PSAC members at the University of New Brunswick applied for a provincially-appointed conciliator

FOR IMMEDIATE DISTRIBUTION                                                                        April 7, 2015

PSAC members at the University of New Brunswick applied for a provincially-appointed conciliator

FREDERICTON, NB - Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) members from the Union of Graduate Student Workers (UGSW), Local 60550, at the University of New Brunswick (Fredericton and Saint John) applied on Friday, March 20, 2015, to the Minister of Post-Secondary Education, Training, and Labour for a provincially-appointed conciliator.  The union received confirmation today that a conciliator will be appointed shortly.

The current UGSW collective agreement expired on April 30, 2013 and they have been meeting with the employer since December 2013. Bargaining issues include: health and safety in the workplace, whistleblowing, and improved language for articles concerning intellectual property, discrimination and harassment. Bargaining has also contended with wage and monetary matters for UGSW members that would be appropriate for them given UNB's recent ranking as 4th among Canadian Comprehensive Universities as per the 2015 Maclean's university rankings.

This group represents approximately 400 workers employed as graduate student teaching assistants and or graduate student research assistants at the University of New Brunswick in both Fredericton and Saint John. 

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Contacts:

Sébastien Bezeau, Regional Political Communications Officer, PSAC, (cell) 902.266.8589