Employee Town Hall

An Employee Town Hall was held on Wednesday, September 24 between 10:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. Leaders were brought together to answer questions, share priorities, reflect on challenges and opportunities, and discuss our shared path forward.

A live conversation was held, featuring:

• Host Dr. Tom Cooper, Faculty of Business Administration;
• President and Vice Chancellor Janet Morrison;
• Trudy Pound-Curtis, Vice-President (Finance and Administration); and
• Dr. Jennifer Lokash, Provost and Vice-President (Academic).

The video is available for you to watch below.

Pre-Election Town Hall on Post-Secondary Education

Memorial’s Coalition of Unions arranged for a pre-election Town Hall to take place on the St. John’s campus on Wednesday, September 24, at 7:00 p.m. in the Bruneau Centre. This was done in advance of the looming October provincial election, since the Coalition wanted to learn how our vote could impact our future at Memorial University. It was at this critical period for Memorial University that local political party leaders and government officials came together to discuss their parties’ plans for post-secondary education.

Watch the promotional video on Instagram for an understanding of what the main goals were for the Town Hall.

Fortunately, there was a large turnout, where many voices had the opportunity to be heard. See the recording below to watch the Pre-Election Town Hall.

 
The Coalition of Unions, a coalition of all labour unions and student unions, decided it was important to it’s members and the members  The Coalition has worked quickly in organizing an election town hall during the provincial election which is now underway. The logistics and details are now confirmed with a CBC moderator!

This could be an opportunity for our members to influence the state of the University, funding its jobs, students services and most importantly the Special Mandate of the University to the people and tax payers of Newfoundland.

You are encouraged to submit questions and RSVP. Note that you don’t have to be in attendance for your question to be asked.

• RSVP – Leaders Election Town Hall
• Question Submission – Leader Town Hall

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact chair-coalitionofunions@cupe1615.ca.

CUPE NL is hosting a Contracting Out Conference this fall, in an effort to help union locals to overcome this challenge that many union locals face.

Contracting out is a form of privatization. In this type of privatization, a public sector employer (like a municipality, school board, or health authority) hires a private, for-profit corporation or non-profit organization to deliver a service that public sector workers used to provide or could provide. Outsourcing is another word used for contracting out and may be used when it affects an entire work department.

–Stop Contracting Out
A CUPE guide to bringing jobs and services in house

The details of the Conference are as follows.

Location: Greenwood Inn, Corner Brook
Date: September 5,6 & 7, 2025

The Conference will be opening on Friday evening, with start and end times as follows.

Friday from 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm
Saturday 9:00 am to 4:00 pm
Sunday 9:00 am to 11:30 am

Selection of CUPE 1615 Conference Attendees

The intention is to determine how many attendees will be funded as well as elect attendees at our Regular Meeting of Members of May. Members of CUPE 1615 that are interested to attend should use the below form.

Form for Expression of Interest for Conferences, Conventions, Schools and Seminars – Information & Expression of Interest.

See section 13.1, 13.2 (b) and 13.3 of Section 13. Delegates to Conferences, Conventions, Schools, and Seminars.

13.1   Except for the President’s option, Section 8(a), all delegates to conferences, conventions, schools and seminars shall be chosen by election at membership meetings and the decision of the membership shall be final. To be eligible to attend conferences, conventions, schools and seminars a member shall be in good standing. If a member cannot attend the meeting, they shall indicate in writing to the Education Committee prior to the meeting their willingness to stand. Interested members will be given an opportunity, if they so wish, to summarize their current union activity and involvement.

13.2

(b) All Corner Brook CUPE weekend schools shall be open to all Corner Brook members who have not done the course within the last 2 years (or less, if there have been considerable changes to the course). Consideration will be given to granting permission for St. John’s members to attend the Corner Brook course if the course will not be offered within a year in St. John’s.

