An Open Letter to Brock University Leadership

To:  Dr. Lesley Rigg, Brock University President and Vice Chancellor
      Dr. Arja Vainio, Provost and Vice President, Academic, Brock University
      Ms. Anne McCourt, Brock University Board of Trustees Chair
      

From: The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 4207 Executive


17 March 2026

On Friday, March 13, a number of Brock University employees had their last day of work at Brock University or had their last day of work before moving on to a new position under the guise of “restructuring”.

The CUPE 4207 Executive demands that Brock University:

– Release all Sustainability Reviews (in unredacted format) that were conducted by KPMG for Brock University and upload them to Brock University’s Sustainability Reviews section of the Brock University website by the end of March 31, 2026.

https://brocku.ca/sustainability-reviews/

– Release the number of non-union positions that were eliminated due to “restructuring” to the Brock University community via the Sustainability Review section of the website.

-Voluntarily recognize all full-time Academic Coordinators in all Faculties as being unionized members of the Ontario Secondary School Teacher’s Federation (OSSTF) 35 bargaining unit at Brock University. Not doing so would be akin to union busting techniques.

– Put an immediate pause on any workplace restructuring, recognizing that the first phase of restructuring involved the elimination of workers who were mostly women.

– Consult with each campus trade union during the pause on restructuring. This includes allowing each union to present alternatives to job losses / reductions of work at the university.

– Provide an explanation of how increasing Senior Administrative salaries during a period of job losses for others serves Brock University students.

The CUPE 4207 Executive looks forward to hearing from you by March 31. Correspondence should be sent to:   info@cupe4207.org 

The CUPE 4207 Executive Committee

Unit 4 Clinical Nursing Instructors – Strike Mandate Vote Presentations

Unit 4 Clinical Nursing Instructors Strike Mandate Vote Presentations!

What is a strike mandate vote?
A vote that gives bargaining power. Not a vote to strike.

Why now?
The employer is refusing movement on Wages, Health Care Spending Account for members, & an annual stipend to the union for administration of the Collective Agreement.

Why YES?
A strong mandate forces employer movement and help avoid strikes.

Strike Mandate Presentations:

Tuesday, March 17th at Noon on Zoom

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/WrMeaH5KRvKC78L9MznhcA#/registration

Thursday, March 19th at Noon on Zoom

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/CQvPlu9QTXG0AzTaacgYug#/registration

Unit 4 Members will be emailed a ballot.

Voting opens on March 19th at 1pm & closes on March 23rd at 1pm.

TOGETHER WE ARE STRONGER!

Labour Social!

Labour Social

Saturday, March 7th from 3-5pm at Brass Monkey in St. Catharines, 67 St. Paul Street.

This event is hosted by CUPE Ontario and Brock Labour Studies.

Indigenous, Black, and racialized CUPE women and non-binary members: are you ready for WILD?!

https://cupe.ca/indigenous-black-and-racialized-cupe-women-and-non-binary-members-are-you-ready-wild

Applications are now open for the first ever national Women in Leadership Development program

Our time is now! Break barriers and dive into leadership in our union and our communities.

Women in Leadership Development (WILD) is a feminist leadership and skills-building union education program designed for Indigenous, Black, and racialized women and non-binary members of CUPE.

WILD is designed to support you as you strengthen your skills in feminist leadership, thinking and acting strategically, communicating with confidence, taking risks, and building relationships across regions and sectors. The program begins with your lived experience, uses collective learning and will encourage you to step into leadership in ways that feel authentic and sustainable. Together we will build capacity and help you become the creative and courageous leaders our movement needs!

WILD began as part of the Anti-racism Organizational Action Plan of CUPE Ontario in 2022. In 2025, National Secretary-Treasurer Candace Rennick announced that WILD would become a national program. And that time has COME!

If you are a CUPE member in good standing and answer yes to the questions below, we welcome you to apply!

  • Do you have lived experience as an Indigenous, Black, or racialized woman or non-binary person?
  • Are you new to activism or do you have leadership experience?
  • Do you want to make a difference in your community?

About the program:

  • An online orientation session
  • Two in-person weeklong sessions
  • A mix of in-person and online learning sessions (1-2 days)
  • One-on-one and group mentorship
  • Development of an innovative leadership project
  • Lifetime connections!

