On December 5, 2017, the University received notice from the Labour Relations Board that CUPE had applied to bring several Residence Student Staff positions in Residences & Housing into the bargaining unit.   In response, the University voluntarily recognized CUPE 3338 as the exclusive bargaining agent for this group of temporary employees which consists of approximately 50 student staff per term and includes the International Programming Assistants, Programming Assistants, Orientation Assistants, Area Coordinators, Community Advisors, Community Monitors, Living Learning Community Advisors, and Summer Senior Community Advisors.

Since the inclusion of Residence Students Staff into the CUPE bargaining unit, Residence & Housing have been working with Human Resources to negotiate the new terms and conditions of their employment.  Their inclusion into the CUPE bargaining unit and the subsequent negotiations was a positive experience in orderly and collaborative bargaining. Within eight bargaining sessions, the parties successfully negotiated terms around working conditions, appointments, wages and benefits. 

On Monday, February 11, 2019, the parties signed a tentative agreement which was recently taken forward for ratification and approval.  We are pleased to announce that on Monday, April 1, 2019, CUPE informed the University that the ratification vote passed with 97.5% in favour of the proposed agreement.  The Residence Student Staff members now officially have their own, distinct Letter of Agreement within the CUPE 3338 Collective Agreement.