From the Employer:
“A quick update to let you know that it appears that the software upgrade has worked and I should know within the next couple of hours if there was an issue with the upload to Service Canada.”
General Membership Meeting- May 18th at noon
We wanted to let you know that we’ll be having a General Membership Meeting on Wednesday, May 18th at noon in TSH B128.
The main item on the agenda will be the ratification of our unit 1 bargaining priorities, something that we didn’t have the opportunity to finish at our last meeting. This item is of considerable importance as it allows you to have a final say on the package that we present to the Employer in June. Members will have the opportunity to review the current proposals and make amendments to them.
We will also be voting on a cost-share motion with CUPE National, which will help to secure additional funding from our national union to help with bargaining outreach and support.
Finally, we have a recently opened position on the Unit 3 (post-doc) bargaining team. Unit 1 members are able to run for this position. If you are interested, please contact your union (staff@cupe3906.org) for more information. We will need a quorum of at least 5 post-docs at this meeting to facilitate an election at the meeting on the 18th.
As always, lunch will be provided.
We hope to see you there.
Unit 2- Record of Employment Update
Hello Sessionals,
We wanted to pass along a quick update regarding Records of Employment (ROEs), as this is an issue that many of you have had concerns about. We have spoke with many of you about this, and have been in discussions with Employee/Labour Relations all week on this issue.
An ROE is issued when there is an interruption in earnings, or quite simply at the end of your contract. This needs to be issued within 5 days of the end of contract, and is required for accessing Employment Insurance. The Employer uploads these to Service Canada, which you can then access online. These must be issued within 5 days of the last day in which you were paid (which was April 29th), not the last day worked. At this point, they are roughly a week late.
We have been informed, perhaps not surprisingly, that an issue with MOSAIC, McMaster’s multi-million dollar computer system, has caused the delay. Approximately 100 ROEs have been uploaded, but another 175 ROEs have yet to be uploaded by the Employer.
We were informed that a software update is happening overnight (between Thursday night and Friday morning), and assuming that all goes well, ROEs will be automatically generated and uploaded to Service Canada tomorrow morning. If a computer glitch remains, the Employer will have to manually upload them. Please check our website tomorrow afternoon for some update.
Once all ROEs have been uploaded, the Union will continue discussions with the Employer to ensure that proper processes are in place for the spring semester to prevent another delay. The present practice is frankly unacceptable, and a clear violation of federal regulations. New processes are needed.
We are aware that this has caused issue for many members who are applying for EI. If you have any concerns about this, please do not hesitate to contact your Union.
Cupcake Celebration: Notice to Bargain
WHAT: Notice to Bargain Celebration!
WHEN: May 4, 2016, from 11:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M.
WHERE: McMaster Student Centre
As you may know, the CUPE 3906 Collective Agreements that cover Unit 1 (TAs and RAs in lieu) and Unit 3 (Postdoctoral Fellows) expire on August 31st, 2016.
This means that it’s time to renegotiate the Collective Agreements!
Tomorrow, May 4th, 2016, we are giving notice to bargain the agreements.
Come and find out about the bargaining process between 11:00 A.M. and 2:00 P.M., and enjoy a CUPE cupcake too (while they last)! Speak to your bargaining representatives and bargaining support committee and find out how you can get involved in the process that determines your wages, benefits and working conditions.
We hope to see you there!
In solidarity,
Your Bargaining Support Committee
Unit 2 (Sessionals) End of Term Information
The end of the term is here, and for many of our members, that means the end of their employment. This has a few implications, discussed below.
We wanted to remind sessionals that can (and should) apply for Employment Insurance (EI) as soon as possible. The last pay period of the semester is on Friday, April 29th, and this will represent an ‘interruption in earnings,’ which is a technical term that must first happen before you can apply for EI. You’ll also need to have received a Record of Employment (ROE) from McMaster, which should be automatically uploaded to Service Canada. You’ll need to create a Service Canada ID if you don’t have one already. Normally, each 3.0 unit credit is equivalent to 238 hours, and you will need to reach a certain threshold of hours worked in the past 52 weeks in order to be eligible for EI (in Hamilton, for example, you will need 700 hours if you a return EI applicant, but it is generally lower in other areas). More information can be found here: http://cupe3906.org/sessionals-unit-2/employment-insurance-unit-2/
If you feel that you have exceeded the 238 hours for a 3.0 unit course, you can speak to us and make a request to your chair. There won’t be additional payment, but the additional hours will be reflected on your ROE and will count toward the EI threshold.
