Social media statement made by CUPE 3906 regarding Hamas attacks in Israel has sparked responses from McMaster and community members
cw: discussion of ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict
Cover photo taken during 2022 CUPE 3906 strike and used for illustrative purposes only.
Following the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, statements have been issued by CUPE Local 3906 and McMaster University representatives. CUPE Local 3906 is the largest union on campus, representing 3,500 McMaster employees, including teaching assistants, sessional faculty and postdoctoral fellows.
On Oct. 7, CUPE 3906 publicly expressed their support for Palestine on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, sparking controversy in the community.
CUPE Ontario President Fred Hahn doubled down on this messaging on his personal social media, tweeting support for Palestinian resistance and anti-Israel sentiments.
Some members of the McMaster and Hamilton community have voiced concerns regarding Hahn’s comments, expressing that the union does not represent their beliefs.
CUPE 3906’s Instagram and X statements were taken down due to the backlash.
Soon after on Oct. 7, McMaster issued a statement entitled “Violence is never a solution,” denouncing CUPE’s recent comments on the conflict. A McMaster Daily News article also released that day stated that the university was “shocked and disappointed” with CUPE’s comments.
"While CUPE Local 3906, which represents Teaching Assistants, Research Assistants in lieu, Sessional Faculty and Post-Doctoral Fellows, is an independent group with the right to express its views, the university is in disagreement with any statement condoning violence," read an excerpt from the Oct. 7 Daily News article.
Provincial and federal government representatives, including Premier Doug Ford and federal Labour Minister Seamous O’Regan, also publicly condemned Hahn’s comments.
"This is not a reflection of Canada's labour movement and we cannot let it take away from the outpouring of support union leaders have expressed for Israel," said O'Regan, regarding Hahn’s comments.
Other representatives, including Ontario NDP MPP Sarah Jama, echoed similar statements to Hahn. In response to the war declared in Israel, Jama released a statement on X calling for an end to apartheid and the occupation of Palestinian land.
Like Hahn, Jama’s statement also drew criticism from government officials. Jama and NDP Leader Marit Stiles released apologies and Jama later amended her original statement to also condemn violence by Hamas on Jewish people.
Despite the overwhelming backlash, as of Oct. 18, CUPE Local 3906 has not retracted from their stance. On Oct. 10, a new statement was issued on CUPE 3906’s website, further explaining their initial stance in support of Palestinian liberation.
McMaster President David Farrar, the Office of the Provost and many McMaster faculties have acknowledged this is an incredibly difficult and mournful time for many student communities and offered support resources.
“As always, the physical and psychological safety of our community is paramount, and we are committed to making sure everyone feels safe and respected in our teaching, learning, working, living, and research environments,” read an excerpt from an email statement from McMaster President David Farrar shared on Oct. 13.
This is an on-going story.
For more information on accessing mental health and support resources, visit the newly formed McMaster community support resource page. This resource includes links and contact information for the Student Wellness Centre, Student Accessibility Services, the Spiritual Care and Learning Centre and several other McMaster services.
CUPE 3906 undergraduate and graduate teaching and research assistants prepare to strike and cease all duties beginning next week
Negotiations between the university and CUPE 3906 Unit 1 reached an impasse on Friday, Nov. 18. CUPE 3906 teaching assistants and research assistants received an email Friday night announcing a strike starting Monday, Nov. 21.
According to the email, picketing will begin Monday at 7:00 a.m. and will occur at entrances around campus. In their email, the CUPE 3906 bargaining team also explains that picket lines are intended to disrupt the flow of traffic and goods being delivered onto campus.
The CUPE 3906 Unit 1 bargaining team urged all TAs to begin withholding their labor when picketing begins. Members of CUPE 3906 Unit 1 who picket will be paid $300 per week for 20 hours of picket duties.
TA duties that will cease due to the strike include tutorials, grading and answering student emails. Otherwise classes are expected to continue as usual. Any changes to schedules will be notified to students by their course instructors.
The university has also put out information for students about accessing campus during the strike and they have advised students with cars to expect delays at the Sterling St. and Cootes Dr. Entrances.
McMaster has informed TAs that if they wish to continue to get paid during the strike, they are able to complete a form to continue their TA duties. In response, the CUPE 3906 bargaining team informed TAs that if they are to continue working, they will be undermining the efforts of the union and may prolong the strike and their rights as a worker will not be protected under the union during this period.
The strike will continue until an agreement is reached.
This is an ongoing story.
JESSICA YANG / MULTIMEDIA ASSISTANT
TAs and RAs have decided in a 90% positive vote that they’re ready to strike if McMaster University doesn’t meet their demands regarding fairer wages and benefits
On Oct. 20 the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 3906 announced that teaching and research assistants had voted in favour of striking if necessary. The union is in negotiations with McMaster University on raising wages and increasing benefits. CUPE3906’s President, Chris Fairweather, says the university’s offer was unacceptable for workers.
The poll showed workers strongly supported the strike, with 90% of TAs voting to strike if necessary. While TAs and RAs are not striking as of yet, they are willing to do so if an agreement cannot be reached at the bargaining table. No dates have been set for a possible strike.
This decision comes from CUPE3906, who says the University is raising wages at less than the rate of inflation. CUPE3906 claimed in an Instagram post that if the university had continued to raise the wages to keep up with inflation, TAs would be paid $5/hr more than the current rates.
The 2019-2022 Collective Agreement between McMaster University and CUPE3906 on behalf of Unit 1, McMaster’s 2500 teaching and research assistants, expired the first week of September before the contract could be renegotiated. The agreement stated that TAs may not strike for the duration of the agreement.
Prior to the poll, CUPE3906 held two Q&A sessions as well as a special general membership meeting before the vote that took place between Oct. 17 and Oct. 19. CUPE3906 urged TAs to vote in favour of the strike in order to prevent falling further behind in job quality.
CUPE3906 claims that many universities have allowed their employees’ salaries to fall behind the rate of inflation and that schools are making large enough profits to fairly compensate their workers. In McMaster University’s 2020-2021 Annual Financial Report, they claimed a $232 million excess of revenues over expenses, surpassing the original estimate of $43.4 million.
During ongoing negotiations, CUPE3906 is pushing for three key issues, the first being financial security and compensation. CUPE3906 is pushing for increased wages, minimum 65-hour contracts opposed to current 32-hour minimums, closing the wage gap between undergraduate and graduate students, and other employee services for example access to parking.
Their second key issue is physical and mental health and wellness which asks for expansion of current health care reimbursements, additional UHIP coverage for international students, affordable dental coverage and expansion of the Gender Affirmation Fund.
The final key issue CUPE3906 will be negotiating for is improved working conditions meaning regulating the number of students that can be assigned to a TA in a seminar or tutorial, further clarity on hours of work forms, transparency of working conditions and re-securing 5 hours of paid training in the new collective agreement.
The bargaining team has been authorized by the positive vote to call for a strike if a fair agreement cannot be reached. TAs and RAs will be informed through their McMaster emails with updates on the bargaining. Updates can also be found on CUPE3906’s website at https://bettermac.ca/.
New employment contract for sessional faculty members and addressing out-of-province TA exclusion concerns
At McMaster University, the Canadian Union of Public Employees 3906 is a union that works to improve the working conditions of academic workers at the university. The union currently represents about 3,500 workers at McMaster and includes three units.
Unit 1 includes teaching assistants and research assistants in lieu. Unit 2 includes sessional faculty, McMaster English Language Development sessional faculty and hourly-rated sessional music faculty. Lastly, Unit 3 includes post-doctoral fellows.
A key responsibility of the union is to negotiate and enforce an employment contract for each of the three units. The contract includes all benefits, rights and responsibilities of union members, and the responsibilities and obligations of the employer, McMaster University.
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.
Other recent negotiations with McMaster include the university’s exclusion of out-of-province teaching assistants from the bargaining unit. This means that out-of-province teaching assistants lose rights, privileges and protections that are a part of their membership with the union. They are excluded from the union’s dental plan, healthcare spending account, Gender Affirmation Fund, worker protections and other benefits.
Mitra expressed that the union was not consulted by the university about this decision and that the university justifies their exclusion of out-of-province TAs due to the wording within their collective agreement.
The previous collective agreement between TAs and the university denoted that teaching assistants of Ontario are recognized by the university as part of the agreement. However, Mitra said that this was largely interpreted by the union as teaching assistants who are working for McMaster, an institution located in Ontario.
The union argued that they are teaching assistants of Ontario, regardless of where they live.
The union argued that they are teaching assistants of Ontario, regardless of where they live.
This decision has been met with much criticism from the union, especially due to the change to the online environment that teaching assistants have to face during the COVID-19 pandemic. The union has sent the university a letter of understanding in hopes of resolving the matter internally but was not met with a satisfying response from the university.
In the LOU, the union asked that the university agree to recognize out-of-province TAs as unionized TAs at least for the time being, while courses are being offered online.
“Our preference would have been to find a solution without causing worry for our members; however, the University has made it clear that this won’t be possible,” the union shared.
“Our preference would have been to find a solution without causing worry for our members; however, the University has made it clear that this won’t be possible,” the union shared on their website.
As a TA living out-of-province during this school year, Angela Kruger expressed that it is frustrating for them to know that they have been excluded from the union by the university.
Kruger said they enjoy teaching and being able to share their knowledge with students; however, it’s unfortunate that the institution is also benefiting from this relationship while making things more difficult with the power they hold.
“If I wanted to say this is too much work for me, I don’t know what I would do and I don't know what grounds I would have. I do know who to talk to but I don’t know what they could do for me since I’m not considered part of the union,” said Kruger.
Kruger said that they have now had to postpone activities such as dental visits due to the lack of coverage they now receive following the exclusion.
Kruger also added that being able to organize TAs together has such immense value as TAs are often in a rather vulnerable position between the power dynamic with the university. Although it is important for them to stand up to power, circumstances from the pandemic such as rent and living expenses limit their options in negotiating with McMaster.
“To sacrifice a TAship or jeopardize your relationship with the university when you are trying to build a career in the university, is a relatively serious thing to consider doing. So yeah, I do think that it’s important to organize but I do think that as TAs there are multiple intersections of precarity that will necessarily inform whatever kinds of organizing efforts we are able to exert,” said Kruger.
The union has now filed a policy grievance, which is an official complaint, but this was denied by the university.
"Basically, McMaster found a loophole to exploit us,” said Mitra.
“It’s just completely unconscionable that the employer would use the pandemic to push people out of the union to weaken our collective power and to directly strip them of those benefits and protections. Basically, McMaster found a loophole to exploit us,” said Mitra.
The situation has been referred to arbitration and the union is working with CUPE National’s legal department to prepare for any next steps that might occur in the negotiations with McMaster.
On Nov. 26, 89 per cent of the Canadian Union of Public Employes 3906’s Unit 1 members voted in favour of ratifying a tentative agreement with the university, thus avoiding a strike. CUPE 3906 Unit 1 represents research and teaching assistants in both graduate and undergraduate programs at McMaster.
Voting began on Nov. 25, immediately following CUPE 3906’s Special General Membership Meeting. At this meeting, the new agreement between TAs and the university was presented to Unit 1 members.
According to CUPE 3906 president Nathan Todd, the union was able to secure a deal that met their main bargaining priorities, which included paid TA training, increased benefits and expanded paid pregnancy and parental leave.
“It's not accurate to say that TAs had most of their demands met, but we were able to secure a significant gain that members had identified as a big priority,” stated Todd in an email.
The full agreement between TAs and the university has not been released. However, CUPE 3906 released an overview of the agreement on Nov. 27.
The tentative agreement includes five additional hours of paid pedagogical and anti-oppression training for all TAs. In previous years, the collective agreement has allocated TAs three paid hours a semester to participate in health and safety and orientation training. According to CUPE 3906, this was not enough.
“Additional hours of paid pedagogical and anti-oppression training were the biggest gain insofar as it was one of the largest priorities identified by the membership. This gain speaks not only to improving our pay but also to improving our working conditions,” wrote Todd in an email.
“Additional hours of paid pedagogical and anti-oppression training were the biggest gain insofar as it was one of the largest priorities identified by the membership."
