Academic Contract Workers at Brock University
Unit 5 Solidarity Breakfast!
Friday, November 21st
International Centre Lobby
9:30-10:30am
Join us in supporting our Unit 5 Faculty of Education Instructors while they bargain with the employer.
Complimentary Breakfast Sandwiches, Coffee, Tea, & Hot Chocolate!
TOGETHER WE ARE STRONGER!
WE DEMAND FAIR WAGES! JOB SECURITY! REASONABLE CLASS SIZES!
The Niagara labour community came out in force on Thursday, October 23rd to support CUPE 4207’s Solidarity Rally & Community BBQ, held outside Glenridge A at Brock University. The event brought together workers, students, and community allies in a powerful show of solidarity and unity for CUPE 4207’s Unit 1 (Instructors, Course Coordinators, Teaching Assistants, Lab Demonstrators, and Marker-Graders) and Unit 5 (Faculty of Education Instructors) as they continue to fight for a fair deal at the bargaining table.
The community solidarity rally highlighted three key issues central to both bargaining units:
Fair Wages: keeping pace with the rising cost of living;
Class & Seminar Sizes: protecting quality education and working conditions for in-person and virtual learning spaces;
Preference in Instructor Hiring for PhD Students: balancing teaching opportunities fairly so that there is no risk to academic progress, and so that no teaching group is used to undermine another teaching group.
The event was well attended and strongly supported by Union locals across the Niagara region, including: CUPE Locals 9102, 1263, 4156, 1317, 911, 1295, 2328, and 2977, as well as members of BUFA (Librarians and Faculty Members), OSSTF Local 35, OSSTF District 22, OSBCU, COPE 343, and the Niagara Regional Labour Council. Community organizations, such as the United Way and local political allies, including City Councillor Caleb Batzlaff and representation from MPP Jennie Stevens’ office (NDP), also joined in solidarity.
Undergraduate students, graduate students, and post-doctoral fellows from Brock University added their voices, emphasizing that improving working conditions for CUPE 4207 members means improving learning conditions for students. “I was the last one to arrive in my seminar and it was standing room only – there was no chair for me to sit in. It was awful,” shared an undergraduate student.
“We’re fighting not just for fair wages, but for the integrity of education at Brock,” said Tracy Kennedy, Vice President Unit 1 Instructors for CUPE 4207. “When instructors and teaching assistants are overworked and underpaid, students lose out. The show of support at our Solidarity Rally and BBQ proves that this fight belongs to everyone in the Niagara Community, and the labour movement across the province.”
The message was clear: the Niagara community is united in demanding fairness, respect, and quality education at Brock.
CUPE 4207 Unit 1 and Unit 5 members won’t back down until wages, class sizes, and hiring practices reflect the true value of the education its members deliver.
“Job security, fair pay, and benefits for contract faculty will deliver fairness for workers and protect the high‐quality education our students deserve.”
Many thanks to the Academic supporters who work with us everyday and see our value and contribution to the university: Brock University Faculty Association (BUFA), Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT), and Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA).
When Brock chooses cuts over investment, it traps contract workers in unstable jobs with low pay and no job security. Precarity isn’t an accident. It’s the business model that austerity builds. It’s the model that Brock uses to keep contract workers paid unfairly and bumps long-term contract holders out of their work.
We say: NO AUSTERITY. NO PRECARITY. NO CONCESSIONS.
We won’t be nickle & dimed anymore. Our work is vital to this university.
Quality teaching deserves Quality pay. It’s time to pay us what we’re worth.
CUPE 4207 Unit 1 members play an essential role in delivering and supporting high-quality education to students at Brock University.
Brock’s reputation for academic excellence depends on the people who teach, grade, and support its students everyday. It’s time to invest in us: over a thousand instructors, teaching assistants, course coordinators, marker-graders, and lab demonstrators teaching the next generation of youth that will shape the future.
Austerity and precarity are choices that hurt both workers and students. We’re standing together to demand a fair contract that reflects the value of our work.
Fair wages now!
No austerity.
No precarity.
No concessions.
Join us for our CUPE 4207 Solidarity Rally & Community BBQ!
Date: Thursday, October 23rd, 2025.
Time: 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm.
Location: Outside Glenridge A (corner of Glenridge Ave & John Macdonell St).
Parking: Paid parking in Lot E or Lot Glenridge (HONK app).
We’ll have hot dogs, hamburgers, drinks, and vegetarian options on the grill.
Both Unit 1 (Instructors, Course Coordinators, Teaching Assistants, Marker-Graders, and Lab Demonstrators) and Unit 5 (Faculty of Education Instructors) are standing together on three key priorities that resonate across the labour movement.
We’re not asking – we’re demanding!
Reasonable Class & Seminar Sizes – because we teach to students, not Stadiums;
Fair Hiring Practices – because we earned our Seniority, it’s not optional;
Fair & Comparable Wages – because we need to afford our rent and groceries.
JOIN US!
Seniority is the backbone of fairness in our workplace. It means that jobs are awarded based on experience and service, not on favoritism, not on who the employer “prefers.” When seniority and experience is respected, members know they can build a future with job security, stability, and dignity.
Right now, the employer is trying to undermine this system by pushing for MORE “preference” in hiring of PhD students into instructor positions. This is seniority-busting, plain and simple. It threatens the job security of our Unit 1 members who are not graduate students, pits us against each other, and erodes the protections we’ve fought for at the bargaining table.
When they weaken seniority, they weaken all of us. Protecting seniority means protecting fair hiring, protecting good jobs, and protecting the quality of education for students. It also means protecting our PhD students who might unfairly be put into positions that they cannot handle or would impede the completion their graduate studies.
Seniority isn’t just a clause in our contract, it’s a principle of fairness we cannot afford to lose.
Hello Unit 1 and Unit 5 members but all members generally,
The Bargaining Committee is posting updates to our website. Follow along with these updates on our page for Unit 1 here. Click on the unit 5 tab above to learn more about the formation of this unit and their work in bargaining. Remember than anyone can sign up for CAT training to help rally our members! See the below post or our social media for information and sign up for CAT training here.