CUPE 3906

Congratulations on (almost) reaching the end of another term – and quite possibly the most memorable yet! You’ll soon be there. We hope that you’re staying well in light of the current pandemic. Before the term comes to an end, we wanted to provide some updates that might be useful. This message contains important information about the following:

• Professional Development Fund (PDF) Deadline Extension
• Post-Contract Work
• Large Class Supplemental Fee

Professional Development Fund (PDF) Deadline Extension

The deadline for Unit 2 Professional Development Fund applications was previously April 7th; however, in light of current circumstances, our Benefits Officer has extended this deadline to 5:00 PM on April 17th. We hope that this added flexibility can provide our members with some relief in these difficult times. The application form can be found here. Please note that electronic submissions are now preferred and should be sent to benefits@cupe3906.org in a single document. Any questions should also be sent to benefits@cupe3906.org.

Post-Contract Work

Any post-contract work (that is, work requested by your supervisor and done after your final grades have been submitted) is separate from your contract and payable at a rate of $66.70/hour. This would include reviewing grades that are being challenged, marking exam that have been deferred, and dealing with cases of plagiarism. This is not an exhaustive list, and more information, including the appropriate form you’ll need to fill out and submit to get paid, is available here. If you are asked to perform this work and are collecting EI or CERB, please let us know.

Large Class Supplemental Fee

We have also heard that most sessionals have yet to been paid the Large Class Supplemental Fee. For those of you earning the base rate and teaching a class with more than 75 students, please note that your last pay stub should reflect an additional supplementary payment of $2.00 per student per unit for each student above 75.  For a typical 3-unit course, this would amount to $6.00 per student for each student above 75. If you taught a class with more than 75 students and you have yet to see the supplemental fee added, please reach out to your department ASAP to confirm that this additional supplement has been paid on April 24th. If the payment is not processed by the end of this week, it will not make the April 24th pay and will come at a later date. This could adversely impact EI and CERB entitlement, so please follow-up with you administrator this week and let us know if there are any issues.

In solidarity,

The CUPE 3906 Executive Committee

Dear Members,

As you may already know, our Unit 2 members (Sessional Instructors, Hourly-Rated Sessional Music Faculty, and MELD Sessional Instructors) are entering collective bargaining this summer, with their contract expiring on August 31^st.

With every round of collective bargaining comes the need for member mobilization, which requires a lot of additional work extending outreach to members and connecting with them one-to-one, in small groups, and in larger settings. In the past, the local has used external hires to take on a lot of this work. This year, we would like to first extend the opportunity to our members.

This position will be treated as a book-off, meaning it will be compensated at the rate of a graduate TA appointment ($44.07 per hour). Accordingly, the position will come with a general expectation of approximately 10hrs/week of work, understanding that this will fluctuate from week-to-week based on where we are in the bargaining process. Also, members may be eligible to be booked off from their regular employment duties where such Collective Agreement provisions apply. We expect the contract to end at the time that members ratify a new agreement.

This book-off will be open only to CUPE 3906 Members. Experience as a Unit 2 member (or sessional faculty elsewhere) will be considered an asset, though not a requirement. Unit 1 members who hold TA/RA in lieu contracts simultaneously with this one may be able to substitute this contract for their Unit 1 work.

Other relevant experience in bargaining, mobilizing/organizing, and outreach would be valuable for this position. Under the current circumstances, a willingness and ability to conduct telephone canvassing and electronic outreach (including via Zoom, Skype, or equivalent) is specifically needed.

For a complete description of the position and its duties, as well as instructions on how to apply, click here.

In solidarity,

The CUPE 3906 Executive Committee

As you have likely heard by now, the spring semester will be online, and, barring some miraculous change in the next week or so, so too will the summer semester. The start dates for each will remain the same. We’ve had many productive discussions with the employer and believe that those who have already been hired will be given every opportunity to succeed and teach. What does this mean for sessionals?

During this time of increasing uncertainty, many of you will be looking toward government income support – most notably, the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) and Employment Insurance (EI). The CERB is a newly announced program and it seems to be evolving in real time. We’ve received many inquires about accessing these programs and are trying to provide some insight as best as we can. Unfortunately, due to the dynamic nature of these programs and further amendments that are likely to occur, we do not have as many definitive answers as we’d like; however, our National Union has created this helpful CERB Q&A that may answer some common questions.

In short, we would encourage all members to apply to the CERB/EI as soon as your income ends, whether by virtue of the semester coming to an end or by layoff. If in doubt, apply! The worst thing that will happen is that you will be informed you did not meet the eligibility criteria.

