Research Report: Doing More With Less: A Study of USW1998 Members’ Working Conditions

Research Report: Doing More With Less: A Study of USW1998 Members’ Working Conditions

In the leadup to the 2023 bargaining round, members identified workload concerns as their top non-monetary priority. Our members were concerned with their growing list of duties and the seemingly shrinking time to complete them, leading to an increasingly stressful work experience. Recognizing the magnitude of the problem, the Local 1998 executive made recommendations to fund a study that could identify the root causes of these growing workloads and the psychosocial hazards members encounter. To tackle this issue the Executive hired Dr. Adam Zendel, a labour scholar who has previously studied workloads and psychosocial hazards at six Ontario Universities.

Over the past year, many of you contributed to this project documenting the working conditions of USW1998 members. The data demonstrates what many already know: the university’s global prestige is subsidized by the intensified, often uncompensated labor of its support staff. This presentation will share key findings, covering critical issues such as extreme workloads and unpaid labor, severe deficits in the University’s leadership and trustworthiness, systemic role creep, how psychosocial hazards disproportionately harm equity deserving groups, the vital importance of flexible work arrangements, and more.

Here is what the data tells us broadly:

• Extreme Workloads & Unpaid Labor: Compared to global benchmarks, USW1998 members face higher demands, faster work paces, and greater job insecurity. To cope, staff routinely skip breaks and work off-the-clock. This routine wage theft averages 80 unpaid hours per employee every single week just to keep up.
• Deficits in Leadership & Trust: There are serious deficits in vertical trust. Staff receive significantly less guidance, support, and communication from senior administration than global averages. Top-down policies like mandatory Return-to-Office (RTO) further damage trust, signaling management prioritizes visibility over performance and well-being.
• Role Creep Drives Burnout: Widespread hiring freezes force staff to absorb additional work and responsibilities.
• The Burden is Unequal: The “do more with less” model exploits structural inequality, extracting a severe “tax” from marginalized groups:
  • Disability: Staff with disability pay a heavy tax across every measured dimension. Gender: Men receive a leadership “trust bonus,” while women, non-binary, and disabled staff are structurally undervalued.
  • Race: BIPOC members experience heightened job precarity and exhaustion.
  • Veteran Staff: Employees with 10+ years of experience are exploited as uncompensated “fixers” to hold broken systems together.
  • Geographic Inequity: UTM staff report heightened job insecurity, while UTSC staff carry a burnout penalty.
• Flexibility is the Primary Buffer: Control over working time, largely due to Alternate Work Arrangements (AWAs), was one of the few areas where USW1998 members outpace global benchmarks. The RTO mandate deliberately removes this highly effective buffer against psychosocial hazards. Reducing hybrid work options will rapidly expand an already serious equity crisis for staff with disabilities, caregivers, and equity-deserving groups.

On June 24, 2026, USW Local 1998 delivered a package to the President’s Office including a letter to President Woodin, the Local’s open letter on protecting hybrid work, and a copy of a recent research report on USW Local 1998 members’ workloads entitled Doing More With Less.  Our delegation met with high-level University administrators to deliver the membership’s message. Simultaneously, USW Local 1998 representatives and rank-and-file members at UTM and UTSC delivered the same package of documents to the Principals’ Offices at each campus.