From Lynn McDougall, CUPE 3903 Administrator:

To the membership of CUPE Local 3903 – Update on Administration

I would like to begin this update with great appreciation to all the members that have contacted me with concerns and suggestions regarding the Administration of CUPE Local 3903, the local structure, the finances and local’s environment issues.

My priorities in the past 2 weeks have included the outstanding financial obligations to our local staff, both legal and contractual; the structuring of review plans on a number of issues including the financial practices review, which have already begun; and ensuring that committees involved with the day-to-day operation and labour relations of the local are reinstated quickly and effectively.

Click the link for a letter from CUPE National president Paul Moist.

Please find attached an important announcement from CUPE National.

This call for solidarity arrives via Graham Potts and Mohan Mishra:

CUPE Ontario Rally - Thursday November 12th - 12 noon

Standing in Solidarity with Locked out CEP Members - Cadillac Fairview 61

Toronto Dominion Centre (Bay & Wellington - look for CUPE flags)

Join Sisters and Brothers from CUPE and the labour movement in a show of solidarity and support for the 61 members of CEP Local 2003 who have been locked out from their jobs at the Toronto-Dominion Centre by their employer Cadillac Fairview.

Let's show Bay Street that Labour stands united with the Cadillac Fairview 61!!

Attached is a communiqué from Lynn McDougall, the administrator of CUPE 3903.

This arrives via Graham Potts and Karen Walker. There will probably be more activity concerning this issue, so please stay tuned:

Dear Fellow Students, CUPE Brothers and Sisters, Family, Friends and Supporters,

The students of York's 2 Year MSW program, class of 2010 need your help.

On October 5, 2009, we were told by our social work administration that we would not be getting the $10,000 we were promised in our offers of admission to York University. Instead we would be getting $6,667. By reneging on the amount that we thought we were getting since our offers were sent in 2008, York is trying to save almost $120,000.

This comes to us from Chris Vance:

See schedule of events for "Break the Silence Congo Week" to be held at the University of Toronto from Oct 18-24 -- a series of daily evening film and panel discussions. The week will end with a fundraising sale and party Sat Oct 24 (location TBA) featuring Congolese music/food.

Key topics to be addressed by local and international speakers include: women and rape, biodiversity loss and environmental destruction, human rights, the role of the international mining industry, the war against the Democratic Repulbic of Congo (DRC) by Rawandan and Ugandan military forces and the use of those countries as staging grounds for colonial exploitation of the DRC, and the role of Canadian mining companies, and possible solutions and how local residents can play a part in helping to implement them.

I'm contacting you to invite and inform you about our event, co-sponsored by the Council of Canadians, regarding the closely-guarded and highly secretive inter-provincial and international trade agreements that negatively impact our local communities. These agreements and their effects have far-reaching consequences, including preventing our local governments' ability to take action on important issues such as local procurement, ethical purchasing, improving environmental standards, labour rights and more.

Our "Say 'Bye' to 'Buy Local'" speaking tour with CUPE Ontario President Sid Ryan and Council of Canadians Chair Maude Barlow will span across 8 cities (possibly more to follow), aiming to inform the public about these forced agreements and how they impact local communities. For more information please read the Fact Sheet and letter from Sid Ryan at: http://www.cupe.on.ca/doc.php?subject_id=188&lang=en

The 2008 - 2011 Collective Agreements are now available to download. You can also come into the office at pick up the agreement in booklet form.

The York University Black Students' Alliance will be holding a rally at the Student Centre at 3 PM on September 28. An excerpt from the event flyer:

The purpose of this awareness rally is to raise consciousness on the adverse impact of rising tuition on Black students; to politicize and inspire Black students on this campus to engage in social justice activism; and to build for the November 5 day of action for a Poverty-free Ontario. We will culminate our peaceful assembly with a march to our annual Blackfest celebration. Blackfest is an opportunity for all Black students on campus to congregate in peace and unity and to celebrate the multiplicity of cultures which makeup our communities.