Since meeting with the employer and a conciliation officer from the Ontario Labour Relations Board on January 19th in hopes of reaching a deal, your bargaining team has been trying to schedule another meeting and work together to reach an agreement. Instead, the employer has backed out of another meeting on February 4th and is attempting to delay until March.
The union has been open to bargaining throughout the process but the employer has continued to delay, leaving you without a raise since the last collective agreement, which expired in August 2024. Now, the employer is also attempting to put the cost of delays on you by refusing to even consider granting retroactive pay to Sessional Faculty, insisting that the next contract should not come into effect until May.
After Sessional Faculty voted 83% in favour of authorizing a strike in December in case talks break down at the bargaining table, the union has been making preparations for a strike. However, McMaster is able to avert this by coming back to the table where we have been waiting for them, ready to bargain with or without a conciliation officer.
It is clear that Sessional Faculty must send a strong message to the employer in order to force them to come back to the table and bring with them a fair offer that increases wages and job security. The best show of strength available to us is to demonstrate that Sessional Faculty are strike-ready by committing to stopping work if a strike is called and signing up for times you are available to picket on this form:
https://forms.gle/MGVFn2QDTNhWwaRDA
All members are encouraged to attend Strike Committee meetings, where questions or concerns about the implications of a strike can be addressed and plans for preparation and strategy are made. The next Strike Committee meeting is at 6:30pm on Monday, January February 10th on Zoom:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89415978803
If you have any questions, please email president@cupe3906.org and keep an eye on bettermac.ca for updates.
Sincerely,
Your Unit 2 Bargaining Team