CUPE Ontario University Workers Coordinating Committee researcher Graham H. Cox reveals how this new budget undermines the academic system.
Important info about Employment Insurance claims
To all members who are planning on going on Employment Insurance (EI) for the Summer:
1) How to request a Record of Employment [ROE].
Although it is hoped that ROE will be automatically generated with Workday, until that is confirmed, please go to the Human Resources website:
https://brocku.ca/human-resources/
Once there, click the Faculty & Staff tab. From there, select Payroll. You will be prompted to the Sharepoint site. On the right hand side of the screen, there is a Record of Employment Request Form. Fill it out as soon as your contract ends, and submit it.
2) When to expect that your ROE will be submitted*?
Given the changes to our pay with Workday, our final pay has been pushed later into May. Human Resources must submit a ROE five days after the last pay period ends, or 14 days after the last day of work. Given that a lot of our contracts will end on April 30th, the ROE must be submitted by May 15.
According to Service Canada, to qualify for EI, you would need to have worked 665 hours in the last calendar year. For more information, please email chiefsteward@cupe4207.org
*ROE is submitted directly to Service Canada that administers EI
Unit 1 Bargaining Priorities Ratification
TUESDAY, MAY 7 AT 4 PM IN ACADEMIC SOUTH 216
We, Unit 1 members, still have an outstanding set of priorities to vote on.
Let’s get together on Tuesday, MAY 7 at 4 pm in Academic South 216, to discuss the presented priorities and vote on them. The Unit 1 Bargaining Committee has held a few meetings in the beginning of April for members to discuss, identify and select bargaining issues that would guide and shape the set of demands in negotiations.
Yet, these priorities still need to be ratified by you, the member. We have a tough stretch ahead of us and without pulling our diverse strengths collectively, we will end up poorer and even more precarious than we currently are. The potential for change resides with us!
THERE WILL BE FOOD AND THE LOCAL COVERS YOUR CHILD CARE EXPENSES WHILE YOU ATTEND THE MEETING!
Elected positions, term May 1 – April 30, 2020
Here is the list of elected positions for the term of office May 1, 2019 to April 30, 2020.
The elections took place at our Annual General Members meeting on April 15 in STH 217.
AGM APRIL 15
Our annual general meeting is on
Monday, April 15, at 3:30 pm in STH 217 (STH = Academic South)
It is at the AGM that we elect members into all positions on the Executive Committee; faculty 
stewards; international steward; Unit 1 instructor steward; health and safety officers; one trustee with term ending April 30th 2022; and labour council delegates. See full list of positions open for elections below.
The amendment to bylaws that will be discusses and voted on concerns the addition of a new position to the Executive Committee – Health and Safety Officer. If this motion to create this H&S officer passes, the position will be a part of the general election at this AGM. This means that it will be open for nominations and members can run for it.
Any member in good standing can run for a position. A member in good standing is a member who has filled and signed CUPE Application for Membership card. We will have these cards available at the meeting for you to sign if you haven’t done so already.
Unit 1 Bargaining Priorities meetings
After processing results from Unit 1 bargaining surveys the Unit 1 Bargaining Committee calls on three 
general members’ meeting on bargaining priorities The most pressing workplace issues are going to be presented and discussed at two meetings on April 2 and 4, and the fleshed out priorities voted on at the April 10 meeting.
Bargaining Priorities meetings
Tuesday April 2: 11 am to 2 pm in TH 247
and
Thursday April 4: 12 pm to 3 pm in STH 215
Bargaining Priorities Ratification meeting (will vote on the priorities) is on
Wednesday April 10: 1 pm to 4 pm in Thistle 242
How to apply for jobs in Workday
HR sent us Workday job application instructions:
Go to careers@brock webpage.
Members who currently hold an appointment apply as internal applicants.
Members who are not currently working at Brock apply as external applicants.
MARCH 20 STUDENT WALK OUT!
The Canadian Federation of Students, through its affiliated student unions and associations, called a walk out day Wednesday, March 20.
Here is the list of campus actions across Ontario.
This protest communicates a clear message to the provincial government that students oppose Ford’s changes to OSAP and student associations that were recently imposed upon them.
Brock Graduate Student Association organized an event between 12:00 pm and 1:00 pm on MARCH 20th for all students who wish to walk out in protest. Gather at noon in front of GSA office MC C 302.
Members of our union who hold classes at the time are free to join the protest. The local is unconditionally backing up every member and student who decide to join the walkout. We urge our members whose students join the walk out not to penalize students for missing a class because they engage in the protest.
March General Membership meeting
The bylaw changes that are to be discussed and voted on. https://4207.cupe.ca/files/2019/02/BylawNoticeFebruary2019.pd
Ten delegates to CUPE Ontario Convention
Full agenda can be accessed here: https://4207.cupe.ca/files/2019/03/GMM-Agenda-26-3-2019.pdf
Any member in good standing can run for the position of a delegate to the CUPE Ontario annual convention. This year, the convention will be a site of many discussions, planning and organizing to push back the provincial government’s attack on public social programs, people who need them and the workers who work for them. https://cupe.on.ca/event/convention-2019/
Strike deadline for food workers at Brock and a petition
Our fellow CUPE 1295 members need your help! Near 150 food service workers of CUPE 1295 have been negotiating a new contract for many months. Their employer, Sodexo, a multinational corporation that Brock contracts out to provide food services on campus. (The food service workers will be in legal strike position on MARCH 25, at 12:01 am.) THE WORKERS HAVE SINCE REACHED A TENTATIVE COLLECTIVE AGREEMENT. However, learning about the Dine-In Campaign is still actual and signing the online petition is still necessary to move ahead in the better food at Brock movement.
CUPE 4207 stands with the food workers of CUPE 1295!