill the other from Concordia for your information.

Regards,

Thomas Chalmers

President, MUANCA

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Links to Concordia and McGill Winter Storm Warning:

Concordia

McGill

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On November 09, 2018, Helen Campbell passed away at 77 surrounded by her family. Helen worked for over 30 years as a technician in the electron microscopy and metallography laboratory in the Department of Mining and Materials Engineering. She also helped set up X-ray Photoelectron Spectrometer.

She was very dedicated to her fellow technicians and to the students right until her retirement in 2012. She was always willing to help us resolve issues big and small. She was a quiet smiling anchor we could count on.

To honour her memory her family wishes donation to be made  to St-Mary’s Hospital Foundation.

Yes – this is still possible!

Please remember that you may drop by the MUNACA office (3483 Peel) any time 9-5, contact a member of the M organization committee, speak to a MUNACA representative or sign a card electronically. When you do so you will have three choices as to how to pay the obligatory $2 membership fee:

If you submit a card electronically you will be invoiced to pay the $2 via PayPal, which you may do right away. OR

. Drop off $2 at the MUNACA office (3483, Peel Street – 2nd floor).

Thank you to everyone for the amazing enthusiasm and tremendous amount of interest! Please read up on the Frequently Asked Questions

Propelled by strong interest expressed by many Ms to become unionized, MUNACA has offered to open up its certificate to include them. The PSAC has agreed to fully support us in this effort. A group of M staff who believe in the need to unionize formed a committee (the M Unionizing Committee) and started working with MUNACA and the PSAC on this. At this point the emphasis is on providing facts to all of our colleagues on the process of unionization and the advantages of forming a union. It is essential for everyone to realize that the key difference between voluntary associations and a union are the protections conferred by Quebec’s Labour Code. Fundamentally, unionization is about having more control over one’s working conditions, including salary. We encourage all staff to engage in reasoned discussions on what being a union member actually means and what it brings.

You can view a copy of the FAQs here.

Any questions can be sent to 2018munion@gmail.com

Salary scales, as of June 1, 2017 can be found here.

Salary scales as of June 1, 2018 are here.

You may have noticed that the Collective Agreement says the following for this year’s increase: “By the same percentage as the Quebec Government Salary Policy (April 2018) on June 1st, 2018”

This is because at the time that we were negotiating the Collective Agreement, we chose to match it to  the public sector salary increase which turned out to be 2.0%.

Most MUNACA members can verify their salary increase by comparing the step rate they had in the 2017 salary scale with the step rate (one step higher) in the June 2018 salary scale, up to the maximum of the scale.

If your PED received a Pay Equity adjustment, find your PED on the left hand column, and then look to the appropriate step. If your PED did not receive a Pay Equity adjustment, find your level (grey rows) on the left hand column, and then look to the appropriate step.

Special rules apply for some members (for example, those who are still secured on old scales) or for those who still need to forego their first progression increase in order to compensate for the Summer Fridays (see article 23.11).

Example 1: The MUNACA member works in PED 34 (Level 9, Pay Equity adjusted) and was paid at step 5 in 2017. The rate was $25.53. He will be paid at step 6 in 2018. The new rate is $26.83. This means an increase of 5.0% (2.0% for economic and 3% for progression in step).

Example 2: The MUNACA member works in PED 169 and was paid at step 12 in 2017. The rate was $32.72. She will be paid at step 12 in 2018. The new rate is $33.37. This means an increase of 2.0% (economic only since the employee is already at the maximum of the scale).

The salary increases take effect on June 1st, so members will see a small increase in their first pay (as this pay period is only partially after the increase is applied); their second pay will reflect the increase of a full pay period.