CUPE 3906

The next CUPE Local 3906 General Membership Meeting (or GMM) will occur on Wednesday, August 20 at 10:00 AM and will be held via Zoom. The link will be sent to your McMaster email in the coming days.

The agenda will include the election of a Unit 3 (Postdoc) Lead Steward, which is open to all Unit 3 members, as well as elections for 6 spots for CUPE National Convention delegates. At the last GMM, the membership acclaimed 9 members to attend, but the Local has 6 delegate spots and 3 alternate delegate spots. The August GMM convention delegate election is therefor restricted to the 9 members who were acclaimed at the last meeting are eligible to run.

You can find the agenda (when finalized) here, as well as minutes from previous minutes that will be voted on for approval on August 20th: https://cupe3906.org/gmm-materials/

Dear Unit 2 Members (Sessional Faculty and Hourly Rated Sessional Music Faculty),

Based on gains secured to our benefits funds during our last round of collective bargaining, your Benefits Committee voted to expand your Health Care Spending Account (HCSA) entitlement. These gains could not have been secured without your support and mobilization during the bargaining process.

Members of CUPE 3906 Unit 2 (Sessional Faculty and Hourly Rated Sessional Music Faculty working at McMaster University) can now submit up to $800 in eligible expenses, and will receive a reimbursement of 100% of the cost (to a total maximum of $800 per academic year). (Previously, the maximum yearly entitlement by academic year was $500 total.)

If you have already submitted one (or several) expenses this academic year and have been reimbursed $500 (or less), you can re-submit expenses to have eligible, unpaid costs reimbursed up to the $800 maximum. (For example, if you submitted a claim for $600 worth of prescription eyewear on or after September 1, 2024, and received a $500 reimbursement, you can now re-submit the $600 to receive reimbursement for the outstanding $100.)

You can claim expenses incurred between September 1, 2024, and August 31, 2025, using the same form available on our website, here: https://cupe3906.org/wp-content/blogs.dir/501/cupe-u2-claim-form-july-2025.pdf

The Benefits Committee will review the feasibility of this entitlement for the 2025-2026 academic year, and we will notify members if the $800 entitlement changes.

For more information, including information on eligible expenses, how to submit a claim, etc., please visit https://cupe3906.org/sessionals-unit-2/unit-2-benefits/

Congratulations to our Unit 2 members for your gains in negotiations. Please stay tuned for further benefits updates for the 2025-2026 academic year!

Just a quick reminder, the next CUPE Local 3906 General Membership Meeting, or GMM, will be held on Thursday, July 3rd from 1 pm to 3 pm via Zoom. A registration link has been sent to all members’ McMaster emails. The agenda is still TBA, but will be posted online in advance of the meeting at www.cupe3906.org/gmm-materials

As always, we hope to see you there!

Calling all Indigenous artists!

CUPE 3906’s Indigenous Solidarity Working Group’s first-ever merch contest is now open! Submit your work and a short bio to the link below for your chance to have your art featured on ISWG’s merch. Winners will also receive a $500 honorarium and free merch with the featured work! The deadline to submit is August 1^st!

Interested artists can submit their work here: https://forms.gle/kFk4FTQq5Gt7DCHNA

Not eligible for this contest? You can still join our team! ISWG is accepting Indigenous and non-Indigenous members, so check out our attached flyer or our Instagram for more details on how to join.

For more information, check out ISWG’s Instagram: @iswg.cupe3906 or email us at: iswgcupe3906@gmail.com

We can’t wait to see your work!

CUPE is celebrating the coming into force of Canada’s long-awaited federal anti-scab legislation. The law bans employers from hiring scab labour during strikes and lockouts, and comes into effect after it was officially passed by the House of Commons a year ago.

“This is about giving power back to workers,” said CUPE National President Mark Hancock. “The power to fight for better treatment at work, and the power to fight for a better life. It has been a long road to this moment, but thanks to the unshakeable determination of the labour movement and our friends in the federal NDP, we made it.”

Anti-scab laws – already in effect in BC, Manitoba, and Quebec – help restore balance in labour relations, and will benefit over 30,000 CUPE members who work in federally-regulated workplaces in communications and transportation.

“This is a historic milestone for workers’ rights in Canada,” said CUPE National Secretary-Treasurer Candace Rennick. “We salute all of the tireless efforts of union activists and advocates over the years to make this moment a reality, and together, we’ll keep fighting until every province follows suit.”

CUPE Ontario’s Pink Triangle Committee is seeking an interested candidate to fill terms for representatives for one representative.

