The Strike Vote for each unit will take place online and you should receive your ballot via email the Monday morning the week your unit’s Strike Vote is scheduled. If you have technical issues with the online ballot you should follow up with staff by email as quickly as possible (info@cupe4600.ca). Should technical issues persist, you will be able to schedule a time to vote in-person at the CUPE 4600 office on campus.
Unit 2 (Contract Instructors)
November 24th – 30th
Unit 1 (Teaching Assistants & Internally-Funded Research Assistants)
December 1st – 7th
A strike vote is a vote held by the Union in order to confirm that the membership is ready and willing to strike in order to have its bargaining demands met. A strike vote is “successful” when a majority of our members vote to support their bargaining teams, up to and including a strike.
A successful strike vote does not automatically trigger a strike, and nor does it mean that a strike is inevitable.
In fact, a strong strike vote in which an overwhelming majority of members vote “yes” can be a powerful show of force that helps encourage management to take members’ concerns more seriously. That is, a strong strike vote can be a powerful strike aversion tool. A strike vote is also one of the three key procedural hurdles that a Union must clear in order to be in a legal strike position (the other two are conciliation and a no-board report). It may be held before or after filing for conciliation, but must be held before a no-board report is filed.
Since we have two Units with distinct Members and Collective Agreements, we bargain separately and each Unit will have its own strike vote. A strong yes empowers your unit’s Bargaining Team at the table.