Weekly Update – December 18
December 18, 2020
Weekly Update – December 18
Holiday Closure and Pause on Updates
Please note, the virtual CUASA Office will be closed from Thursday, December 24, 2020, to Tuesday, January 5, 2021, inclusive. No services will be provided during this time. The virtual office will reopen on Wednesday, January 6, at 9:00am.
Accordingly, there will be no weekly updates during the closure. Updates will resume on Friday, January 8, 2021.
If you need to contact CUASA in case of emergency during the office closure, please phone (613) 520-2600 ext. 8329 and leave a message. Someone will get back to you as soon as possible. For non-urgent matters, please contact [email protected] and we will get back to you when the virtual office reopens in January.
CUASA’s Director on Leave
We wish to inform our members that CUASA’s Director/Senior Grievance and Arbitration Officer, Christal Côté, will be on a leave of absence for educational purposes until March 31, 2021.
As such, CUASA members should contact the following for assistance during this time:
For grievance concerns or matters:
- For those with a last name beginning with the letters A-M
Hanan Mankal ([email protected])
- For those with a last name beginning with the letters N-Z
Alex Aucoin ([email protected])
- To reach the Chair of the Grievance Policy and Administration Committee
Chinnaiah Jangam ([email protected])
For non-grievance matters, please email [email protected].
We thank you for your understanding and cooperation while Christal is away.
Carleton Community Updates
Parking Fees Suspended for Winter Term
Parking Services has announced that, in light of the ongoing pandemic and continued reduced campus activities, Carleton will be waiving all parking fees for the winter term. Parking Services will review its fees for the summer term and provide an update closer to that time.
New Travel Reimbursement System
This is a reminder that the new SAP Concur Travel and Expense Reimbursement system is now live and all new reports for expense reimbursement must be submitted in the new system, which can be found here. If you missed your department/faculty’s introduction to the new system, resources are available online here. Additional virtual introductory sessions will be offered in January 2021, for which you can find information here. All access to the old system will be removed as of today, December 18.
CUASA has heard that some members have still be experiencing delays with expense reimbursements. If you are having issues, please contact [email protected] so that we may follow up accordingly.
Nominations for Steering Positions
We are still accepting nominations for the following Steering positions (click on the title to read the position description):
Information on the nominations process can be found on our How to Volunteer page. The work of the Association continues, despite the current environment we find ourselves in. Remember that our Association is only as strong as its membership, so we count on the time and commitment of our members to achieve our goals. Some of these positions come with a course release subject to the availability of funds.
Academic Community Updates
Ontario university and college faculty, staff, and students give Ford government failing grade on plans for postsecondary education
The Ford government recently announced its plans to steamroll ahead with a reckless “performance” based funding plan. Postsecondary faculty, academic librarians, staff, and students are opposed to this flawed funding experiment and give the government a failing grade for its approach. Click here to read more.
CAUT Bulletin – December/January 2021 Online Edition
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, CAUT’s monthly publication, the CAUT Bulletin, has moved to an online-only format for the time being for campuses that are closed. The complete CAUT Bulletin is available for download in a PDF version on the CAUT website here.
Labour Community Updates
Solidarity Statement with Protesting Indian Farmers and Workers
CUASA expresses its solidarity with the farmers and labourers protesting against the Indian government’s passing of legislation that would deregulate agricultural markets, adversely affect workers’ rights as well as the legal rights of citizens, and would likely exacerbate already unconscionable inequalities of income and wealth. Hundreds of millions of workers have marched against these measures, cutting across lines of geography, religion, caste, and socioeconomic status. Many are elderly, and have been met with state violence (such as being shot at with water cannons in the middle of a very cold winter). Some have died. A large national strike — possibly the largest in human history — expressed solidarity against the laws from trade unions across diverse sectors of the Indian economy. We agree with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that the protesters have the right to express their dissent, and we call on the Indian government to meaningfully and peacefully negotiate a resolution.
Message from CURC President
The National President of the Congress of Union Retirees of Canada, Bill Chedore, has sent out a message, which you can read here.
