London – Postdoctoral Fellows (PDFs) at Western University have voted to join the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) to improve their working conditions.
Western had challenged the employment status of all PDFs, stating that they were in fact not employees of the university. This challenge delayed the opening of the ballot box, which held the ballots of these workers on whether they wished to unionize.
After an 8-month delay, on August 24th, 2016, the ballot box for Western PDFs was finally opened, and PDFs have voted overwhelmingly in favour of unionizing with PSAC.
The Ontario Labour Relations Board will now issue a certificate to commence the process for bargaining for a first collective agreement.
“This ongoing struggle to protect the democratic rights of these workers to join a union has finally come to an end”, states Sharon DeSousa, PSAC Ontario Regional Executive Vice-President. “Now postdoctoral fellows can begin the process of bargaining for a better work environment with their employer”.
PDFs at Western now join PDFs at UOIT and at Queen’s University in being represented by PSAC Ontario.
For more information or to book interviews, please contact:
Lino Vieira, Political Communications Officer, vieiral@psac-afpc.com or 416-577-0238