Our bargaining team has been elected! We are excited to welcome to the team Carolyn Capretta (DeGroote School of Business), Kojo Damptey (Intersession), Leon Karan (Music), Peter Graham (Labour Studies) and Zoi Bogdanova (Engineering). Congratulations on your election! Thank you to those of you who took the time to attend the nomination meeting and vote in the election. You’ll soon be receiving a bargaining survey to gather input on your priorities for the upcoming round of bargaining.

We are writing to inform you that the results of the Unit 2 Tentative Agreement vote have been tallied.

Members have voted 89% in favour to ratify the Tentative Agreement.

The Employer must also conduct its own ratification vote in this process.  That vote is scheduled to take place at the December 17^th Board of Governor’s meeting.  Until  the Employer ratifies the Tentative Agreement, the Collective Agreement that expired on August 31, 2020, is still in effect.

Members who would like to view the new Tentative Agreement prior to its final ratification by the Employer are welcome to contact staff@cupe3906.org to obtain a privileged link to view the Tentative Agreement.

On Behalf of everyone involved in negotiating this agreement, we thank you very much for your participation. Please monitor your emails for further developments as we are always looking for ways to engage and consult with Unit 2 members about their working conditions at McMaster.

In solidarity,

Sharoni Mitra

President, CUPE 3906

Mollie McGuire

Vice President, CUPE 3906

This is a reminder that we will be holding an online Special General Membership Meeting (SGMM) tomorrow, November 25, at 1:00 PM EST. The purpose of this meeting is to present the details of the tentative agreement reached by your Unit 2 Bargaining Team and McMaster University.

In order to preserve the security and confidentiality of our SGMM, registration for this meeting will be required. Please note that you must register with your McMaster email address before 1 PM tomorrow. 

To register for this SGMM, click the following link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAvdu6qqTwrGNX9wunlAbX4l8qcaiHSW-qV

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing a link to join the meeting tomorrow at 1:00 PM.

***PLEASE NOTE: While we would strongly encourage all Unit 2 members to attend tomorrow’s SGMM, this is NOT a requirement to cast your ballot for or against ratification. Voting on the tentative agreement will be open to ALL Unit 2 members in good standing – not just those who attend the SGMM – and occur online, via Helios Voting. 

By now, all eligible Unit 2 members should have received their ballot and other information required to vote from Helios (to their McMaster email address). This includes a link to the full text of the new agreement, with all changes highlighted so that each voter can cast their ballot based on informed choice. The ballot will remain closed until after tomorrow’s SGMM, around 2:00 PM EST. You will be notified via email once voting has begun. Voting will close at 5:00 PM EST on Thursday, November 26.

If you believe you are eligible to vote but still have yet to receive your ballot, please email us at staff@cupe3906.org ASAP. Please also get in touch if you have trouble registering for the SGMM via the link provided above.

Out of respect to Unit 2 members, no details about the Collective Agreement will be released until such time as the tentative agreement may be formally presented to Unit 2 members at the SGMM.

On behalf of the CUPE 3906 Executive and the entire Bargaining Team, we would like to thank members for their support during this difficult round of negotiations.  A deal would not have been possible without your ongoing support.

After several days of negotiation in conciliation, your Unit 2 Bargaining Team has reached a tentative agreement with the Employer.

Details of the tentative agreement will be presented at an online Special General Membership Meeting (SGMM), which will be held on Nov 25, 2020 1:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada).

Voting on the tentative agreement will be online and will occur immediately following the SGMM and will continue until  Nov 26, 2020 5:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada).

We will send more details in a separate e-mail to members about how to participate in the SGMM (held via Zoom) and the ratification vote (held via Helios Voting).  Please note that, due to the pandemic health and safety measures, no meeting or voting will be conducted in person.  We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

Please note that, out of respect to Unit 2 members, no details about the Collective Agreement will be released until such time as the tentative agreement may be formally presented to Unit 2 members at the SGMM.

On behalf of the CUPE 3906 executive and the entire Bargaining Team, we would like to thank members for their support during this difficult round of negotiations.  A deal would not have been possible without your ongoing support.

Sincerely,

Your CUPE 3906 Unit 2 Bargaining Team

Our Unit 2 Bargaining Team is meeting with the Employer today for ongoing negotiations with the McMaster University Administration. These negotiations are part of a process called conciliation, which precedes a strike or lockout and is assisted by a government-appointed Conciliation Officer.

