It is the end of the semester, and many due to McMaster’s insistence on a precarious employment relationship, may sessionals will find themselves out of work. This means that you may find yourself without income – or with a major deduction in your income. We encourage you to apply for Employment Insurance, or EI.

You should be/should have been able to collect EI beginning on April 17th if you have enough insurable hours. For information on EI, click here. If you did not apply for EI immediately, it is not too late to apply. More information can be found at the link above.

If you have already served a withholding period in the past 52 weeks, you should have been able to collect EI as of April 17th. If you have not served a withholding period, you will need to serve one now (April 17 to April 23rd) and you should be able to collect as of April 24th.

If you are not working this spring semester, we would encourage you to apply to EI. Service Canada will determine your eligibility. 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.

If you are teaching in the spring semester, you should be reporting to Service Canada that you are back working as of May 2, 2022. If McMaster is your sole employer, you should report your first day worked/first day for which paid as May 2, 2022. This means that you can collect EI from either April 17th to May 1, or April 24 to May 1.

The employer has already uploaded your ROE automatically to Service Canada for the past semester.

The final pay date for the winter semester was April 22, which covers the period from April 3^rd to April 16^th. April 16^th is the date that you can report to EI as your last day of work/last day for which paid if you are applying to EI over the spring. The full pay schedule can be found here: https://cupe3906.org/wp-content/blogs.dir/501/2021/09/Pay-Dates-for-CUPE-TA-and-Sessional-Faculty_2021_22.pdf

If you have any additional questions, please contact brad@cupe3906.org or Carolyn (chiefsteward_sessionals@cupe39306.org)

The Postdoctoral Support Fund is a fund secured by your Union in collective bargaining. The fund provides postdoctoral fellows with access to up to $500 to cover expenses for various circumstances. Previously the fund provided support for one-time, unanticipated emergencies. In the current COVID crisis, you and your family may find yourself in such a situation. We are happy to announce that under the terms of the new collective agreement, the fund can also provide support for childcare subsidy and extended UHIP for employee and/or dependents.

Unit 3 members are eligible to apply to the Postdoctoral Fellow Support Fund to address areas of financial need. The fund is currently limited to a maximum of $500 a person, and is administered through the School of Graduate Studies. In our most recent round of bargaining, CUPE 3906 secured a representative on the adjudication committee to advocate for our members who apply.

The fund has historically been a total sum of $20,000 per year; however, effective September 1, 2020, the fund increased to $40,000 per year. This was another change we secured through our collective bargaining efforts.

More specific details about the eligibility, process and requirements to apply for this fund is laid out in the documents found at the link below.

For more information about the fund application process and for a link to the application form, please visit: https://gs.mcmaster.ca/app/uploads/2020/01/postdoctoral_support_fund_2017.pdf

We would like to remind you that Free First Aid Training is a benefit guaranteed under your Collective Agreement and available to all CUPE 3906 members.  This is a Standard Red Cross certificate course offered on a number of dates this spring through Athletics and Recreation (dates listed below). Further information: available here. You will need to attend both days in order to receive the certificate.

Red Cross Standard First Aid

Wed/Thurs  May 4/5

Thurs/Fri May 12/13

Tues/Wed May 17/18

Thurs/Fri May 19/20

Thurs/Fri May 26/27

Sat/Sun May 28/29

Wed/Thurs June 1/2

Tues/Wed  June 7/8

Thurs/Fri June 9/10

Tues/Wed June 14/15

Sat/Sun June 18/19

Standard First Aid Recertification

Wed May 11

Wed May 25

Thurs June 16

The sessions are being held on campus. If you have questions about the specifics of the material being offered, please contact Athletics and Recreation at ext. 24464. They are the ones who are offering and teaching the class. Online registration is not an option. If you are a TA/RA in lieu and working in a different department/program other than the one that you are registered in as a student, registration should be done through the department in which you are employed. Normally, the Administrator from the department that employs you will need to register you as they must provide the departmental code so the cost can be billed accordingly. This charge cannot be passed on to you. There are occasionally issues here so please let us know if there are issues with your registration.

Several of our members have started a book club on relevant issues to our union, including labour and organizing. Taking a cue from the Organizing4Power training series, we will kickstart the club with Jane McAlevey’s book No Shortcuts: Organizing for Power in the New Gilded Age. Our first meeting will happen via Zoom, where we will discuss the organizing of future meetings (presentially, hybrid, Zoom etc.). If you are interested please get in touch with us: bookclub3906@proton.me

On May 1, 2022, join the province-wide day of action for a better Ontario. May 1 (or May Day) is the traditional workers’ holiday, a day that working people celebrate the gains they have won over the years and commit to fighting for a better future for everyone.

In Hamilton on May 1, we’re hosting a feeder rally and march in Gore Park (12:00 PM), followed by a May Day rally in Gage Park (1:00 PM).

It’s time for a $20 minimum wage, decent work, affordable housing, paid sick days, well-funded public services, livable income support for all, climate justice, status for all, and an end to racism and oppression. Join us!

More information: Justice for Workers and Ontario Federation of Labour

The Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (HRTO) needs to maintain the right of unionized employees to access the tribunal. Following a Supreme Court of Canada decision which determined that issues concerning unionized employees could be solely addressed through the grievance procedure, the HRTO is now considering whether it should continue to take applications by unionized workers.

https://cupe.ca/cupe-ontario-calls-human-rights-tribunal-ontario-maintain-unionized-employees-access?utm_medium=email&utm_source=CUPEToday

The union is looking for two (2) dedicated members to book-off for member education, engagement, organizing, and campaign work in support of upcoming rounds of Unit 1 and 3 bargaining. You must be a member in good standing of CUPE 3906 from any of our three bargaining units. These positions are for roughly 10 hours per week and are compensated at the ‘Class A’ TA rate contained in the Unit 1 Collective Agreement.

Complete information about these book-off positions can be found below:

Member-Mobilizer-Book-Off-2022

Interested members should apply by the end of day May 4th, 2022 by sending a CV, cover letter, and two references to CUPE 3906 President, Chris Fairweather, at president@cupe3906.org.

Congratulations to our newly elected executive committee. These members were (re)elected today at our Annual General Membership Meeting for a term of roughly 12 months until our next AGM in April 2023. Some amazing new faces join an already solid executive team

President: Chris Fairweather

Vice President: Shalen Prado**

Vice President External: Leah McGrath-Reynolds

Treasurer: Eric Macpherson

Recording Secretary: Sarah Szymanksi

Chief Steward Unit 1: Will Foley

Chief Steward Unit 2: Carolyn Capretta

Chief Steward Unit 3: Kezhuan Gu

Benefits and Advocacy Officer: Kyle Morrison

Equity Officer: Conroy Christie

Health and Safety Officer: Anastasia Soukhov**

International Officer: Sarah Elshahat

Undergraduate Officer: VACANT

Political Action Committee (Co-Chairs): Morgan Jacques

** newly elected