A Member Recognition initiative was created for longstanding CUPE 4207 members and supported by a General Membership vote in Winter 2022.
In 1998, Brock University Instructors, Course Coordinators, Teaching Assistants, Marker/Graders, and Lab Demonstrators became part of a certified bargaining unit to formulate CUPE 4207 Unit 1. Since that time, Unit 1 has continued to grow as university enrollment further expands.
In the 2021-2022 Fall/Winter term, CUPE 4207 Unit 1 had over 1300 members working active contracts, and approximately 800 members without contracts. We have a good size union membership with numerous Unit 1 members who have been working at Brock for many years.
Over the years, the Executive Committee and Unit 1 members continued to notice that Unit 1 members were not recognized for their years of service at Brock University as academic contract workers. Indeed, workplace respect was one of the top priorities that emerged from the last Bargaining Survey. Each year, numerous Brock employees and staff are acknowledged for their longstanding service, and deservedly so.
However, many Unit 1 members have been working with these same employees and staff members for the same amount of time, and sometimes longer. Although we are academic contract workers who continuously apply to positions each term and year and re-hired, there are many Unit 1 members who have spent many years and decades teaching, facilitating, and evaluating students – without adequate acknowledgment.
We are grateful that the Centre for Pedagogical Innovation has provided a platform to recognize and award the outstanding work that some of our Unit 1 members do. But, rarely are longstanding Unit 1 service contributions acknowledged or recognized in our workplace, despite the importance of seniority in our local union. Unfortunately, that is the nature of precarious academic work.
We know that our work is essential to the University functioning and thriving successfully. Although this might not be fully acknowledged or recognized in the University community, we know that our students appreciate us and our contributions, as do our Unit 1 peers and co-workers. Importantly, the CUPE 4207 Executive Committee appreciates and respects the contributions you made and continue to make in our academic workspace. You have not gone unnoticed.
A longstanding member service recognition and award initiative was created as a way to publicly and formally recognize our longstanding members, their years of service, and the work that they contribute to the University. A ‘Service & Awards Committee’ will continue this initiative yearly, and we hope to celebrate in person next year and make it a special evening dinner event.
The CUPE 4207 Executive Committee would like to sincerely thank all of our longstanding members for their many years of service to CUPE 4207. We appreciate the work that you do and the contributions you make to the larger academic community.
Sincerely and in solidarity, Your Executive Committee.
2022 Awards & Certificate Recipients
In 2022 year, we recognized 173 members who have been with CUPE 4207 Unit 1 and working at Brock University between ten and nineteen years with a certificate of appreciation. Forty-one Unit 1 members have worked twenty or more years at Brock University and will receive a special award of recognition.
2023 Awards & Certificate Recipients
In 2023, Unit 1 had 34 members who reached a ten-year milestone with CUPE 4207 Unit 1 and Brock University, and they received a certificate of appreciation. We have sixteen members who reached twenty years of service, and they received a special award of recognition. We also have five Unit 1 members who reached 25 years of service and three Unit 1 members who reached 30 years with Unit 1 and Brock University. Amazing! They also received something special in appreciation.
In Unit 2, we had one member with 20 years of service, and who received a special award of recognition, and two members with more than five years of service who received a certificate of appreciation. In Unit 3, we had two members with 20 years of service who received a special award of recognition. There were six members who worked between thirteen and nineteen years with CUPE 4207 Unit 3 and they received a certificate of appreciation.
2024 Awards & Certificate Recipients
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