I'm highly tempted to hit Send on the following letter to CUPE3906's comments department (or main office... whatever the email leads to)
So, as a student at Mac, due to your failure to take the considerations of your members into considerations, I will be losing out on the extremely expensive bus service I paid for, as well as missing out on a solid portion of my education, being in first year eng. IMPORTANT! So I am emailing you to find out when you will be teaching me the material I am missing? Should I contact you for special tutoring sessions to make up for the missing material? Or will you just send a cheque in the mail? Either is good for me really, considering the (at least) extra 3 hours out of labs I have, each week, now that you have dictated that your members go on strike.
Also, how about these limited bus services? I suppose you could help pay for my on-campus meals, since I will be forced to spend excessively more on campus, each day, rather than going to the grocery store for my food. I look forward to hearing your solution! OH! But wait. You could of course solve this all very simply. And this method won’t require the private tutor time, or the 50-something cent stamp for that cheque in the mail! You simply call for a vote by those members that you forced into your group... Actually, when I put it that way, I guess you guys make more sense: Why give a democratic vote to those who you dictated into your group?
Thanks for the time! Hopefully you get the time to reply between dictating and ignoring others.
...I will be losing out on the extremely expensive bus service I paid for, as well as missing out on a solid portion of my education, being in first year eng. IMPORTANT! So I am emailing you to find out when you will be teaching me the material I am missing? Should I contact you for special tutoring sessions to make up for the missing material?
mike_302: It should be noted that I can think of vastly more Engineering TA's that will cross than will not cross. So, depending on the course, things might run unchanged.
I, personally, will cross because I don't believe in the strike. And I will offer my services as a TA/tutor to any undergrad who feels wronged by their TA going on strike, to the best of my ability in whatever capacity possible.
So if you are having trouble with first year calculus/algebra/physics/chemistry, PM me and I will try my best. No guarantees though - I took those 9 years ago.
Okay well then, now that that's answered: Where's our damn refund line? I think it should be located at:
B108 Wentworth House McMaster University
Hamilton
Ontario
Canada
L8S 4K1
But that's just my opinion
Ha! Did you really think that add on to all they syllabus' syllabi? was really about swine flu? The university knew there was going to be a strike and covered their asses.
Oh, I'm not necessarily having trouble actually. I might suffer a bit in chem cause my chem labs were kicking ass, and I believe my TA was a grad student who (no offense to him) might have more to lose if he crosses... And my other chem marks are likely to fail-hard. But I really just wrote that part to get a point across in general for all students.
It is my firm belief that crossing the picket line in a situation like this is akin to "bending over and taking it". While I do not necessarily agree with what the union stands for during these contractual negotiations, it is important to remember that TAs are people too. We do a lot of hard work, and in many cases the majority of our funding comes from TAing. In the end, the amount of money we make after tuition is deducted is right around (and in many cases below) the poverty line (approx. $21666 in 2007). Many of us have lingering debts from undergrad still, some of us have families to feed. Just because I am a grad student does not mean I can suddenly apply for OSAP (I can't) or that I can somehow live off less money then the next guy.
Prior to the strike being called, I was toying with the idea of scabbing, with the well-being of my undergrads being the sole reason. Unfortunately, by scabbing not only would I be weakening the unions (and thus all TAs and RAs at Mac) position, but we would also be playing right into the administrations hands. While choosing to support the strike, I have stated to my undergrads that I would answer e-mails if they e-mailed me for help, but strictly as a friend and not in my capacity as a TA.
I would also like to say that I am appalled by the complete lack of respect many of you show towards both the union and TAs who are going to choose not to scab, but also to TAs in general. Like the rest of you, we are people too. While you may or may not agree with the union's decision, at the very least you can show some respect towards what we are in the process of dealing with, as many of us do feel for you guys. Remember, we were all undergrads at some point too.
I would also like to say that I am appalled by the complete lack of respect many of you show towards both the union and TAs who are going to choose not to scab, but also to TAs in general.
Don't worry, it's the internet. A lot of ignorance here.
It is my firm belief that crossing the picket line in a situation like this is akin to "bending over and taking it".
And it is my firm belief that allowing a union that you didn't sign up for dictate to you whether or not you can work is akin to 'bending over and taking it'.
