Other Canadian universities and colleges waive tuition for TA/TM/Sessionals who are students. SFU waives tuition for other employee groups on campus, but not for TSSU members. Should a demand for tuition waiver be successful, it would put us on a more equitable footing with the other employee groups on campus.
Posts from ‘August, 2009’
Priority and Right of First Refusal
Our priority system works differently for TAs and Sessionals.
TA Priority
TAs have a priority system in the Collective Agreement, which gives a priority to TAs with less assignments than the number set out in the contract – for Masters students those with less than 25 base units have priority, and for PhD students, those with less than 40 base units have priority. Departments can set their own additional priorities, as long as they provide a copy of their system to the TSSU and post it prominently within the department.
Sessional Instructor Priority
Benefits
The information on benefits for TSSU members is on Pages 48 to 53 of the Collective Agreement. Application forms for the plans are available in Strand Hall, at the Human Resources benefits office. YOU MUST MAKE APPLICATION IN ORDER TO BE COVERED. Unfortunately, the University does not believe that it has to ensure that you are enrolled in the plans.
Medical
“The University will pay the required premiums for MSP.” (This is for TA/TM employees and their dependents. ELC and ITP employees must pay 40% of the cost of their MSP).
Extended
“The University will pay the required premiums for Extended Health Benefits and will deduct twenty five (25) percent of that premium from the eligible employee’s salary.” (Again, for employees and their dependents).
Our extended plan DOES NOT INCLUDE vision care benefits – there is no eyeglass coverage. In addition, it does not cover birth control medication, and it provides very limited coverage for professional practitioners such as psychologists, physiotherapy, etc.
Dental
Workload Reviews
The contract sets out when the review of one’s workload is required, and how it should be done.
Determining workload starts with the fact that every TA and TM must have received a Time Use Guideline (TUG) by the 5th day of classes. That guideline tells you how many hours of work you are being paid for, and how those hours should be spent. Every TUG must provide AT LEAST 42 hours of preparation time.
A workload review looks at whether or not enough hours of paid time have been given to you to complete the work assigned to you. If it is determined that there are not enough paid hours to do the work, the department can either decrease the work or increase the paid hours in your contract.
In all cases, “W” courses must have workload reviews done. For other courses any TA or TM can request a review at any point during the semester and it must be done. They must be automatically done in W courses, as well as when the criteria set out in the agreement are present (see page 24). At the end of week five, course supervisors are supposed to get a reminder to do a review from the department. A review consists of the Course Supervisor having a discussion with the TA or TM, reviewing their hours, and assessing if there is a workload situation that should be addressed. They are supposed to give you the results of your review and send a copy to the TSSU.
Wages
Our contract that expires on April 30, 2010, provided general wage increases of 0% in the first year, 1.8% in the second, and 2% every year thereafter for TA’s and TMs. Sessionals received 0% in 2004 and 2005, 3% in 2006 and 2007, and 2.5% in 2008 and 2009. From 2004 to today, the Consumer Price Index rose by 10.2%, while basic graduate tuition rose by 27%.
Below are the starting and finishing rates of pay for each category in the agreement:
Summer By-Election Result
Rachel Elfenbein has been elected to the position of TSSU Chair. This election had one of the highest voter-turn-outs a TSSU election has seen in years. Congratulations Rachel!