Monday, October 20th at 6 PM Atlantic time, there will be an online session for our international members to ask questions to labour and legal experts regarding the right to strike and student/work visas.
Check your emails for the zoom link.
Asaf Rashid is a Halifax-based immigration lawyer will attend to answer questions.
International students and workers strike factsheet_2025 10 20
CUPE National Convention 2025
Report by Lauren McKenzie
Submitted Oct. 17, 2025
Sunday, Oct. 5 – Sector Meeting
This was a gathering of post secondary folks from across the country and in all job classifications. We discussed the PSE sector resolutions that have been identified for our sector. Resolution 11 is an anti privatization resolution at services that have been contracted including food service, custodial, etc…
Monday, Oct. 6
The opening day of convention features speakers and formalities about voting. Business of convention included resolutions and constitutional amendments. The NS Caucus took place today. Alan Linkletter was previously elected as the regional VP, so no elections were held. There were discussions about who would run from our region for general VP, and that is Sherri Hillier from Newfoundland and Labrador.
Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025 morning session
Heard Bea Bruske, the president of CLC speak to the delegation about the state of the labour movement in Canada. She said that PM Mark Carney has taken a strong right position and is planning cuts to essential public services. Every policy the government puts on the table has to support workers. Workers are not a cost to be managed, we are the engine of the economy. She encouraged the delegates to get involved in politics – at every level to fight for an economy that centres workers.
Anti Racism Strategy Presented
Women’s Caucus
Heard from a guest speaker – a Palestinian woman about the state of women’s work and health in Gaza. Women used to work in the public sector and that has been destroyed. The suffering of women is ten fold in Gaza:
Relevant resolutions to the women’s caucus were discussed, including Reso 235; Reso 95; Reso 60; Reso 105; Reso 193; Reso 804 freedom flotilla with CUPE members who are likely to be arrested and abused by IDF; C8
Constitutional amendment re. The complaint process within CUPE needs to be improved to better protect members there must be a streamlined process; based on trauma-informed practices and increase the availability of resolution based intervention and non punitive based processes.
Labour leader from Washington DC spoke about the attack on workers by the Trump administration.
Strategic directions
NEB read through the draft Strategic directions
Report from National Post Secondary Task Force and Resolution 204 passed! This was the resolution that we put forward and it advocates for a national post secondary act and that CUPE resources be dedicated. This includes advocacy to protect jobs and post secondary education.
Wednesday, Oct 8, 2025
Voting Day!
There was an election for National President this year – and it was exciting to see democracy at work in our union. The electronic voting devices malfunctioned and the vote went to paper ballot for the 2000 plus delegation. Mark Hancock was reelected with 1700 + votes.
Alan Linkletter was elected as Regional VP and Sherri Hillier as General VP Atlantic/Maritimes.
The afternoon included resolutions and constitutional amendments. There was a lot of debate about Reso 113 BDS. There was even debate about how to vote – be it secret ballot or not. The doors were ‘tiled’ and there was a lot of discussion about parliamentary procedures and a
motion was made to have a secret ballot. We then took a standing vote where each member stands in favor or opposed to the motion of secret ballot. Delegates on the floor voted to hear the results when we reconvene in the morning.
Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025
First order of business was the results of CUPE 3912s second resolution submission and I was disappointed it was defeated by a vote of 823 to 641.
Constitutional amendment C12 was debated. The amendment has been brought to convention floor for many years and aims to add 5 diversity vice presidents. Currently, CUPE has 2 DVPs – Indigenous Workers and Black and Racialized Workers. If passed, the National Executive Board (NEB) would welcome a 2SLGBTQI+; Francophone Workers; Workers with Disabilities; Women; and, Young Workers. A supermajority is required (⅔) and the amendment was voted down. This tells me that CUPE has a lot of work to do to include more diverse groups at convention so that the delegation represents our members and their diversity. This was considered a blow to our solidarity by equity deserving members and our supporters.
President of Unifor, Lana Payne
Spoke about Carney’s trip to Washington because of the actions of our government. ⅓ of workers in Canada are trade dependent. Trump is coming for our industrial sector jobs.
National Trustees were elected and sworn in.
Member facilitator luncheon was a great opportunity to connect with facilitators from across the country. CUPE National Education Director, Tammy Kelly, thanked us for the work we do and described future plans for union education including advanced training and a new series: ARC – Anti Racist CUPE. Several workshops currently on offer include Challenging racism; Indigenous cultural safety; and, Solidarity with workers in Gaza. There are a number of sessions being developed and will be announced in the coming months. CUPE educational offerings can be found here.
Resolutions re. Strike protocols in extreme weather, 911 services and safe drug supply.
We heard from Magali Picard, FTQ president. Who talked about solidarity across union borders in the climate of rising facism.
