CUPE 3906

The CUPE 3906 Executive has written letter of solidarity to show our support of Boğaziçi workers who are fighting for their right to democratically elect their university president! Boğaziçi is a major research university in Istanbul, Turkey. They are facing police violence and arrests but their resistance is growing, and we are proud to stand with them! #BogaziciDireniyor

We wanted to remind you about the CUPE online hours tracker (<– Click Here), developed with help from CUPE Ontario. You will need to make an account, and from there you can easily join the CUPE 3906 group. From there, you will see a number of pre-loaded drop-down options of common TA tasks from which to choose. Given that a number of our Unit 1 Members (TAs and RAs in-lieu) have expressed concerns about going over their hours allotted by their employment contracts, we are encouraging you all to use this hours tracker. The more you track your hours, the better chance we have at ensuring you aren’t overworked or underpaid! Please also feel free to forward any feedback or technical issues to president@cupe3906.org.

Beginning January 27, 2021, and running until July 27, 2021, international students holding an expired or expiring post-graduation work permit (PGWP) can apply for another open work permit offered by the federal government. The new work permits will be valid for 18 months and offer flexibility to former international students whose post-graduation plans were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

This change was made as a pandemic recovery measure to assist in mitigating the decline of international students remaining in Canada. The new work permit program will also facilitate graduates in gaining the needed work experience to later apply for permanent residency.

To be eligible for the new work permit, an applicant must:

• Have a PGWP that expired on or after 30 January 2020, or a PGWP that expires in 4 months or less from the date they apply;
• Still be in Canada; and,
• Have a valid temporary resident status or be applying to restore their status.

Application forms and details on how to apply will be added on January 27, 2021 to the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s webpage concerning COVID-19 and international students.

For details about how the local is operating, please click here. Please note that due to the omicron variant and the provincial regulations, the physical office remains closed this winter, but our staff and executive members are easily accessible online.

The following message is for CUPE 3906 Unit 1 (Teaching Assistants and Research Assistants in Lieu) Members who did not work as CUPE Unit 1 Members (or as CUPE Unit 2 or Unit 3 Members) in the Fall 2020 Term:

CUPE 3906 UNIT 1 Members who did not work as CUPE 3906 Unit 1, 2, or 3 members in the Fall 2020 Term will be charged the Single Dental Coverage Premium for the 2020-2021 academic year ($125) on their TA and/or RA in lieu pay on the first pay in January 2021.  This coverage reimburses costs incurred for eligible dental claims incurred between September 1, 2020 and August 31, 2021 regardless of when you begin working as a CUPE 3906 Unit 1 member in the 2020-2021 academic year.

Please note that there is a 30 day change of coverage period during which you may enroll in family dental coverage or opt-out of dental coverage (if you already have comparable coverage and provide proper supporting documentation.  The deadline to submit forms and supporting documentation is January 27, 2021.  Reimbursements for successful opt-outs will be issued via direct deposit (not via payroll) by our Third Party Administrator, The Prosure Group, within 30 days of the deduction being made.

Please click here for further details about dental change of coverage for Unit 1 Members: https://cupe3906.org/wp-content/blogs.dir/501/2021/01/U1-WINTER-Dental-Letter-2020-2021.pdf

To obtain a family dental enrollment or dental opt-out form, please visit the “Important Updates” or “Forms” section of our website, here:  https://cupe3906.org/tas-unit-1/dental-plan/

Please note that, due to the office closure caused by COVID-19, forms and supporting documentation will only be accepted via email to administrator@cupe3906.org.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

In solidarity,
Your CUPE 3906 Staff

The following message is for CUPE 3906 Unit 2 Members (Sessional Faculty and Hourly Rated Sessional Music Faculty) who did not teach as Unit 2 Members (or work as CUPE 3906 Unit 1 or Unit 3 Members) in the Fall 2020 Term:

CUPE 3906 UNIT 2 Members who did not work as CUPE 3906 Unit 1, 2, or 3 members in the Fall 2020 Term will be charged the Single Dental Coverage Premium for the 2020-2021 term ($170) on their Sessional Faculty pay in February 2021.  This coverage reimburses costs incurred for eligible dental claims incurred between September 1, 2020 and August 31, 2021 regardless of when you begin working as a CUPE 3906 Unit 2 member in the 2020-2021 academic year.

Please note that there is a 30 day change of coverage period during which you may enroll in family dental coverage or opt-out of dental coverage (if you already have comparable coverage and provide proper supporting documentation.  The deadline to submit forms and supporting documentation is January 31, 2021. 

