Our Pride Celebration and DIY Craft Workshop will be taking place on Tuesday from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM. The location has been finalized and will be provided following registration for the event: CUPE Pride Celebration & DIY Craft Workshop Registration – Fill out form
We know everyone has a very busy schedule at this time of the term, so please know that this is a drop-in friendly activity, and everyone is more than welcome to just pop in whenever they can to say hello or stay for a little while.
Due to ongoing issues with the EDL email system, the upcoming General Membership Meeting (GMM) and elections have been postponed to ensure all members receive adequate notice and have a meaningful opportunity to participate.
Please note that the GMM notice was posted on the website in accordance with the bylaws required notice period and was available to members well in advance. However, due to the email system issues, we were unable to reach members through email communication.
To support accessibility, transparency, and full member participation, the decision has been made to postpone the meeting and elections. Further details, including the new date and election information, will be shared once confirmed.
Drop in anytime between 12:00 PM and 4:00 PM. Enjoy food, snacks, etc. and take the opportunity to build connections within your CUPE community in an informal setting.
We look forward to welcoming you and spending time together.
Celebrate Pride with CUPE 3906. Join your Equity Action Committee on Tuesday, June 30th from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. to have some treats, meet new people, and make a DIY Tote or Canvass Bag. Location is TBA, but please email Yuly (equity@cupe3906.org) if you’re interested in attending and the location will be shared once it has been confirmed.
This meeting has been postponed: https://cupe3906.org/2026/06/26/important-update-gmm-elections-postponed/
Our next General Membership Meeting (GMM) will be held on Tuesday, June 30th at 1 p.m. via Zoom. A registration link will be sent to your McMaster email. Please register at least 24 hours before the meeting – we may not be able to accommodate registrations that are initiated with less than 24 hours before the start of the meeting.
At this meeting members will be electing a new Recording Secretary to join the Executive Committee. Please note you must attend the meeting (not simply register) in order to participate in the election.
Your Union’s Equity Action Committee (EAC) is holding a meeting on Friday, May 29th at 1 p.m. via Zoom. If you are interested in attending, please email our Equity Officer, Yuly, and you will be sent the link. Yuly can be reached at; equity@cupe3906.org
The Union’s Benefits Committee will be meeting tomorrow (May 21) to review all outstanding Professional Development Applications. The outcome of the adjudicated applications will be shared with applicants shortly after and cheques for approved applications will be mailed next week.
The next General Membership Meeting, or GMM, will take place on Tuesday, May 26th at 1 p.m. via Zoom. The agenda and link will be sent to your McMaster email shortly.
Dear Sessionals,
We wanted to send a quick message marking the end of the winter semester and the beginning of the spring/summer semester. We have been receiving a few questions over the break about pay dates, benefits access, and the post-contract work. You can find information about all of these things, and more, below.
Final Payment (Winter)/First Payment (Spring)
The final pay of the fall semester arrived in your account on Friday April 17th and covered the period from March 29th to April 7th. All work was paid for at this point, though we understand that some of you had final exams or grading to complete past that date (though some of you did not). Either way, that was the date that the contract was paid in full, even if there was some outstanding work to be done. For those of you teaching in the spring semester, the first pay of the semester will be May 15th (your first day of work will be May 4th). You can see the full pay schedule for 2025/26 here.
Large Class Supplement
We have heard that some sessionals have yet to be paid the Large Class Supplemental Fee. For those of you earning the base rate ($8,922.68 for 3.0 units) and teaching a class with more than 75 students, please note that your last pay stub should have reflected an additional supplementary payment of $3.00 per student per unit for each student above 75. For a typical 3-unit course, this would amount to $9.00 per student for each student above 75. If you are earning the base rate, have taught a class with more than 75 students, and you have yet to see the supplemental fee added, please reach out to us immediately. This fee applies differently to those of you earning over the base rate – please reach out with any questions. The amount was increased from $2.00 to $3.00 effective September 1, 2025 through collective bargaining and the support we received from members.
Post-Contract work
Any post-contract work (that is, work requested by your supervisor and done after your final grades have been submitted) is separate from your contract and payable at a rate of $78.78/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. If you are asked to perform this work and are collecting EI, please let us know.
Once your final marks were submitted (the main list of students – this does not need to include any deferred exams or extensions based on accommodations), your contract was over, and this triggered the beginning of the post-contract period.
Employment Insurance
The final pay of the winter semester was April 7th. This final pay triggered what Service Canada refers to as an ‘interruption of earnings’ and, for those of you who apply to Employment Insurance, 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 7th (though we understand that some of you had final exams or grading to complete past that date (though some of you did not). We would encourage all Sessionals who may utilize Employment Insurance at any point in 2026 to apply as soon as possible, even if you are employed during the winter term.
The first pay in the spring term, for those of you who are employed, will be on May 15th and the first day of work will be May 4th. This means you might be able to collect EI from April 8th to May 3rd, if you have enough insurable hours and are approved by Service Canada. For information on EI, click here.
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. Please direct all questions to Service Canada.
The employer has already uploaded your ROE automatically to Service Canada, so you can apply to EI if you plan to utilize EI in the winter.
Please note that all EI decisions rest with My Service Canada and they determine the rules, eligibility, and guidelines. The dates listed above are accurate to the best of our knowledge and you may or may not qualify for EI depending on individual circumstances, hours worked, eligibility guidelines, etc.
Professional Development
For those of you who are curious, applications made to the Professional Development Fund this past semester will be assessed later this month. Following that, cheques were mailed out to eligible members whose applications have been approved.
If you’ve missed the previous semester’s deadline, no worries, you can submit throughout the upcoming spring/summer semester.
Health Spending Account
A quick reminder that your Health Care Spending Account (HCSA) entitlement was recently increased to $800 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. Please note that if you worked in the fall, you will have HCSA entitlement and dental insurance entitlement until August 30, 2026.
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.
