So Housing and Conference Services just sent out the following email..
Quote:

Please be advised negotiations are currently being held between the University and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) which represents skilled trade, maintenance and operations, custodial and cleaning staff at McMaster. The SEIU's current contract expires on September 30. October 1 is the earliest date for a legal strike.
The University’s goal is to reach a settlement at the negotiating table. Should the union choose to strike, plans have been prepared to ensure the University is able to continue operations. The University will remain open.
How does this impact you if there is a strike?

• Classes, labs and tutorials are expected to continue.
• A plan is in place to clean and maintain Residence Buildings.
• You may experience delays getting to and from campus - please allow additional travel time.
• Buses will not enter campus, however, bus stop locations will be established on the perimeter of campus (Check the Daily News for details)
• Food and drinks will not be permitted in classrooms and libraries.
• Food Services will continue to operate. Some outlets may be closed or offer shortened hours; some food options may be limited or packaging may be changed to reduce garbage.

What can you do in your Residence community?

• Remove garbage from your room and deposit it in designated bins outside your building. Details will be posted in each Residence Building.
• Minimize waste and garbage.

/
Is it just me or is this whole strike thing just getting ridiculous? I know this only appeals to people living in residence, but I'm just really annoyed at the fact that we pay 4000-6000 for residence a year to Mac and there's a possibility that after all that money, the buildings might not even be cleaned ..

rofl, they're going to try to make people not eat in Mills/lecture (if there's a strike)...

Why do contracts have to end in the middle of the year? Wouldn't it make more sense if they just had it expire the following Apr/May?

Yea I read this.. does anyone know why they're striking or have any other info about whats going on ? This could end up sucking badly ;/

This brings up memories of that strike in Toronto, where the garbage was sitting around for weeks...

ugh... got the email earlier... i can just imagine... the washrooms are already not 'clean'

Originally Posted by britb

rofl, they're going to try to make people not eat in Mills/lecture (if there's a strike)...

Why do contracts have to end in the middle of the year? Wouldn't it make more sense if they just had it expire the following Apr/May?

Well, it would certainly make sense for McMaster and the students affected, but it gives the unions more bargaining power if they're actually disrupting services.

Does anyone know if this affects the hospital, as well? I don't think so, I think they're two seperate entities.

Good to see how far our money goes.

seriouslyyyyy........

lmfaoo this can only end well ?

Originally Posted by britb

Why do contracts have to end in the middle of the year? Wouldn't it make more sense if they just had it expire the following Apr/May?

Contracts tend to end up ending so they are exactly integer number of years in length, so it just happens that some end up ending during the school year, and others end at the end of the school year. For example, the contract for sessional faculty (Cupe 3906 unit 2) ends at the end of April, Postdoctoral fellows (Cupe unit 3) in Mid July and TAs at the end of August (Cupe Unit 1).

No matter when the contract ends, if a strike / lockout is going to occur, its most likely to happen during the school year. This is because the old contract will often be temporarily extended when the parties are continuing to bargain with the hopes of getting a deal.

Bargaining in the summer also tends to go very slowly (CUPE Unit 1 tried it last year) because many of the administrators who the union members have to bargain with are away on vacation.

In short, a lot of things conspire in the academic sector that effectively push any labour disruption into the path of the Sept-Apr school year.

Im kinda excited. But I hope this is a real strike, unlike that sorry excuse for a strike the TAs had.

Originally Posted by jo87

Im kinda excited. But I hope this is a real strike, unlike that sorry excuse for a strike the TAs had.

lmaoo it's just a custodial strike, which just means that the chances of us having garbage all over the place is pretty high

Originally Posted by david.p92

lmaoo it's just a custodial strike, which just means that the chances of us having garbage all over the place is pretty high

Custodial and trades...which means if shets broken in res it aint gettin fixed.

Best institution ever!!!!




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