Our International Committee is hosting an international music competition and dinner on November 30th at 6 p.m. in ABB 273. Registration (via the link here) is required.
Our International Committee is hosting an international music competition and dinner on November 30th at 6 p.m. in ABB 273. Registration (via the link here) is required.
Our next General Membership Meeting will take place on Wednesday November 28th at 12:30 p.m. in BSB 108.
The agenda will include striking our bargaining support team, the election of a 3-year trustee, various committee elections and appointments (benefits, grievance), and a discussion of the Union’s response to the pending Bill 47 (which purports to reduce the minimum wage increase, end paid sick days, end equal pay for part-time employees, and a host of other changes that will be harmful to workers).
Congratulations to our recently elected Unit 1 (TAs/RAs) bargaining team: James Watson (Sociology), Mollie McGuire (Sociology), Avijit Mallick (Biology), Nathan Todd (Philosophy), Mehrshad Kafi (Electrical and Computer Engineering), Leah McGrath-Reynolds (Labour Studies), and Chris Fairweather (Labour Studies).
Congratulations also to our recently elected Unit 3 (Postdoctoral Fellows) bargaining team: Zobia Jawed (School of Engineering Practice and Theory), Toby Brown (Physics and Astronomy), Naveed Yasin (Chemical Engineering), and our alternate Abhinav Garg (Chemical Engineering).
Membership surveys for both Unit 1 and Unit 3 members should be out in early December.
Medical Marijuana and the medical devices you need to use medical marijuana are eligible expenses under our health care spending accounts.
It is required to provide a prescription for medical marijuana and a doctor’s note for for equipment to use/consume medical marijuana to have claims paid out.
There’s an upcoming rally at Queen’s Park (Tuesday, Oct 23rd at noon) held by Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (a CUPE affiliate) and the Ontario Health Coalition in support of strong, accessible, public health care in the face of likely funding cuts from the Ford government.
A bus from Niagara will be making a stop in Hamilton picking up at The Centre on Barton in between Carter’s Oshkosh and La Vie En Rose at 1275 Barton St E, Hamilton ON, L8H 2V4 leaving at 10am sharp.
Please contact Brittany (secretary@cupe2977.com) if you would like to be on this bus for what is expected to be a great rally! You can also sign up at the link below: https://cupe.on.ca/event/rebuild-and-improve-public-health-care-rally/?instance_id=995
We have an upcoming Special General Membership Meeting for our postdoctoral fellows on Wednesday, October 24th at noon. The agenda will feature two important items:
The meeting will be held in MUSC 203 and will feature lunch and some free swag. We hope you’ll be able to join us and be interested in representing postdocs and building a #BetterMac!
If you were at our amazing social earlier this week (or if you follow us on social media), you would have seen our delicious 5 Years and Fairness cake and the launch of our 5 Years and Fairness bargaining campaign.
As you likely know, both Unit 1 (TAs and RAs in lieu) and Unit 3 (postdocs) are heading into bargaining next spring, and we wanted to kick off our bargaining campaign with a clear message: doctoral students need 5 years of guaranteed funding. Based on information we’ve previously gathered, the average length to complete a doctoral degree at Mac is 5.5 years. The current guarantee provides doctoral students with only 4 years, and quite simply that isn’t sufficient or reflective of how long it takes to complete a degree, as virtually any PhD student can tell you.
As the year goes on, you’ll be hearing much more about this campaign and what else it contains, but the message is simple: doctoral students deserve 5 years of guaranteed funding. It’s only fair!