If you are a woman member who is not Indigenous, Black or racialized, you may be interested in Women Breaking Barriers, CUPE’s 9-hour workshop on women’s oppression, politics and social change. For more information and to see when this and other courses are being offered in your region, consult our Union Education catalogue.

For more information and to apply, please click on the link for your region.

Note: if you need accommodations to complete this form, contact WILD@cupe.ca on or before March 26, 2025 to allow for proper response time.

March General Membership Meeting

General Membership Meeting
Wednesday, March 18th at 4:30pm – Hybrid

Agenda items include:

-Nominations for all elected positions:
President
Vice-President, Unit 1  
Vice-President, Graduate Students
Vice-President, Unit 1 Instructors
Vice-President, Units 2 & 3
Vice -President, Unit 4
Vice -President, Unit 5
Treasurer
Lead Steward, Unit 1
Lead Steward, Units 2 & 3
Lead Steward, Unit 4
Lead Steward, Unit 5
Recording Secretary
Outreach Officer
Equity Officer
Health & Safety Officer
Deputy Health & Safety Officer
Trustee (term ending April 30, 2029)

Delegates to Niagara CUPE Council & Delegates to Niagara Labour Council

-Vote on Proposed Bylaw Changes

Register in Advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/DBvIJehIRlaWpCnWopDgjA#/registration

You’ll receive your confirmation email with the Zoom link and location of in person meeting.

You must be a Member in Good Standing to attend union meetings or to run for a union position. Click HERE for more information.

All Workers Luncheon – Brock Workers Against Attacks

Brock Workers United Against Attacks

Cuts to jobs are attacks on workers & students alike.

Thurs, March 12th: 12-1pm in the Pond Inlet

Join an all-worker luncheon to exchange updates, strengthen solidarity, and plan our collective response.

Silence helps cuts.
Solidarity stops them.
All workers Welcome! JOIN US.

Reminder: February General Membership Meeting Tomorrow

February General Membership Meeting
Tuesday, February 24th @ 4:30 – in person and on Zoom.

A light dinner will be served for in person attendees.

Registration is required for all attendees, whether in person or online.

Advance registration (24 hours) is required to receive an electronic ballot for any elections (by 4:30 Monday).

Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/6-g6wZeNSFSpcpxGSBClLA

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

A reminder that you must be a Member in Good Standing to participate in union meetings. More information HERE.

Agenda items include:
-Election of a Three Member Elections Committee
-Election of Delegates for the CUPE Ontario Convention May 26-30th, 2026
-Bargaining Updates for all Units

Ford Government passing the buck on university funding – students, workers and economy will pay the price

CUPE Media Release: Feb13th, 2026

The Ontario government made a funding announcement today that will continue deep staff cuts, rising tuition fees and increased student debt.

“The minister was long on scapegoating, but short on funding. Ontario has the worst university funding in Canada, and he’s passing the blame for his own cuts to other levels of government, and passing more and more of the costs onto the students, who are already graduating with record debt loads,” said Fred Hahn, president of CUPE Ontario.

The funding announcement fails to catch up even with recommendations of the government’s hand-picked “Blue Ribbon Panel,” and does not make up for years of stagnant funding. In fact, today’s announcement will still leave post-secondary education $1.5 billion below what it was in 2018, once adjusted for inflation and student population.

Also concerning is the government’s ongoing pigeonholing of funding into job-specific training and not into areas that improve critical thought and advance basic research.

“It’s easy to say that funding engineering and tech job training is useful. But it ignores the reality that pure scientific research, the arts and many other fields actually drive most of the advances in our society and economy. We need proper funding for public universities and colleges, not more money funnelled into the pockets of people setting up dodgy private colleges,” said Colleen Ferrera, chair of CUPE Ontario’s university workers committee.

Per student, university funding for Ontario universities remains the lowest in Canada, by a wide margin.

With OSAP focusing more on loans than grants, it is also offloading more costs to students.

Underfunding led to widespread layoffs this year, including 50 percent of courses taught by contract instructors at some universities and a staggering announcement of a 30 percent cut to administrative staff at one university earlier this week.