As universities and colleges deal with inadequate public funding and increasingly embrace corporate management models, more and more workers in the post-secondary sector are ending up in precarious jobs. Precarious forms of employment include contract, temporary, casual, and part-time positions, with low wages and limited access to pension and benefits.
As precarious work is growing in the post-secondary sector, locals need to find ways to defend good jobs, protect job security, and ensure that all workers have access to equal rights and protections on the job. By developing a bargaining strategy aimed at making progressive gains in each round of bargaining, locals can protect workers and turn precarious jobs into decent jobs.
This guide offers an overview of the issues related to precarious work along with sample collective agreement language for local bargaining committees, bargaining councils, and staff representatives.