At first glance, unfortunately, it appears that most TAs/RAs/Tutors and Sessional Faculty will not be eligible for the CERB as it requires COVID-related job loss. General end-of-semester contract endings are not COVID related. Unfortunately, the CERB does not at this point extend to a lack of jobs for folks over the summer, even if the job scarcity is COVID-related. In short, it seems that many students will be left out of any sort of economic relief (for the time being at least), though we are hopeful that will change. We would encourage you to take a few moments to contact the Prime Minister at justin.trudeau@parl.gc.ca and tell him to do the right thing by students who are being hammered by the COVID-19 crisis.

The CERB does, however, cover those who are sick or quarantined, looking after kids or other family members, or looking after someone that is sick or quarantined. The CERB does not require a medical certificate for this type of access.

The CERB will apply to postdocs who are laid off due to COVID-19. If this is the case for you personally, please contact us ASAP and apply for the CERB.

If you have lost employment due to COVID elsewhere, but are still employed at McMaster, you are likely not currently eligible for the CERB, but you should be as soon as your income at McMaster ends. The final pay of the semester is April 17th.

April 17th represents what Service Canada refers to as an ‘interruption of earnings’  and should be the date you list on your EI application as the last pay date (not the date for which you were last paid). The ‘day for which you were last paid’  and your ‘last day worked’  should be listed as April 18th.  We would encourage all members who may utilize Employment Insurance at any point over the spring/summer semesters to apply, even if you are employed during the Winter term.

The first pay in the Spring term, for those of you who are employed, will be on May 22nd and the first day of work will be May 3rd. This means you should be able to collect EI from April 19th to May 2nd, if you have enough insurable hours. For information on EI, click here. If you have already served a withholding period in the past 52 weeks, you will be able to collect EI as of April 19th. If you have not served a withholding period, you can serve one week over the holidays and should be able to collect EI as of April 26th.

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.

The employer will upload your ROE automatically to Service Canada over the week of April 20th. You can apply for EI as of April 19th.

If you have any additional questions regarding CERB/EI, please let us know. We will do all that we can to help you navigate through the process.

PDF Version

For CUPE 3906 Members

** April 22nd CERB Update**

Union Business (Office Closure / Benefits claims, etc.)

Canadian Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) & EI Info and Resources

UNIT 1 (TA/RA in lieu) Work

UNIT 2 (Sessional Instructor) Work

MELD Sessional Instructor Work

UNIT 3 (Postdoctoral Fellow) Work

McMaster University’s CUPE Member FAQ Page

A Compelling Essay about Putting your Courses Online

For CUPE & Non-CUPE Members

Accessing Aid & Leaves if your Income is Cut-Off / Reduced

Q & A on Income Supports Available During COVID-19 Pandemic

Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) FAQ

The Employer has posted CUPE 3906 Member-specific updates regarding McMaster’s COVID-19 response  in a “Frequently Asked Question” style.  Please click here to visit the update.

As always, please contact the Union (staff@cupe3906.org or mecampbell@cupe3906.org) if you have any questions.

Dear MELD Sessionals,

By now, we assume that you’re already aware of the cancellation of classes and exams, and we hope that you’ve ready our recent message sent to all sessional faculty. We’re sending this as a MELD-specific follow-up.

At this point, we’re unsure how the program plans on proceeding with the remainder of the academic year. We have reached out and are awaiting a response, and expect that many of you have done the same. It is our understanding that the MELD program will be closed like undergraduate and graduate classes.

Despite working on an hourly-rated model, we do not foresee the closure of classes to adversely impact you or your access to income. The decision to cancel classes was the employer’s – not yours. As such, we do not believe that the employer is in a position to withhold pay from you. While missed work normally has to be made up within five business days in order to get paid, this is because of changes to the unplanned leave provisions. Unplanned leave is initiated by an employee, not by the employer. The current situation is not one in which you’re unable to attend work and perform the related duties, but rather, one in which the employer has elected to close classes. The unplanned leave and make-up provisions do not apply in this situation.

Unfortunately, it remains unclear what the next steps are for MELD classes, and we will update you as soon as we have some additional clarity. There are various ways to provide make-up learning opportunities for students. We know that you are willing and able to work, and at this juncture, that is all that matters.

We have been informed that there is a joint cc/dd meeting on Monday at 12:30. We advise you all to attend via Zoom rather than travelling to campus.

If you have any additional questions, please let us know.