Hamilton, ON— The front-line instructors responsible for a significant proportion of undergraduate teaching at McMaster University have concluded a strike vote after three days of socially distant voting.  Sessional Faculty and Hourly-Rated Sessional Music Faculty at McMaster University, comprising CUPE Local 3906 (Unit 2), voted 81% in favour of providing their Bargaining Committee with a strike mandate should negotiations the table with the McMaster Administration fail.

A historic number of members participated in the vote between October 14^th and October 16^th, which was held online due to pandemic safety measures and restricted access to the University campus.  The Bargaining Team is overwhelmed that so many members participated in the vote. “We are grateful that members demonstrated such strong support for the Union’s proposals on the table,” says Sharoni Mitra, the Local’s President, “especially given the pressures and stress that members already face due to the pandemic, the increasingly precarious nature of employment at postsecondary institutions, and the restrictions imposed on front-line public sector workers by the Ford government’s legislation.”

This 81% mandate highlights the Employer’s need to take members’ concerns to heart immediately or face job action.  Proposals that erode job security and make already precarious work more piecemeal must be removed from the table.  The Employer must work with the Union to find ways to support members’ access to the training and resources they need to continue providing the teaching excellence on which McMaster prides itself.  Finally, proposals that address members’ fundamental needs—such as improvements to basic health funds and a promise not to reduce positions in the move to online teaching—must not be neglected in such volatile times where front-line workers everywhere are struggling.

The results of this vote do not mean that a strike is forthcoming, but do empower the bargaining team to call a strike should negotiations not provide meaningful gains to members. The next step in the bargaining process is conciliation, in which a provincially appointed conciliation officer will meet with the parties.  Conciliation is scheduled on Tuesday, October 20^th, and Wednesday, October 21^st, 2020.  More days may be scheduled if progress continues and the Parties agree to meet.

Local 3906 is eager to put the support of its members into action at the bargaining table and is committed to membership engagement throughout the process. Please watch for our updates and additional bargaining support initiatives.

CUPE Local 3906 (Unit 2) represents over 500 Sessional Faculty and Hourly Rated Sessional Music Faculty at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.

Our Unit 2 Members (Sessional Faculty and Hourly Rated Sessional Music Faculty) will be able to attend our Strike Vote Special General Membership Meeting this week (October 14th at 2:00 P.M.) and will be able to vote in our strike vote following the SGMM until Friday, October 16th at 5:00 P.M.

For more information on how to attend the meeting and how to vote, please click here.

Please note that the Strike Vote SGMM and the Strike Vote is only available to our CUPE 3906 Unit 2 members as per the Local’s Bylaws and the Ontario Labour Relations Act.

The Union office will remain closed throughout the fall semester due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Staff and executive members are working safely from home, and can answer any questions you may have via email, phone, or Zoom/Teams/Jitsi. Please email first, and we can set something up with you later if email doesn’t answer your question.

Below are instructions for how to submit benefits claims while the office is closed:

For Healthcare Spending Accounts, UHIP Rebates, and Childcare rebates, please continue to leave forms in our drop-box (directly outside KTH B111) or mail them directly to the Prosure Group:

PROSURE GROUP ADMINISTRATORS LTD.

2225 Sheppard Ave East, Suite 1400, Atria III.

Toronto, ON. M2J 5C2

For Dental claims, please create a login at www.equitable.ca with Policy Number 97528 and your employee number as your certificate number (if you do not have a specific employee number, then use your student number), and follow Equitable Life’s instructions for submitting online claims.

For Professional Development Fund applications, please email benefits@cupe3906.org

For further assistance, please contact administrator@cupe3906.org

For issues or concerns with your rights under any of our three collective agreements, please email mecampbell@cupe3906.org or bwalchuk@cupe3906.org

For equity-related concerns, please contact equity@cupe3906.org

As was announced earlier this week, we will be holding our first General Membership Meeting of the Fall 2020 semester at 2pm EST on Thursday, October 8. Please be sure to send any pre-written motions to president@cupe3906.org by 12pm (noon) on October 7.

