CUPE 3906

We wanted to share this information about leaves of absence as it may be important during the return to campus. We have access to a variety of leaves you can use, they can be found in full under Article 19. The collective agreement is attached below, here are the important points:

 19.01 (a) With the approval of the employment supervisor(s) concerned, an employee may arrange to exchange their duties, or for their substitution, with or by a qualified person, for periods not to exceed 10 days at a time and not to exceed 3 weeks per term. If the employee cannot find a suitable replacement, the employment supervisor, upon request, will assist in finding a suitable replacement. Examples of such an arrangement would be for the employee to attend an Academic Conference, a Union Convention, or to attend to an ill family member. Approval of the employment supervisor shall not be unreasonably withheld. (b) It is agreed that an employee may utilize 10 such substitution days for personal leave.

You are also entitled to sick leave yourself as a TA. Article 19.03 reads:

An employee will be credited with sick leave equivalent to 10 working hours per term in the academic year subject to the employee having a teaching assistantship (or a research assistantship in lieu thereof). 

Finally, you are entitled to paid family medical leave under Article 19.04, which reads:

(a) An employee may take a leave of absence, without pay, to provide care or support to a seriously ill family member. Such leave shall be taken in accordance with the provisions of the Employment Standards Act, 2000, and arranged with their Supervisor.
(b) Supplementary Compassionate Care Benefits
An employee will be entitled to Supplementary Compassionate Care Benefits for up to 8 weeks. For each week of leave up to the 8th week, inclusive, the University will pay 95% of regular salary, less the maximum amount of weekly pay any individual is eligible to receive in accordance with the EIA (the “EI Max”), regardless of whether or not such amount is actually received by the Employee. If the Employee provides proof that their EIA entitlement is less than the EI Max, their weekly payment from the University will be 95% of regular salary less the amount of their EIA entitlement.

Please note that under the ESA, family medical leave may be taken to provide care or support to certain family members and people who consider the employee to be like a family member in respect of whom a qualified health practitioner has issued a certificate indicating that they have a serious medical condition with a significant risk of death occurring within a period of 26 weeks.

While we certainly hope that none of these are needed, please be aware of them and know that we are here to support and advocate for you should there be an issue arising from needing to access any of the leaves.

Don’t miss out! The exhibition ends on February 26

It is with great pride that we invite you to WAHC’s newest exhibition: Mobilize! CUPE 3906 Sessional Labour in the Time of COVID-19. How can labour organize in a pandemic? This is the question that Sylvia Nickerson, previously Chief Steward for Unit 2 and Member Mobilizer for our Local, set out to answer with artist and member Simon Orpana. Sylvia and Simon collaborated to create the brilliant cartoons that are now being shared from our Local to the world. The exhibition will remain open for the public till February 26, be sure to check it out and share it with your friends!

February 2 – February 26

It is with great pride that we invite you to WAHC’s newest exhibition: Mobilize! CUPE 3906 Sessional Labour in the Time of COVID-19. How can labour organize in a pandemic? This is the question that Sylvia Nickerson, previously Chief Steward for Unit 2 and Member Mobilizer for our Local set out to answer with artist and member Simon Orpana. Sylvia and Simon collaborated to create the brilliant cartoons that are now being shared from our Local to the world. The exhibition will remain open for the public till February 26, be sure to check it out and share it with your friends!

On related news, our Local struck a second home run with WAHC on January 27, when Dr. Rob Jones, our former Bargaining Support Committee Chair, gave a fascinating presentation on the history of the early 20th-century labour movement in the United States, highlighting how Christian leaders responded to both the rise of industrial Capitalism and labour militancy. He was accompanied by Rev. Francisco Garcia, whose talk focused on his experiences growing up as a priest and labour organizer in Southern California. You can watch their presentations on WAHC’s facebook page: https://fb.watch/aVp2T3vqf0/ .

For TA’s who are new this term, you should have received an email about five hours of additional paid training our union secured in 2019, that covers anti-oppression training among other things. Some new members have shared they were not informed by Mac about this (despite it being their duty) so I wanted to share the information about it.

Our union pushed hard for this in 2019 and won it through the hard work of the bargaining team and our members mobilizing. The training will improve your skills as a TA and give you additional pay. It is broken down into Anti-Oppression (2 hours), TA Rights & Responsibilities (1 hour), and a selection of elective workshops (2 hours). This training is mandatory, so make sure you enrol!