13.3   The 50% meeting attendance criterion to CUPE Weeklong schools, Conferences and Conventions (not including the CUPE National Biennial Convention) may be waived upon appeal to the members attending a regular monthly meeting. In the absence of a regular monthly meeting an appeal may be made to the Executive.

Contracting Out

To find out more about Contracting Out, you can see check out the following resources.

Stop contracting out – A CUPE guide to bringing jobs and services in house

CUPE has announced it’s Atlantic Weeklong School being hosted in Newfoundland and Labrador for which CUPE 1615’s Executive Board has decided that up to 3 members will be funded to attend.

There are three streams covered in this training.

Stream 1 – Advanced Stewarding & Grievance Handling Bootcamp

Stream 2 – Working in a Healthy and Safe Environment

Stream 3- Strengthening our Locals

Members are encouraged to see the page 2025 Atlantic Weeklong School for details.

Members of CUPE 1615 that are interested to attend should use the Form for Expression of Interest for Conferences, Conventions, Schools and Seminars – Information & Expression of Interest. The intention is to elect members to go at our Regular Meeting of Members of May which can be found on our website calendar.

Selection of Convention Attendees

The intention is to elect the up to 3 members to go at our Regular Meeting of Members of May. Members of CUPE 1615 that are interested to attend should use the below form.

Form for Expression of Interest for Conferences, Conventions, Schools and Seminars – Information & Expression of Interest.

See section 13.1, 13.2 (c) and 13.3 of Section 13. Delegates to Conferences, Conventions, Schools, and Seminars.

13.1 Except for the President’s option, Section 8(a), all delegates to conferences, conventions, schools and seminars shall be chosen by election at membership meetings and the decision of the membership shall be final. To be eligible to attend conferences, conventions, schools and seminars a member shall be in good standing. If a member cannot attend the meeting, they shall indicate in

[…]

13.2

(c) CUPE Weeklong Schools – members attending CUPE Weeklong schools must have been active in the union over the past year The member must have attended a minimum of 50% or 5 of the 9 general monthly meetings during the past 12 months to be eligible.

[…]

(e) Conventions (other than the CUPE National Biennial Convention) – members attending conventions must have been active in the union over the past and must have attended 50% or 5 of the 9 general monthly meetings during the past 12 months.

CUPE National has provided advance notice of the October Convention in Toronto to allow locals to plan accordingly.

More information about the event can be found on the website for the CUPE National Convention 2025.

CUPE 1615 is entitled to 5 voting delegates (4 regular, plus 1 member who self-identifies as a member of one of the following communities: Indigenous, LGBTQ2+, Racialized, Women, Workers with Disabilities, Young Workers) as per the CUPE National Constitution, and the Executive Board has decided to fund up to 5 delegates to attend the 2025 CUPE National Convention. The CUPE 1615 by-laws, specifically Section 13. Delegates to Conferences, Conventions, Schools, and Seminars, gives priority to Executive Board members.

CUPE National Biennial Convention — attendance as credentialed delegate shall be limited to Executive Board members, except that, when the Executive members do not fill all the credentialed delegate positions, an election may be held to fill those outstanding positions.

–CUPE 1615 By-Laws

Selection of Delegates

In the event there are exactly 5 executives expressing interest, there will be no need for an election. If there are are more than 5 executives interested, there will be an election amongst the interested executive members. If there are less than 5 executives expressing interest, and if there are more non-executives expressing interest than the number spots unfilled by an executive member, there shall be an election. (See section 13.1 and 13.2 f of Section 13. Delegates to Conferences, Conventions, Schools, and Seminars)

The intention is to elect members to go at our Regular Meeting of Members of May. Members of CUPE 1615 that are interested to attend should use the Form for Expression of Interest for Conferences, Conventions, Schools and Seminars – Information & Expression of Interest.

Submission of Resolutions or Constitutional Amendments

Resolutions and proposed constitutional amendments must be received no later than July 8, 2025. Members of CUPE 1615 who have ideas for Resolutions or Constitutional Amendments should contact president@cupe1615.ca.