In order to preserve the security and confidentiality of our GMM, pre-registration for this meeting will be required. Please note that you must register with your McMaster email address no later than 12pm the day of the GMM. This is the only way we can manually confirm that you are a CUPE 3906 Member prior to the meeting. Any registration requests made from non-McMaster email addresses will be denied.

Register in advance for the GMM here: 
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwvcemhqjwuGN09rfA5FWe0TzzekMs511st

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

About the virtual GMM elections process:

Please note that because the elections for all three positions will be held at the same time, individuals may be nominated for only one position each. Nominations 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 three positions up for election, you can nominate yourself by emailing your 500-word candidate statement to bwalchuk@cupe3906.org anytime before 12pm (noon) on Wednesday, October 7. Because our bylaws require that only staff accept nominations for elections, only those sent to bwalchuk@cupe3906.org will be accepted, and their CUPE 3906 membership then verified.

Once nominations have closed on the floor of the GMM, candidates will have the chance to speak for up to two minutes each, and self-nominations in absentia will be read by a member of staff.

Unlike our in-person GMMs, voting will then occur online (via Helios Voting) between October 9 and October 13. Once the GMM has adjourned, the nominees will be added to the ballot on Helios and all Members who registered for the GMM will receive their Helios login and other key voting details within 24 hours. Once the polls open, you will be able to log in and cast your votes for all positions. Your votes will then be encrypted and logged anonymously. Once the polls have closed, Helios will automatically tally the results.

Restriction on campaign materials: Because our bylaws require equal access to campaign materials, only the candidate statements provided at or before the GMM (and later, via Helios) will be deemed relevant and acceptable for the purposes of this GMM election. Any materials posted elsewhere and found to be linked to specific candidates will result in their disqualification.

Should you have any questions specific to the GMM elections, please email bwalchuk@cupe3906.org. All other GMM inquiries should be sent to president@cupe3906.org.

Thanks, everyone. We look forward to seeing you all on Thursday!

In solidarity,

The CUPE 3906 Executive Committee

The Benefits Committee met during the last week of August and reviewed many U2 applications. The Committee decided not to renew technology funds unless the employer is willing to pay. There are many members who continuously request technology reimbursement for online teaching, and while the U2 Bargaining Team did try to incorporate a technology fund into the collective agreement that is currently under negotiation, this idea was not supported by the Employer. As such, and given that the the the professional development fund is designated for professional development activities only, the Benefits Committee is unable to make any exceptions during this difficult time. The Committee will continue accepting online applications, but please note that the volume of emails received is higher than usual. We ask that you allow at least 48 hours for the Benefits Officer to respond to any inquiries.

Drop by on Zoom on Monday, September 21, at 6:00 pm for some U2-specific updates from CUPE 3906. We’ll walk you through aspects of the collective agreement currently under negotiation, and discuss your rights and benefits as sessionals and hourly-paid music faculty. A brief update will be provided about what’s been going on in collective bargaining following our President’s message to members on August 31, 2020. You can be new to the union, or an old hat – it doesn’t matter. The key thing is to get to know each other as members and build solidarity for the sake of our teaching (in this virtual university) and for our future (in terms of what collective rights we might or might not achieve for the next two to three years). Let’s build strength in our employment! Bring your questions for our Unit 2 Chief Steward, Sylvia. All members are welcome to attend this meeting in support of Unit 2. The meeting can be accessed using this link. The meeting ID and password can be obtained by emailing chiefsteward_sessionals@cupe3906.org 

We continue to pursue legal recourse for those TAs and RAs (in lieu of TAs) who are working out-of-province and are therefore being excluded from the Union by the Employer. It is important to note that TAs and RAs (in lieu of TAs) who are working out-of-province should not decline any work they wish to take because of this ongoing dispute. Whether or not a TA accepts or declines work that the Employer excludes from the Bargaining Unit by virtue of their out-of-province location does not impact the dispute. It does not hinder or help the Union’s (or the Employer’s) position, so this decision should not be based on any worry that one’s actions will negatively or positively impact the situation.

We are continuing to pursue other options behind the scenes, but in the meantime we would encourage those of you who haven’t already to sign and share this letter telling McMaster to stop excluding out-of-province TAs from the bargaining unit. Expect to hear more updates soon