Registration

You can register for the training through Mosaic. Once registered, you will be able to access the training workshops in Avenue to Learn. The How to Register for the Training document, found below, will provide step-by-step instruction, including screenshots, to help TAs with registering for the training.

https://hr.mcmaster.ca/app/uploads/2021/08/TA-Training-Communication_How-to-Register.pdf

More Information and FAQs

More information can be found here: https://hr.mcmaster.ca/employees/health_safety_well-being/our-safety/health-and-safety-training/ta-training/ 

We are inviting any members in good standing to come to CUPE Ontario’s Spring School. Our Local has voted to cover the costs of sending up to 10 members to the Spring School. This is a great opportunity to learn more about the labour movement and brush up on your skills so that you can better contribute to it. Click here to read the Final Call announcement and see the workshops available. Please note: you can register for one workshop only as they run simultaneously.

Although the Spring School begins on March 5, the registration deadline is Friday, February 25th. If you’re interested in going, please send an email as soon as possible to president@cupe3906.org indicating the course on offer you’d like to take so that we can sign you up on time. First come, first served!

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’re 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 dependants.

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. Effective September 1, 2020, the fund increases to $40,000 per year. This was another change we secured in our most recent round of collective bargaining.

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 are pleased to inform you that during the last benefits meeting the decision was made to increase the amount members can claim from the PDF to $600 dollars per academic year. If you have already claimed $400 this year you will be able to submit an additional claim to claim the full $600. If you have any questions please contact benefits@cupe3906.org .

Our next General Membership Meeting (GMM) will be held on February 22nd, Tuesday, from 12 PM to 2 PM. Any members wishing to present pre-written motions should provide theirs via email to staff@cupe3906.org and vicepresident@cupe3906.org till the end of February 21st.

As always, pre-registration will be required to attend this meeting. Please remember: You must register with your McMaster email address no later than 10 AM on the day of the GMM. Using your Mac address is needed for us to confirm your union membership prior to the meeting.

Register in advance for our GMM here:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIldO2prTojHt2vJVpi83_-2ushFMQx_U6T 

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

By-elections on this GMM agenda

Along with other important union business, this GMM will include a by-election to the position of Equity Officer. You can find the details on this position – as well as certain eligibility criteria – in Section 5 of the CUPE 3906 Bylaws: Duties of Executive Officers.

About the virtual GMM elections process:

Nominations for both elections will be held on the (virtual) floor of the GMM, but our Bylaws also allow for those unable to attend to self-nominate in writing ahead of the meeting. If you are unable to attend the GMM but wish to run for one of the two positions up for election, you can nominate yourself by emailing your 500-word candidate statement to brad@cupe3906.org anytime before 10 AM on the day of the GMM. Because our Bylaws require that only staff accept nominations for elections, only those sent to brad@cupe3906.org will be accepted, and their CUPE 3906 membership then verified.

Voting on these elections will occur in real time (via Zoom), meaning only members in attendance will be able to cast a ballot. This is the method we have determined most closely aligns with our in-person GMM elections and the processes laid out in our Bylaws and the CUPE National Constitution. Please note: if you are attending via a phone call (instead of using the Zoom app), you will not be able to be able to vote, because all votes in elections are anonymous.

You may have seen a recent COVID-10 updatep posted by McMaster online: https://covid19.mcmaster.ca/campus-health-safety/ventilation/

The above update confirms:

All McMaster classrooms and lecture halls have been assessed to ensure they meet ventilation requirements as outlined in ASHRAE 62.1. Standard 62.1 outlines minimum ventilation rates and other measures intended to provide indoor air quality that is acceptable to human occupants and that minimize adverse health effects.

Though all of our current operational classroom inventory meets or exceeds Public Health guidelines, McMaster further enhanced our ventilation plan to ensure all lecture theatres and classrooms on campus meet a minimum six equivalent air changes per hour (eACH), a standard considered ideal by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s Healthy Buildings for Health guidelines.

This list (last updated January 28) indicates which classrooms and lecture halls on campus meet 6 eACH and actions taken. For classrooms do not meet our minimum standard of six equivalent air changes per hour (eACH), McMaster is:

• Changing operations or equipment to increase air flow.
• Equipping the space with appropriate standalone high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter units to increase equivalent air changes. The number of HEPA units and sizes were selected for each room in order to meet 6 eACH.

We have confirmed that the HEPAs do have a max speed and low speed setting (some have a 3 speed setting as well). The units need to be at max speed to meet the eACH for the room. When they were installed, the units were defaulted to max speed. There are signs in place indicating that the units should not be moved or turned off (see attached photo). Some instructors have put in microphones to address the noise, Facility Services has also moved units further from podiums to help with noise. They have also asked their custodial staff to turn units on if they are found in the off position.

You can find the eACH of your teaching room on the chart below. All figures should be above 6, especially when filter is running at full strength. If the figure was below 6 eACH, the HEPA filter will bring it to at least 6 eACH

https://facilities.mcmaster.ca/app/uploads/2022/01/Classroom-and-Lecture-Halls-eACH-January-28.pdf