Agreement includes 6.5 per cent wage hike in year one, plus parental and social leave
About 800 exam invigilators — workers who oversee the writing of exams — at McGill University in Montreal have approved an agreement-in-principle with the university.
The agreement, following more than two years of negotiations with the help of an arbitrator, is the first collective agreement for these workers.
What’s in the agreement?
The principal gains include, among others:
• a 6.5 per cent wage increase after the contract is signed and an additional two per cent in the second year
• parental and social leave
• paid 15-minute breaks
• the establishment of a fair hiring and job-posting process and required training.
The collective agreement will expire in 2015.
"Our members are satisfied that this long negotiation process is over," said Sunci Avlijas, a member of the bargaining committee. "We fully understand this this only our first collective agreement and we will start mobilizing for the next round of negotiations tomorrow so that we can keep improving our working conditions."
The exam invigilators are members of AGSEM-McGill's Teaching Union, which also includes the university's teaching assistants and course lecturers. The union is affiliated with the Fédération nationale des enseignantes et enseignants du Québec (FNEEQ-CSN) and the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN). The union was accredited to represent exam invigilators in April 2010.
