Behind residence hall doors, dons are feeling burned out.
Residence dons have raised complaints about an increase in their workload since they first unionized in March 2023 and finalized their collective agreement in April 2024. Their union, United Steel Workers Local 2010, claims that Residence Life didn’t declare there would be any additions to don workload while at the bargaining table ahead of the 2024-25 school year.
While Sophie*, a don interviewed by The Journal, only took on the role post-unionization, she claims returning dons “were surprised by the increase in workload.”
READ MORE: Residence Dons to vote for first collective agreement with Queen’s
One change she pointed to was the introduction of Intentional Conversations—one-on-one check-ins are required to schedule with each member of their floor, which Sophie claims can include anywhere from 20 to 45 students. These check-ins, which were mandated in September, October, and December, took Sophie seven hours during the first week of the school year.
She also claimed the number of socials dons are required to host and participate in has increased since unionization. Dons must attend and organize four socials per month, except in October, totalling at least four hours monthly. Additionally, they’re responsible for creating posters, logging each social beforehand, and completing a post-event log.
In a statement made to The Journal, the University said, “There has been no increase in the total hours of work expected of Residence Dons” since unionization. While they admit weekly responsibilities for a don may vary, they claim the role continues to average 25-30 hours of work per week, with The Collective Agreement outlining a clear process through which Residence Dons can raise concerns about their workload.
The University also said that they “remain committed to ensuring their workload is manageable, meaningful, and aligned with our shared goal of student success.” But Sophie doesn’t always feel this is reflected in the workload expected from dons.
“We’re also students studying full time, and it’s hard to be successful academically if we’re committing so much time to also working in residence,” she said. “They have really high expectations of us, which is good; it’s a competitive job to get into. But at the same time, we’re going to burn out. We don’t have an infinite amount of resources and energy.”
In an interview with The Journal, USW 2010 President Kelly Orser claimed the union only received two complaints last year regarding an increase in workload.
“We may have received one, maybe two emails from dons,” she said. “But nothing indicated that there was an issue. If the union hears about it from multiple [dons], then we would know that there must be something going on, and we could put in a grievance.”
Sophie explained, however, she feels there’s a fear culture that makes many dons hesitant to voice complaints. She said many dons believe that if they cause any trouble, they will simply be replaced.
Orser claims that the union had received and addressed unrelated grievances from dons over the past year but only realized there may also be grievances relating to workload at an orientation session this August.
“We’re definitely aware and working towards finding out what the concerns are for dons as it relates to the workload,” she said. “Because in that orientation, there seemed to be a lot of nodding heads, a lot of consensuses. We didn’t do a vote, we didn’t have people raise their hands, but I could tell from the front of the room that something is up with work.”
As the union prepares to head back to the bargaining table next year, they’re hoping to hear more feedback from dons. “Reach out to your union, that’s why you pay dues, that’s why we’re here,” Orser said.
*Name changed due to safety concerns
Tags
dons, Unionization, USW Local 2010
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