Friday, Oct. 10
Throughout the week, the delegation worked on the strategic directions policy document for the next two years and we finalized and voted on that.
I had any conversations with delegates and staff about what is happening in 3912 and the possibility of job action across multiple units. Much solidarity was expressed! I heard from a young worker from Ontario who follows us and said they loved our presence on social media.
CUPE 3912 resolution was passed at CUPE National Convention with broad support! This means CUPE has to dedicate resources to lobby all levels of government for increased funding and a national education act and raise public awareness about post secondary workers and to fight cuts to protect our jobs.
Resolution text:
CUPE WILL
BECAUSE
SUBMITTED BY CUPE LOCAL 3912
CUPE 3912 stands in solidarity with SUNSCAD in their fight to maintain 24-hour studio access for students. This is a struggle that directly impacts our TA and RA members, many of whom are students, with many having other commitments requiring that they commute from afar.
As mentioned by SUNSCAD, “disabled students at NSCAD continuously face egregious harms stemming from the structural, attitudinal (how we think about and interact with disabled people), and architectural barriers to accessibility present at the university.” Having uninterrupted access is a critical part of a studio-based arts education, especially for upper-year and graduate students. Not only is 24-hour studio access a long-standing and critically important part of the student experience at NSCAD, it is a key selling point that draws in students internationally.
On behalf of all ICA instructors, TAs, and RAs at NSCAD I would like to applaud NSCAD University administration and interim president David B. Smith on their commitment to engage in reasonable discussion on this issue, and on their decision to pause the implementation of limited studio hours until a satisfactory solution can be found.
CUPE3912 unequivocally supports SUNSCAD in their demand that 24-hour studio access be preserved.
I urge our members to support SUNSCAD and the students in whatever way they can, including emailing University administrators to make yourself heard on this issue.
Please find SUNSCAD’s statement here.
For Immediate Release September 16, 2025
Talks stalled at SMU as academic workers prepare for possible strike
Halifax, NS – After almost a year at the table, negotiations with part-time faculty at Saint Mary’s University (SMU) hit an impasse Thursday afternoon. Workers took a strike vote last week, with 87% of votes in favour of job action.
“We made every effort to identify the issues that are most pressing to our members and came to Thursday’s conciliation meeting ready to get a deal,” said Lauren McKenzie, President of CUPE 3912. “Unfortunately, the employer was unwilling to engage on any ‘non-monetary’ proposals— that is, they wouldn’t discuss any issue except wages.”
Key items still on the table include improved stipends, but also proposals on faculty appointments and contract timelines.
“We have absolutely zero job security,” says Erica Fischer, part-time instructor and Vice President with CUPE 3912. “We have separate contracts for every single class we teach, and we apply and re-apply for those contracts, every single term, for every single class. No one has any guarantee they’ll be employed a few months down the road. We have been working like this for years.”
Part-time faculty at SMU are asking for guaranteed work for instructors who have taught for at least three consecutive years. This would mean part-time instructors who have taught one class every term for three years would be guaranteed a contract for one class every term for the following three years. If an instructor taught two classes every term for three years, you would be guaranteed to teach two classes for the following three years.
“All we’re asking for right now is that part-time faculty get some guarantee of income beyond the current academic term,” continued Fischer. “And the employer is unwilling to even talk about this.”
Part-time faculty at SMU are also among the lowest paid university instructors across the country, earning a stipend just over $6,000 per course, per term. Even at the highest courseload, this amounts to no more than $28,000 from September to April.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 3912 represents approximately 150 part-time instructors at SMU, with 30 more workers having lost their job in course cuts this past May. CUPE estimates around 30% of SMU courses are taught by part-time faculty.
“Liveable wages, long-term contracts, and a path to permanent employment would all have a huge impact on our quality of life,” said Neil Balan, part-time instructor and CUPE 3912 member. “The university benefits so much from having experienced instructors, while pushing postsecondary education towards a gig economy model. You can’t have it both ways.”
For more information, please contact:
Lauren McKenzie
President, CUPE 3912
president@cupe3912.ca
Haseena Manek
CUPE Atlantic Communications Representative
hmanek@cupe.ca
Having received a strong strike mandate, we headed into conciliation on September 11 with the clear and unified support of our membership to protect and defend our collective interests, bargain for our priorities, and negotiate a fair deal.
Unfortunately, despite our efforts, we were not able to reach a tentative agreement and an impasse remains.
The employer’s bargaining team refused to entertain any of our non-monetary proposals and simply said no to all of them, stating yet again that they were not operationally feasible.
Again and again, we’ve been asked to accept that management rights and the desire for “flexibility” are sovereign and inviolable. In no uncertain terms, the employer’s position is clear: any proposals around job security are never going to happen.
