In accordance with Article V Section 11 of the TAUMUN Constitution, we have appointed Jay Kumar Shah from Biology to the position of Secretary-Treasurer. Jay has been with us from the beginning and we are very pleased that he has graciously accepted this appointment. Together we will continue working hard to improve the working lives of our graduate student population.
Welcome to the team, Jay!
Dear TAUMUN Members:
Your Bargaining Team has just concluded three days of negotiations with our Employer. Much of this session, from March 22 to March 24, focused on the important issues of Health and Safety, Appointments, and Union Recognition and Security.
We are pleased to report that we have reached tentative agreement on Health and Safety language, and we are optimistic that we will be able to sign off on both the Union Recognition and Union Security articles during our next bargaining session in early April.
After sometimes intense discussions about appointments, however, we acknowledge that there is still considerable distance between the parties on this critical issue.
Since exchanging proposals last December, we have managed to sign off on 14 articles, representing about half the number of articles in a Collective Agreement. This is good progress for a first contract; we hope that we will soon be able to table a wage proposal.
Our next round of bargaining is tentatively scheduled for April 6-8th. Please check back soon for updates.
In Solidarity,
Your Bargaining Team
Dear TAUMUN Members:
Your Bargaining Team has had two negotiating sessions with MUN this month, once on February 3rd and 4th, and again on February 17th, 18th and 19th, 2010.
Despite sometimes difficult discussions across the bargaining table, we continue to make good progress toward a first Collective Agreement for Teaching Assistants and Research Assistants at MUN.
In addition to Articles signed off during our first full bargaining session in January, we have reached tentative agreement on the following:
No Discrimination, No Harassment
Representation on University Bodies
Discipline and Dismissal
Technological Change
Designated University Holidays
We have had extensive discussions about Health and Safety issues at the University and hope that we will soon be able to reach tentative agreement on contract language dealing with these important issues.
Finally, in accordance with the provisions of our Local Union bylaws, the TAUMUN Executive has chosen Juan Acevedo to replace Jessica Huber as President. Jess resigned for personal reasons earlier this month. The TAUMUN Executive and Bargaining Team wishes to thank Jess for her hard work and commitment to TAUMUN.
Arvindh Viswanathan from the Faculty of Engineering, who was elected Alternate to the Bargaining Committee at our membership meeting in November, has now replaced Jess on the committee.
Our next bargaining dates are in mid-March. Please stay tuned for further developments.
In Solidarity,
YOUR BARGAINING COMMITTEE
Juan Acevedo (Engineering), President
Tracy Winters (Anthropology), 1st Vice-President
Arvindh Viswanathan (Engineering), 2nd Vice-President
J. L. Matchim (History), Member at Large
Gail Lem (PSAC), Lead Negotiator February 19, 2010
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Your Bargaining Committee met with the University in a two-day negotiating session on January 14th and 15th, after exchanging initial proposals last December for a first Collective Agreement for TAUMUN members.
We are pleased to report that we were able to reach agreement on a number of articles and are confident that we will continue to make good progress at subsequent meetings.
Despite our long journey to the bargaining table – after five years of struggle TAUMUN was finally certified in August 2009 – we are nevertheless developing good rapport with the employer’s bargaining team.
MUN is represented by Chief Negotiator Morgan Cooper and Ian McKinnon from the Department of Faculty Relations. They are joined by representatives from the School of Graduate Studies, Departments of Engineering and Biology, and the Office of Research.
In this productive first negotiating session, we have reached tentative agreement on the following articles:
* Preamble
* Official Employee File
* Grievance Procedure
* Arbitration Procedure
* Reports and Resolutions of the University
* Union-Management Committee
* Management Rights
We have two more rounds of bargaining scheduled for February and we will keep you posted as we progress.
We are disappointed that we do not yet have office space on campus; we are still discussing this with the employer.
We are available via email at info@taumun.ca. Please bookmark this page and watch for frequent updates.
