Dear CUPE 233 Members,
Notice: Special Membership Meeting
When: Sunday, April 23, 2023
Time: 2:00pm to 3:00pm
Location: Zoom
Agenda:
- Roll call of officers
- Reading of equality statement
- Updates and discussion:
- Bargaining Update
- Strike Update
- Phase 3 Next Steps
Zoom link will be sent to members prior to the start of the meeting.
Strike Update: April 21, 2023
Our BBQ and rally was a huge success. We were joined by other CUPE Locals in the sector, including CUPE 3906 at McMaster University, CUPE 3902 at the University of Toronto, CUPE 3261 at the University of Toronto, CUPE 3904 at TMU, and CUPE 1281. We were also joined by other CUPE Locals in other sectors and TFA, as well as Locals from other unions. The TMU Justice for Workers Chapter and students of TMU also attended. It was a great way to end a week of strike action!
However, after a successful week of strike action, it is abundantly clear that the TMU Administration will try and use all of its power to deny us rights to our pension that the faculty association on campus has and successfully defended in arbitration last year, as well as a wage increase much more aligned to what our managers received over the last 3 years as the cost-of-living soars.
We knew from the beginning this will be a hard fight. The university wants to preserve Article 24.03 of our collective agreement, which states that the pension plan “…shall be financed by equal contributions of the Employer and the Employees…” because it downloads any costs that are an employer-only liability under the terms of our pension plan and pension law onto us.
Furthermore, our employer believes that 9.5% over 3 years is an acceptable amount when our managers got up to 15% wage increases over the last 3 years. Is this how our employer shows they respect and value us and our contributions to the university community?
We will be discussing more about bargaining and the strike at our special membership meeting tomorrow, as well as discuss plans for phase 3 as we escalate pressure and demand to be treated with respect.
In Solidarity,
Your Local Executive Committee
Your Negotiating Committee
Your Strike Committee