End-of-Year Message from Your Equity Officer

Congratulations Members!! We have almost made it to the end of this year; we are on the cusp of a new year!! As we come to the close of 2025, I want to take a moment to reflect with you—not just on what we’ve done, but on what work we still have to do together.

This year reminded us that equity work is neither linear nor comfortable. Members continued to navigate systemic barriers related to race, disability, gender, precarity, and access—often while carrying increased workloads and economic uncertainty. A fair assessment is that while some progress was made, inequities within our workplaces, institutions and society at large remain deeply entrenched. Recognizing this honestly is not a failure; it is a necessary starting point for meaningful action in 2026.

Over the past year, CUPE 4207 has taken steps to centre equity more deliberately in our conversations and organizing. This has included advocating for more inclusive practices, supporting members facing discrimination, and strengthening links between equity concerns and broader labour struggles. These efforts were possible because members showed up, spoke out, asked hard questions, and insisted that equity not be treated as optional or symbolic.

It’s important to acknowledge that equity work is work that advocates for job security, fair wages, and safe working conditions. When the most marginalized members are protected, the union as a whole, is stronger. The risk, if we lose sight of this, is allowing inequities to persist under the guise of neutrality.

As we move into the new year, there are clear challenges ahead. Equity fatigue is real. So is the temptation to declare progress prematurely. Our task will be to remain committed without becoming complacent in order to deepen member engagement, build accountability into our structures, and continue learning from those most impacted by injustice.

I want to thank every member who contributed to this work, whether visibly or behind the scenes. Your labour, care, and persistence matter. I also encourage those who haven’t yet found a way to engage in equity work to consider how your voice and experience can shape the direction of our local, 4207.

Join us at our first equity meeting of the new year on January 9th 2026, at 5pm.

In solidarity, equity is not a destination we’ve reached, rather it’s a practice we must sustain. I look forward to continuing this work with you in the year ahead.

Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! Happy Kwanzaa!
Warmly,
Kay Waboso
Equity Officer, CUPE 4207

January General Membership Meeting

January General Membership Meeting
Tues, January 27 @ 4:30 pm – In person and Online.

A light dinner will be served for in person attendees.

Agenda items: Unit 1 and Unit 5 Bargaining Updates

All attendees must register in advance for this meeting, whether attending in person or online:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/5nh9De5TRJObscv8rFIAqg

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with the Zoom link for online and the meeting location for in person.

You must be a Member in Good Standing to attend union events and meetings. Click HERE for the form.

Unit 1 Members Deliver Strong Strike Mandate with 86.5% YES Vote

Members of Unit 1, representing more than 1,000 Instructors, Course Coordinators, Teaching Assistants, Marker-Graders, and Lab Demonstrators at Brock University, have delivered a strong strike mandate with 86.5% voting YES in the strike-mandate vote.

The strike mandate result sends a clear message to the employer: Unit 1 members are unified, serious, and expect meaningful progress in negotiations. This strong mandate reflects the frustration and determination of contract workers who make Brock run, yet who are continually overlooked and undervalued.

An 86.5% mandate means that Members are telling the university that the status quo is not sustainable, and real movement at the bargaining table is needed. Our academic contract workers are the backbone of the Unit 1 teaching at Brock. We deserve fair wages, benefits that cover our needs, and stronger workload protections for in person and virtual teaching. We deserve working conditions that reflect the value that we bring to this University and the students’ education.

Unit 1 will be in Conciliation with the employer and a conciliator on Thurs, January 22nd, at the CUPE office in St. Catharines. Stay tuned for updates.

TOGETHER WE ARE STRONGER!

Unit 1 Strike Mandate Vote Reminder!

Your Vote Matters!

Voting closes on Thursday, Dec 11th at 8:00 PM.

All current Unit 1 contract holders were emailed a link to the electronic ballot to their employee account (no student accounts, please spread the word. We’ve come to learn that many graduate students are not using their employee accounts for Unit 1 work!!).

This vote is your opportunity to show the employer that Unit 1 members deserve wages that keep you afloat, benefits that protect your health, and workloads that respect your time and expertise.

We can achieve this together, with a strong, united YES vote.

In solidarity, Your Unit 1 Bargaining Committee

PS: We’ve created a FAQ document about the Strike Mandate. Click HERE to read.

OASIS and You: Navigating the Accommodation System and Supporting Inclusive Assessment

Of interest to our Contract Instructors:

In this workshop members of the Centre for Pedagogical Innovation and Student Accessibility Services will discuss the OASIS system and how to see the accommodations listed and what this means from an accessible pedagogy point of view. The facilitators will then share how to support inclusive assessment design in your courses using Universal Design for Learning principles. This workshop is for faculty and instructors of record (such as sessional instructors) looking to support meaningful inclusive and accessible assessment and activity design. Click here to register.

