LAW STUDENTS’ ASSOCIATION Faculty of Law, McGill University

3644 Peel Street, Montreal, QC, Canada, H3A1W9

T: 514 398-6966 F: 514 398-2179

ASSOCIATION DES ÉTUDIANT(E)S EN DROIT Faculté de Droit, Université McGill

3644 rue Peel, Montréal (Québec) Canada, H3A 1W9

T: 514 398-6966 F: 514 398-2179

Open Letter to Faculty Members at the McGill Faculty of Law Re: Research Assistant Wages February 17, 2015 Dear Faculty Members, In January 2015, members of the Law Students’ Association of McGill (LSA) passed a referendum question that asked students whether they supported the following: • That McGill law students call on our professors to adopt a collective practice of paying

undergraduate research assistants (RAs) a minimum rate of $16 per hour, which is comparable to the wage earned by undergraduate students at all faculties of Université de Montréal;

• That we call on professors to continue to offer the existing number of RA positions and that they make all efforts to maintain the number of hours of work for each position by requesting adequate funding in their grant applications, incorporating a fair rate of pay; and

• That we call on our professors to undertake to seek advice from LL.M. and D.C.L. students to determine a fair minimum collective wage for their work, with a view to bringing these wages in line with those earned by graduate students at the Université de Montréal.

This letter serves to make this call to you. As many of you know, RA wages at our Faculty were subject to a “recommended faculty rate” for at least the past fifteen years. For undergraduate RAs, this rate was $12/hour.

In July 2014, a higher minimum wage for undergraduate RAs at McGill, specified in our collective agreement1, took effect. This wage for Casual RAs is $12.70/hour and it appears that most undergraduate RAs are now being paid this rate.2 Since November 2014, there has no longer been a “recommended faculty rate”.

What we ask is simple: we want our professors to begin paying RAs fairly, or to be more precise, at a minimum rate of $16/hour. We take the position that $12.70/hour is not a fair wage. In our research,

1 Collective Agreement Between the Association of McGill University Research Employees (AMURE) / Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) Research Assistants and McGill University, April 23, 2013 – April 23, 2016, article 19.01.02. Available at : http://www.aerum-amure.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/AMURE-Assistants-2013-2016-FINAL-VERSION.pdf 2 See Appendix for AMURE statistics for rates of pay of research assistants from the Faculty of Law from September – December 2014.

LAW STUDENTS’ ASSOCIATION Faculty of Law, McGill University

3644 Peel Street, Montreal, QC, Canada, H3A1W9

T: 514 398-6966 F: 514 398-2179

ASSOCIATION DES ÉTUDIANT(E)S EN DROIT Faculté de Droit, Université McGill

3644 rue Peel, Montréal (Québec) Canada, H3A 1W9

T: 514 398-6966 F: 514 398-2179

we found that it is the lowest undergraduate rate of pay for RAs in Montréal and is far lower than a number of other universities in Canada, where the hourly rate for undergraduate RAs can be anywhere from $16 to $25 per hour. We also know that our wage does not begin to approach what a living wage would likely be for the city of Montréal.

We know that many of you already want to pay more and can pay more. This referendum was partly motivated by professors who told us this, who apologized for “having” to pay only $12 or $12.70 per hour, and who told us we would certainly get support for this action from faculty members. Professors also told us that having a higher RA wage could allow them to ask for and receive larger grants, thereby increasing their research budgets and the bringing them prestige associated with receiving large grants.

L’augmentation des salaires des auxiliaires de recherche à la Faculté est une initiative nécessaire et désirée par les professeurs autant que par les étudiants. Des bénéfices importants découleront de la hausse des salaires des auxiliaires de recherche. Il est important pour nous que vous saisissiez ensemble cette occasion d’augmenter les salaires des auxiliaires de recherche à un niveau qui reflète les standards de l’industrie et qui démontre votre engagement à favoriser la justice en milieu de travail.

In terms of concrete actions, we ask that you request a research assistant budget on your grant applications, both for internal and external grants, that allows you to pay a fair wage. If you are refused fair wage funding, our hope is that repeated requests for grant funds that allow for fair RA wages will pressure funders to reconsider their formulae and their priorities. We ask that when raising wages, you make every effort to offer the same number of RA positions as have been offered in previous years. We ask that you talk openly with your colleagues about this issue and encourage each other to ask for more funds from funders and to pay RAs fairly.

Nous formulons cette proposition en tant qu’étudiants au baccalauréat; cependant, nous souhaitons également exprimer notre soutien à l’augmentation des salaires accordés aux étudiants des cycles supérieurs qui travaillent en tant qu’auxiliaires de recherche. Nous demandons aux professeurs de consulter les étudiants inscrits à la maîtrise et au doctorat afin d’établir un salaire juste pour les auxiliaires de recherche provenant de ces groupes respectifs.

Le Conseil de l’AED s’engage à communiquer et à collaborer ouvertement avec la Faculté sur cet enjeu et à faire le suivi des actions entreprises sur ce front. Our faculty members can set a new and fairer standard for its students and for McGill. We look forward to continued and constructive communication with you and we welcome your comments.

LAW STUDENTS’ ASSOCIATION Faculty of Law, McGill University

3644 Peel Street, Montreal, QC, Canada, H3A1W9

T: 514 398-6966 F: 514 398-2179

ASSOCIATION DES ÉTUDIANT(E)S EN DROIT Faculté de Droit, Université McGill

3644 rue Peel, Montréal (Québec) Canada, H3A 1W9

T: 514 398-6966 F: 514 398-2179

Sincerely,

Hersi Hujaleh

President, McGill Law Students’ Association

Note: AMURE is the exclusive representative for collective bargaining purposes for research assistants at McGill University. This action does not intend to interfere with AMURE’s role, with its collective agreements, or with any labour relations activities AMURE is involved in.