CUPE 3906

You might have noticed on the McMaster Daily news that all employees, students, and visitors on campus will be required to wear masks or face coverings inside campus buildings as July 14. Read the full statement here.

The Union has been informed that, if you do not have a mask, you will be directed to a station to obtain one.

The Employer will provide appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) where appropriate (e.g., in labs where non-medical paper masks could pose a fire hazard, or in labs where medical-grade masks are required).

Please note that this requirement does not change who is expected to work on campus.  (In other words, you are still not required to come to campus unless you are directed to do so by your supervisor and there is an appropriate safety plan in place.)

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the Union at healthandsafety@cupe3906.org or mecampbell@cupe3906.org. 

What about all your questions about teaching during the pandemic, with virtually all instructional activities moving online? Or, perhaps you have questions about the phased re-opening of campus? We can help! Your Chief Steward has added a new section to our website that includes recent updates about teaching during the pandemic. Please take a look and follow up by emailing Sylvia at chiefsteward_sessionals@cupe3906.org.

We are looking for any Unit 2 Members who may be interested in representing and advancing the interests of their fellow sessional instructors at the department level! Sign up for the compensation (honouraria) and the satisfaction of standing together in precarious employment. Contact Sylvia at chiefsteward_sessionals@cupe3906.org! For more details about becoming a Steward, have a look at our new recruitment flyer.

Your elected Bargaining Team has reviewed the results of the Unit 2 bargaining survey that was sent out to Unit 2 members earlier this spring.  Based on your responses in conjunction with three years’ worth of conversations our Executive and Staff have had with members about how to strengthen and improve your rights as frontline workers at McMaster, the Bargaining Team has created a list of priorities for you to ratify as we head into negotiations with the Employer, the McMaster University Administration.

We have grouped these priorities into six categories:  Wages, Job Security, Professional Supports, Health and Wellbeing, Workload, and Pensions.  For a more detailed explanation of what these priorities mean, please visit our website for a helpful guide.

Your participation in the ratification of our priorities package is another easy way to contribute to the bargaining process and show your support as the Bargaining Team prepares for negotiations with the Employer.  The Labour Relations Act does not require such a vote, but it’s just one more way we like to engage members during the bargaining process.

Since we are not able to hold our normal in-person meeting, voting will take place online, via Helios. The voting period will begin this Wednesday (June 17) at 5pm and end this Sunday (June 21) at 5pm. Other key details can be found below:

• Unit 2 members will receive a voter ID and password to vote via McMaster email from an online platform called Helios.
• Helios is the most user-friendly and secure voting platform we have found.  For more information about Helios, please visit https://heliosvoting.org/faq
• Once the polls are open, you will be able to log in and cast your vote either in favour or opposed to referendum question regarding the six priorities identified in this presentation.
• Your vote will then be encrypted and logged anonymously. Your email and username will only grant you access to the polls and will not be associated with your vote, nor will it be used or sold by Helios voting thereafter.  Once the polls are closed, Helios will automatically tally the results.

Thank you in advance for your participation!

CUPE 3906 Statement on Anti-Black Racism

Despite our best efforts to work out all technical glitches in advance of today’s Executive elections, it has come to our attention that several of you have yet to receive your ballots via your McMaster email addresses. We have located a solution and, barring any further issues, those of you who have yet to receive your credentials should receive them soon, along with everyone who has yet to vote. Due to these delays exacerbating an overlap with a religious holiday, we will be extending the voting until 12pm, Monday, June 1^st.  We appreciate your patience and understanding as we navigate this new online platform.

All elections related information can be found here: https://cupe3906.org/elections-2020/

Click here for candidate statements.

As most of you will know by now, McMaster University has officially announced that the Fall 2020 semester will be hosted entirely online. We are in regular communication with the Employer about how this will affect our members, and you can expect more details from us soon. In the meantime, we would encourage you to track any hours spent preparing to take your Fall classes online. While the Employer has yet to definitively say whether they will acknowledge such work as Post-Contract work, we firmly believe that it should be treated as such and would thus encourage you to submit a Post-Contract Payment Form for any time spent moving or preparing to move your courses online. You can read more about what constitutes Post-Contract Work in Article 15.05 of the current Collective Agreement for Unit 2. The full statement from President Farrar can be found here. Should you have any additional questions, feel free to email us at either president@cupe3906.org or mecampbell@cupe3906.org.