From the AGSEM Archives: 30 Years of Grauate Student Labour Organizing at McGill
Poster advertising referendum to certify with CSN (November 1992). AGSEM Archives, Vol. 4.1 “Posters and Communications.”
In celebration of the 30th anniversary of the union, the Association of Graduate Students Employed at McGill (AGSEM) is excited to present a glimpse of our history in the public exhibition From the AGSEM Archives: 30 Years of Graduate Student Labour Organizing at McGill.
Building upon graduate student workers’ organizing efforts since the 1970s, AGSEM led a successful card-signing campaign in 1992 to become certified with the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN) in 1993, making it the first union of Teaching Assistants in Québec. It began collective bargaining for graduate Teaching Assistants in 1994.
Since its founding, AGSEM has been at the forefront of unionization efforts across McGill. In 2010, AGSEM unionized invigilators who suffered some of the worst working conditions and wages on campus. AGSEM’s second major campaign was to organize course lecturers, an initiative that finally succeeded in August 2011 after decades of failed attempts. Course lecturers later split from AGSEM to form the McGill Course Lecturers and Instructors Union (MCLIU).
Consisting of five installations on bulletin boards on McGill’s downtown campus and online, From the AGSEM Archives: 30 Years of Graduate Student Labour Organizing at McGill highlights historic and present-day initiatives of graduate student labour organizing at McGill, situating the union within broader networks of solidarity in Québec and beyond.
Exhibits
- Timeline: 30 Years of AGSEM est. 1993
- McGill Graduate Labour Organizing (1974-1992)
- McGill Graduate TAs Unionize, AGSEM is Born (1993-1998)
- AGSEM Matures–2003 and 2008 Strikes
- AGSEM Expands: Invigilators and Course Lecturers Get Organized (2010-13)
- AGSEM in the Present Day: The Fight Continues
Acknowledgements
Project Coordinator
Marta Beszterda
Historians and Assistant Coordinators
Jean-Philip Mathieu
Kiersten van Vliet
Archivists
Erika Kindsfather
Miranda Monosky
Graphics and Design
Audrée Sévigny, CCMM-CSN
Nicolas Talbot, CCMM-CSN
Kim Gruver
Website
Kiersten van Vliet
Support
Alex Pelchat, CCMM-CSN
Vincent Masson, CCMM-CSN
Kim Gruver
Emma McKay
Aiden Mehak
Donald Morard III
Mario Roy
Oral Histories
Suncica Avlijas
Robin Davies
Lerona Lewis
Megan Mericle
Tamara Myers
Marc Paquette
Lilian Radovac
Michael Temelini
Kiersten van Vliet
Thanks to the generous support from
Special thanks to:
