Your Bargaining Team (BT) for Units 1, 2, and 3 has had another busy week, despite not having a bargaining session with the employer this week. With the recent election of a new Communications Officer for the local, rounds of introductions were in order along with discussion of BT communications logistics. Another top order of business was a discussion on the insufficient funding for UHIP health coverage costs that international graduate students must pay out of pocket to work and study in Canada. You can find more information on our website. The BT proposed an increase to the UHIP Fund back on July 13. The employer has yet to respond, but you can rest assured that this is a priority that we intend to fight for at the bargaining table.
At this point in the process, we are focusing on preparing counterproposals and on our mobilization efforts with members. The latter was discussed in the November 5 joint BT/Exec meeting, as well.
Our next bargaining meeting with the employer is on Tuesday, November 10 from 9AM to 1PM and all members are welcome and encouraged to attend. Your BT is planning the following items for Tuesday’s agenda: what the Employer calls “fund optimization”, pensions, wages and benefits, and the current slow pace of bargaining despite being in conciliation. Consequently, your BT and executive committee will be mulling over the next steps. We hope that members are as appalled as we are by the Employer’s lack of preparation, movement, and progress to respond substantially to the Union’s proposals packages over the last four months.
In solidarity,
CUPE 3903 Bargaining Team (Units 1, 2, & 3)
bargaining@cupe3903.org
Click here to read previous BT reports, and check the calendar for upcoming bargaining-related happenings.