CUPE Local 3913

CUPE 3913 would like to wish you all a Happy IWD and reminds you, as the stories below show, that the battle is not over.

In 1977, March 8th was proclaimed by the United Nations to be International Women’s Day.  While International Women’s Week runs from March 7th to March 13th, the celebration of March 8th is dedicated to the observance of social progress, equality, and the significant contribution women make to the world.  This year, Canada’s theme of “Strong Women. Strong Canada. Strong World” has been adopted by the government to encourage women to participate in leadership roles in order to be fully active in all aspects of economic and social life.  However, it’s been no bread and roses for Canadian women since the inception of … click here to read the full article – Strong Women, Strong Canada, Strong World – But…

Check out CUPE Local 966 fights for Equal Pay in Peel for the shameful treatment that is still ongoing.

And for a very informative exposé of how far we have come, and how far we still have to go, check out Judy Rebick’s article: Assessment of the women’s movement 40 years after the Royal Commission on the Status of Women.

My name is John Brown, and at the last General Membership Meeting held on January 28, 2010, I was elected Chief Electoral Officer for CUPE Local 3913’s Executive Elections.

Nominations for Executive, Trustees and Members-At-Large positions for members in good standing to service for 2010 were officially opened at the GMM.

A nomination form may be downloaded here, or alternatively, you can pick it up from the Union Office and will need to fill it out and have it signed in order to make the nomination official. The form must be returned to the CUPE office located in UC 213A (above the Daily Grind). The form should be returned in a sealed envelope and addressed to John Brown, Chief Electoral Officer. I will then notify the nominee of my receipt of the form.

Elections for the 2010 Executive will be held at the AGM, which will take place on Thursday, March 25, 2010 in UC 103 at 5:30pm.

In solidarity,
John Brown (Department of Computer & Information Science)
Chief Electoral Officer

We have finally received the cheques from the University from the settlement to the actions taken by the Union to fight the sessional job cuts in the S09 and F09 semesters.

Sessionals who have taught at the university for four or more years and who lost jobs in the College of Arts and the College of Management & Economics have received a payout of $1000 for each course lost, as well as the associated seniority points and Right of First Refusal for those courses.

If you believe that you qualify under this settlement please contact the office at 519.824.4120 x 56268 or cupe3913@uoguelph.ca.

To all TAs and Sessionals with appointments at Guelph Humber:
The Ontario Labour Relations Board has now announced the results of the Vote  at the Colleges and there will not be  a Strike at Guelph-Humber or any of the other Colleges.

The University had been in discussions with Humber College to determine a plan in the case of a strike, including the impacts on CUPE 3913 members working at Guelph Humber.

On Thursday, February 11th, the college faculty voted, in a vote supervised by the Ministry of Labour, on a final offer from the Employer. The vote was very close, and the results, based on the outstanding mail-in and provisional ballots are now in.  Updates on the vote tally can be found on the OPSEU Website.

In the meantime if you have any questions, please contact the office at x56268 or cupe3913@uoguelph.ca.

Thanks to everyone who came out to the GMM on the 28th.

At the meeting the members approved a special one-time deduction of $2 per member to be donated to Doctors Without Borders for Haiti earthquake relief. The deduction will be taken off of each member’s paycheque on February 4th.

With a matching donation from the government this deduction will bring in $4,388 towards relief efforts.

On another note, congratulations to Jaime Brenes Reyes and Deidre Rose who were elected as Unit 1 and Unit 2 Chief Stewards respectively.

Thanks to everyone who came out for the panel discussion on labour rights both at home and abroad. A huge thanks to the panelists for their inspiring speeches.

Check out more photos on our Flickr page.

Click here for a recording of the event.

Featuring the University of Guelph as the “most caring University in the world,” pensions, markers vs graders, hate crimes on campus, and much more.

Download the January-February 2010 Newsletter here.

Image from Twitter

On January 12th an earthquake measuring 7.0 on the richter scale devastated the island nation of Haiti leaving upwards of 50,000 dead and millions more injured or homeless.

We are accepting donations in the office to support earthquake relief work done by organizations that already have a presence on the ground in Haiti.

We will also be bringing a donation motion to the General Membership Meeting on the 28th of January.

You can also donate directly to these organizations by using the links below:

Partners in Health
Doctors Without Border/Médecins Sans Frontières
Haiti Action
Grassroots International
Oxfam

Click here for an excellent article from Harper’s magazine on recent history in Haiti and the media’s slanted coverage of the tragedy.

On December 30th Stephen Harper announced that he will be Proroguing Parliament and suspending democracy until March 3. This is the second time he has done this in under two years. Proroguing means:

1. All 37 bills being debated in Parliament are thrown in the trash. Discussion on bills starts from scratch in March, wasting months of hard work by all parties. These bills included new crime legislation, limits on credit card insurance rates, etc.
2. Committees investigating accusations of torture of Afghan detainees stop working
3. Discussions and decisions about the pension crisis affecting Canada’s seniors stops
4. Questions about Canada’s inaction at the Copenhagen climate-change summit are silenced. Opportunities to move forward with Canada’s plan for sustainable development are stalled for over a month.
5. Your MPs cannot raise your concerns in Ottawa

In Guelph there will be a rally to protest the proroguing starting in St. George’s square on Jan 23rd at 1:00pm.

For more information check out the website noprorogue.ca, or the local chapter’s Facebook page.

In the run-up to the February Vancouver Winter Olympic Games, an international coalition of worker rights organizations is releasing its rating of commitments made by major sportswear brands to eliminate sweatshop abuses in their global supply chains. The ratings are being released on the newly launched Clearing the Hurdles website.
Click here to find out how you can support the campaign.