The tentative agreement also proposes a one per cent increase in wages for the next three years. Collective agreements usually mandate annual wage increases so that wages keep up with the rate of inflation. As of this month, yearly inflation in Ontario sits at 1.7 per cent.
During the bargaining process for the collective agreement, CUPE 3906 advocated against the one per cent wage cap. CUPE 3906 stated that the wage limit would cause harm to workers’ livelihoods because their wages would not keep up with the rate of inflation.
Todd cites Bill 124 — the Protecting a Sustainable Public Sector for Future Generations Act — as the reason TAs were limited to a one per cent increase in wages. Under Bill 124, which received Royal Assent on Nov. 7, salary increases to public employees are limited to one per cent for every twelve month period.
Currently, graduate and undergraduate TAs are paid $43.63 and $25.30 per hour, respectively. Under the tentative agreement, graduate and undergraduate TAs will receive $44.07 and $25.55 per hour beginning Sept. 1, 2020. Beginning Sept. 2021 they will receive $44.95 and $26.07 per hour.
Todd emphasized that while Bill 124 made negotiations difficult, he believes that CUPE 3906 got the best deal given the circumstances.
In addition to paid training and wages, the tentative agreement also expands paid pregnancy and family medical leave, and dedicates a fund towards supporting members seeking gender affirmation.
Todd emphasized that while Bill 124 made negotiations difficult, he believes that CUPE 3906 got the best deal given the circumstances.
“I hope our members and the broader McMaster community recognize that government and university policies which contribute to rising costs of living (including tuition) and precarious employment makes labour relations more difficult, and that such policies can be resisted and defeated by union and community members,” wrote Todd in an email.
The tentative agreement must now be ratified by McMaster’s Board of Governors, set to take place on Dec. 12. If ratified, the agreement will take immediate effect.
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On Sept. 26, the Canadian Union of Public Employees 3906 made history as 87 per cent of its Unit 1 members voted to authorize a strike mandate. Unit 1 represents graduate and undergraduate teaching assistants and research assistants at McMaster. This will allow for strike action, if deemed necessary.
The vote came after a series of labour negotiations between CUPE 3906 and McMaster University. Beginning in June, CUPE had presented a list of proposed changes to the collective agreement that supervises McMaster’s academic employees. The list included paid training for teaching assistants, equitable wages between undergraduate and graduate teaching assistants, an increase to the minimum number of hours on a contract, protection against tuition increases and better representation for Indigenous members.
McMaster had planned to conduct negotiations with CUPE 3906 in accordance with Bill 124, which, if passed, would nullify collective agreements and limit the annual increase of compensation and wages to one per cent. Since the bill was yet to be legally binding at the time of negotiations, CUPE 3906 disagreed with McMaster’s choice to bargain under Bill 124.
After the first reading of Bill 124, which occurred on June 5, 2019, 64 Legislative Assembly members were in favour of passing the bill and 40 members voted against it. In the end, the motion was carried forward. In order to become law, Bill 124 will need to pass additional readings.
By the beginning of September, CUPE 3906 and McMaster had failed to arrive at an agreement. When the bargaining process reached an impasse on Sept. 11, the teaching and research assistants of CUPE 3906’s Unit 1 filed for conciliation and scheduled a strike vote for Sept. 26.
According to an update from CUPE 3906, after four days of voting, a record-breaking majority voted in favour of a strike in the event that CUPE 3906 deems a strike necessary. Most of the members are unwilling to accept the conditions offered by McMaster.
CUPE 3906 represents 3,500 workers at McMaster each year. This makes it one of the largest unions in Hamilton and the largest on campus. Unit 1 alone represents about 2,700 McMaster employees, including all teaching assistants, some research assistants, markers, demonstrators and tutors.
“The bargaining team is not releasing total numbers right now … but it is by far the highest amount of people we’ve ever seen. We had more people vote ‘yes’ than have ever voted total,” said Nathan Todd, president of CUPE 3906 and a graduate student in McMaster’s philosophy department.
A statement on CUPE 3906’s website adds that the strike mandate vote illustrates the members’ commitment to the needs that the union is representing.
