Graduate students spent years fighting hard to form our own union for TA & RAs at UW.
Since certification, our union successfully protected more than $500,000 total in compensation being taken from hundreds of graduate students across Arts, Environment, Science, and Engineering.
Having unionized now, as graduate students, we should be informed about some of the critical negotiations that are part of our new democratic processes instituted to improve our conditions of work and our wages. These conversations are happening between our bargaining team and the university. Negotiated terms are formalized in a legally binding document: the Collective Agreement (CA).
After almost two years of active talks, our elected bargaining committee and CUPE representatives recently came to an agreement with the administration. They are proposing our first ever tentative Collective Agreement. So, we are hosting 2 info sessions on this:
- OFFICIAL Contract Meeting: ONLINE on Sat, Feb 21, 1:30-4:30pm (register here)
- GSA + CUPE Info Session: SLC 3126, Tuesday, Feb 24, at 10:30am
For this proposed CA to come into effect, a majority of union members need to vote YES to approve it. Voting will be open from Saturday, Feb 21, 2026 until 10am on Wednesday, Feb 25, 2026.
If you have been a TA or RA in the last two years (since January 2024), you are eligible to vote on whether we ratify this proposed CA.
These info sessions are a critical opportunity for you as a grad worker to learn about specific articles in the CA and how they will impact you and your coworkers. These sessions exist to be transparent to our membership about the negotiation process and contents of the CA.
We encourage you to go to this event, become informed about your workplace, and participate in your workplace democracy.
Reach out to us at CUPE5524@uwaterloo.ca if you have questions or concerns about this or anything else related to your work at UW.