Normally members of the Committee are elected by a Pink Triangle caucus at the CUPE Ontario Human Rights Conference which is held every second year. This interim vacancy will cover the remainder of the current Committee’s term, which expires at the 2025 CUPE Ontario Human Rights Conference.

A vacancy can be appointed. Those who are interested can put their name forward to our President (president@cupe3906.org) by June 30, 2025.

Committee Description: CUPE Ontario’s Pink Triangle Committee works to create safer, fairer workplaces for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, two-spirited, intersex and queer- identified union members. Through political action and key events, we advocate for harassment-free workplaces and communities https://cupe.on.ca/committees/pink-triangle

Please encourage any such members to submit the attached nomination form. Please note that to be eligible for nomination, CUPE members must be a member in good standing of a CUPE Local affiliated with CUPE Ontario and must have the endorsement / nomination of their Local Union President. In addition to completing several hours of volunteer Committee work each month, successful applicants should be able to obtain leave of absence to attend two Committee meetings annually. CUPE Ontario covers costs related to membership on this committee.

As per CUPE Ontario policies, costs or expenses incurred are covered by CUPE Ontario for our Committee members, including time away from work, travel or mileage, accommodation if needed, parking, and per diem.

The next CUPE Local 3906 General Membership Meeting, or GMM, will be held on Thursday, July 3rd from 1 pm to 3 pm via Zoom. A registration link will be sent to all members’ McMaster emails in the coming days. The agenda is still TBA, but will be posted online in advance of the meeting at www.cupe3906.org/gmm-materials

As always, we hope to see you there!

What medicines are missing from our communities, our cultural lineages, and ourselves? How can medicinal substances (herbs and spices) stimulate our senses, becoming vessels for remembering, remaking, and reclaiming what has been lost, buried, or forgotten?

Vancouver-based artists Jen Sungshine (@jensungshine ) and David Ng (@davidngstagram ) of Love Intersections (@loveintersections ) invite participants into an embodied artmaking workshop that explores these questions on Thursday, June 12, 6:30-8:30pm at the Workers Arts and Heritage Centre, as part of their special one-week artist residency in Hamilton.

Curious about what is forgotten, lost or undone in yourself? Register for this program at the link in bio @workersartsandheritage to find a kind space to investigate and share found memories, sensations, and reflections.

Date: Thursday, June 12, 2025

Time: 6:30pm-8:30pm

Place: Workers Arts and Heritage Centre, 51 Stuart Street, Hamilton Ontario

Participation is free for youth and adults, pre-registration is required. Register here: https://p9zipavu.paperform.co

Centered on sensory engagement, the workshop integrates dried herbs/spices and collaging, allowing participants to connect to stories of ancestry, healing, and community resilience through a tactile experience.  This event is designed as an intentional break from cerebral, conversation-heavy spaces, shifting the focus toward embodied, sense-making reflection.

Love Intersections’ residency is supported by the incite Foundation for the Arts.

Under your collective agreement, you are entitled to paid vacation days. Subject to the approval of their employment supervisor, an employee may choose the time of their vacation leave. Requests will not be unreasonably denied. Vacation pay calculates as follows: for those with an appointment of less than one-year, you accumulate 1.25 days per month; for those with an appointment one-year or more but less than 3 years, you accumulate 1.67 days per month; and for those with an appointment of 3 years or more, you accumulate 2.08 days per month.

Benefits information

Your entitlement under the Health Care Spending Account (HCSA) is $450 per academic year. This account covers many items that are not covered or not fully covered by your SunLife health and dental plan. More information on the HCSA, including an expense form, can be found here: https://cupe3906.org/postdocs-unit-3/post-doc-health-spending-account/ 

The SunLife health and dental plan offers significant coverage for virtually all health and dental-related items, and covers many at 100% (up to a maximum of $500 per year). Many items not covered, not fully covered, or that have been exhausted under the SunLife plan can be claimed under our Health Care Spending Account. For more information about eligibility and coverage, please visit https://cupe3906.org/postdocs-unit-3/sunlife/

Your professional development allowance is up to a maximum of $1000 per academic year. More information on that, as well as the application form, can be found here: https://cupe3906.org/postdocs-unit-3/postdoctoral-fellow-professional-development-fund

Finally, you also have access to the Postdoctoral Support Fund, which now provides up to $750 per year to cover eligible expenses, including child care, moving/relocation costs, and other unexpected or one-time emergency costs. The application for that fund is available here: https://gs.mcmaster.ca/app/uploads/2020/01/postdoctoral_support_fund_2017.pdf (please note you only need to fill out ‘part B’ in your initial application). 

