Over 2,000 graduate student workers at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, represented by the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC DCL Local 901 – Unit 1), began a historic strike on March 10, 2025. This is the first strike in the Local’s 18-year history and one that could have been avoided if the University had addressed the crucial issues affecting workers.
Graduate student workers need:
- A living wage and improved funding
- Paid course development
- Childcare
- Restitution for the unconstitutional Bill 124 wage stagnation
- Reduced tuition costs
- Greater mental health supports
According to the School of Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs at Queen’s University, a full-time PhD candidate receives a guaranteed minimum funding package of only $23,000 per year, which is available for up to four years. For comparison, a full-time minimum wage earner in Ontario makes approximately $36,000 annually. There is no minimum funding support for Masters’ students at Queen’s and each student worker must pay back tuition, which starts at over $7,000 per year.
Queen’s has shown it does not care about the financial crisis that its students and workers are facing. Without guarantees offered that the University will not claw back money from workers in their funding packages, workers could see their workloads increase for the same amount of money.
Picket lines have been set up from Monday to Friday, 8 AM to 3 PM, at entrances across Queen’s, with the main strike line at Joseph S. Stauffer Library (101 Union St, Kingston).
How you can help:
- Send an email to Queen’s University Principal Patrick Deane, principal@queensu.ca, and Provost and Vice-Principal (Academic) Matthew Evans provost@queensu.ca
- Support the Local’s Solidarity Fund via PayPal
- Write a letter to Queen’s Administration in support of PSAC 901 members
- Send messages of support on social media – Instagram (@psac901) Facebook (PSAC901) X – (PSAC901)
- Come out to our picket lines and show your solidarity!
For more information on the strike, please visit the Local’s webpage at: www.psac901.org/bargaining
Graduate Student Workers are enrolled in a graduate program and have a contract working as a Teaching Assistant, Research Assistant, or Teaching Fellow. This strike impacts nearly 26,000 undergraduate students enrolled at Queen’s University who rely on Teaching Assistants, Research Assistants and Teaching Fellows to deliver tutorials, research activities, and grading papers and exams.
In Solidarity,
Craig Reynolds, PSAC Ontario Regional Executive Vice-President