In Solidarity,
YOUR BARGAINING COMMITTEE
Jess Huber (English) – President
Tracy Winters (Anthropology) – 1st Vice President
Juan Acevedo (Engineering) – Member at Large
John Matchim (History) – Bargaining Team Member
Gail Lem (PSAC) – Lead Negotiator
TAUMUN’s new executive has been chosen:
President – Jess Huber, English (PhD)
1st VP – Tracy Winters, Anthropology (PhD)
2nd VP – Arvindh Prashanth Raman, Ocean Engineering and Naval Architecture (MA)
Member at Large – Juan Acevedo, Electrical Engineering (MA)
Member at Large – Kimberly Gill, Sociology (MA)
The Secretary-Treasurer spot is still open. Please email info@taumun.ca if you are interested in learning more about this position.
The bargaining team is now in place and we will submit our first proposal to the university on November 12/09. We will have a general membership meeting to ratify the proposal on November 10th at 5:30 pm in MUNSU Council Chambers (2nd flr, UC). A formal announcement is forthcoming.
For those of you who have not yet completed the bargaining input survey, please do so as soon as possible. The proposal we submit will be based upon information gathered from the surveys, so your input is essential to build the best contract possible. If you have NOT received a copy of the survey, email us and we’ll get it out to you right away.
In preparation for upcoming contract negotiations with the university, we will be electing a bargaining team Thursday October 8th at 6pm in the GSU Boardroom (2nd floor, Feild Hall). Details have been sent over the listserv. We apologize for such short notice.
On Thursday September 24, at 6pm in the MUNSU Council Chambers (2nd floor University Centre, Room UC 2001) TAUMUN will hold an Annual General Meeting to elect a six person union executive. A four person bargaining team will be elected shortly thereafter to undertake the first round of collective bargaining.
The executive positions to be filled are as follows and will represent a two year term:
President – The president presides at all union meetings, supervises the duties of other officers, appoints the chair of the local negotiating committee in accordance with other duties as assigned. The president will also sit on the negotiating committee.
First Vice President – The Vice President shall perform the duties of the President in the absence of that officer and any other duties delegated to the First Vice President by the President.
Second Vice President – The Second Vice President shall perform the duties of the President in the absence of that officer and the First Vice President and any other duties delegated to the Second Vice President by the President.
Secretary-Treasurer – The Secretary-Treasurer takes minutes at all union related meetings and notifies members of the time and place of meetings. This officer will also keep records of accounts and membership dues and report on the financial standing of the union at meetings.
Executive Members At Large (2 Positions) – These members will sit on the Executive Board and represent the rights and opinions of union members at large. Ideally these positions will be filled by one representative from an Arts discipline and one representative from a Science discipline.
Only members in good standing are eligible to run for these positions. Such persons are anyone who was a TA, GA or RA during the Winter 2009 semester, the Spring 2009 semester or who expects to have or has applied for such a position in the Fall 2009 semester. All persons must sign or have signed a membership card.
In order to nominate a candidate for one of the above positions, please fill out the form attached. Please submit the form either in person or by mail to:
TAUMUN
c/o The Lecturers’ Union of MUN
Education Building, ED 1012
Memorial University of Newfoundland
St. John’s, NL A1C 5S7
Forms can also be dropped off at the mailroom in ED 1006 if the office
is closed. The deadline for nomination forms is 5pm Wednesday, September 23.
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TAUMUN nomination form
The labour board has determined the final list of eligible voters and has allowed the ballot box to be opened. We are happy to announce that 71% of eligible voters cast ballots. Of these the final numbers are:
378 votes Yes
15 votes No
This is an overwhelming majority in favour of TAUMUN and we look forward to beginning negotiations with MUN as soon as possible. The organizing committee would like to offer our deepest thanks to all those who supported TAUMUN and helped make this a reality. If you are interested in helping with the bargaining process please join our facebook group or send us an email.