Despite a landmark vote, however, CUPE 3906 remains unsure as to how the timeline will look following the strike authorization. The union has not been able to return to the bargaining table; they have not been afforded the chance to change their position and they are advocating for the same changes as when negotiations first began.
At the moment, the rest of the negotiating process is in a standstill as CUPE 3906 waits for news from their provincially appointed conciliation officer. The union is aware that the conciliator has contacted McMaster but does not know how the university has responded, if at all.
“I’m not sure if [McMaster] has returned [the conciliator]’s calls or given her any updates but last I spoke with the conciliator this week, she wasn’t able to confirm any further dates … We’ve offered a number of dates this month. We’re waiting to hear back. That’s kind of holding back the timeline at this point,” said Todd.
Chantal Mancini, a PhD candidate in the department of labour studies and a delegate to the Hamilton and District Labour Council for CUPE 3906, states that McMaster has not demonstrated their support for their graduate students in this round of bargaining.
“It’s interesting that a major focus of researchers in labour studies is the increase of precarious work and the negative impact this has on the well-being of workers. Yet, in direct contrast to this research, McMaster has presented a proposal to our union that will increase the precariousness of the work that I and my Unit 1 colleagues perform,” she said.
Mancini says that the university’s proposal does not support the well-being of graduate students. She notes that although students will benefit from the priorities requested of McMaster, the university has nevertheless rejected the union’s demands.
Maybe the coolest thing while working the voting booth, was having undergrads come up and ask how they could help. Felt awesome to be supported by the whole student family. https://t.co/NEr2xyREMx
— Adam Fortais (@AdamFortais) September 27, 2019
Regardless of the administration’s silence, other bodies on campus have shown their support for CUPE 3906. The McMaster Graduate Student Association released a letter of support on Oct. 2, declaring that the GSA’s priorities align with those of CUPE 3906’s. The day after, the Department of Political Science at McMaster also announced their support for better working conditions and compensation for teaching and research assistants, hoping for a fair agreement between the union and the university.
“We’re considering reaching out to other departments as well … It seems like, in the departments we’ve spoken to, there is a good level of support,” said Mollie McGuire, vice-president of CUPE 3906.
On Oct. 6, CUPE Ontario, which represents 55,000 educators across the province, averted a strike after the provincial government made concessions in a collective agreement. This renders them the first of several unions to arrive at a deal with the Ford government since public school employee contracts expired in September. While the deal did not involve them, CUPE 3906 has stated that they stand in solidarity with CUPE’s Ontario School Board Council of Unions.
“[We are] immensely proud of their accomplishments at the bargaining table and beyond. The OBSCU, CUPE, their allies and their communities stood firm in resistance to authority politics and the devaluation of their work. Their accomplishments were possible due to the direct action by their members and their community and their success is a testament to the value of mobilization and the power of the labour movement,” said Todd.
Teaching and research assistants at McMaster are hoping for a similar accomplishment, referring to the strong strike vote mandate provided to CUPE 3906 as an indication of their resolve to seek a fair contract.
“It is my hope that McMaster has taken notice and is committed to negotiating a fair deal that reflects the value of the work we do for the university. Reaching a deal is ultimately the best outcome for everyone,” said Mancini.
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By Nathan Todd, Contributor
This year, Ontario has seen significant and damaging cuts to funding for students, student associations, universities and the public employees who keep universities and communities running.
Many of you may have already felt the impact of these changes — there are already reports of students who are no longer able to attend university because of the elimination of some Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) grants. In addition, the Student Choice Initiative left student and graduate associations scrambling over the summer in attempts to prepare for and minimize the funding cuts that the SCI would bring.
Teaching assistants who are often students are not immune to these negative effects. As students, we are affected by the cuts to OSAP, and as members of either the McMaster Students Union or the Graduate Students Association, we are also members of associations facing considerable budget cuts. On top of this, our ongoing rounds of bargaining with McMaster University for a new employment contract, among other things, threatens to leave us in an even more precarious situation.
As public employees, we are also now facing Bill 124, a proposed piece of legislation which would mandate that our wage increases do not exceed one per cent, an amount that does not keep up with the cost of inflation. In other words, Bill 124 effectively mandates that we take pay cuts over the next three years.
To put this in a better context, graduate TAs who work 260 hours (which is usually the most a TA can work at Mac) earn less than $11,500 for the year, and undergraduate TAs earn considerably less than that. This is not enough to balance the tuition we need to pay in order to have access to the job in the first place. Given these circumstances, increases to our wages and benefits are always a priority for us in bargaining. Unfortunately, McMaster is not willing to entertain an agreement that wouldn’t conform to Bill 124 should the bill become law. Therefore, meaningful wage increases seem to be a non-starter for the university.
Beyond Bill 124, McMaster is also looking to roll back the amount of hours TAs are entitled to work, making our ability to pay for tuition and keep up with the cost of living even more difficult.
Wage increases are not our only priority. One of the top priorities we identified before heading into bargaining was paid job-specific and anti-oppressive training for TAs. As it stands, there is no training for TAs. This means that they are learning how to run labs, teach tutorials, mentor and grade on the job! In asking for paid training, we are not asking for anything you wouldn’t expect from working in an office, a high school or a McDonald’s.
McMaster, however, is unsure if paid TA training is feasible. Let me repeat that: A university isn’t sure if it is feasible to teach people how to teach.
As a TA of about five years, I think we do a good job. But running tutorials and grading the assignments that go on to impact the lives of undergraduates is serious, professional work. As TAs, we recognize that. This is why we are asking for professional training to ensure that undergraduates are getting the highest quality teaching possible. Not only would paid training help TAs financially, but it would also benefit us professionally and it would benefit the students who rely on us.
If our bargaining continues to stall, there is a chance you will get messages from McMaster or members in the community about TAs being difficult or that what we are asking for is unreasonable. If this happens, please keep in mind that we are asking for things that any reasonable professional ought to — the ability to keep up with the cost of inflation and the proper training to do our jobs.
Given the attacks that university members have seen through the cuts to OSAP, the Student Choice Initiative and the looming Bill 124, it is more important than ever that we collectively resist attacks on the most vulnerable. McMaster claims it is committed to making a “Brighter World” – TAs and students deserve to be part of it.
Nathan Todd is the President of CUPE 3906
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After a summer of labour negotiations with McMaster University, the union representing McMaster teaching and research assistants has declared a strike vote for the end of the month.
Since June, the Canadian Union of Public Employees 3906 has been negotiating the collective agreements governing academic workers at McMaster University. Last Wednesday, the unit representing teaching assistants and research assistants announced that they had reached an impasse, opting to file for conciliation and declaring a strike vote for the end of the month.
Collective Bargaining
In June, CUPE 3906 met with McMaster’s bargaining committee. Each party proposed changes to the collective agreement governing teaching assistants, research assistants in-lieu and all other university employees represented under CUPE 3906 Unit One.
According to Gord Arbeau, director of communications at McMaster, the University does not publicly discuss the content of ongoing labour negotiations. However, he stated that they aim to reach fair agreements with their employees.
“The goal is to reach a fair and equitable agreement with our bargaining partners that represents the important work that the members of that unit perform,” said Arbeau.
CUPE 3906 presented a list of priorities including increased funding, improved mental and physical health support, increased paid training, better representation for Indigenous members and improved working conditions.
They reported that the university had been receptive on several issues including pregnancy leave and labour/management relations.
However, CUPE 3906 stated that they had not reached agreements on their proposals for tuition waivers, paid pedagogical and anti oppression training, increase of minimum hours and restrictions on contract or volunteer work.
CUPE 3906 also reported problems with the University’s proposed compensation package. According to a bulletin released following the meeting, the University was bargaining within the mandate of a new provincial bill that limits compensation increases.
What is Bill 124 and why does it matter?
Bill 124, also known as the “Protecting a Sustainable Public Sector for Future Generations Act,” would place restrictions on the agreements that unions and employers can make with one another.
During collective bargaining, employers and employees negotiate compensation and salary increases. Usually, collective agreements mandate annual wage increases in order to keep up with the rate of inflation. As of this month, yearly inflation in Ontario sits at 2.1 per cent.
However, Bill 124 proposes that compensation and wage increases for public service workers cannot increase more than one per cent each year.
According to Ontario Treasury Board President Peter Bethlenfalvy, “the legislation would allow for reasonable wage increases, while protecting the province's front-line services, restoring the province's financial position and respecting taxpayer dollars.”
CUPE 3906 has criticized the bill for restricting workers’ rights to free collective bargaining. If passed, the bill would empower the provincial government to nullify collective agreements that do not abide by the one per cent wage cap. In practice, this means that the government could require parties to restart the bargaining process if their agreement does not align with the provisions in Bill 124.
The provincial government would also be empowered to retroactively veto collective agreements made after June 5.
“If the Ontario government has the power to unilaterally overrule agreements made between workers and their employers — and to interfere with the ability of workers to freely and democratically negotiate the wages, benefits, and working conditions in their workplace — then the right to collectively bargain is severely undermined,” says an article from Canadian labour news website rankandfile.ca.
Furthermore, CUPE has stated that the proposed wage cap would cause substantial harm to the livelihoods of public service workers, since the annual rate of inflation surpasses the one per cent wage cap.
At an emergency meeting following the announcement of Bill 124, CUPE 3906 members expressed concern over what this could mean for McMaster employees living in Hamilton, where the costs of living have increased significantly in recent years. According to a 2018 report from the Hamilton Housing Foundation, the average cost of rent in Hamilton has increased at double the rate of inflation since 2012.
“Anything that's below the level of inflation is a cut and phrasing it as a one per cent increase is just a willful misinterpretation of the facts … It's part of fragmenting the social services we're relying on, and the people it'll affect the most are people who are already marginalized,” said Julia Pyryeskina, a volunteer with CUPE 3906.
While Bill 124 is not yet legally binding, the university is committed to bargaining within the limits of the proposed legislation.
“The province has been clear with the broader public sector about its intentions ... we're part of the broader public service and we'll make sure that we'll work to be aligned with the intent of the legislation and the intent of the province,” stated Arbeau.
CUPE’s stance is that, since the bill is not yet law, McMaster should be negotiating a fair deal outside the parameters of the proposed legislation.
“We've asked the university to partner with us against Bill 124 … they have the opportunity to stand with us and bargain a fair deal and work with us against Bill 124 and they've denied to take that chance,” said Nathan Todd, CUPE 3906 president.
At an Impasse
After meeting again with the university’s bargaining committee on Aug. 21 and 22, CUPE 3906 reported that they had come to a standstill, in large part because they were unable to reach consensus on whether to bargain within the confines of Bill 124.
They also reported that the university had refused to entertain CUPE 3906’s proposal to entertain the 1 per cent wage cap in exchange for movement on proposed measures such as paid training and tuition freezes.
On Sept. 4, CUPE 3906 released a statement announcing that they had filed for conciliation, requiring a neutral third party from the Ministry of Labour to assist with negotiations.
They also announced plans to hold a strike vote at the end of the month, at which point CUPE’s membership will decide whether to give the bargaining team the power to call a strike. A positive vote does not immediately trigger a strike, but instead empowers the bargaining team to authorize a strike if they are unsatisfied with the deal that the university offers.
According to the statement, the ability to go on strike is a powerful tool when entering into conciliation, since the possibility of a strike indicates that failure to come to a compromise will yield serious consequences for the university.
Angie Perez, former CUPE president, says a strike is nobody’s first choice. However, she adds, it may be necessary.
“...No one wants a strike, it's horrible for the union, it's horrible for everybody … But if that's the only way we're going to be listened to, and it's the only way that we are going to have a real deal … that is not going to be hurting us and other people, we are not asking for unreasonable things,” Perez said.
CUPE is appealing to the McMaster community for support while they prepare for a strike vote.
“In order to avoid a strike, we must convince the University to meet us halfway. If they refuse to offer pay and benefits increases that keep up with inflation, they must offer enhanced job security, protections against future tuition increases, and opportunities for more paid hours to keep TAs and RAs-in-lieu from falling even further behind,” says a statement on the CUPE website.
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