The University of Victoria is the largest university on Vancouver Island and one of the largest in the province. Graduate Research Assistants (GRAs) are an integral part of UVic and the work you and your colleagues do is a significant factor in UVIC’s positive reputation as a research university.
UVic is proud of this reputation and yet, the very people who conduct this research are undervalued, underpaid, and ignored. Despite the fact that the university knows it cannot generate its research or even its yearly output of undergraduate students without our labour.
UVic lags behind many other schools in this country who have already fully unionized their graduate students. As graduate students we already know we could be paid better wages, get better benefits, and afford better housing and accommodation if we were to go to a university in Ontario, but we still chose UVic – now it’s time for UVic to choose us, and to make graduate students a priority.
GRAs are facing real concerns at work, and currently the only resolution is addressing concerns with their boss, by themselves. There is no standardized formal process to resolve concerns, which has led to widespread inequity amongst student workers.
Different rates of pay for similar work, different working conditions, different expectations, different hours of work, different safety standards, and different hiring processes.
Forming a union creates a clear path to the bargaining table where workers can address their shared concerns together.
Joining CUPE 4163 means we can fight together for:
- Fairness: Transparency, clarity, and standards at work
- Equity: Enforceable protections for all
- Security: Job security and clear rules for access to work
- Safety: A healthy workplace free from harassment
- Respect: Recognition as essential academic workers
- Support: Proper training and supervision
- Dignity: Working together to even the power imbalance
- Democracy: A collective voice for all GRAs
Together, we can make the University of Victoria a better space for graduate students.
Are you ready to take action to improve your workplace?