Finally, for those of you with a large class (that is, a class over 75 students), you will receive an additional lump sum payment (if you haven’t already) that reflects the higher workload associated with a large class. It will appear on a separate line on your pay stub and listed as ‘class size.’ If you don’t receive this, please notify your Union.
Your collective agreement provides you with protections from post-contract work, and offers an additional payment if you are required to perform it. In the event your supervisor requests you to re-read papers or exams, attend appeals, deal with cases of academic dishonesty, grade or regrade late papers or exams after the contract expiry date, and in the event that you agree to perform such extra work, you will receive extra remuneration at the hourly rate of $61.00/hr. If this occurs, payment should be processed automatically and paid within one-month. You will need to verify the time spent doing such work with your department. If this payment is not processed, please contact your Union.
If you have any questions about this information, including Employment Insurance, please contact Brad, the staff representative assigned to Unit 2: bwalchuk@cupe3906.org
Unit 1 (TAs/RAs in lieu) Bargaining Proposals Meeting
We wanted to let you know that we’ll be holding a ratification meeting for our bargaining proposals on Wednesday April 27th from 12:00 to approx. 1:00 p.m. in CNH B-107. Lunch will be provided.
As you know, your collective agreement expires on August 30th, and your elected bargaining team has been working diligently on preparing a series of proposals that are reflective of the priorities that you indicated as being important on the bargaining survey in February.
The purpose of the meeting is to provide TAs/RAs in lieu an opportunity to see and, if desired, amend the proposals package,which will form the basis of what we are asking the Employer for during the collective bargaining process.
If you are interested in attending, please RSVP so we have a better idea of numbers to ensure that there is enough food, and materials, for those in attendance.
2016-17 CUPE 3906 Executive
We are pleased to announce the 2016-17 CUPE 3906 Executive that was elected by the membership last night.
President- Chandra Kavanagh
Vice President- Angie Perez
Secretary-Treasurer- Richard Mah
Vice President External- Sepideh Ebrahimi
Recording Secretary- Naim Tajvarpour
Chief Steward Unit 1- Graham Baker
Chief Steward Unit 2- Farhad Sadeh
Health and Safety Officer- Raul Sadavarte
Equity Officer- Sarah Wahab
Benefits and Advocacy Officer- Kirk Lougheed
International Officer- Darko Ljubic
Undergraduate Officer- Jennifer Tang
We’d also like to extend a sincere thank you to those who previously served and are not returning, as well as those who put their name forward in last night’s elections.
Congratulations to our 2015-16 TA/RA Award Winners
Congratulations to the amazing winners of the the 2105-16 TA/RA Award. We present this award annually to one winner in each faculty to recognize teaching and research excellence, which is an integral part of what we do on campus. We know that students and faculty appreciate the hard work and dedication that all of our members have. Here are the 2015-16 winners:
Li He (Social Science)
Michael Cino (Engineering)
Philip Carella (Science)
Dhuha Al-Sajee (Health Sciences)
Julie Condor (DeGroote School of Business)
Shelby MacGregor (Humanities)
Annual General Membership Meeting- TONIGHT
A quick reminder that our Annual General Meeting (AGM) is being held tonight at 5 p.m. in DSB B-105. At the meeting, we will be electing all 13 executive positions (to one-year terms), a trustee (to a three-year term), and four delegates to the CUPE Ontario Convention in Toronto, as well as seeking members to join our committees (ie/ benefits committee). We will also be presenting the TA/RA Award winners (one per faculty). Pizza will be served at 5 p.m. and childcare reimbursement is available upon request.
Unit 2 Professional Development Fund: Deadline April 8th
Conference travel and fees giving you the blues? Fear not, the Unit 2 professional development fund for sessionals can help to offset.
The deadline is April 8th. For more info: http://cupe3906.org/s…/professional-development-fund-unit-2/
