[Chad]

Monday Strike Update

The university’s bargaining team walked away from the negotiations on Saturday morning at 4am after the union rejected a “final offer” package. Strike action will commence on Monday November 2nd at 7:30 am.

Tomorrow morning the strike office will be open at 7:00am. Picket lines will be up at 7:30am.

The locations of the picket lines are as followed:

* Sterling street entrance – Humanities, Engineering, and Science
* Cootes drive entrance – Social sciences, Health sciences, and
Business

There are 3 different picket shifts:

* 7:30am to 11:30am
* 11:30am to 3:30pm
* 3:30pm to 7:30pm

Full e-mail below:

Unit 1 Members,

As communicated in previous emails this weekend, the university’s bargaining team walked away from the negotiations on Saturday morning at 4am after the union rejected a completely unacceptable “final offer” package. McMaster made this offer with the full expectation that it would be rejected and that it would result in a strike. Although your bargaining team was committed to keeping negotiations open in order to work towards a collective agreement, since the strike deadline had passed and the university had left the negotiations, the bargaining team made the decision to call a strike. Strike action will commence on Monday November 2nd at 7:30 am.

A special membership meeting was held this afternoon at 4pm. The meeting began with bargaining team presentation and open discussion on the university’s final package and the union’s current position. Our position document is attached to this email. Please remember that, unlike the university’s package, this is not a final offer and will be subject to further revision during negotiations. We then addressed whether or not the membership was interested in a ratification vote of the university’s current “final offer”. After a straw poll, a motion was put forward to bring this package to a ratification vote. The motion was defeated by 69% of the membership. Finally we presented frequently asked questions about the strike and answered questions from the floor.

We will be calling another general member’s meeting as soon as possible. Stay tuned for updates about the time and location.

Current Communications
----------------------------
After some communications with the university’s bargaining team during the afternoon, late this evening, our bargaining team heard through the Hamilton Spectator that McMaster was offering to come back to the table. Their conditions were that we stop job action and call off the strike. We agreed to meet with them at the requested time but did not agree to the conditions. These conditions are unacceptable; we cannot cease job action without a commitment on their part that they have a new offer that addresses our priority areas. Furthermore we believe that it would be irresponsible to call off job action at such short notice. Our members have already been locked out of ELM and many departments have already cancelled tutorials this week.

Strike Office and Picket Lines
------------------------------ --
Tomorrow morning the strike office will be open at 7:00am. Picket lines will be up at 7:30am. If you have signed up for picket duty please show up at the appropriate time. If you have not signed up for a picket duty tomorrow, you can sign up at the office or on the appropriate picket line.

The locations of the picket lines are as followed:

* Sterling street entrance – Humanities, Engineering, and Science
* Cootes drive entrance – Social sciences, Health sciences, and
Business

There are 3 different picket shifts:

* 7:30am to 11:30am
* 11:30am to 3:30pm
* 3:30pm to 7:30pm

Transportation and Parking
----------------------------
We are encouraging individuals to take public transit to campus either via the Go bus, or Hamilton public transit. For those individuals who are commuting from out of town the union will provide a transportation stipend to cover the costs of the equivalent of GO transportation. For any individuals who cannot use public transit please come to the strike office to arrange other ways to get compensation for your travel time. Those individuals who currently hold parking permits, although we are dissuading individuals from coming onto campus unless completely necessary, you may park on campus. However please expect delays while driving onto campus.

Childcare
------------
We are currently working on arranging childcare accommodations for those members who have children. We hope to have this up and running by later in the week.

Alternate Duties to Picketing
----------------------------
For those who cannot physically go out on the lines there are alternative duties that you can sign up for. In order to arrange alternative duties please contact Joyne Lavides at [email protected] [email protected]>

Strike Protocol
-----------------
Your picket captains have been advised as to what the strike protocol is. Your picket captains will be wearing reflective vests. The protocol will be posted on the blog soon. Furthermore, do not forget that you must sign in and out in order to get paid for your hours on the line. For more information, please see the strike FAQ at http://unit1bargaining.wordpress.com/faq/what-happens-in-the-event-of-a-strike/

How Do I Dress?
-------------------
Please check the weather before you head to campus tomorrow. We will be outside on picket lines for 4 hours at a time. Our best advice is to dress in layers!!

Is the cootes drive entrance the entrance that leads to the parking lots that are over the bridge and way in the bottom? Parking lots K M etc.?

Originally Posted by Ryan V

Is the cootes drive entrance the entrance that leads to the parking lots that are over the bridge and way in the bottom? Parking lots K M etc.?

yup it is :(. i am hoping it doesn't drastically affect my commute time!!!

Just use the Main Street entrance.

There's a sign that says "Transponders use Sterling Street and Cootes Drive entrances", but everyone is using Main Street anyway because there's nothing stopping them.

Also, hold down your horn when they stop your car.

On the news they just said that there is a new offer and they will listen to what it is, so they are not allowing cars in the campus.

Originally Posted by jordanrogers

On the news they just said that there is a new offer and they will listen to what it is, so they are not allowing cars in the campus.

I hope this comes to an end quickly.

http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/664928

Originally Posted by jordanrogers

On the news they just said that there is a new offer and they will listen to what it is, so they are not allowing cars in the campus.

While they sit nice and cozy inside an office listening to a new offer, everyone has to sit in their cars wasting time and gas, waiting for them to get back?

ooopss!! sorry i dfinetly diddnt mean to write not - the ARE allowing cars on campus!

wow sorry!!

so if they are at the bargaining table again, does this mean they are still officially on strike - juust not picketing?

Ooooooh okay. Phew!

haha as a CA in Keyes i have pretty much a front row view of hte cootes entrance ...i need to buy some popcorn

is the cootes entrance backed up at all?