Unit 4 Bargaining Update – First Day of Conciliation

Unit 4 Bargaining Update
First Day of Conciliation: April 4, 2024

Prior to Conciliation, a sizable Rally in Support of CNIs was held in the hallway of the International Centre. Both the Conciliator and the Employer’s Bargaining Committee took notice. A Brock Press reporter was on hand to cover the Rally.

Before noon, the parties met with the Conciliator present. The Unit 4 Bargaining Committee had provided three documents in advance of the meeting; the Employer’s Lead Negotiator had been hoping for a single document for the counterproposal. Our team obliged and worked on a new document. We presented our counterproposal just before 3:00 pm. The counterproposal contained all of the outstanding items except for our wage proposal. The employer will respond to our counterproposal on the morning of April 5.

In the meantime, the Unit 4 Bargaining Committee has our Wage Proposal ready and will be delivering it to the Employer on the 5th.

In Solidarity,
Phil Wachel, CUPE 4207 President

Brock Press article on UNIT 4 bargaining

Brock Press article on UNIT 4 bargaining:

CUPE 4207 is planning to rally in support of Clinical Nursing Instructors at Brock, whose ongoing impasse with the University has nearly pushed them to strike. 

Spanning four units of academic workers at Brock University, CUPE (Canadian Union of Public Employees) Local 4207 has been the certified bargaining unit at Brock since 1998 when Unit 1 established their first contract. 

Read More:

CUPE 4207 protests at Brock in solidarity with Clinical Nursing Instructors  

Solidarity Rally for UNIT 4 Clinical Nursing Instructors

Our local is holding a rally for Clinical Nursing Instructors on April 4th at 9 – 11 am in the International Centre (GLB).

The CNIs are our newly minted Unit 4. They came to an impasse in negotiating their very first collective agreement.

Unit 1 and 2/3 are helping prepare for a labour action should the conciliation yield no fairness in contract language regarding wages. The responsible approach for Brock would be to pay the CNIs adequately to avoid high turnover. This is benefiting neither the workers nor the students.

The Clinical Nursing Instructors are doing the job of registered nurses in patient care but with the additional responsibility of supervising and teaching a student whose practical and theoretical education they facilitate, grade and provide feedback for. The provisions in their collective agreement must reflect this hard work!

Unions request remedy for Bill 124

The five labour unions that represent most workers at Brock sent a letter to the President, Lesley Rigg, demanding a remedy response to the recent repeal of Bill 124. The bill, enacted in November 2019, restricted public sector workers’ wages to 1% increase a year for three years. Education labour unions challenged the constitutionality of the wage restraint that was then ruled unconstitutional by both Ontario Superior Court of Justice and the Ontario Court of Appeal, and repealed by the Ontario government in February 2024. The courts ruled Bill 124 infringed on the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining (section 2d of the Charter).

CUPE 4207 in Solidarity with CUPE 911 Workers!

CUPE 911 has over 400 members who include Paramedics and Dispatchers.  They are heading into bargaining and they’re calling for better working conditions to better confront the recruitment and retention crisis. They’re seriously understaffed and can’t retain or recruit people.

Locals from across the region came to offer support and rally with Paramedics and Dispatchers from CUPE 911 at White Oaks this morning. Jeff Burch gave a short speech and offered support. It was a chilly and windy morning, but great to see all the support at the rally and from all the cars and trucks driving by!

Group Photo with CUPE 911 and support from other Locals

Jeff Burch, MPP – Offering support to CUPE 911 Workers

CUPE 4207 Supporting CUPE 911- Phil Wachel (President) & Tracy Kennedy (VP Unit 1 Instructors)

CUPE 4156 (DSBN Support Workers) President Sandi Unwin & CUPE 4207 President Phil Wachel

OPIRG-Brock & CUPE 4207 Assessment Update

Dear CUPE 4207 Member,

Your Executive Committee would like to provide you with an update regarding a recent change to the Ontario Public Interest Research Group (OPIRG-Brock) and CUPE 4207 Assessment.

The CUPE 4207-OPIRG Brock Assessment Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is a document signed by both CUPE 4207 and OPIRG Brock. At the March 2020 General Membership Meeting, the membership voted to collect an assessment of 0.25% from all CUPE 4207 member wages, which would be sent to OPIRG Brock directly each month.

CUPE 4207 members pay 2.5% in union dues, which include 0.85% to CUPE National and 0.04% to CUPE Ontario. The 0.25% CUPE 4207-OPIRG Brock MOU assessment was bundled in with CUPE 4207 Union dues to total a 2.75% deduction on member’s biweekly pay.

In the Spring of 2023, the Executive Committee discussed some queries from CUPE 4207 members about the assessment (for example: what it was, how the funds were being used, what social advocacy groups were being funded by the assessment, if charitable tax documents would be supplied, and whether they could opt out). The Executive Committee felt they had a responsibility to answer member questions and address any concerns that members brought forward.

A letter to OPIRG-Brock was sent in August of 2023 by CUPE 4207 to notify them that changes to the assessment might happen. An ad-hoc committee was struck at the September General Membership Meeting to discuss the relationship between CUPE 4207 and OPIRG-Brock and how to move forward. The ad-hoc committee prepared a report and submitted it to the membership in January of 2024 for review and it was accepted. At the same January 2024 General Membership Meeting, there was a motion to eliminate the OPIRG-Brock Assessment on March 31st, 2024. The motion was voted on by members; the motion passed to end the CUPE 4207 and OPIRG-Brock assessment of 0.25%.

Following the vote, the Executive Committee informed Brock University’s Payroll department to make the necessary deduction adjustment from 2.75% to 2.5% beginning April 1st, 2024. The Payroll department indicated that April 7th was the easiest time to make the change in their system. As 4207 members are paid with a one week lag, April 29th will be the first payroll to reflect the 2.5% deduction.

The Executive Committee will continue to work with OPIRG-Brock. The working relationship is not ending, just changing, and we will be meeting with OPIRG-Brock in the coming weeks. The Local is still very committed to supporting social activism and advocacy initiatives in our community, and will do so on a project-by-project basis or as the need arises.

For those of you who wish to donate to OPIRG directly, please contact OPIRG-Brock and they will help facilitate this. Here is the link to their website for more information:  https://www.opirgbrock.com/

If you have any questions, please reach out to us at info@cupe4207.org .

In Solidarity,

Your Executive Committee

CUPE 4207