If you have dental coverage through CUPE, it will continue through until August 31st, 2025, even if your sessional position has come to an end and you do not have work in the spring/summer semester.

This same is true about your Health Care Spending Account (HCSA). You can make a claim until August 31st, 2025 so long as you have worked for at least one semester in the 2024-25 academic year.

For those of you earning the base rate and teaching a class with more than 75 students, please note that your last pay stub should have reflected an additional supplementary payment of $2.00 per student per unit for each student above 75. For a typical 3-unit course, this would amount to $6.00 per student for each student above 75. If you taught a class with more than 75 students and you have yet to see the supplemental fee added, please reach out to us immediately. If the payment is not processed soon, it could adversely impact EI entitlement, so please follow-up with your us or your department administrator this week and let us know if there are any issues. **please note that effective September 1st, the supplementary payment has increased $3.00 per student per unit for each student above 75 (or $9.00 per student for each student above 75)**

Post-Contract work
Any post-contract work (that is, work requested by your supervisor and completed after your final grades have been submitted) is separate from your contract and payable at a rate of $75.93/hour. This would include reviewing grades that are being challenged, marking exams that have been deferred, and dealing with cases of plagiarism. This is not an exhaustive list, and more information, including the appropriate form you’ll need to fill out and submit to get paid, is available here. **please note, we are awaiting an updated form with the new wage, but you can use the existing form in the meantime.** If you are asked to perform this work and are collecting EI, please let us know.

Once your marks have been submitted (the main list, this does not need to include any deferred exams or extensions based on accommodations), your contract is over, and this triggers the beginning of the post-contract period. If you have been asked to perform any work since submitting your grades – or if you are asked in the coming weeks – this applies to you!

Employment Insurance
The final pay was April 17^th. This final pay triggered what Service Canada refers to as an ‘interruption of earnings’ and should be the date you list on your EI application as the last pay date (not the date for which you were last paid). The ‘day for which you were last paid’ and your ‘last day worked’ should be listed as April 8^th.  We would encourage all Sessionals who may utilize Employment Insurance at any point in 2025 to apply as soon as possible. 

The first pay in the spring term, for those of you who are employed, will be on May 16th and the first day of work was May 5th. This means you might be able to collect EI from April 9^th until May 4th, if you have enough insurable hours. For information on EI, click here. If you have not served a withholding period, you will need to serve a one week over period before you collect EI.

In certain instances, it is possible to both work and collect EI (with some clawbacks) if the amount of work have in the winter has dropped substantially from the work you had during the fall term. More information is available here.

Please note that all EI decisions are made by Service Canada, so it is always best to confirm with them if in doubt.   

Professional Development

For those of you who are curious, applications made to the Professional Development Fund this semester will be adjudicated in the comings weeks and we will provide you with an update on your outcome as soon as we can. Cheques will be cut as soon as possible and should arrive shortly.

If you’ve missed the previous winter semester’s deadline, no worries. You can submit a professional development claim at any point over the coming spring semester.

Health Spending Account

Finally, a quick reminder that your maximum Health Care Spending Account entitlement is at $500 per academic year. The fund covers the cost of various health care related expenses (as approved by Revenue Canada) and provides a tax-free reimbursement to you. More information is available here: https://cupe3906.org/sessionals-unit-2/unit-2-benefits/

There is no cost or fee to you. The fund is secured through collective bargaining and made available to members to use as needed.

First Consideration Appointments

One major question we get related to seniority relates to job security. Sessionals have job security in the form of First Consideration Appointments. These function in the same way as a right of first refusal. First Consideration Appointments are a form of job security that occurs when you are appointed to a course without having to apply to it through a competitive application process.

You become eligible for a Standard First Consideration Appointment when you have taught the course for two consecutive appointments after applying to teach it in two open competitions. With First Consideration, you are entitled to be appointed to that course, without it being posted or you needing to apply for it, the next three times that it is offered to Sessional Faculty.

Members who have completed a Standard First Consideration Appointment are then eligible for an Enhanced First Consideration Appointment. When the course is posted again and you are hired in an open competition, you are then entitled to be appointed to that course, without needing to apply for it, the next four times that the course is offered to Sessionals.

Once you have secured a Standard or Enhanced First Consideration, the department can extend your appointment and continue to appoint you directly.