CUPE 3906

In November 2017, CUPE 3906 filed a grievance against McMaster University to address an alleged inequitable wage gap between men and women working as postdoctoral fellows. CUPE 3906 claimed that the difference in wages violated both the collective agreement and the Equal Pay provisions of the Employment Standards Act.

The University and the Local, after extensive review and discussion, came to an agreement that the inequitable wage gap applied only to postdocs working in the Faculty of Science.

The resolution represents a meaningful gain for those members, and also helps to advance equal pay in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields. The resolution not only addresses the inequitable wage gap, but also mandates proactive practices going forward.

We’re holding our Annual General Membership meeting on Tuesday, March 26th, 2019. At this meeting, all 13 executive positions are up for election. All members in good standing are able to run for these positions. Full details on the positions, as well as the election/nomination process, can be found in our Bylaws.

ROOM(S):
MDCL 3023

TIME: 12:00 PM-2:00 PM

DATE:Tuesday, March 26, 2019

The Mike Skinner Activist Award is a member-mandated award offered by the Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 3906 on an annual basis. Its title honours long-time labour activist and former CUPE 3906 Staff Member Mike Skinner.

The value of the award is $500 to one person (or committee), an award certificate and an inscription on the Mike Skinner Activist Award plaque. This award is open to all current members of CUPE 3906 (this includes all Teaching Assistants, Research Assistants in lieu, Sessional Faculty, Hourly Rated Sessional Music Faculty and Postdoctoral Fellows), and/or anyone who has been a member of the local within the past 12 months.

The nomination period for this award is from February March 4, 2019 to March 24, 2019.

Specifically, the recipient of the Mike Skinner Activist Award may have been involved in the following possible issues over the course of their stay at McMaster University:

• Fighting for social justice issues (these issues are diverse and can include environmental justice, labour solidarity, gender equality, equity issues, and the advancement of peace);
• Promoting the welfare of humanity and the environment and the elimination of pain and suffering through acts of community organizing, education and/or solidarity.

More information, including how to submit a nominee, is available by clicking here.

Congratulations to Nathan Todd (Philosophy), our now former Recording Secretary, who was acclaimed as our new Vice President at this afternoon’s GMM. Congratulations also to Adam Gruber-O’Hagan (Labour Studies) who replaces Nathan as Recording Secretary, and to Pulkit Mathur (Chemical Engineering) who was elected as Chief Steward, Unit 1.

At today’s GMM, we also voted to send up to 10 delegates to the CUPE Ontario convention in May/June and 6 delegates to the ACORN CanadaNational Convention in June (held right here in Hamilton). Elections will take place soon, exact date TBA, but likely following the AGM in March/April.

With unanimous support, your Local voted to donate $250 to the Sexual Assault Centre Hamilton and Area (SACHA), as well as $250 to United Way Halton and Hamilton‘s upcoming Tampon Tuesday event

With the university closing due to inclement weather conditions on Tuesday Feb 12 (our scheduled GMM), we will be re-booking a General Membership Meeting at some point after Reading Week. An updated date, time, and location will be sent out as soon as we have confirmed. This meeting will feature the election of a Vice President, a Recording Secretary, and a Unit 1 Chief Steward.

We’ve been saying this for a while, an arbitrator made this very clear last year, yet another study supports the claim- we hope that university employers will finally get the message: student evaluations of teaching are highly problematic for the purpose of (re)-hiring and tenure/promotion.

“…as this report clearly demonstrates, using student questionnaires to evaluate faculty performance is counterproductive and harmful, and it raises serious equity questions.”

Why?

“The report is one of the most exhaustive of its kind in Canada and examines the methodological, research ethics, and human rights implications of student questionnaires. It finds that:

• Women, racialized, and LGBTQ2S+ faculty, as well as faculty with disabilities, receive lower scores than their white male colleagues. Using SQCTs to determine pay and promotion risks marginalizing these equity seeking groups even further, impacting their career prospects and limiting academic diversity.
• It is impossible to adjust SQCT scores to account for their bias.
• Anonymous SQCT comments are regularly used to target faculty members with abusive, harassing, and harmful comments.
• Students are not adequately informed about how SQCTs are used, or how their information can be shared.
• Using SQCT scores to evaluate teaching discourages innovation and undermines student learning.”

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/4145909#ixzz5erOafXZd

The link to the Unit 1 (TAs/RAs in lieu) and Unit 3 (Postdocs) bargaining survey was sent via e-mail link today. If you are a member and did not receive the link, please contact staff@cupe3906.org

Today’s survey launch event in MDCL was cancelled due to the weather, but we’ll be continuing the survey launch tour next week in ETB 230 on Tues at 11:30 and in TSH B129 on Thurs at 11:30

Dear TAs/RAs in lieu and Postdocs,