News

Please see the attached letter in support of Bill 435.

Throughout March we held a general meeting and unit meetings for each bargaining unit. Resulting from this, we have our elected officials for the next year.

Thanks to all who ran, and thanks to our outgoing officers for their service to CUPE 3912.

Contact information for executive officers can be found here.

Executive Officers

• Lauren McKenzie, President
• Tanya Bilsbury, Communications Officer
• Jean-Philippe Bourgeois, Secretary-Treasurer
• Aiden Farrant, Recording Secretary
• Claire Drummond, VP NSCAD
• Greg Nepean, VP MSVU
• Samantha Williams, VP SMU TAs
• Erica Fischer, VP SMU PT Faculty
• Carlos Pessoa, VP Dalhousie PT Faculty
• Holly Hanes, VP Dalhousie TAs/Markers, Studley Campus
• Hadi Matin Rouhani, VP Dalhousie TAs/Markers, Sexton Campus
• Mohammad Ramezani, VP Dalhousie Truro Campus

Non-Executive Officials

• Nolan Dickson, Steward, SMU TAs
• Rebecca Roher, Steward, NSCAD
• Jordan Dempsey, Steward, Dalhousie
• Jonathon Tot, Steward, Dalhousie
• Shehzeen, Steward, Dalhousie
• Jenna MacPhee, Steward, Dalhousie
• Neil Balan, Steward, SMU PT Faculty
• Kim Robinson, Membership Officer

Bylaw Committee Members

• Cameron Ells
• Erica Fischer
• Carlos Pessoa
• Greg Nepean
• Shehzeen
• Mohammad Ramezani

Newsletter and Education Committee Members

• Janet Fu
• Wenceslao Amezcua
• Mohammad Ramezani
• Shehzeen
• Kim Robinson

On Tuesday March 26 at 7 p.m., the Annual General Membership Meeting (AGM) will be held in-person and online (hybrid).  At this meeting, the following Executive Officer positions will be up for election:

1. President
2. Recording Secretary
3. Secretary-Treasurer
4. Communications Officer
5. Membership Officer
6. One (1) Trustee (3 year term)
7. Up to 6 members of the Newsletter and Education Committee
8. Up to 6 members of the Bylaws Committee

All members of the Local are eligible for nomination for these positions. Learn more about these opportunities here. Members interested in standing for election to any of these roles can contact Renee Danker, our Office Manager, to put their name forward as candidates. Members can also be nominated at the meeting.

In Person location: Room 224 of the Dalhousie Student Union Building (6136 University Avenue).

Zoom link: Contact Kim Robinson, our membership officer

Please consider taking the opportunity to serve on the local’s Executive Board, as a member of a Negotiating Committee for one of our bargaining units, as a Member of the Bylaws Committee, or as a Member of the Newsletter Committee.

The following Executive Officer positions will be up for election at our March Annual General Meeting:

1. President
2. Recording Secretary
3. Secretary-Treasurer
4. Communications Officer
5. Membership Officer
6. One (1) Trustee (3 year term)

Please note:

• All members of the Local are eligible for nomination for these positions.
• The President and Secretary-Treasurer, both Signing Officers, must be available to carry out duties in person at the CUPE 3912 office.
• A member may accept nomination for a position while holding office in any position. If successful in the election, their resignation from their current position will take effect at that time.
• To be eligible for nomination, a member must be a member in good standing as set out in Article B.8.3 of the National Constitution.
• All duly elected Officers shall be installed at the meeting at which elections are held and shall continue in office for one year or until a successor has been elected and installed, provided, however, that no term of office shall be longer than three years.
• The terms of office for Trustees shall be so that one serves for a period of three years, one for two years, and one for one year, as laid down in Article B.2.4 of the CUPE National Constitution. Each year thereafter, the Local Union shall elect one Trustee for a three-year period. No member who has been a signing officer for the Local Union is eligible to run for Trustee, until at least one full term of office has elapsed.
• Honorarium per year: President – amount equivalent to 2.0 full-year courses; Recording Secretary – amount equivalent to 0.50 full-year course; Secretary-Treasurer – amount equivalent to 0.75 full-year course; Communications Officer – amount equivalent to 0.50 full-year course; Membership Officer – $500, Trustee – $500 per audit.
• Members interested in standing for election to any of these roles should contact Renee Danker, our Office Manager, to put their name forward as candidates. Members can also be nominated at the meeting.

