Before anyone starts freaking out about the actual content, I just want to see whether this is legit or not. Have other clubs gotten this e-mail or not? I find it kind of suspicious as it's sent from a gmail account (Undergraduate Support <mac.undergrad.suppor [email protected] >) rather than a mcmaster e-mail.

A lot of it seems like fear mongering, and I have no idea who this Undergraduate Support Committee is.

Attention Clubs and Association members;



Those of you who are reading this email are assumed to be an executive member of your respectful club or association. Therefore, we STRONGLY URGE that you regard this message as an EMERGENCY MATTER for the students your organization represents:



***MCMASTER TEACHING AND RESEARCH ASSISSTANTS (WHO CONDUCT TUTORIALS AND LABS) ARE WITHIN 6 DAYS OF A STRIKE***

(Meaning Tutorials & Labs WILL be cancelled as of next Monday if an agreement is not met)



THIS IS NOT A JOKE. The university’s upper administration and executive members have been doing an extraordinary job at keeping the severity of this issue and the reality of its conditions and circumstances to a petrifying low.



- This is an issue that affects the entire McMaster community, but directly and most importantly to the GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE POPULATION -



As members of your organizations, we understand that each and every one of you reading this message possess a desire of being active students contributing to McMaster’s community. For this reason, we [the independent Undergraduate Support Committee] cannot emphasize enough how important it is for all of you to inform your club/association members about the potential strike – as it does affect the entire McMaster community.



PLEASE – regardless of whatever political or philosophical beliefs you or your organization represent or might have towards this issue, the very minimum you can do is to ****ADVISE YOUR MEMBERS TO INFORM THEMSELVES ON WHAT IS GOING ON****. The last thing we want is for the undergraduate and graduate community to have absolutely no idea on what is occurring – which is sadly what we are are dealing with 6 DAYS AWAY FROM A POTENTIAL STRIKE.



***PLEASE ADVISE THEM TO INFORM THEIR PARENTS AS WELL***



TO OBTAIN INFORMATION, YOU CAN FIND MEDIOCRE UPDATES ON THE UNIVERSITY WEBSITE, HOWEVER WE STERNLY WARN YOU THAT THE LANGUAGE USED IS EXTREMELY PERSUASIVE AND HEAVILY MANIPULATED THAT DOES NOT ILLUSTRATE A TRANSPARENT PICTURE OF WHAT THE CIRCUMSTANCES AND ISSUES ARE AT HAND…



IF YOU DO NOT BELIEVE THIS ASSERTION, PLEASE VISIT CUPE’s BARGAINING BLOG AND MAKE THE COMPARISON AMONGST YOURSELVES: http://unit1bargaining.wordp ress.com



To make things very clear, the Undergraduate Support Committee does have a firm and decisive stance on the issue, however our overall ambition is to get students out of their apathy shells and start directly participating on issues that affect the entire McMaster community as a whole… ESPECIALLY WHEN IT HAS TO DO WITH OUR TUITION, QUALITY OF EDUCATION AND THE FUTURE OF MCMASTERS’ REPUTATION AS A WORLD CLASS UNIVERSITY.



Once again, you can arrive at whatever conclusion you wish to on the perspectives of this matter, just make sure that you at least investigate both sources of information in order to establish your own interpretation of the issue. Read the information for what it is.



- Attached to this message is our information flyer that you are welcome (and encouraged) to send it to your members. If you have any additional questions or concerns, please feel free to reply.



In solidarity and co-operation,

The [independent] Undergraduate Support Committee

Originally Posted by Jay

Before anyone starts freaking out about the actual content, I just want to see whether this is legit or not. Have other clubs got this e-mail or not. I find it kind of suspicious as it's sent from a gmail account (Undergraduate Support <mac.undergrad.suppor [email protected] >) rather than a mcmaster e-mail.

A lot of it seems like fear mongering, and I have no idea who this Undergraduate Support Committee is.

I've never heard of the "Undergraduate Support Committee" either. I agree that it looks like fear mongering and it's obviously biased towards the union.

I haven't personally recieved this email yet (also being a heavily involved student leader), but I can post here if I do.

Who is the "Undergraduate Support Committee"? Have they identified themselves anywhere? That would give one some idea about their "legitimacy"

I did a google search, nothing. (Granted I didn't look very hard).