There are a few outstanding issues at the table.  First and foremost is the Employer’s position on proration—that is, the Employer’s ability to determine, arbitrarily and unilaterally, the amount of work involved in teaching a course (and, by implication, the amount of stipend a member should be paid for teaching).  The Union is absolutely opposed to this position.

The Bargaining Team will provide an update for members following our Conciliation Session today (November 16^th).  Please check your emails for updates, and follow us on social media (@cupe3906 and @cupe_3906).

To support your Bargaining Team and to join our strike committee, please contact Sylvia at mobilizer@cupe3906.org. You can also attend tomorrow’s strike committee meeting, happening via Zoom at 1pm EST. Click here to join the meeting. We hope to see you there!

In solidarity,

Your CUPE 3906 Bargaining Team

“Recently, several issues have arisen between the union and the university. The previous collective agreement for Unit 2 members expired on Aug. 31, 2020, which prompted negotiations with McMaster to develop a new agreement.

Sharoni Mitra, president of CUPE 3906, said that the new agreement entails various concerns from sessional faculty members such as better job security, benefits, working conditions, teaching assistant training and compensation for the extra technological support required in a remote environment during this time.

From Oct. 14 to 16, the union held a strike vote amongst its Unit 2 members. Members voted 81 per cent in favour of a strike mandate for the bargaining committee if negotiations with McMaster fail.

This does not necessarily mean that a strike will occur, but votes from members signal to the union that members are prepared to strike should negotiations with McMaster fail to meet members’ needs.”

The full article can be found here.

We’re ready to secure a fair and reasonable agreement for Sessionals that reflects their vital contributions to McMaster and recognizes their service to the university.

The CUPE 3906 Unit 2 Bargaining Team met in conciliation with the Employer on Tuesday, October 20, 2020 and Wednesday, October 21, 2020.  “Conciliation” refers to contract negotiations that are assisted by a government-appointed Conciliation Officer, who tries to help the parties reach agreement before they can initiate a strike or lockout deadline.

The implications of the Conservative Party’s Bill 124 continued to make negotiations difficult and frustrating for both parties.  The legislation limits compensation to 1% per year over the first 3 years of a contract.

Aside from the implications of Bill 124, the Employer refused to cede ground on job security, training, and the proration of 3-unit positions.

Both parties are returning to the table in the near future to continue negotiations.  The Bargaining team would like to thank members again for the strong show of support through the 81% strike mandate.

Hamilton, ON— The front-line instructors responsible for a significant proportion of undergraduate teaching at McMaster University have concluded a strike vote after three days of socially distant voting.  Sessional Faculty and Hourly-Rated Sessional Music Faculty at McMaster University, comprising CUPE Local 3906 (Unit 2), voted 81% in favour of providing their Bargaining Committee with a strike mandate should negotiations the table with the McMaster Administration fail.

A historic number of members participated in the vote between October 14^th and October 16^th, which was held online due to pandemic safety measures and restricted access to the University campus.  The Bargaining Team is overwhelmed that so many members participated in the vote. “We are grateful that members demonstrated such strong support for the Union’s proposals on the table,” says Sharoni Mitra, the Local’s President, “especially given the pressures and stress that members already face due to the pandemic, the increasingly precarious nature of employment at postsecondary institutions, and the restrictions imposed on front-line public sector workers by the Ford government’s legislation.”

This 81% mandate highlights the Employer’s need to take members’ concerns to heart immediately or face job action.  Proposals that erode job security and make already precarious work more piecemeal must be removed from the table.  The Employer must work with the Union to find ways to support members’ access to the training and resources they need to continue providing the teaching excellence on which McMaster prides itself.  Finally, proposals that address members’ fundamental needs—such as improvements to basic health funds and a promise not to reduce positions in the move to online teaching—must not be neglected in such volatile times where front-line workers everywhere are struggling.

The results of this vote do not mean that a strike is forthcoming, but do empower the bargaining team to call a strike should negotiations not provide meaningful gains to members. The next step in the bargaining process is conciliation, in which a provincially appointed conciliation officer will meet with the parties.  Conciliation is scheduled on Tuesday, October 20^th, and Wednesday, October 21^st, 2020.  More days may be scheduled if progress continues and the Parties agree to meet.

Local 3906 is eager to put the support of its members into action at the bargaining table and is committed to membership engagement throughout the process. Please watch for our updates and additional bargaining support initiatives.

CUPE Local 3906 (Unit 2) represents over 500 Sessional Faculty and Hourly Rated Sessional Music Faculty at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.