CUPE NL is pleased to be offering 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.

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 Convention 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.

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

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.

Realizing the importance of Post-Secondary education the members of CUPE Local 1615 will award up to ten (10) awards, valued at $1,000.00, each year. The selection of these awards will be on a competitive basis and open to the daughters, sons and spouses of current members and the members themselves of CUPE Local 1615.

To learn more, or to submit an application please select the link below:

• CUPE 1615 Award Application Form

The deadline is Monday April 22, 2024. Late applications will not be considered.

Hello all,

Here are the most recent seniority lists that we have.  As usual, one is sorted by name, while the other is sorted by date.  The information on both SHOULD be the same!

If there are any errors, we have only 30 days to let HR know, so kindly advise the office as soon as possible if you notice any discrepencies. Before that timeline is up, one master list of all received issues will be sent to HR for verification and correction if needed.  Due to the cyber incident at Grenfell, we’ve been given a bit more time, but don’t delay and then forget to check.

Let Natalie know of errors by emailing nwebber@cupe1615.ca

CUPE SENIORITY REPORT- January 2024 – DATE

CUPE SENIORITY REPORT- January 2024 – NAME

The CUPE Cares Committee sends flowers or a fruit basket to the CUPE 1615 members who are in hospital or confined to their home due to illness for periods of two weeks or greater, or who are celebrating the birth/adoption of a child.

The committee will also extend the Local’s condolences to the family of a deceased Local member, or to the member upon the death of an immediate family member. Either flowers or a charitable donation will serve as an expression of condolences. For non-immediate family members, a card will be sent to the member.

The Committee is looking for members.

The CUPE 1615 Executive Board has decided to make changes as to how meetings are conducted.

These changes originate from feedback and requests by members. The changes are as follows.

1. Regular Meeting Dates Set and Accessible
2. Move Towards Hybrid Meetings
3. Discontinuation of Oral Reading of the Minutes

Read below for more details.

Regular Meeting Dates Set, Available for 2 Year Term

In compliance with article 4.1 of the CUPE 1615 By-laws, the Executive Board has decided to set the date for all Regular Meetings from now until the end of 2025. Advance notice will be given if a meeting date will be changed.

It was decided that these dates set are to be available on the CUPE 1615 Calendar on the CUPE 1615 Website. Those dates are now available and can be synced to your calendar if you so choose.

Move Towards Hybrid Meetings

Upon review of the CUPE 1615 By-laws and CUPE National Constitution and consultation with CUPE 1615’s CUPE National Representative as well as outside by-laws experts, the union local President along with the Executive Board have deemed that hybrid meetings are in order with the following important distinctions.

1. In Person meetings with the requirement for paper ballots will remain for the following.
   • Ratification Meetings (of a new Collective Agreement)
   • Election of Officers
   • Meetings that Involve other types of Secret Ballot Votes (until such time as the union local is able to ensure that votes are able to be “conducted electronically provided secrecy can be maintained, where mandated”)
2. Votes that don’t require paper ballot occurring at a Hybrid meeting, will be conducted by way of a show of hands. Those opting to cast a vote who are remote/virtual will be required to ensure their camera is engaged and raise their hand. (In the case where more than one person are in the same remote location all raised hands need to be visible.)

Given that CUPE 1615 Committees shall be elected at the next regular monthly meeting following the Biennial General Meeting, and the need for time to prepare for a proper method for Hybrid meetings, the February Regular Meeting of members will be In Person ONLY with link-up amongst campuses and satellites.

Further updates on commencement of hybrid meetings will be provided to members when available.

Dispensing with Meeting Minutes

The Executive Board has decided to adopt a modernized method of dealing with Meeting Minutes consistent with Parliamentary procedure as well as the CUPE 1615 By-laws, CUPE National Constitution as follows.

1. Advance copy of Meeting Minutes from previous meeting(s) will be provided as securely as possible digitally, and by paper copy upon request, and are to be kept confidential to members of CUPE 1615 ONLY.
2. Upon commencement of the required rubric Agenda item of Reading of the Minutes, with the provision that the meeting minutes were provided in advance, the Meeting Minutes shall be deemed read, meaning the minutes will not be read orally at meetings.
3. Members, by way of motion, shall be empowered to amend and adopt the official version of the Meeting Minutes.