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.
We recommend voting as early as possible so that if there are any issues, we can sort them out before voting closes.
Unit 2 (Contract Instructors)
November 24th – 30th
Unit 1 (Teaching Assistants & Internally-Funded Research Assistants)
December 1st – 7th
Detailed Instructions
For this bargaining round’s Strike Mandate Vote, we’re moving to an online voting platform called Simply Voting. We have chosen an online platform to improve/equalize access to voting for all Members.
On the day that voting opens, you will receive an email to your Carleton email address with your elector ID (your student/employee ID number), a password, and two links. The first is a stable link (cupe4600.simplyvoting.com) to log in using the log-in information provided to you in the email, while the second link will take you directly to your ballot without needing to log in. We recommend clicking the second link to cast your ballot as it is more simple/user friendly.
All Members in good standing will receive a ballot. Unit 1 Members remain in good standing for one year after their last contract and Unit 2 Members remain in good standing for two years after their last contract.
A strike vote, also known as a strike mandate 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. In other words, it gives the bargaining team a ‘mandate’ to take steps towards a strike if necessary.
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.
Make sure to check your junk and/or clutter folder, first. The email will be from CUPE 4600, but the address it comes from will be vote@simplyvoting.com.
We receive our Membership data via spreadsheet lists from Carleton’s Labour Management. If you didn’t receive a ballot but are currently TAing or teaching or believe you are a member in good standing, reach out to info@cupe4600.ca and let us know the relevant Term(s) you taught/TA’d, course code(s), and provide a pay stub from Carleton Central that shows dues deductions. We can then manually add you to the voting list.
If you are having trouble casting your vote, you can email info@cupe4600.ca or stop by the CUPE 4600 offices on the 8th floor of Dunton Tower (804, 806, 807), Monday-Friday between 10am-4pm, to chat with a Staff member and try to troubleshoot the issue.
As a last resort, we’ll have a physical ballot box set up.
The Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) does not recognize Helios, but does recognize Simply Voting as an official online voting platform. For votes like a Strike Mandate Vote and a Ratification Vote, results must be shared with CUPE National and the OLRB, so we must use a platform they recognize for legitimacy purposes.
We will continue to use Helios for other votes like elections.
