Unions on Campus

 

Here at McGill, there are 6 certified unions:

 

AMURE: Association of McGill University Research Assistants

​

AMURE is the Association of McGill University Research Employees that represents casual research assistants, research assistants and research associates working at McGill. We signed our first collective agreement for research assistants and associates with McGill in April 2013.

​

In June 2015, the postdocs paid by McGill became an official certified association also with AMURE.

​

AMUSE: Association of McGill University Support Employees

​

The Association of McGill University Support Employees is a labour union that represents ‘casual’ or ‘temporary’ employees at McGill. This includes both students and non-students in part-time and full-time positions. In fact, around 35% of casual employees are non-students. In total, our approximately 1500-strong members make up about 55% of McGill’s non-academic employees.

 

AGSEM: Association of Graduate students working at McGill

 

​AGSEM was accredited in 1993 to represent Teaching Assistants at McGill, making us the oldest TA Union in the province. Invigilators joined AGSEM in 2010 and Course Lecturers in 2011.

 

MCLIU: Association of McGill University Course Lecturers and Instructors

 

AGSEM, the Association of Graduate Students Employed at McGill , first became a union in 1993 with the certification of the university’s teaching assistants. In March 2010, invigilators (Unit II of AGSEM) were accredited.

Course lecturers and instructors at McGill won accreditation in August 2011 as the third unit of AGSEM. On October 17, 2013 the union voted with a unanimous vote to allow McGill Course Lecturers and Instructors Union (MCLIU) to exclusively represent course lecturers and instructors employed at McGill by transferring the certificate of accreditation. The Commission de Relation du Travail transferred the accreditation to MCLIU in November 2013, making MCLIU the sole representative of course lecturers and instructors at McGill.

 

MUNACA:  Association of McGill University Non Academic Workers

 

MUNACA was formed in 1992 and certified as a union by the Quebec Labour Relations Commission in 1993. The McGill University Non-Academic Certified Association (MUNACA) is a labour union at McGill University representing roughly 1700 non-academic support staff.

 

SEU: Service Employees International Union

 

SEU 800 represents over 20,000 members in various sectors such as building maintenance, school board support staff, manufacturing (plastic, metal, wood, cardboard, dairy products and others), hotel and restaurant, businesses, financial institutions. A vast experience at your service.

​

There are also several non-certified associations at McGill such as the MAUT (McGill Association of University Teachers) and MUNASA (McGill University Association of Non Academic Staff)

 

The central difference between these organizations is certification. A certified union is one in which more than 50% of the workers in a given position agree to unionize by signing union cards. Typically, a certified union is aligned with a larger umbrella union. In the case of AMURE and AMUSE, we are aligned with the PSAC, the Public Service Alliance of Canada.

 

Other McGill Unions such as MCLIU and AGSEM are members of the Confederation of National Trade Unions or as it is known more widely in French, the CSN Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN).