News

CUPE 3912 Letters of Support for Striking Alberta CUPE Locals

CUPE 3912 stands with CUPE Locals 2559, 5040, 2545, 40, 520, 3484, 3550, 4625, and 5543, currently striking in Alberta. 

As precariously employed in the academic system ourselves, your colleagues and peers at CUPE local 3912 emphatically support your strike action. It is unacceptable that the government you are negotiating with is refusing to invest in its future by systematically and chronically underfunding its schools. We recognize the important work that your members do ensuring the safe and quality tutelage of our nation’s youth, and we support your struggle to ensure that your working conditions are as idyllic as the environments you seek to deliver. 

Please know that you are not alone, and that across the academic sector and at all levels, your brothers and sisters in the labour movement are striving to improve our collective situation and shore up eroding rights for workers. Your victories are all our victories, and we are honoured to participate and support your goals and ambitions. Continue to fight back against unfair wages, improper working conditions, and systemic disenfranchisement. 

Protect Nova Scotia’s Universities – Stop Bill 12

ANSUT (The Association of Nova Scotia University Teachers) is inviting CUPE 3912 members to join their efforts to stop Bill 12, which has passed the 2nd. With a majority government, as well as recent changes to the Law Amendments Committee that may prevent any debate in the Legislature, it could achieve Royal Assent by next week at the latest.

As an overview, Bill 12 would give the Minister of Advanced Education unilateral power to:

  1. Appoint up to 50% of members to university Boards
  2. Dictate that university research align only with government priorities
  3. Force universities into a revitalization process. Operating funds could be withheld if the university failed to comply. (Currently, universities can decide if and when they should embark on a revitalization plan.)

You can read more about the dangers of Bill 12 here.

Please consider signing this letter prepared by ANSUT to have your voice heard on this critical Bill that could restrict the autonomy of post-secondary education in Nova Scotia.

CUPE 3912 Executive Endorsement of Christine Saulnier for CUPE Nova Scotia President

The CUPE 3912 Executive Committee is proud to endorse CUPE 3912 member, Christine Saulnier, for CUPE Nova Scotia President.

Christine has been working at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives-Nova Scotia for 17 years, running everything from research publishing to budgets and fundraising. Her work has helped build this policy institute into the go-to progressive voice in Nova Scotia. 

Christine teaches part-time at Saint Mary’s University and is an active CUPE 3912 member. In 2022-2023 she was a member of the CUPE 3912 SMU mobilization and strike avert committees. She has been extremely helpful in using her platform to raise awareness of CUPE 3912 efforts and broader issues of precarious academic labour in Nova Scotia. 

More generally, she is active in the labour movement, having served on the NS Federation of Labour’s women’s committee.

Christine’s work and activism — through research and publishing, through the press, at rallies, and at legislative committees — have made her a trusted voice in Nova Scotia politics, and an advocate for policies that help workers and families. She has tirelessly worked towards a poverty-free province. Her leadership on living wage reports has shaped debates about affordability and has driven the conversation of how to make work better for everyone in Nova Scotia. 

It is because of these efforts, experiences, and this dedication to workers and to worker-led movements, that we are happy to endorse her nomination for CUPE Nova Scotia president.

January 2025 Member Update

The executive board met twice this month. Here’s a brief report on what your union has been doing for you this month.

Collective Bargaining

A Collective Agreement is a contract between your union and your employer that governs our work. It determines issues such as wages, paid sick leave and vacation pay, benefits, and working conditions. Our five bargaining units are actively engaged in a continuous cycle of negotiation with our employers to secure the best deals for our members:

  • Dalhousie TAs and Part-Time Faculty are in the process of consulting with members to finalize their proposals.

  • MSVU Part-Time Faculty have requested dates to negotiate with the Employer

  • NSCAD Instructors will present their financial proposals at the next bargaining meeting on 30 January.

  • SMU Part-Time Faculty started bargaining at the end of the Fall. They have exchanged bargaining proposals with the Employer. They have five bargaining dates scheduled for February.

  • SMU TAs met with the Employer five times this month using a bargaining procedure that is open and transparent. You can find regular updates from the bargaining committee here.

  • Keep up to date with collective bargaining for your unit under the ‘Bargaining’ tab of our website.

Grievances

The union stands up for members’ labour rights as articulated in the Collective Agreement and under the law. If an employer acts in a way that violates your rights, the Vice President of your unit can address the issue by filing a grievance. This month, CUPE 3912 stood up for members by:

  • Standing up to an administration for hiring Instructors outside the Collective Agreement and hiring TAs to do Part-Time Faculty member’s work

  • Filing a grievance for a Part-Time Faculty member who we believe was discriminated against on the basis of disability through refusal of accommodation

Trustees Audit Report

Our finances are in order! Audits from 2019-2023 have been accepted by CUPE National.