In relation to our monetary proposals, the employer was only open to discuss wages, but their best offer was 1% for the first year, 1.5% for the second and third year, and 2% for the 4th year (6% total increase in 4 yrs). Notably, the employer’s proposal runs counter to its willingness to offer a 3% in 2024-2025 to all other unions on campus.
Further, the employer’s proposal in no way comes close to our monetary proposal in terms of stipend increases and our desire to decrease the required FCEs to move up the steps.
Simply, the Negotiating Committee could not accept this lone proposal performing as a deal. It is far from what the majority of members would accept as a fair deal, and it fails to address our priorities in meaningful ways.
We need to start preparing for job action, but we will send another update regarding next steps once we have time to debrief.
Tomorrow, Friday September 5, we will be having a Day of Action to show solidarity with the DFA. CUPE 3912 members are invited to join DFA picket lines from 11 a.m. – 12 p.m., and then we will march to the rally being held in front of the Killam Library. Wear your union t-shirts and bring a noise maker. Looking forward to seeing you there!
For ongoing updates from the DFA
Strong strike mandate: In August, members voted 87.7% in favour of strike action if necessary. This “YES” vote sends a clear and united message to Dalhousie University:
This overwhelming mandate gives us real leverage at the table. You can read local coverage of the vote here: CBC News.
Conciliation dates confirmed: CUPE has conciliation booked for October 2 and October 20. Our elected Strike Committee will be working hard this month to ensure we are prepared for a potential fall strike.
A few important reminders as classes resume:
Our goal, as always, is to use our strong strike mandate to secure a fair deal at the bargaining table. If conciliation fails, we will be ready to take job action. Thank you for your solidarity and commitment to protecting our rights and working conditions.
By Neil Balan, PhD, 3912 SMU PT Faculty Steward and Bargaining Team Member
As we move into the Fall 2025 semester in what is a challenging institutional and political economic set of conditions for our members and for academic workers across the sector, we want to reiterate our collective power and strength as a unified union local. When we talk about challenges, we mean the wider structural and systematic contexts of revenue-centred management methods, austerity measures, diminished provincial and public funding, reliance on tuition fees and “self-sourced revenues” for operating budgets, overreaching government legislation related to post-secondary education (Bill12), new bilateral agreements, revenue-centred institutional planning, and cuts to international student permits (i.e., cuts to a system of segmented and insourced revenue-generating user fees).
Given the substantial cuts to 3912 PTA positions in April 2025 mainly in Faculty of Arts and given what are substantially fewer 3912 PTA contracts issued for Fall 2025, our bargaining sessions in June gained even more importance as we sought to connect the bargaining process to the material condition our members were experiencing. It was a bizarre but also important backdrop to our preparations and planning. We were seeing in real-time how the very substance of our proposals and bargaining priorities were so important and crucial to protect the work and collective interests of our members. If the current situation at Dalhousie University is any indication, where an administration and board of governors opted to lockout DFA members while they were voting on tentative agreement, we have to be ready. Dal U is proposing binding arbitration, effectively refusing to bargain and working to derail a negotiated deal that cuts to heart of many of the challenges listed above.
We acknowledge that it can feel difficult to organize and mobilize our efforts to defend our collective labour rights when our access to work is always precarious but seemingly more so in the current moment. We may think that now is not a good time to push on demanding a better deal for our members, our unit, and our local. Yet we are also of the view that no time is a good time—which is to say also that anytime is a good time—to push for better workplace protections and conditions, better jobs, and fair wages that are just and that align at a minimum with median wages across the sector. We need a collective agreement that reflects and respects the work we do as contract faculty members and teachers. We might feel vulnerable, but we also have to remain committed in relation to our demands and our core priorities. As we said at the outset of this current round of bargaining: a union local that is not ready to strike is not ready to bargain, and this is an important premise to guide us going forward.
Our collective agreement expired in August 2024, and we gave notice in April 2024 to start bargaining a new collective agreement. After nine months of bargaining with the employer that began in October 2024 and focused entirely on our non-monetary proposals, we tabled our monetary proposals in early June 2025. Throughout the process, we bargained in good faith and modified our proposals, withdrawing some proposals where warranted, making concessions, and creating counter-proposals to try and reach an agreement with the employer. In some instances, we took multiple runs through our proposals to come up with a solution acceptable to both parties. By and large, we bargained on our proposals from the start, with the employer having only two proposals—one of which was a proposed 10-FTE carve out for equity-seeking and representative working groups that fundamentally undermined our seniority and precedence, which is the only real form of job security we have as contract instructors.
Over the course of bargaining, we focused on the substantive priorities that we established as a unit: jobs security for members with precedence; permanent part-time appointments; reducing the number of FTEs to move up the steps on our wage structure; and updating the process of obtaining letters of appointment. We continually made the case for more consistent timelines around job postings, appointments to teach, and the issuing of contracts, citing existing and well-defined timelines and procedures at other universities. We also focused on securing worker-friendly language on discipline, performance improvement, and termination. And while we were able to come to some small agreements with some concessions from the employer, the process was frustrating.
