SFU and TSSU resume negotiations for Research Assistants

On November 18th, SFU and the Teaching Support Staff Union (TSSU) resumed negotiations for Research Assistants (RAs) whose duties are considered employment under the provincial labour code.

The parties are still awaiting a decision from the BC Labour Relations Board (LRB) around whether graduate student research activity is considered academic activity or work classified under the Labour Relations Code. The LRB has deferred a decision until January 31, 2025.

Why are SFU and TSSU negotiating again?

Currently, there is a collective agreement in place between SFU and all TSSU members (excluding RAs) until April 30, 2025. RAs are considered a new group of employees and were not included in the last round of collective bargaining.

In order to represent RAs, TSSU applied for a variation to their trade union certification at the LRB. Once the LRB granted the variation on January 23, 2024, SFU and TSSU became obligated to negotiate the new employees (RAs) into the existing collective agreement.

The current negotiations are taking place under this variation of TSSU’s certification only and are not part of routine collective agreement bargaining for all TSSU members which occurs at expiry.

While some aspects of the existing TSSU collective agreement may apply to RAs without modification, the university and TSSU must negotiate the full terms and conditions of RA employment through the current variance collective agreement bargaining process.

Because RAs engage in different types of activities, terms of employment must be considered with these factors in mind. Living wage adjustments and general wage increases will be considered during the collective bargaining period in 2025.

Variance negotiations for RAs will continue until the parties reach an agreement. The next negotiations are scheduled for December 3-5, 2024. SFU and TSSU are also expected to begin routine collective bargaining for all TSSU members in 2025, when the current collective agreement expires.  

The university is committed to transparency and will provide regular updates on the Collective Bargaining Central Hub as they are available. 

SFU’s labour relations team negotiates in the spirit of dialogue, engagement, respect and reciprocity, focusing on mutual interest-based outcomes that uphold the sustainable and best interests of the university. Read more about the university’s bargaining philosophy, mandate and process.