Hello members, friends, and allies of CUPE5524 – Academic Workers at the University of Waterloo!
As of just a few days ago, Renison University College Sessional Faculty began the process of holding a vote to unionize. As part of this union drive, we are happy to bust a number of common myths, and provide information to all the new potential members in RUC!
What can a union do for me?
The track record is clear. Workers who are members of a union receive higher wages than people without a union, enjoy better benefits and have more rights. Their workplaces are safer, they’re less likely to suffer harassment or discrimination and they get more respect. This is what we call the “union advantage”. All workers are protected by employment standards laws, but unionized workers are able to use collective bargaining to negotiate greater protections and improved wages and working conditions.
Can I be fired for signing a union card?
It is illegal for an employer to fire or suspend anyone for signing a union card or for being part of an organizing drive.
How much are the union dues?
CUPE Local 5524 dues are 2.25%. Union dues are not applied to overtime or other premium pay. Dues allow you and your union to negotiate and defend your rights and create conditions that will allow for a better workplace. In CUPE, there are two portions. National dues are 0.85 percent of base wages provide your National Staff Representative and specialist services including legal, research, communications, health & safety, WSIB, pay equity and more. The local portion of your dues provides such things as time for your locally elected representatives to work on your behalf, to take important issues to arbitration and cover the cost of local meetings. All dues are tax-deductible.
Will we have to go on strike?
In CUPE, the local union members are the only people who decide on a strike. Educating students, holding rallies, handing out information to the public, and making links with groups in the community are some other ways our union can show our power and influence. Striking is always a last resort and is extremely rare. The vast majority of CUPE settlements are reached without a single day of job action. However, in the event the Local membership determines a strike is necessary, CUPE has you covered with strike pay (which is non-taxable).
I would like a union in my workplace, but I don’t want to create any waves.
Every employee has a legal and constitutional right to join a union of their choice. It is illegal for an Employer to interfere with, restrain, intimidate, threaten, discriminate against an employee that seeks to bring a union into their workforce. It is also against the law for an Employer to question workers about their support for a union. The union certification process is confidential, so Employers are not entitled to know who signed cards. Votes are held by secret ballot.
My Employer says the union can’t guarantee increased wages or better working conditions. Is that true?
It’s true that increased wages, improved benefits and working conditions must be negotiated with the Employer after the union is certified by the Ontario Labour Relations Board. The statistics are clear though – on average unionized workers are paid significantly higher. Unionized workers are also more likely to have a pension plan and to enjoy better benefits and paid leaves.
The bottom line is that workers have more power to improve their working conditions when they come together collectively as a union. With CUPE’s professional representation and research support, a union will certainly improve your working conditions by bargaining for fair wages, better benefits, paid leaves, predictable schedules, protection from arbitrary dismissal and fair and transparent policies that apply to everyone.
Don’t unions just protect incompetent people?
The union can’t hire and fire. That’s management’s role. By law the union must represent its members fairly and without bias. If someone isn’t doing their job it’s up to management, not the union, to make them shape up, and to follow a fair process of discipline. Unions protect their members from arbitrary and discriminatory discipline. That’s our job.
Will quality of education suffer if we unionize?
On the contrary, unionization results in better service, better care, and more public accountability. Having a union means employees have new resources to help us make the case for better funding, better work organization and workplace improvements. It also means workers are protected when they speak out about problems. Unions fight against cutbacks to save jobs but they’re also fighting to maintain (and improve) the quality of service. It’s the union members who see first-hand how reduced services hurt the people they serve.
There are some things my Employer provides that I value. Can we lose them if we form a union?
No.The opposite is true. Without a union, the employer can change your benefits or hours of work at any time. It’s against the law for employers to retaliate against the union by taking away what you have now. Having a union contract and bargaining for improvements is one way of securing the benefits you’ve gained so far.
My Employer is suggesting that CUPE is an outsider. Is that true?
The union is not an outside organization that comes into your workplace. The Union is “YOU and Your co-workers”, who are treated unfairly coming together in your workplace to create collective power to better your working conditions and wages. CUPE is a union of more than 800,000 workers across the country who have come together in their respective workplace; Who would lend their support to each other and to you, to advance better working conditions for all.
Why CUPE and Universities?
More than 70,000 PSE workers in CUPE, more than 40,000 of them in Ontario universities Most members are academic workers (contract instructors, sessionals, TA/RA, continuing education), but we also represent thousands of trades, maintenance and custodial workers, administrative and technical staff, laboratory and classroom technicians, foodservice workers, residence workers and more. In Ontario, we have 123 bargaining units in the sector. We represent contract and sessional instructors at York, UofT, Waterloo, King’s, Trent, TMU, McMaster, Guelph, Carleton and Brock.
Our contracts:
CUPE has the contracts that lead the sector, not only in wages, but in benefits, leaves and job protections. All of these must be negotiated, but more and more contract instructors are getting health benefits through bargaining, as well as things like academic/conference leaves, parental leaves and job protections through seniority. CUPE is also leading the way with some of the first language on job protection from AI, and most contracts have language around retraining that will pertain to AI systems. Many of the ways that AI touches our work will be the focus of major university bargaining campaigns this year at UofT, York and elsewhere.
How does CUPE work?
CUPE is a democracy. At the local level, you elect your leaders, the co-workers who will represent you at the bargaining table, vote on proposals going to the table and any agreement made there, and even set the local dues rate. You also elect people to represent you at the National Convention, where decisions are made democratically that affect all members. But everything affecting your workplace is made by you and the members of your local. Your local is supported by an experience National Staff Representative and a host of specialist services.
What is a collective agreement?
It is an agreement between the employer and workers on the terms and conditions of work. It is a set of rules clearly laid out that everyone must follow, including your boss. Your CUPE collective agreement does more than just guarantee wages and benefits. It provides a series of protections and rights that non-union workers do not have. Your collective agreement also means you don’t have to negotiate everything on your own. Wages, benefits, and working conditions are typically much worse in non-union workplaces, and not everyone can safely push for better from their employer all on their own. Together you have greater bargaining power and better protection.
What new rights do I get?
Many rights will be negotiated in your collective agreement. But some come immediately after a successful vote and others are guaranteed to be in your collective agreement. Right now, your employer can dismiss you without cause. After you join a union, they cannot. They also will not be able to arbitrarily change your terms and conditions of work. You are also guaranteed a fair grievance policy by law.
ONE FINAL NOTE!
HUGE congratulations to the Sessional Faculty at Renison University College! And we hope to see you join the team soon!
