bargaining

Unit 5 members have delivered a strong mandate: 86% voted YES.

Unit 5 members have delivered a strong mandate: 86% voted YES.

The Unit 5 Strike Mandate vote reflects a shared call for fair wages, job security, and reasonable class sizes that protect both workers and students. With conciliation set for Friday, January 23rd at the International Centre, we are urging the employer to come to the table prepared to address these priorities. Our members want a fair agreement, and they are united in standing up for quality education.

Learning Conditions Matter. Our Students Matter. Fair wages, job security, and reasonable class sizes are essential to maintaining high-quality education at Brock and in providing meaningful support to our students.

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.

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.

General Membership Meeting

Calling all members!
Join in person or Zoom – November 26th at 4:30 p.m. for an important union meeting. A light dinner will be served in person in Plaza 600F.

We’ll provide bargaining updates, answer your questions about the process, and hold key elections:

  • Elect the Unit 3 Bargaining Committee
  • Elect the Vice-President for Unit 1

We also have our Steward Elections!!!: Unit Stewards, Instructor Steward, International Student Steward, and Department Stewards. More information can be found in our bylaws 8.1.1 & 8.1.2 (pages 14-15). A list of departments can be found on pages 28-29.

Stewards are the heart of CUPE 4207. They’re the connection between members and the union by supporting coworkers, sharing updates, and making sure our collective agreement is respected. It’s a great way to build leadership experience, strengthen our union, and make a difference in your department.

If you care about fairness at work and want your coworkers’ voices heard, consider running for Steward. Your voice matters, and so does your leadership.

In order to vote, you must register 24 hours in advance to be eligible to vote either in person or online. You must be a Member in Good Standing to attend union meetings.

Your participation is essential — make sure your voice is heard!

Unit 5 Solidarity Breakfast!

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!

CUPE 4207’s Solidarity Rally & Community BBQ Draws Widespread Support Across Niagara

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.

#MakeItFair

“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

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.

CUPE 4207 Unit 1 & Unit 5 Solidarity Rally & Community BBQ

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!