While not wanting overdetermine or overdraw the disposition of the employer, the general tone we encountered was not so much acrimonious and adversarial but more of a generalized indifference premised on the presumed prerogative and power of an employer invested in a zero-sum conception of management rights. This is the structural antagonism built into labour negotiations and collective bargaining. As such, and despite some positive conversations, we remained well aware of what continue to be significant gaps between what we want and value versus the needs and interests of the employer.
During our three bargaining sessions in June 2025, the employer’s responses were remarkably consistent with the responses and reasons we received continually: recourse to management rights; not able to “operationalize” proposals or measures; and proposals being unrealistic in financial or institutional terms (i.e., “not in a position to do this at this time”). Regarding our momentary proposals on course stipends and wage increases, our wage structure (3% increases per year plus a $1000 wage increase at the outset) was rejected outright and countered with 1% and pittance-like increase in holiday pay contingent on agreeing with this 1% proposal. We found this to be insulting, a response that further cheapens our labour with an employer that continues to stall on issuing contracts and seems more interested in relying on just-in-time labour to teach just-in-time university courses according to the logic of “revenue-positive course offerings.” We don’t deny the economic and financial pressures that shape SMU and the sector, but we refuse to play the role of proportional “acceptable losses” as cost-cutting measures on some pathway to financial recovery. As workers who drive enrollments and sustain program development, we create value for the university on its own terms.
Our proposals on access to an extended health benefits plan, access to a pension plan, on compensation for work on committees, on compensation for course cancellations, and on increases to professional development funds: all were rejected. Notably, even as we crafted many of our new proposals with language from other existing collective agreements at SMU (with SMUFU, CUP 4491, and NSGEU 179) and with an emphasis on existing agreements with other workers on campus, we ran into walls.
After what became our final bargaining session on 20 June where SMU responded to our monetary proposals, we caucused and agreed that this was unacceptable and that we were at an impasse and so decided to file for conciliation. Our CUPE National Rep communicated this to the employer, and we formally filed for conciliation with the province on 23 June. On 11 July, we received notice that we’d been assigned a mediator and conciliation officer and that conciliation was scheduled for Thursday 11 September.
In effect, conciliation is a mediated opportunity to reach a tentative agreement. If conciliation fails to produce an agreement, the pathway to job action and a strike is open. If no agreement is reached, a conciliator files a report that triggers a 13-day “cooling off” period and an opportunity for one final meeting on Day 14 after the report. If no agreement is reached, 3912 SMU PTA workers would be in a legal strike position. Sometimes, there is a possibility of a second conciliation date, but this would be contingent on the conciliator’s decisions and assessments.
What do our members need to know? The 3912 SMU PTA unit will be holding a strike mandate vote (a “strike authorization vote” or “strike vote”) on 9 and 10 September, just before conciliation. All 3912 SMU PTA members with a teaching contract in the Fall 2025 semester can vote. A strong strike vote—that is, a high percentage of members with contracts vote to authorize a strike and provide a mandate to strike if and when warranted and necessary—is a normal part of the bargaining process. It provides the bargaining team with leverage going into conciliation, and it sends a clear message to the employer that our membership is committed to labour action. While a strike is disruptive for workers who rely on their wages, withdrawing our labour can ultimately force a tentative agreement if we cannot reach one in advance that is fair, just, and sustainable for our membership. We remain committed to bargaining, but we are mobilizing and preparing our membership for what could be a possible strike. This is essential, and to do otherwise would be irresponsible and a surrender.
Because of the cuts to SMU courses that are typically taught by 3912 contract faculty, we know that we have fewer active 3912 SMU PTA members teaching this fall. To some, this may suggest that a strike may have less of an impact or effect in terms of the SMU’s academic offerings in the Fall 2025. Yet, our comrades in the 3912 SMU TA unit are also heading into conciliation, and our CUPE 4491 (facilities management) colleagues are also waiting to receive a date for conciliation. Some of our other 3912 PTA units at Dal U and MSVU are also heading into conciliation, too. So, again, while we may feel vulnerable, we have support across the campus, the local, and the sector. The everyday work of the unit and local doesn’t change: we continue to move grievances on the behalf of members and in the interests of the local, and we continue to push the employer to respect and apply the current CA in all labour management contexts.
As we move into the new semester, we encourage our members to stay informed, to prepare, to be ready, and to be clear about possible developments over the next month. We expect to send out consistent communications in the next week about meeting to hold the strike vote, and we’ll begin to ramp up a strike mobilization campaign, too. We are stronger as a unified and collective group of workers, and we will continue to represent the wider needs and interests of the membership. Stay tuned.
