Hello, General Membership of CUPE 5524 – Academic Workers at UW! We know that you have been asking for news on how bargaining is going, and we are happy to finally present you with the latest updates!
On November 28 and 29, the CUPE 5524 Bargaining Committee for Unit 0 (Sessional Instructors) met formally with the employer to begin negotiating a collective agreement between the union local and the university. The Bargaining Committee is a joint effort between Unit 0 (Sessional Instructors) and Unit 1 (TAs and RAs), with the aim of negotiating all common items between both Sessionals and TAs/RAs together.
We agreed to the subsequent clauses across 3 articles between us and the employer. All are fairly non-contentious, but we are excited to see that progress is being made. We aim to cover all non-monetary items common to both Sessionals and TAs/RAs first.
- Preamble: This is the introduction paragraph of the collective agreement that defines what the collective agreement does.
- Union Security: This article outlines the process for how/when dues will be deducted and sent to union, along with a list of deductees. There is also a clause that holds the employer liable in case of issues or errors they make when deducting dues from employees’ pay.
- Union Information: This article outlines the process for how/when UW will share information with the union about who is working each semester. The union uses this information to contact members about general membership meetings, events, notices, etc. The university agreed to send a full employee list to the local by 5 days after the 1st payroll in each term. Because payroll is currently monthly that means we now know we’ll receive an employee list in early Oct/Feb/Jun. The Bargaining Committee has proposed shifting to bi-weekly payroll, in which case workers won’t have to wait so long before their 1st payday, and the local would receive the employee list sooner, but this has not been negotiated yet.
- Subarticle: This clause agrees that it will be UW’s responsibility to inform all bargaining unit members about the existence of the union at hiring, including sending a copy of the Collective Agreement to all employees hired.
- Correspondence: This article describes how the union local and the employer will communicate, e.g. whenever UW contacts the union local as a whole, they must typically go via President & Recording Secretary first.
The complete list of non-monetary, common items (Unit 0 & 1) includes the following. Please note that bolded items are those that have been signed off between the local and the employer (see above).
- Employees represented
- Discrimination
- Union membership and dues
- Printing agreement
- Labour/management committees
- Grievance
- Arbitration
- Discipline
- No strikes and lockouts
- Technology and instruction
- Evaluation and employee files
- Academic freedom
- General
- Health and safety
- Code-based extension requests
- Accommodations
- Correspondence
- Indoor air quality standards
In subsequent meetings, we will aim to cover:
- Non-monetary items particular to Sessionals.
- Non-monetary items particular to TAs/RAs
- Monetary items related to Sessionals
- Monetary items related to TAs/RAs
The reason for this order is that we believe that monetary items may be more contentious and will require more time and discussion to be addressed thoroughly. If you have any thoughts, opinions, or items related to your working conditions that you feel strongly about (monetary or non-monetary), or would like to see in the Collective Agreement, please do not hesitate to reach out to us. Feel free to email us at cupe5524@outlook.com with your thoughts or a request to meet in person/virtually. If you would like to join the Bargaining Committee, and play an active role in contributing to our first Collective Agreement as a local, we would love to have you – please get in touch!
Our next General Membership Meeting will be held Thursday, January 23 2025 at 5:00 PM. Keep your eyes peeled for a meeting notice and agenda to your email inbox soon.
The Bargaining Committee’s next meetings with the employer will take place on December 18 and 19. We hope to have more positive updates for you shortly after these meetings.
Last, we are currently still seeking volunteers for our Contract Action Team (CATs). This role involves connecting with workers, engaging in on-the-ground conversations (in-person and online both available) and supporting the union local with events and promotions. If this is a role that interests you, please reach out!
In solidarity,
CUPE Local 5524
Academic Workers at the University of Waterloo