The following Executive Officer and Steward positions will be up for election at Unit Membership Meetings:

Dalhousie

1. Vice President – Part-time Instructors at Dalhousie University
2. Vice President – Teaching Assistants at Dalhousie University (Sexton Campus)
3. Vice-President – Teaching Assistants at Dalhousie University (Studley Campus)
4. Vice-President – Dalhousie University, Truro Campus
5. Steward – Part-time Instructors at Dalhousie University
6. Steward – Teaching Assistants at Dalhousie University (Studley Campus)
7. Steward – Teaching Assistants at Dalhousie University (Sexton Campus)
8. Steward — Truro Campus

Mount Saint Vincent

1. Vice President – Part-time Instructors at Mount Saint Vincent University
2. Steward – Part-time Instructors at Mount Saint Vincent University

Saint Mary’s Part-Time Faculty

1. Vice President – Part-time Faculty at Saint Mary’s University
2. Steward – Part-time Faculty at Saint Mary’s University

Saint Mary’s TAs

1. Vice President – Teaching Assistants at Saint Mary’s University
2. Steward – Teaching Assistants at Saint Mary’s University.

NSCAD

1. Vice President – Teaching Assistants, Research Assistants, and Individual Course Appointees at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design 
2. Steward — Teaching Assistants, Research Assistants, and Individual Course Appointees at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design

Please note:

• Vice-Presidents and Stewards for instructors must be teaching or have taught as an instructor of the bargaining unit whose CUPE 3912 members they will represent to be eligible for nomination, within the last three years. The Vice-Presidents and Stewards for Teaching Assistants must be working or have worked as a Teaching Assistant or Marker/ Demonstrator at the campus or university at which they will represent CUPE 3912 members to be eligible for nomination. In the event that no member meeting the nomination criteria accepts nomination, other members of the Local will be eligible for nomination
  
• To be eligible for nomination, a member must be a member in good standing as set out in Article B.8.3 of the National Constitution
  
• Honorarium per year: Vice Presidents – amount equivalent to 0.50 full-year course; Stewards – amount equivalent to 0.25 full-year course
  
• Members interested in standing for election to any of these roles should contact Renee Danker, our Office Manager, to put their name forward as candidates. Members can also be nominated at the meeting.

What do stewards do?

• Encourage the participation of all members of the unit in union activity and maintain regular contact with the members to provide ongoing union awareness and education.
• Endeavour to identify candidates for Steward and other Local positions in their workplace, including but not limited to filling Steward vacancies and soon-to-be vacancies.
• Advise the members of their departments and Units, as applicable, with regard to matters involving the Collective Agreement.
• Report on issues facing Unit members.
• Be part of the Grievance committee of their Unit and in conjunction with the VP represent their members in grievance meetings.
• With the VP of their Unit, organise meetings and activities for their Unit and coordinate member outreach such as orientations and information sessions.
• Provide a written report of their activities to the membership at Unit meetings and to their VP.

Negotiating Committees:

A couple of bargaining units will also elect up to two (2) members from their bargaining unit (who preferably have current contracts under the applicable Collective Agreement) at their membership meeting for their Negotiating Committee.

• Members of the Negotiations Committee must represent the interests of all members of the bargaining unit.
• Committee members get paid up to $500 per year, per position payable upon completion of their role.

Bylaw Committee 

Up to 6 (six) members in good standing will be elected at the Annual General Membership Meeting to review the Bylaws.

• All members of the Bylaw Committee are required to attend a CUPE training session.
• For more information on what this committee does, check section 17. a. 2. of our Bylaws.

Education and Newsletter Committee 

Up to 6 (six) members, one from each bargaining unit, will be elected at the Annual General Membership Meeting for this committee, which is chaired by the Communications Officer.

Jonathan Mansvelt
CUPE 3912 Vice-President SMU TAs 

Happy March, everyone! I am honoured to have entered 2024 as the newly elected vice-president of the SMU Teaching Assistant (TA) Bargaining Unit. As an Honours Psychology student with eight TAships under my belt, I am excited to continue advocating for improved working conditions, especially given our crucial role in course delivery at SMU. It is hard to believe that less than a year ago, we were actively collecting membership cards to facilitate our unionization vote. In August, we received confirmation of our certification with a unanimous 100% of votes in favour of unionizing. As the academic year at SMU winds down, I am happy to report that the SMU TA Union continues to gain momentum. 