Please click here for further details about dental change of coverage for Unit 2 Members: https://cupe3906.org/wp-content/blogs.dir/501/2021/01/U2-WINTER-Dental-Letter-2020-2021.pdf

To obtain a family dental enrollment or dental opt-out form, please visit the “Important Updates” or “Forms” section of our website, here: https://cupe3906.org/sessionals-unit-2/unit-2-dental-coverage/

Please note that, due to the office closure caused by COVID-19, forms and supporting documentation will only be accepted via email to administrator@cupe3906.org .

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

In solidarity,
Your CUPE 3906 Staff

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR CUPE 3906 UNIT 2 MEMBERS TEACHING IN THE WINTER 2021 TERM: DENTAL COVERAGE DEADLINES

The following message is for CUPE 3906 Unit 2 Members who did not teach as Unit 2 Members (or work as Unit 1 or Unit 3 Members) in the Fall 2020 Term:

CUPE 3906 UNIT 2 Members who did not work as CUPE 3906 Unit 1, 2, or 3 members in the Fall 2020 Term will be charged the Single Dental Coverage Premium for the 2020-2021 term ($170) on their Sessional Faculty pay in February 2021.  This coverage reimburses costs incurred for eligible dental claims incurred between September 1, 2020 and August 31, 2021 regardless of when you begin working as a CUPE 3906 Unit 2 member in the 2020-2021 academic year.

Please note that there is a 30 day change of coverage period during which you may enroll in family dental coverage or opt-out of dental coverage (if you already have comparable coverage and provide proper supporting documentation.  The deadline to submit forms and supporting documentation is January 31, 2021. 

Please click here for further details about dental change of coverage for Unit 2 Members: https://cupe3906.org/wp-content/blogs.dir/501/2021/01/U2-WINTER-Dental-Letter-2020-2021.pdf

To obtain a family dental enrollment or dental opt-out form, please visit the “Important Updates” or “Forms” section of our website, here: https://cupe3906.org/sessionals-unit-2/unit-2-dental-coverage/

Please note that, due to the office closure caused by COVID-19, forms and supporting documentation will only be accepted via email to administrator@cupe3906.org .

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

In solidarity,
Your CUPE 3906 Staff

Congratulations on making it to the end of a difficult term. We hope you’ve managed to stay safe and healthy – both physically and emotionally – and that the coming break will be relaxing and enjoyable. Having said that, we wanted to send a quick end-of-term email to inform you of a few important things.

Holidays

Please note that paid holidays to which you are entitled include any business days that fall on or between December 25th and January 1st. Such days are without loss of pay and do not come out of your annual vacation day entitlement below. While we’re at it, here is your annual vacation entitlement:

Please note that accrued and unused vacation time from the current entitlement year is payable upon the end of the PDF’s appointment. This means that vacation days that you do not use in the last year of your appointment are paid out when your appointment ends.

“Grey Zone” Lockdown Closure

As you may have seen, the province has recently announced that Hamilton will be entering the grey-lockdown zone as of 12:01 a.m. Monday, December 21. The University has posted this update to the community. What does that mean for you?

In the event that you are not already working from home and are not engaged in research on campus that is permitted under the new protocols, we expect that supervisors will work with you to address opportunities for remote work where at all possible.

If such work is not made available and you are informed that you will not be paid, please reach out to us immediately so we can help to address the situation.

Homewood Health Counselling

This past semester has been tough for all us for a variety of pandemic-related reasons. We wanted to remind you that you have free and confidential access to the Employee Family Assistance Program (through Homewood health). Homewood offers you free and confidential and professional counselling on depression, stress, bereavement, relationships and more, as well as counselling for careers, work-life balance, and health.

Log-in details and information guides on using the new homeweb.ca website are located on McMaster’s Employee and Family Assistance Program webpage here.

Dental Plan Information

For those of you enrolled in the Unit 1 dental plan, the $1000 in single coverage (or $2,000 for family coverage) per calendar year will re-set as of January 1, 2019. Unused money does not carry over, but all members enrolled in single coverage will now have $1000.00 for 2019 (and $2,000 for family coverage), in addition to any claims from eligible dental procedures done in 2018.

Office Closure

Lastly, please note that the “online office” is now closed and many 3906 email accounts will not be monitored and messages won’t be addressed until the New Year. If, however, you have any emergency emails, please direct them to staff@cupe3906.org and someone will respond accordingly.