The CONSTANT TYPING IN CAPS was really frustrating though. :\

The language and formatting kind of reminds me of one of those "WARNING! "forward this email to everyone you know!" emails...

Wow.. Can the union sink any lower? I'm really disgusted at this point. This was obviously made by someone in the union, meant to scare students. Which we have been seeing A LOT of lately.. It's pathetic.

I would never trust anything McMaster-related unless it's sent from a McMaster email.

I suggest forwarding this to UTS. They can send out a student-wide email, reminding students not to trust any email unless it's a McMaster email.

Originally Posted by Jay

Before anyone starts freaking out about the actual content, I just want to see whether this is legit or not. Have other clubs gotten this e-mail or not? I find it kind of suspicious as it's sent from a gmail account (Undergraduate Support <mac.undergrad.suppor [email protected] >) rather than a mcmaster e-mail.

A lot of it seems like fear mongering, and I have no idea who this Undergraduate Support Committee is.

The email does overstate things a bit as the strike isn't certain at the moment a strike would certainly affect tutorials and labs. CUPE 3906 and the University want to avert a strike, but the deadline is in place for Oct 31 12:01am and after that there is a real possibility of a strike.

Going through the other claims of the email:

Tutorials and Labs will be cancelled as of next Monday
the deadline is this weekend, so with no agreement or without being really close, there would a strike. So generally true, Tutorials and Labs would likely be cancelled in the event of a strike. There might be some exceptions, but students should generally expect tutorials and labs not to occur, or be altered in some way, if there a strike.

The university’s upper administration and executive members have been doing an extraordinary job at keeping the severity of this issue and the reality of its conditions and circumstances to a petrifying low.
Generally true, I think if you read dailynews, you would agree the University has really downplaying it just as they did with the potential CAW strike. If CAW had gone on strike there would have been administrative chaos and it would have affected students. CAW members also run labs so some of those would have had to be cancelled. If TAs and RAs go on strike, there will be an effect on students, the amount of the effect will depend on a lot of factors. McMaster has really tried to avoid admitting there will at least be SOME effect.

TO OBTAIN INFORMATION, YOU CAN FIND MEDIOCRE UPDATES ON THE UNIVERSITY WEBSITE, HOWEVER WE STERNLY WARN YOU THAT THE LANGUAGE USED IS EXTREMELY PERSUASIVE AND HEAVILY MANIPULATED THAT DOES NOT ILLUSTRATE A TRANSPARENT PICTURE OF WHAT THE CIRCUMSTANCES AND ISSUES ARE AT HAND…
Well obviously I agree that dailynews is manipulative, but I'm sure the University administration would argue the same for our blog. Half a dozen of one, six of another .

Just got an email from the University, they've finally admitted there could be some affect from a strike. That's a good thing that they're finally being open about it.

October 26, 2009

A message to our students from McMaster University


CUPE Local 3906, Unit 1 which represents Teaching Assistants and some Research Assistants will be in a legal strike position as of 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, October 31. A work stoppage will only happen if the union calls a strike. McMaster will not lock out TAs and RAs.


Negotiations to reach a new contract have been underway for several months. Here ’s an overview of progress to date:

The University and union have been meeting since June and we’ve made good progress, with agreement on the majority of contract language.
The University is offering TAs and RAs a raise of $1.30 an hour (Class A - $39.30/hr., Class B - $22.05/hr.).
Talks continue October 29 and 30 and the University believes a deal is within reach.
As these talks continue, McMaster’s top priority continues to be our students and providing the best quality education. The University will remain open and classes will continue.


However, there will be some changes and impacts should the union decide to strike. Here are a few reminders for students:

Classes will continue but there could be changes in classroom and lecture hall locations. Your instructor will inform you of these changes.
Tutorials and labs could be affected. Your instructor will provide information about any changes and every effort will be made to minimize the impact of these changes.
If you have yet to activate your McMaster e-mail account, you should do so now. You will be receiving regular updates via your McMaster e-mail address. If you have a question about your McMaster e-mail address, visit https://mugsi.mcmaster.ca
You can find updated information at:

The Daily News – http://dailynews.mcmaster.ca
The Students information website: http://mcmaster.ca/opr/students_parents/student.html
The Parents information website: http://mcmaster.ca/opr/students_parents/parent.html
McMaster’s Twitter feed - http://twitter.com/McMasterUpdates
If there is a strike and the union sets up picket lines at the University there will be delays getting onto campus. You will need to take this into consideration when planning your travel to and from McMaster.