Date and Time: Tuesday, January 27 2026 at 11:00 AM EST to Tuesday, January 27 2026 at 12:30 PM EST.

Location: Online

Unit 1 Mobilizers Begin Strike-Readiness Training: What This Means for You

Our Unit 1 Mobilizers have started their strike-readiness training. We want to be clear about what this means (and what it doesn’t), so that members feel informed, supported, and confident as we move through this phase of bargaining.

First, this training does not mean a strike is inevitable or imminent. What it does mean is that your union is doing exactly what a strong, responsible union should do when negotiations get difficult: preparing early, staying organized, and ensuring that no member is left without information or support.

We are entering a bargaining environment where the pressures on workers are real. Members have been clear about their priorities: fair wages, manageable workloads, and benefits that actually meet today’s cost of living. So far, the employer has been slow to meaningfully address these issues at the table, and that creates uncertainty. Preparation is our way of staying ahead of that uncertainty instead of reacting to it later.

Strike-readiness training gives our Mobilizers the tools they need to help members in every department and every face-to-face and virtual classroom:

  • answering all of your questions,
  • keeping our communication with you clear and consistent,
  • supporting those of you who may be nervous about what’s happening (we understand!), and
  • ensuring that if job action becomes necessary, we are ready to act collectively and confidently.

This process is routine within CUPE, and it’s part of how we protect our rights while keeping members safe and supported. In fact, the stronger and more prepared we are, the less likely we are to need to take job action at all. Employers respond to organized workers, and preparation is power.

Our focus remains clear: achieving a fair agreement that reflects the value of the work we do.

We want to thank our Mobilizers for stepping up and taking on this important role. Their time, energy, and commitment help strengthen our entire local.

As always, we will continue to update members at every stage. Your questions, concerns, and feedback matter, and staying connected is how we move through this together.

Please reach out if you would like to be involved in any way. No experience necessary, we will train you.

Special General Membership Meeting – OUWCC Conference

Special General Membership Meeting

December 10th @ 4:30 pm – Zoom Only

One Agenda Item:

Election of 10 Attendees for the Ontario University Workers Coordinating Committee (OUWCC) Conference, Feb. 26 – March 1 (finishes at noon). https://cupe.on.ca/sectors/university/

Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/KrBBLMTaSHioRBbtkRP82Q

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Note:  You must register 24 hours in advance to be able to vote. Cut off date is Dec 9th at 4:30pm.

You must be a Member in Good Standing to attend Union events, meetings, elections, and so forth. Please complete the MIGS form here, print, and you can take a picture of it and email it if you don’t have a scanner: info@cupe4207.org

Your Voice. Your Power. Your Vote. U1 Strike Mandate Vote

Dear Unit 1 Members,

We are writing to update you on the status of bargaining and to ask for your participation in a Strike Mandate Vote.

After months at the table, the employer has not moved meaningfully on the issues that matter most to Unit 1 members. We entered bargaining with clear, reasonable, and urgently needed priorities: fair wages, adequate benefit funding, and manageable workloads. These priorities came directly from you through surveys and consultations.

Unfortunately, the employer continues to fall short in all three areas:

1. Wages that reflect our work: Our wages have not kept pace with inflation, rising living costs, or the escalating demands placed on instructors, teaching assistants, course coordinators, marker-graders, and lab demonstrators. The employer’s offer so far does not address the real erosion in our pay.

We deserve compensation that recognizes the professional, academic, and emotional labour we provide every single week.

2. Benefits that actually meet members’ needs: The Unit 1 benefit fund is stretched to the breaking point. Members run out of benefit dollars long before the end of the academic year, forcing many to pay out of pocket for basic health, dental, and vision needs.

We are pushing for increased benefit funding so you are not left competing for limited resources or choosing between your health and your wallet.

3. Workload protections that keep teaching sustainable: Class sizes, course demands, and administrative tasks continue to grow without the support, compensation, or protections required to do this work effectively and fairly.

We are fighting for clearer workload language, reasonable class and seminar sizes, and protections against unpaid work.

These are not extravagant asks. These are the essentials required to maintain high-quality working and learning conditions at Brock University.

Why a Strike Mandate Now? A strong strike mandate does not mean going on strike. It means giving your bargaining team the power to demand better, and ensuring the employer finally takes our issues seriously. Historically, at CUPE 4207 and across the postsecondary sector, strong strike mandates are the single most effective tool to secure a fair deal without job action.

