CUPE 3906 Fall Social

Brad WalchukGeneral

2015 fall social poster

Come join us at our annual fall social, taking place at the Staircase Theatre (27 Dundurn St. North, at Main) on Thursday October 29th at 8 p.m. The first 90 members get free drink!  Come in your halloween costume (or not) and get to know some of your co-workers and CUPE executive members.  They’ll be karaoke and fun games for those of you interested.

Labour Studies Film Series: Pride

Brad WalchukGeneral

pride movie

​Join us for the screening of Pride! on Oct 22nd, 6-8pm

Pride is a comedy about LGBT activists who supported the struggle of British miners during their strike in 1983-4.
To watch the Trailer visit: click here

MDCL 3020

October 22, 2015

6-8pm

Free Admission

Snacks Provided

Hike for International Grad Students and TAs

Brad WalchukGeneral

Dear Internationals,

Your CUPE 3906 International Committee (ICM) and iGSA (International Graduate Students Association) are pleased to invite you for the hiking event to COOTES PARADISE behind McMaster University. There are three trails and additional information can be found in the following link:

http://www.mcmaster.ca/nature/areas/cootes_south.html

WHEN: Friday, October 23rd
TIME: 4 pm
WHERE: In front of McMaster Gym and going form there.

This is very beautiful area and it will be good if we all get together, mingle, walk and enjoy weather before brutal winter :). Lets get together in front of McMaster gym and go from there. The decision about which trail should we follow will be made when we meet. Cookies and water will be provided. To attend the event please register using a link:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1WXUfgXgr4Xu7pkQKHJiaPrDq4J1a_i3ROHA6jD4AtxU/edit?usp=sharing

So, KEEP CALM MINGLE and HIKE.
Hope to see you all there.

Dental Claim Payment Suspension Ended

Brad WalchukGeneral

We are pleased to announce that Equitable Life and McMaster have resolved the outstanding dental premiums owed by the university, and as a result Equitable Life has lifted the suspension of the payment of dental claims. This means that any claims submitted to Equitable going forward, or that were submitted over the past few days, should be paid in full in a normal time period.

After filing a grievance yesterday morning and meeting with both McMaster and Equitable Life in the afternoon, a solution was reached which saw McMaster advance a sizeable portion of the alleged dental premiums owing to Equitable Life, allowing Equitable to have the required funds to continue to pay claims. This also gave us the confidence to withdraw the grievances filed against McMaster.

The University is also reviewing its internal reporting and remittance protocols to ensure that a similar situation does not occur again, and we will continue to monitor this in conjunction with Equitable Life.

We are acutely aware of the stress that this caused many of you, but are pleased that it was resolved in less than 24 hours.

IMPORTANT: Suspension of Dental Claims Payments

Brad WalchukGeneral

Please be advised that our benefits provider, Equitable Life of Canada, notified the Union that access to dental benefits will be suspended for an unspecific period of time.  There is currently a discrepancy surrounding the total premiums collected for the 2014-15 academic year.  The Union, Equitable Life, and McMaster are all working to resolve this issue.

During this period, you will still remain eligible for dental coverage and can visit a dentist, but unfortunately Equitable will not be paying out any dental claims until it is satisfied that an appropriate amount of premiums has been paid.

We know that this situation is likely to cause inconvenience to those who have recently submitted a claim or who have a dental appointment scheduled in the next few days.  We are committed to ensuring that the situation is rectified as soon as possible so you don’t go long without reimbursement.

Please check cupe3906.org regularly for all updates, and contact staff@cupe3906.org if you have any questions in the meantime.

edited: October 7, 2015 at 4:04 p.m.

General Membership Meeting: Tues, Sept 29th at 5 p.m.

Brad WalchukGeneral

We are having a General Membership Meeting, or GMM, on Tuesday September 29th at 5:00 p.m. in TSH B-105.  A free pizza dinner from Basilique will be provided, as well as drinks.  There are a number of important happenings at this meeting, including a presentation and debate of, and voting on, the 2015-16 operating budget, as well as the election of a new President and a new Treasurer.  In addition, we are electing a Unit 1 bargaining committee.

The Unit 1 collective agreement expires on August 31, 2016 and the Unit 1 bargaining committee will be responsible for helping to re-negotiate a collective agreement, aided by the support of the union’s staff.  Your collective agreement is a democratically decided employment contract that covers all TAs and RAs (in lieu), and includes a variety of rights and benefits, including wages, hours of work, benefits, sick days, and working conditions.  Collective bargaining is the process by which we are able to make improvements to the existing collective agreement.  The elected bargaining committee plays a key role in this process.  The time commitment is minimal over the fall and winter, though it picks up in the spring.  There are up to eight elected positions on the committee, each which pays $300 per month. The positions will be active for approximately 12 months.

More information on the vacant executive positions (President and Treasurer) can be found here.

We hope to see you next Tuesday at 5:00 pm in TSH B-105.  If you have questions in the meantime, please e-mail cupe3906@mcmaster.ca

CUPE 3906 supports locked-out MANA workers

Brad WalchukGeneral

mana rally

CUPE 3906 members were proud to be on the picket lines of locked-out MANA workers. These workers have been locked-out for two years because they said to “no” to a $10/hr wage cut.

An article on the lock-out, and yesterday’s rally featuring a concert from punk band D.O.A., can be found here.

Congratulations to the Nominees: 19th Annual Graduate Student Awards

Brad WalchukGeneral

The 19th Annual Graduate Student Awards acknowledges student excellence in teaching, communicating and translating research, and leadership on campus and beyond.

Congratulations to the 27 Teaching Assistants, all CUPE 3906 members, that are nominated for the GSA Keith Leppmann Teaching Assistant Excellence Award.

Congratulations also to our President, Evan Johnston, who is nominated for the Mary Keyes Award for Outstanding Leadership and Service to McMaster.

Best of luck to all the nominees! The winners will be announced on Friday morning.

A full press release from the University can be found here.

Executive Committee Vacancy: Treasurer

Evan JohnstonGeneral

CUPE LOGO inverse

The position of Treasurer has recently become vacant on the CUPE 3906 Executive Committeefor which an election will be held at our next General Membership Meeting (GMM) on September 29. For a brief description of the responsibilities for this position, please see the following overview of executive portfolios.

All members in good standing may be nominated. A member in good standing is someone that is currently a CUPE 3906 member or someone who has been in the past eight (8) months. During the GMM, a member may nominate another member (or choose to self-nominate) from the floor.

The Executive Committee would also like to thank our previous Treasurer, Herman Poon, for his many years of dedicated service to the local, and we wish him well in his future endeavours.

For more information about this position, please contact Evan Johnston (president@cupe3906.org).

Welcome Guide for International Memebers

Brad WalchukGeneral

The CUPE executive, thanks largely to the hard work of Darko (our International Officer) and Ulduz (our former Unit 3 Chief Steward), has developed a helpful Welcome Guide for international members.  We think it will be useful in orienting newcomers to McMaster and to Hamilton more broadly. It can be read on-line here.