Originally Posted by Kathy2

Wow.. Can the union sink any lower? I'm really disgusted at this point. This was obviously made by someone in the union, meant to scare students. Which we have been seeing A LOT of lately.. It's pathetic.

I would never trust anything McMaster-related unless it's sent from a McMaster email.

I suggest forwarding this to UTS. They can send out a student-wide email, reminding students not to trust any email unless it's a McMaster email.

It wasn't made by someone in the union. There are numerous undergraduates who have taken it upon themselves to try and inform their peers about what's happening and I'm sure it came from them. One of the reasons why I think the undergraduates feel they need to be so aggressive in their messaging is because they talk to their fellow students and find they aren't informed at all what could happen in the event of a strike. While I don't think people should be scared, I do think people need to be aware.

Originally Posted by dsahota

It wasn't made by someone in the union. There are numerous undergraduates who have taken it upon themselves to try and inform their peers about what's happening and I'm sure it came from them. One of the reasons why I think the undergraduates feel they need to be so aggressive in their messaging is because they talk to their fellow students and find they aren't informed at all what could happen in the event of a strike. While I don't think people should be scared, I do think people need to be aware.

Give me a break.

I actually supported, or was at least neutral in this whole McMaster/Union thing, but not any more. CUPE can kiss my ass. That email was the most pathetic and coercive think I've read in years.

Yes, it did originate form a union member. I would bet my life on it. The unprofessionalism, language usage, and CAPSfest above is truly disgraceful in a letter of that nature.

Posing under the identity of a fictional group (i.e. "mac.undergrad.support .committee") associated with McMaster and then communicating with others who have a stake in matters involving the university is borderline criminal (it actually is).

mac.undergrad.support [email protected]

Attention Clubs and Association members;

Those of you who are reading this email are assumed to be an executive member of your respectful club or association. Therefore, we STRONGLY URGE that you regard this message as an EMERGENCY MATTER for the students your organization represents:


***MCMASTER TEACHING AND RESEARCH ASSISSTANTS

...

etc

At least try... please.

Regardless, I replied to please stop spamming me from a non-mcmaster email. I don't need some anonymous jackass telling me my business.
EDIT: got a reply giving me a bit more BS and saying they'll take me off the list.
Here it is:

It is unfortunate that you feel that way. Consider it spam if you like - that is entirely up to you, however this is an emergency matter where the vast majority of the McMaster community have absolutely no idea of what is occurring and the severity of this issue.

If you could provide us with an alternative approach to inform the McMaster community about the issue within 5 days, we would love to consider them.

It is made clear that we are independent and that we are simply attempting to get the McMaster community informed on the current status and issues - one way or another, regardless of their political or philosophical beliefs.

No one is forcing you to read the information (or agree with it for that matter), but we are simply trying to be an outlet of information. At the end of the day, if our attempts spark some form of discussion amongst the McMaster community that results in its members being informed about the issue, then we have accomplished our ambition.

If the McMaster community was in fact informed, our message (or 'spam' in your perspective) would not be necessary.

We will remove you from the email list.

In solidarity & co-operation,

The Undergraduate Support Committee

Originally Posted by dsahota

It wasn't made by someone in the union. There are numerous undergraduates who have taken it upon themselves to try and inform their peers about what's happening and I'm sure it came from them. One of the reasons why I think the undergraduates feel they need to be so aggressive in their messaging is because they talk to their fellow students and find they aren't informed at all what could happen in the event of a strike. While I don't think people should be scared, I do think people need to be aware.

You think an undergraduate student wrote this to "inform their peers"? I don't think so. Everyone knows that the TAs might strike. There's been booths in the student centre, union members picketing to "give the community information", messages all over MacInsiders and The Sil, etc. This was obviously made by some kind of union member (either a TA, an RA, a negotiations member, etc). I can't see, in a MILLION YEARS, why a student would do this.

if only i could show full headers in univmail...nvm, i got it lol

Originally Posted by adrian

Regardless, I replied to please stop spamming me from a non-mcmaster email. I don't need some anonymous jackass telling me my business.
EDIT: got a reply giving me a bit more BS and saying they'll take me off the list.
Here it is:

How professional.

/sarcasm

Do they really think anyone is going to take them seriously?