A chartered organization may submit a resolution or constitutional amendment to a regular Convention. The resolution or constitutional amendment must be signed by the President and Secretary of the chartered organization and sent to the National Secretary-Treasurer at least 90 calendar days before the start of Convention. The National Union will post these resolutions and constitutional amendments on its website at least 30 calendar days before the start of Convention. The National Union will send these resolutions and constitutional amendments to any chartered organization that asks for a printed copy.

–CUPE Constitution

Watch this video where John Harris interviews Nicolas Keough (MUNSU External Affairs), Bill Kavanagh (CUPE 1615 President), and Lisa Moores (MUNFA Vice-President of External Affairs) about Memorial University’s crippling infrastructure, provincial funding cuts, and much more.

On December 4th, 2024, the employer announced that it is hosting more than a dozen webinars on the Employee Assistance Program, a program with many services all that come free to members of CUPE 1615. To find out more and to register for the webinars, one can see the employer page “Employee Assistance Program (EAP) – What is it?” the original contents of which is below.

These webinars and the associated information have been added to the CUPE 1615 online calendar which can be accessed on the right hand side of https://1615.cupe.ca/.

This event is run by the employer. For more information please contact the University.

Please see the employer page “Employee Assistance Program (EAP) – What is it?” for more information and to register for this webinar. The original contents of the page is below.

Employee Assistance Program (EAP) – What is it?

Most if not all members of CUPE 1615 and the broader University Community by now have heard of the recent announcement regarding the budget update. The Office of the President of Memorial University has communicated via the Gazette significant and upcoming budgetary and fiscal challenges and changes.

Budget update –  A message from President Neil Bose [Memorial University Gazette]

The President of CUPE 1615 has written a letter to President Bose, respectfully and urgently requesting a meeting on these matters in order to express concerns as well as to engage in constructive conversation about how things will proceed going forward and to help contribute to problem solving the situation in which the University finds itself.

There are plans upcoming for members of CUPE 1615 to discuss these changes.

CUPE 1615, alongside other labour unions and student unions, has already publicly been participating in the fundmun.ca campaign directed at the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador with the audience being the general public and the university community with a goal to invoke change to address the budget and fiscal constraints that face the University and thus the community as a whole.

While the University’s administration has made a commitment to transparency and collaboration throughout the upcoming process as well as the seeking of ideas and input is welcomed, a preliminary concern is that these first steps were not conducted in that way.

Preliminary questions that pertain to the members of CUPE 1615 are as follows.

• A reference was made to staff positions such as instructional assistants, lab demonstrators, and lab assistants being exempt from the limited hiring program; does this exemption cover all non-academic and CUPE 1615 staff, and if not, could a more comprehensive list of classifications be provided?
• Has it yet been determined the means of collaboration that will be used throughout this process, and if so could more information be shared on that front?
• There were stated outcomes, one definitive, of Memorial being a more focused institution as well as others, as being likely, of becoming a smaller, well-funded, culturally rich institution; could more information be provided on particular impacts on non-academic staff?
• Does this limited hiring process affect replacing positions where personnel have left due to retirement, etc, or just the creation of new positions?

Members will be updated once more information is obtained or a response to the meeting request is received.

It is acknowledged that members of CUPE 1615 are already experiencing stress and anxiety, and will be conferring in the coming days this week.

More information will be provided to members regarding meetings, discussions and next steps.

The Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Labour will be holding it’s Mid-Term Convention. Below you can access both the Convention website, and the convention call.

The Power of Solidarity – NLFL 2024 Midterm Convention (see/click below for Convention Call)

Convention Call Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Labour

To express Interest please complete the following form.

Conferences, Conventions, Schools and Seminars – Information & Expression of Interest

If you are expressing interest, you are asked to do so by noon on Thursday, October 31st.