The following statement was sent to the Movement Legal Defense Committee (NOTE: the number of reported arrests increased to 900 after the drafting of this statement): I am writing on behalf of CUPE 3906, representing over 3000 academic workers at McMaster University, to condemn the arrest, detention and abuse of nearly 500 G20 protesters. Reports from the Movement Defense Committee?s … Read More
Website Calendar Temporarily Out-of-Service
Some people may have noticed that the website was down for a short period yesterday. We were undergoing some routine software upgrades that have temporarily rendered the Events Calendar incompatible. A fix is expected to arise in the next few days, and the calendar will be restored at that time. Sorry for any inconvenience! Alex
June 21: National Aboriginal Day
By Jennifer Adese On June 13, 1996, the then Governor General of Canada declared June 21 to be National Aboriginal Day (also sometimes referred to as National Aboriginal Solidarity Day), a day for First Nations, Metis, and Inuit peoples to share their various cultural expressions with the rest of Canada. Celebrated annually around the time of the summer solstice, National … Read More
Surveying the field
A couple of months ago I told you about an upcoming survey of Contract Faculty. This is an important project since Stats Canada, for instance, stopped collecting data on these workers in the mid-1990s. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that data collection stopped just as universities, especially in Ontario, decided on faculty non-renewal policies and turned to contract workers … Read More
Stop the Special Diet Cut! – Rally
On June 17th, we will rally in Hamilton against the Liberal Government’s decision as part of their 2010 budget to CUT the Special Diet Allowance. The Special Diet Allowance is money that people on Welfare (OW) and Disability (ODSP) rely on in order to access healthy food and pay the rent. For hundreds of thousands in Ontario, the Special Diet … Read More
CUPE Ontario Recognizes 3906!
CUPE Ontario held its annual Convention in Windsor from May 26-29. On the convention floor Local 3906 received a plaque “Celebrating the strength of your members in your struggle for equality, respect and fairness in the workplace.” The award recognized the strength and solidarity of the membership stemming from the Unit 1 strike in November. The award was accepted on … Read More
May 3-9, 2010: Mental Awareness Week
Written by Srishti Hukku Rita Mae Brown, an influential American writer, has been quoted as saying “The statistics on sanity are that one out of every four Americans is suffering from some form of mental illness. Think of your three best friends. If they’re okay, then it’s you.” However, all jokes aside, the stigma associated with mental illness and the … Read More