CUPE 3906

On March 21, 1960, police in Sharpeville, South Africa, opened fire and shot dead 69 people peacefully and courageously demonstrating against pass laws imposed by the government’s racist legal system known as apartheid. This massacre stands as a stark reminder of the deadly consequences of racial discrimination.

The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination honors the lives lost that day and calls on individuals, communities, organizations and governments to fight all forms of racial discrimination.

Understanding racial discrimination

Racial discrimination happens when someone is treated differently or unfairly because of factors like ethnic origin, the colour of their skin, or their language. Racial discrimination takes many forms, including racial profiling, jokes or favouritism.

Systemic racism is woven into the structures and institutions of our society and is less visible. But its impacts on Indigenous, Black and racialized people are all too real. These include precarious employment, inadequate housing and health care, violence, overrepresentation in the criminal justice system, and violations of migrant workers’ fundamental rights.

CUPE’s commitment to fighting racism

Racism persists in our communities, workplaces, and our union. CUPE is committed to fight all forms of racial discrimination. Our union stepped up our work on this commitment with CUPE’s Anti-Racism Strategy. The strategy’s 10 goals provide a comprehensive six-year road map for challenging and dismantling systemic racism.

To mark March 21, CUPE recognizes the contributions of Indigenous, Black and racialized members who have strengthened our movement with new ideas and perspectives and have helped break down barriers by promoting inclusion and equity.

Act

Fighting racism requires all of us to step up. Here’s how you can make a difference:

• Speak up. If you are facing or witnessing racism, discrimination or harassment, contact your steward to file a grievance or a complaint.
• Engage. Help put CUPE’s Anti-Racism Strategy into action in your local. Be inspired by its 10 goals to make changes in your workplace.
• Read our new fact sheets about building a more representative CUPE, and use the tips in your local.
• Educate yourself. Take part in Union Education workshops to learn more about anti-racism and how you can intervene when you witness discrimination.
• Send a message to the Liberal government demanding status, not scapegoating, for migrant workers

March 21 isn’t just a day of remembrance, it’s a call to action. Together, we can build a union and a society where racial justice is not just an ideal, but a reality for ourselves and future generations.

Join the Contract Action Team in MUSC 224 on Thursday, March 19th between 10AM and 2PM for free coffee, tea, and snacks!

Bring your union questions or just come to get a treat and say ‘hello’!

We hope to see you there!

We are pleased to share that our Tentative Agreement ratification vote has concluded with 94% of Unit 4 members voting in favour of ratification!

Please note that we are still waiting for McMaster to complete their own ratification process at the March 5th Board of Governors Meeting. Once ratified by McMaster, our Collective Agreement will then take effect.

We’ll have more information to share about the implementation process once the agreement is ratified by McMaster. 

Thank you to everyone who voted and who was involved in this historic first round of bargaining for Residence Life workers!

Attention all CUPE 3906 Members!

Our Annual General Membership Meeting (AGM) will occur on Monday, March 30th, 2026, at 2:00 P.M. via “Zoom”.

Agenda items for the AGM include:

• yearly executive officer and committee reports;
• yearly executive officer elections; and
• trustee election (position expires Fall 2028).

The registration link will be sent to members’ McMaster email address soon. Please check your “other”/”junk”/”notification”/”spam” inboxes for the invitation to register.

Please find the Local’s Bylaws at this link: https://cupe3906.org/about-us/by-laws/

For a description of the Executive Officer Positions, please see Article 5 (starting on page 14) of the Local’s Bylaws. For a description of Trustee Position, please see Article 3(a) of the Local’s Bylaws (starting on page 6).

Article 4 of the Local’s Bylaws (starting on page 8) outlines the guidelines for the nomination, campaign, and election processes.

The Nomination Form for Executive Officer Positions is available at this link: https://cupe3906.org/cupe-3906-executive-position-nomination-form/.  Please follow the instructions on the nomination form carefully. Nominations open on Monday, March 2nd, 2026, and close at the meeting. (If you intend to nominate yourself or someone else from the floor during the AGM, you are not required to submit a nomination form.)

If you have any questions, please contact president@cupe3906.org, brad@cupe3906.org, or mary@cupe3906.org.

The CUPE 3906 Executive Committee stands firmly opposed to the Ontario government’s decision to end the post-secondary tuition freeze and shift OSAP funding toward a majority-loan model.

The previous post-secondary tuition freeze was achieved through years of student organizing to make post-secondary education more accessible. Rolling it back, while simultaneously reducing funding supports for students, will only deepen inequality and push post-secondary education further out of reach for working-class and marginalized Ontarians.

As a union representing student workers and academics, we know that when we are forced to take on more debt and work longer hours to afford tuition, our entire campus community suffers.

We call on the Ford government to maintain the tuition freeze and restore OSAP funding primarily through grants.

We call on McMaster University to publicly oppose these changes and commit to protecting students from harmful tuition increases.

Our members and students deserve better.

We are excited to share that after a year and a half of bargaining, your Unit 4 bargaining team has secured an historic first tentative collective agreement with McMaster.

Your bargaining team will be recommending this tentative agreement for ratification at an online Special General Membership Meeting (SGMM) on Thursday, February 19th at 1:00 PM. During the meeting, Unit 4 members will have the opportunity to review the entire collective agreement and ask questions of the bargaining team.

Following the meeting on Thursday, a link will be sent to all Unit 4 members with a ballot to vote on ratifying the agreement. Voting will remain open following the meeting until Monday, February 23rd at 9:00 AM.

This tentative agreement would not have been possible without the immense support that members have shown since we first voted to unionize with CUPE, almost two years ago!

We hope to see you at the ratification meeting, where we’ll be able to share more details on the tentative agreement.

In solidarity,

Your Unit 4 Bargaining Team

(Caleb, Elissa, Simran, Anna, Muskaan, and Vanessa)

Our next General Membership Meeting (GMM) is scheduled for Tuesday, February 17th at 2 p.m.

The meeting will be held via Zoom and the link will be sent out shortly. You’ll need to register at least 24 hours in advance. The agenda will be posted in advance at www.cupe3906.org/gmm-materials