Bargaining Bulletin #9

Executive Summary

• Members of your CUPE3902 Unit 3 Bargaining Team (BT) are hard at work on your behalf, pressing the Employer for meaningful gains right up to tomorrow’s strike deadline – 12:01am on December 8.
• On December 6, your BT tabled the remaining proposals re: monetary issues.
• At approximately 1am on December 7, the Employer responded with a somewhat-complete package that included gains but, unsurprisingly, also underwhelming counters.
• Throughout the day on December 7, the two sides will continue efforts to achieve agreement on the remaining outstanding issues.
• Today, we’ll be making sure the Employer knows that to avert a strike, you need fair pay for all work in Music and access to the pension plan.
•  Calling all picket captains! If interested, contact Tom Robles (vp2@cupe3902.org) or Tzazna Miranda Leal (organizer@cupe3902.org). 
• Tomorrow, December 8 from 5-7pm, please attend the strike meeting at which we will vote to take strike action if we have not achieved a Tentative Agreement. To attend, please register via the Member Portal. 

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Expanded

CUPE 3902 Unit 3 has now been without a Collective Agreement for 463 days and your Bargaining Team (BT) has met with the Employer 25 times.

Your Bargaining Team (BT) tabled all remaining financial proposals (including wages, advancement, job security, GGRSP, HCSA) on December 6. At approximately 1:00am on December 7, the Employer responded with a mostly-complete package that included responses to the majority of your BT’s proposals.  While their responses on job security did not go as far as your BT would have hoped, there were limited gains in areas of advancement, course entitlements, etc. Have they agreed to fair pay for all work in Music? Not yet. Have they agreed to give you access to the pension plan? Not yet. 

What’s next? Your BT is back at the table for the full day on December 7 and will continue dialogue with the Employer late into the night, extending past 12:01am if necessary. No matter what the outcome of the final 24 hours at the table, however, on Thursday December 8 from 5-7pm, the BT urges you to attend the strike meeting at which we will vote to take strike action if we have not achieved a Tentative Agreement. To attend, please register via the Member Portal. The Zoom link will go out the morning of the meeting. Here is the tentative Agenda.

A strike will involve fully withdrawing work the University runs on—your marking, exam invigilation, grade completion, etc.—and, instead, picketing and otherwise taking action to disrupt the Employer’s operations. See the strike FAQs for more.

Here’s what you can do to prepare for a strike now!

1. Given the likelihood of a strike, we urge you to not upload marks to Quercus, E-marks, or any other platform the Employer can access. This will ensure that in a strike, you have maximum leverage. The Employer can’t finish the semester without you if you hold on to marks.

2. Finally, find out what your department’s plan is in the event of a strike. Will exams be cancelled? Will students have an opportunity to take make-up exams later? If so, when? Your students will have many questions, and we encourage you to actively communicate with them up to the point at which you are on strike.

3. Interested in being a picket captain? Contact Tom Robles (vp2@cupe3902.org) or Tzazna Miranda Leal (organizer@cupe3902.org). 

We hope the Employer will agree to fair pay for all work in Music and to give you access to the pension plan. We’ll let you know on Thursday, and vote on possible strike action if not.

We. Are. U. Of. T.

In solidarity,

The Unit 3 Bargaining Team

Erich Vogt
Frédérique Vézina 
Thomas Robles
Kenneth McNeilly
Steven Logan
Thomas Laughlin
Amy Conwell
David Simao
Leila Meskine