Hey, hey. I just want to point out that I have not disrespected TA's in any way. If it seems like I did, I did not mean it. I have tonnes of friends who are TA's. I understand their awkward position right now. I just want to make it known that I respect your decision to picket if you need to: 100% support it.
The one thing I DON'T respect is the lack of respect from CUPE towards its members. I think that in any case where a large number of people (in this case, thousands!) are being affected, a vote should be taken, rather than this dictated decision.
I`m not on the offensive here either btw. I just felt I needed to backtrack for a second and make it clear to any readers that my anger is towards CUPE for not allowing democratic decision process... TA`s are awesome.
It is my firm belief that crossing the picket line in a situation like this is akin to "bending over and taking it". While I do not necessarily agree with what the union stands for during these contractual negotiations, it is important to remember that TAs are people too. We do a lot of hard work, and in many cases the majority of our funding comes from TAing. In the end, the amount of money we make after tuition is deducted is right around (and in many cases below) the poverty line (approx. $21666 in 2007). Many of us have lingering debts from undergrad still, some of us have families to feed. Just because I am a grad student does not mean I can suddenly apply for OSAP (I can't) or that I can somehow live off less money then the next guy.
I'd like to point out that you'd be hard pressed to find any students not living below the poverty line. Very few of us have incomes above $21k, and as UGs we have to pay for tuition as well. Why do you think we live in student housing and eat Kraft Dinner
Hey, hey. I just want to point out that I have not disrespected TA's in any way. If it seems like I did, I did not mean it. I have tonnes of friends who are TA's. I understand their awkward position right now. I just want to make it known that I respect your decision to picket if you need to: 100% support it.
The one thing I DON'T respect is the lack of respect from CUPE towards its members. I think that in any case where a large number of people (in this case, thousands!) are being affected, a vote should be taken, rather than this dictated decision.
I`m not on the offensive here either btw. I just felt I needed to backtrack for a second and make it clear to any readers that my anger is towards CUPE for not allowing democratic decision process... TA`s are awesome.
I agree entirely. As far as I'm concerned, a TA's decision to picket so that they can support their union (independent on whether or not they believe in the cause), as well as crossing the picket line to teach, are both very commendable decisions. What disturbs me is the lack of quantitative data regarding the strike vote, and what appears to be complete reticence in holding a vote on whether to accept the university's final offer or not, based on (and please correct me if I've misunderstood) the assumption that the majority of TAs would vote to refuse the offer.
I agree entirely. As far as I'm concerned, a TA's decision to picket so that they can support their union (independent on whether or not they believe in the cause), as well as crossing the picket line to teach, are both very commendable decisions. What disturbs me is the lack of quantitative data regarding the strike vote, and what appears to be complete reticence in holding a vote on whether to accept the university's final offer or not, based on (and please correct me if I've misunderstood) the assumption that the majority of TAs would vote to refuse the offer.
I believe CUPE is saying no vote on the deal because TAs would just reject it and it would be a waste. However yes the speculation is that they won't put it to a vote because they know their membership will accept it.
Someone posted that the last time CUPE threatened to strike and put the deal to a vote the TAs voted to accept the deal.
This is counterintuitive to CUPE's own purposes of justifying their existence.
Goes to shows that CUPE can talk all they want about their goal being to achieve a fair deal for our TAs yet doing the exact opposite by being unfair to them, threatening them and not allowing them to make their own decision about the deal offerred to them by McMaster.
__________________ -Stefanie Walsh-
4th Year Multimedia 2010-2011
Someone posted that the last time CUPE threatened to strike and put the deal to a vote the TAs voted to accept the deal.
sew12: You are right, that happened in 2006. In 2006 they got a ’strong strike mandate’ as well, but when the offer itself was put to vote, despite heavy daily recommendations to vote ‘no’, the membership voted ‘yes’. The exact wording of their disappointment, on Nov. 9, 2006, was:
“Notice to all members,
The Unit 1 contract has been ratifed by the membership.
More information to follow.
Sarah Declerck
President, CUPE 3906″
Note that no information followed. They wanted that strike so badly.
Kathy2, Taunton all say thanks to AYuen for this post.
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