We have scheduled three Strike Mandate Presentations and we encourage you to attend one of the three Hybrid sessions:

Wed, Dec 3 at 10:00 AM in WH 204 & Zoom;

Thu, Dec 4 at 12:00 PM in GLN A 164 & Zoom;

Thu, Dec 4 at  6:00 PM in GLN A 164 & Zoom.

Your Vote Matters! Voting opens on Thursday, Dec 4th at 8:00 PM and closes on Thursday, Dec 11th at 8:00 PM. All current Unit 1 contract holders will be emailed a link to the electronic ballot.

This vote is your opportunity to show the employer that Unit 1 members deserve wages that keep you afloat, benefits that protect your health, and workloads that respect your time and expertise.

We can achieve this together, with a strong, united YES vote.

In solidarity,

Your Unit 1 Bargaining Committee,

Tracy Kennedy (Chair), Kendra-Lee Dupuis, Brigitte Cecckin, Tracy Stewart, Darrin Sunstrum, Phil Wachel

Click HERE for a Strike Mandate Vote FAQ

Stop Bill 60!!

Hello CUPE friends,

I want to bring to your attention an issue that I believe would be of interest to our membership. Currently, the Doug Ford government is forcing through Bill 60, without consultation or public hearings, that attacks tenant rights.

Many of our members (and I am thinking especially of our grad student members) may be among Ontario’s more than 1.7 million renters and their families (~38% of population). In 2018 Ford lifted rent control on any new construction and promised they would not touch rent control; Now, however, they refuse to promise to protect rent control and have floated proposals that would effectively end rent control in Ontario. The government has back pedaled on their most controversial proposal to end month-to-month tenancies, but it is still necessary to keep up pressure as we know they are unreliable at best. Measures remaining in the bill will still make it easier and faster for landlords to evict tenants and limit tenant rights in fighting back.

Housing is a particularly critical issue in our region. As of September, the region had 1,264 people known by name who were experiencing houselessness. As of last January, there were more than 80,000 houseless people in Ontario, which is expected to at least double in the next decade.

Student rent is already exorbitant– I have heard from students they are paying $600 or more for a room in a house, and as a young population perhaps inexperienced with renting, they may be more susceptible to maltreatment by landlords. I don’t have stats for this, just what I have heard from students while teaching.

I have [included] a flyer provided by ACORN Hamilton, a tenants’ rights advocacy group, that outlines the changes Ford is attempting. These can also be found on the ACORN website at https://acorncanada.org/campaigns/housing-tenant-unions/.

Members concerned about this attack on tenants’ rights and the risk to rent control are encouraged to:

  1. Sign the petition at ACORN, which will also send emails to the relevant politicians https://acorncanada.org/take_action/urgent-message-to-doug-ford-dont-end-rent-control/
  2. Email Premier Doug Ford  doug.fordco@pc.ola.org or web form at https://correspondence.premier.gov.on.ca/EN/feedback/default.aspx or premier@ontario.ca (I think? An email address is hard to find for him. He can also be called or texted.)
  3. Email the Attorney General Doug Downey doug.downey@pc.ola.org
  4. Email the Housing Minister Rob Flack rob.flack@pc.ola.org
  5. Share your renting stories with NDP housing critic Catherine McKenney cmckenney-co@ndp.on.ca
  6. Email local MPPs
    1. Jenny Stevens, NDP (St. Catharines) jstevens-qp@ndp.on.ca
    2. Wayne Gates, NDP (Niagara Falls) wgates-qp@ndp.on.ca 
    3. Jeff Burch, NDP (Niagara Centre) jburch-co@ndp.on.ca
    4. Sam Oosterhoff, PC (Niagara West) sam.oosterhoff@pc.ola.org
    5. Other MPPs can be found here as needed: https://www.ola.org/en/members 
  7. Email local mayors and councilors to encourage them to push back, as we live with the results of houselessness on our streets and in our classrooms. https://www.niagararegion.ca/government/council/profiles/default.aspx
  8. Talk to friends, coworkers, neighbours to spread awareness.

Since the government has been busy trying to privatize water and sewage, removing bike lanes, cutting green roofing, cutting transit, spending millions on a tunnel study, spending millions on Ronald Regan ads, getting rid of school boards (and probably a few other things I have forgotten already), this issue has flown under many folks’ radar. I hope the union can help bring this critical issue to members’ attention and encourage them to sign the ACORN petition. 

Thank you,

A Concerned CUPE 4207 Member