Addressing Risk from Teaching Evaluations at MSVU

At MSVU, a Part-Time Faculty member who receives two unsatisfactory evaluations in two of four consecutive terms can be removed from the precedence list. Without precedence, an Instructor will likely lose their job. Unfortunately, teaching evaluations aren’t based on merit alone: they can reflect department chair bias, use of academic freedom, and student complaints that may be unfounded. The union is ready to help Instructors understand and appropriately respond to unsatisfactory evaluations.

Fighting for Senate Representation for Part-Time Instructors at SMU

Part-Time Faculty are currently ineligible to vote and serve on Senate at SMU; despite teaching a third of the University’s courses, they have no say in educational policy. This ineligibility is because the Senate bylaws do not recognize Part-Time Faculty as academic staff—despite the Saint Mary’s University Act saying otherwise. Part-Time Faculty teach a third of the University’s courses and should have a say in educational policy, especially as the University faces budgetary challenges that are leading to program changes. You can help by signing this petition to advocate for the Senate by-laws to be amended to include Part-Time Faculty.

Your union needs your engagement! To get involved, please reach out here.

SMU Senate Petition

Part-time Faculty are currently ineligible to vote and serve on the Saint Mary’s University Senate.

CUPE 3912 members teach one third of SMU courses but have no say in ‘educational policy‘ including courses of study, admission standards, diploma qualifications, and the creation, maintenance, and discontinuance of faculties and departments.

This ineligibility is because the Senate bylaws do not recognize part-time faculty as academic staff—despite the Saint Mary’s University Act saying otherwise. A year ago, the Senate by-law committee agreed on proposing a bylaws amendment that would enable PT Faculty to vote and serve on Senate. Unfortunately, there has not been much progress. Check the update on shared governance at SMU.

It is time for us to act. Our participation in shared governance at SMU is particularly important as we face budgetary challenges leading to program changes throughout the university.

Part-time faculty should be eligible to vote and serve on the Saint Mary’s University Senate.

 You can help by signing our petition to put more pressure on the SMU Senate to align their bylaws with the University Act and include part-time instructors in the governance of the university. The SMU Senate needs to finish the process of amending the bylaws NOW so we can vote and run in the upcoming Senate elections in March.

For more information see:

Sign our petition here.

General Membership Meeting — November 27, 2024

There is a hybrid general membership meeting on Wednesday November 27, 2024, at 7 p.m.

The proposed agenda is below. This meeting will include the Treasurer’s Report, and approving a proposed budget for next year.

To review the proposed budget and other reports, see the link sent to your emails.

In-Person:
Clari Room
Atrium 340
Saint Mary’s University

Online:
The zoom link was sent to your email.

Proposed Agenda

  1. Territorial acknowledgement
  2. Roll call of Officers
  3. Reading of Equality Statement
  4. Voting on new members and initiation
  5. Reading and approval of minutes of previous meeting
  6. Matters arising
  7. Treasurer’s report and approving expenditures
    • Financial Report
    • Proposed budget
  8. Correspondence
  9. Executive Board report
  10. Reports of committees and delegates
  11. Nomination, elections, or oath of office
  12. Unfinished business
  13. New business
  14. Good of the Union
  15. Adjournment

All members are welcome.

Bylaws meeting: October 30, 5:30 to 7:30 PM (virtual)

The CUPE 3912 by-laws committee is inviting you to participate in our union’s democracy and power structure once again.

On October 30th from 17h30 to 19h30 (5:30 PM to 7:30 PM), there will be a virtual meeting to discuss and vote on proposed by-law changes. This time around, the meeting will focus on the following sections in this order:

  • Out-of-pocket expenses
  • The duties of the secretary treasurer
  • Appendix D (except for the honorarium for the membership officer)

The proposed changes can be accessed at the following link.

The proposals for review include Section 14 (out-of-pocket expense), Section 9 (Secretary-Treasurer) and Appendix D.

The Committee would also like to thank the members who attended the last meeting and contributed to the discussion. Additional thanks to those who contributed written feedback before and after the meeting.

To streamline the process on the 30th, we encourage sending written feedback to Aiden in advance so language can be adapted and agenda time can be allocated.

Please also bring at least one colleague to the meeting. By-law discussion can be dry, but it is essential to the functioning of a Union and fair, powerful representation for all. We need your support!

The link to the meeting will be sent closer to the date by email.