Thousands have already signed. Join students, parents, faculty, staff, and alumni in calling for urgent action to protect graduate workers and undergraduate education [links to sign the letters at bottom of the page].

Across Queen’s University, a broad and growing community of faculty, undergraduate students, parents, alumni, and staff continues to express its unwavering solidarity with PSAC and demand that senior administration immediately resume negotiations so that a fair, respectful agreement can be reached for graduate student workers. These collective voices have communicated their disillusionment with the administration’s approach to bargaining, calling attention to the serious consequences of its inaction for students, workers, and the broader academic community.

Undergraduate students and their parents have expressed deep concern over the degradation of their education: canceled labs and tutorials, ungraded assignments, unfair reweighting of final exams, and the mental health toll of uncertainty and disrupted relationships with trusted instructors who are unable to fully support their students amidst these challenges. One parent emphasizes the personal stakes, stating:

“The recognition of [my daughter’s] efforts must be reflected in marked assignments and her overall GPA.”

Students are calling for clear grading outcomes, such as Grade Deferred (GD) instead of Credit Received (CR), compensation for lost instruction time, and recognition of their hard work in a system that is failing to uphold its own academic and equity standards. The damage to students’ futures is clear, with another parent pointing out, “We pay a lot of money for our kids to go to school and then for them to not get graded properly for assignments and exams is ridiculous. This is going to affect their future and other schooling if they choose to go on. It’s not fair.” Students reject the administration’s silence and demand accountability for the harm being done to their learning, their well-being, and their futures, calling out the lack of care and the destructive impact of administrative choices on their education.

The alumni who have signed this pledge are standing in solidarity with Queen’s undergraduate students and PSAC 901 workers by committing to withhold financial donations to the university until key concerns are addressed. By signing, they are expressing deep concern about the impact of the ongoing strike on students’ education and the university’s failure to negotiate a fair resolution. Alumni are demanding that senior administration return to the bargaining table with a fair and respectful offer to graduate student workers, ensure that all student assessments are graded fairly and in a timely manner, avoid the imposition of “CR” grades that could negatively affect students’ academic and professional opportunities, and provide partial tuition refunds for lost instructional time and missed tutorials. In doing so, alumni are reaffirming their commitment to the values of academic excellence, integrity, and fairness that once defined their experience at Queen’s.

In signing the open letter pledge and pausing grading in solidarity, faculty members affirm their support for PSAC 901’s demands and express outrage over a university administration that has lost their trust. They point to the indispensable role that graduate student workers play in research and undergraduate education and condemn the administration’s strategy of delay and bad-faith negotiation. Faculty emphasize that undermining the conditions of graduate student workers endangers the university’s academic mission and future, and they stand firm in their refusal to be complicit.

Staff at Queen’s echo this solidarity, noting the growing burden placed on them as they attempt to fill the gaps caused by the strike—but business cannot continue as usual. They highlight the disproportionate impact on marginalized student populations, including disabled, international, and low-income students, and share their own decision to work to the letter of their contracts in response to the administration’s unwillingness to treat graduate workers with fairness and dignity. As one staff member put it: “Graduate workers are vital to the operation of the University and deserve working conditions and wages that are dignified and respect their additional role as students and junior scholars.” Another wrote, “The TA/RA model is the last vestige of the apprenticeship system in academia… It is unacceptable that our graduate students—who play a vital role in both teaching and research—are forced into poverty and precarious work just to survive.” Staff are calling out the hypocrisy of senior administrators receiving raises while graduate workers struggle to make ends meet. “If you have money for upper management raises,” one comment reads, “you have money to pay the people who actually make the whole thing work.” This is a moment for leadership to choose empathy over austerity and values over optics. As one staff member pleads:

“Students should not have to pay the costs of the ‘budget crisis’. I ask the new Provost to not degrade the reputation of the University and be empathetic to the people who bring value to the place. You still have a choice.”

Across all letters, signatories condemn the administration’s failure to uphold its commitments—to students, to employees, and to the broader community. They point to the hypocrisy of promoting quality education while refusing to meet the basic needs of the very people who make those goals achievable. The letters collectively warn that this crisis not only undermines the university’s credibility but threatens to cause lasting reputational damage and erodes the trust that is essential to any academic institution.

Together, these open letters represent a powerful show of cross-campus solidarity and a shared demand for meaningful change. Students, faculty, staff, alumni, and parents alike are calling on Queen’s University to return to the bargaining table, respect the work and dignity of PSAC 901 members, and resolve this strike in a way that reflects the values the institution claims to uphold.

Students, faculty, staff, alumni, and parents: We are standing together in solidarity with PSAC 901 workers at Queen’s. If you have not yet signed, please add your voice to one or more of these important campaigns: 

  • Undergrad Students & Parents: Support academic integrity and demand transparency.
  • Alumni: Sign the pledge & withhold financial donations.
  • Faculty: Pause grading & sign the pledge in solidarity. 
  • Staff: Call for fair bargaining & stand with your colleagues.

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