Since our official certification this past summer, CUPE 3912 has welcomed SMU TAs with open arms. Many TAs attended a celebratory BBQ dinner at the end of the fall term alongside CUPE 3912 executives, including President Cameron, VP SMU Part-Timers Erica, Communications Officer Tanya, and CUPE National Rep Mark. On December 15, a special membership meeting was held to elect interim executive members to represent our TA bargaining unit. Samantha Williams and I were elected into the steward and vice-president roles, respectively. Since then, Sam and I have been learning the ropes of union management from fellow CUPE 3912 executives as we continue working towards negotiating our first contract with SMU.

In January and Februrary, our priority was to collect information on what our members wanted to see in our first collective agreement. With support from our organizing committee, Sam and I created and circulated a comprehensive survey via email and social media. We also conducted a phone drive on January 21, reaching out to all members on our contact list. Many productive conversations were had, addressing topics such as union education, workplace issues faced by TAs, and suggestions for improvement. Given the tight-knit nature of SMU, we also engaged in several in-person conversations with TAs around campus. Early in February, we concluded data collection, and synthesized the anonymized results into a report, drawing from our surveying, phone drive conversations, and in-person discussions.

On February 26, we circulated an email with an infographic summarizing our report, outlining TAs’ principal demands. Key issues include increased wages and protection from exploitative working conditions. Throughout February and into March, our organizing committee will continue to draft our first collective agreement with help from President Cameron and CUPE National Rep Mark. We are incorporating language from the neighbouring Dalhousie TA contract and Canada-wide CUPE TA contracts. Our goal is to have a revised draft ready for bargaining by early April. Beyond bargaining, our first annual TA union meeting will be held mid-March. The agenda will include discussion of bargaining priorities, contract drafting updates, and executive election (vice-president, steward, and bargaining committee roles). We hope to see everyone there as we move forward to bargaining!

There are exciting scholarship, bursary, and award opportunities from the Awards Committee of CUPE Nova Scotia with deadlines coming up soon. Eligible recipients must be members in good standing of CUPE 3912 or a child or a legal ward of a member in good standing. Please consider nominating yourself or another member so that we can recognize folks for the good work they are doing within our local. You can check out the opportunities here:

• The J. H. Stewart Reid Memorial Fellowship Trust was founded to honour the memory of the first Executive Secretary of the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT). A minimum scholarship of $5,000 is awarded annually to a student registered in a doctoral program at a Canadian university. Deadline: April 30, 2024.

• 2024 Mike McNeil CUPE Atlantic Weeklong School Scholarship: The Scholarship will cover the cost of the registration fee for a single room for the purpose of attending the CUPE Atlantic Weeklong School. Applications MUST be received no later than March 15, 2024.

• 2024 CUPE NS Rocky Jones Bursary: CUPE Nova Scotia awards one $1,000.00 Rocky Jones Bursary annually for the upcoming academic year to a student that is an African Nova Scotian or an Indigenous Nova Scotian. Application must be complete and on the application form and must be received no later than April 15, 2024.

• 2024 CUPE NS Higgins Insurance Scholarship: Two $1000.00 CUPE Nova Scotia Higgins Insurance Scholarships are awarded annually by CUPE Nova Scotia to individuals that meet the eligibility criteria and planning enrollment at an accredited post- secondary institution in the 2024-2025 academic year. Application must be complete and on the scholarship form and must be received by the CUPE Nova Scotia Awards Committee not later than April 15, 2024.

• 2024 CUPE NS Sean Foley Health and Safety Award: CUPE NS presents two Health and Safety Awards annually, one to an individual and one to a Local Health and Safety Committee who has made a significant contribution to health and safety. This may be through education, awareness or actions that made a difference. The Nomination Form must be complete and legible and mailed or faxed to the attention of the CUPE NS Awards Committee to the address below by April 15th, 2024 to be considered for this award.

• 2024 Betty Jean Sutherland Sister of the Year Award The CUPE Nova Scotia Betty Jean Sutherland Sister of the Year Award endeavors to recognize a union sister who has proven their dedication to the Labour Movement specifically in advancing Equality Rights for women. A sister who embodies the principles that Betty Jean lived by. Completed Nomination Forms MUST be received by April 15, 2024 to be considered.

• 2024 Barb Kowalski Literacy Award CUPE Nova Scotia is seeking nominations for individuals or locals that have promoted literacy within their union, workplace and or community. There are two awards available annually: one for an individual member and one for a Local Union. Nominations must be in by April 15th, 2024.

CUPE National’s Statement for International Women’s Day