February 27

General Membership Meeting

You are invited to our upcoming virtual General Membership Meeting on Tuesday, February 27th, at 6:30pm.

General Membership Meetings (GMM) are open to all members, and are a great way to get plugged into what the local has been up to. We'll get to hear from the executive board, we'll have updates for the upcoming winter term, and we'll be voting on some important motions for the union. If you are looking for ways to get involved, or just want to be in the loop, the GMM is the place for you!

Meeting Materials

Motions, executive board reports, agenda, and other meeting materials will be emailed to you before the meeting

Accessibility
CUPE 4600 strives to make our meetings as accessible as possible for our members. It is our goal to ensure that all members can participate fully in all aspects of the union. If you have any accessibility needs that you would like us to be aware of, please fill out this short form.

Childcare
The Child Care Benefit is available for both Contract Instructors and Teaching Assistants. It is intended to help cover childcare costs for members while they are participating in union activities, such as meetingsor pickets. Reimbursement is $3/hour for subsidized childcare, or $6/hour for non-subsidized childcare. This benefit is administered by the Secretary Treasurer (treasurer@cupe4600.ca) and VP Internal (vp.internal@cupe4600.ca). You can contact them to make a claim.

Rally for Trans youth

February 5, 4:45 pm - 7:00 pm

144 Wellington St.

From our friends in Community Solidarity Ottawa:

All children and youth deserve access to life-saving, gender-affirming care and support. Unfortunately, Alberta premier Danielle Smith seems to disagree. Recently, she proposed the most restrictive anti-trans laws in Canada targeting trans youth.

Parents, youth, and caring community members are speaking up in opposition to Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s egregious restrictions on the rights and freedoms of transgender youth and their families, her restrictive policies on sexual health education and interference in families’ healthcare.

Smith is coming to Ottawa on February 5th to speak at a right-wing event. Let’s show her that we won’t tolerate this assault on the rights and freedoms of transgender youth and their families.

Please join us and many other community advocates and organizations as we let Danielle Smith know how we feel about her egregious attacks on trans youth and families!

Please arrive early if you can, and please share this callout far and wide! The more people who are there earlier, the stronger our message will be!

If you are available to volunteer (we still need folks as marshals and to serve in care roles), please contact us at communitysolidarityottawa@gmail.com

As always, review the Safety Plan to see how to best keep yourself and your friends safe. In particular:

• Do not give interviews to far right media outlets or “independent journalists”
• Don’t debate far-right trolls. Drown them out with chants and noise! Especially if they are filming or livestreaming and looking for content.
• Do not film supporters without their permission, and do not livestream. Do film the far right, fake journalists, and the police in order to protect yourself and your friends.
• Protect your identity. Mask up, and use signs, flags, umbrellas, etc., to protect yourself from being photographed by far right activists or fake news outlets.
• Do not talk to the police
• Maintain situational awareness, and watch each others’ backs
• Try to arrive and leave as a group
• Check the weather, drive safely and dress appropriately! Give yourself plenty of time to arrive!

February 5th

Mobilization Committee meeting

Next meeting: Monday February 5th, 3pm, Nicol 3022

You are invited to join the next meeting of the CUPE 4600 Mobilization Committee.

What is the Mobilization Committee?

The CUPE 4600 Mobilization Committee is made of of members from both units. You do not need to be an elected official of the union in order to join the committee. No prior union organizing experience necessary, all are welcome!

This committee is tasked with organizing campaigns, events, protests, pickets, and educational workshops for the membership. The goals of this work change from year to year, depending on what is happening at Carleton and in the community. Sometimes this work focuses on preparing for a potential strike, other times it might be more aimed at supporting other unions or community groups. This is decided by the members of the committee.

What happens at the meetings?

The meetings take place every two weeks, and are a space for members to discuss upcoming projects. This committee is chaired by an elected member, who runs the meetings and prepares an agenda.

At the meeting, all members are encouraged to participate in the discussions and decision making process. Meeting participants will get to help plan the projects put forward by the committee, sign up for volunteering tasks, prepare materials, and learn some useful hands-on organizing skills in the process!

The meetings happen in a hybrid format, meaning it is a mix of in-person and online participation.

We hope to see you at our next meeting!

If you have any questions, you can email mobcor@cupe4600.ca to be put in touch with the committee chair

February 7th

Educational Event on Palestine

Wednesday, February 7th 4-6pm 

CUPE 4600 and Labour For Palestine - Ottawa will be hosting an educational event for union members. Come learn about the importance of union solidarity in the fight for Palestinian human rights. 

Why is Palestine a labour issue? What can unionized workers do to support Palestinians? What has the role of unions been in the fight against apartheid? Find out on February 7th! 

This event will now be taking place online. 

February 5th-9th

Arab Awareness Week

From our friends in the Syrian Cultural Association, Carleton Syrian Association, Arab Student League, and Students for Justice in Palestine:

INTRODUCING Carleton’s 1st, multi-cultural club collaboration:
✨Arab Awareness Week✨

In collaboration with the Syrian Cultural Association, Carleton Syrian Association, Arab Student League, and Students for Justice in Palestine.... 🥁

Join us for a week of fundraisers & activities aimed towards raising awareness & donations towards our resilient Arab Countries fighting occupation, oppression and war; no one is free until we are all free ❤️

Details:
🗓️: February 5-9
📍: UC atrium

Support PSAC workers on strike

From our friends in PSAC:

Members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, civilian staff who provide critical support services on military bases demand respect and equity. Many currently make little more than minimum wage while their federal government counterparts make much more for the same job

“At NPF, we’re treated like second-class workers who get paid less to do the same work as our colleagues elsewhere in the public service,” said Cathy O’Kane, Vice-President for NPF with UNDE who has worked as an NPF employee for more than 30 years. “It has taken me more than 30 years to reach the same pay as an entry-level casual worker at the Department of National Defence. I want to make things better for all NPF members, so that others don’t have to go through what I did."