Dozens of your staff colleagues are part of USW Local 2010’s Contract Action Team (CAT). 

CAT members volunteer their time to engage in one-on-one, personal contact within the union membership about bargaining.  The goal is effective communication. Each CAT member is responsible for keeping in touch with a group of staff colleagues. 

During a lunch hour meeting on January 17, CAT members gathered with the Bargaining Committee for an update on negotiations and to get ready to ramp up membership activism as we push for a quicker pace at the bargaining table.
                                        Upbeat CAT members at the January 17 meeting

Have a look at our CAT list. If there is not a CAT member in your area, please consider becoming a CAT member yourself! You can volunteer by sending an email to contact@qusw.ca 




                                                   USW Local 2010 Bargaining Committee

front row left to right: Omero Landi, USW National Office Representative; Kelly J Smith, Geology; Patrick Galloway, Advancement

back row left to right: Gillian Berry, University Registrar; Deborah Stirton-Massey, History; Cheryl Power, Rehabilitation Therapy; Kathy Hoover, Geography; Carol Kavanaugh, Faculty of Arts and Science; Peggy McComb, USW Kingston Representative

Happy New Year! We hope you had a happy and safe holiday season.

And now back to the bargaining table! After 10 busy bargaining dates during November and December, we head back to the table with the administration again on: January 12, 16, 30; and February 9, 13, 15, 24 and 29.

We have been heartened by the many positive comments from staff about bargaining, and of course we very much appreciate the strong statements of support from CUPE and QUFA.


As bargaining starts up again, here are a few points to remember: 

Consistency for staff: We have given the administration comprehensive proposals about finally ensuring consistency for USW members in Queen's policies and procedures. We want to make this part of a fair and enforceable collective agreement. This need for fairness and consistency was a major driver in the campaign to unionize and we are seeking to make real advances in this regard. 

A fair, effective and timely way to resolve complaints: It is part of Queen's staff lore that no one can remember any more than one or two of our colleagues ever successfully wading through the old staff grievance process under QUSA. We have proposed to the administration an efficient new grievance procedure that will be backed up by staff union strength.

While we are not yet finished, we are confident that we will arrive at a grievance procedure that finally gives staff the rights we deserve. Even now, Peggy McComb, the USW Kingston area representative is already involved in supporting over 15 staff with different complaints and concerns that have arisen in recent months.

Salaries and pension: For many years, Queen's staff salaries have slipped steadily behind other employee groups. We have presented detailed examples of this salary history (from 2006 on) to the administration's bargaining team, some of whom are relatively new to Queen's.

The days of treating staff as second class employees should now be over. While years of unfairness can't be erased overnight, it is time for salary gains that recognize the contribution and sacrifices that staff have made.

The collective agreements achieved by QUFA and CUPE (with the acknowledged support of the USW) have set the administration's tone for our collective bargaining around pensions. But it is also true that pensions are part of our terms of employment and should be resolved as part of our overall bargaining. 

Increases in employee and employer pension contributions in respect of our members will not be implemented this month, as they will be for non-union staff and members of QUFA and CUPE. Any changes to our contributions will take effect only upon ratification of our collective agreement.

Thanks for your support. Watch for more updates!

Your Bargaining Committee 

Dozens of RG&C staff turned out over the past few weeks for information sessions to see a summary of the RG&C staff survey. 

The survey showed that RG&C staff tend to be satisfied with many aspects of their jobs and are satisfied with their direct supervisors. However, RG&C staff report high levels of concern about their relationship with Queen's more broadly. They voiced worry that changes at Queen's could negatively impact their salaries and benefits, and are frustrated with lack of progress through the salary grid. RG&C staff reported high levels of concern about job security and want priority in hiring when or if the funding for their current positions run out. To see more about what RG&C staff expressed in the survey, click here to see the summary that was presented in information sessions. 

Questions? Comments? Please don't hesitate to e-mail us at rgcinfo@qusw.ca

Make sure to read letters of support from QUFA and from the three CUPE locals on campus. These messages maintain the solidarity that the USW, QUFA and CUPE showed earlier this year when we worked together during the CUPE and QUFA bargaining.

And letters from staff at the University of Toronto and staff at the University of Guelph show that membership support in favour of well established priorities can build positive solutions in collective bargaining.

A big 'thank you' to our QUFA and CUPE colleagues and to our friends at U of T and U of G for their support!

Today we begin our third day of talks with the administration. Progress is being made, but there is lots of work to do. 

Here is a list of all bargaining dates agreed to at present: 
November 15, 17, 24, 30
December 5, 7, 8, 9, 13, 15
January 12, 16, 30
February 9, 13, 15, 24, 29

The process of bargaining involves many proposals and counter proposals. Therefore, in addition to the dates above, your bargaining committee has arranged seven other days during which we will meet on our own in order to be properly prepared for our bargaining dates with the administration.

Click here for the bargaining slideshow presented at our November 10 membership information session.