Check your G-form (the contract you signed with the University). Under the section Job Class, if you have checked any of the following: Teaching Assistant, Marker, Demonstrator, Lab Monitor, Proctor or Research Assistant, then you are a member of CUPE Local 2626.

If there are positions open on the Executive Committee, you may be:
1) nominated by any member (including yourself) at any of the General Assemblies and elected by the members to fill the open position;
2) nominated by another Executive Committee member and elected by the Executive Committee. In this case, you would be appointed by interim. The position becomes vacant again at the following General Assembly, where you can run for the position.

There are a number of committees active in our Union. Contact the for more information.

Contact one of the Chief Stewards.
 

A Collective Agreement is an agreement in writing between an employer and a trade union. The Collective Agreement contains provisions on the conditions of employment and the rights, privileges or duties of the employer, the trade union and the employees.

In 1996, a group of students in the Physics Department decided to fight for the University posted salaries owed to them for the number of hours they actually worked. These students were successful. Not only did they obtained the pay owed to them based on the University of Ottawa standard salaries for Teaching Assistants (TAs), they went a step further. Together with students from other departments, they organized a union drive in conjunction with Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and subsequently formed CUPE Local 2626 to prevent any further abuses by the University as well as to give the student employees a common voice in fight for their rights.

Until the unionization, GSAÉD was responsible in representing graduate students at the University of Ottawa in all matters, academic as well as non-academic. Since the unionization, the workload has been split and so now CUPE 2626 is responsible for student representation in any matters relating to students’ employment as TAs, RAs, Markers, Proctors, Tutors, or Demonstrators. However CUPE 2626 cannot deal with matters pertaining to the academic obligations of a student, this job is done by GSAÉD.

Bargaining is the process of negotiation between the Employees and the Employer. The Employees are usually represented by an elected group which forms the bargaining team for the Union. On the other side, the Employer as well creates a group to represent the Employer at the negotiations and this group is usually led by the Chief Negotiator. The bargaining can take place at different times and take place at different levels of intensity. It can vary from negotiating over a minor issue to negotiating the collective agreement. Our Union is currently in the process of negotiating the first collective agreement.

By the Ontario Labour Relations Act and other laws such as Health And Safety Act, Human Rights Code etc., all people employed in the province of Ontario have certain rights and privileges, as well as obligations. In addition, the collective agreement provides for additional rights and privileges which pertain specifically to our working environment. In case a member and/or the Union feel that any of those rights or obligations has been violated, the member and/or the Union may, if the matter cannot be resolved informally, file a grievance with the Employer. The departmental stewards, as well as the Chief Stewards are mandated to assist in filing of a grievance .