Hopefully you have had a good start to the semester, and you have settled into a routine balancing Algonquin with your home life. You will have seen a few messages that have been sent to all of our OPSEU 415 faculty members in recent weeks; however, this message is specifically directed to you as contract faculty.
Reminder – Registry Closes on October 30
One of the significant gains that our union achieved in the last round of bargaining is the Partial-Load Registry. In order to be eligible for priority hiring in the 2021 calendar year, you must register your interest before the October 30, 2020 deadline. Even if you have filled in the Partial-Load Registry on a previous year, you must complete it again for this year. You can find the link here.
Partial-Load Hardship Fund
We recognize that the start of the semester can be challenging – even more so with the current COVID-19 climate. The stewards of our local voted in favour of establishing a hardship fund to provide interim support to our contract faculty colleagues in need. If you are a contract faculty member, who was Partial-Load in the Fall 2019, Winter 2020 or Spring 2020 terms, but have not been assigned Partial-Load status Fall 2020 or have seen a decrease in your expected teaching hours, you may be entitled to receive a grant of $250 from the Local’s Partial-Load Hardship Fund. The fund has $8,800 earmarked for this term. Claims will be processed in the order they are received, until monies run out. The application form is here.
As ever, if you have questions about your rights as a Partial-Load member please feel free to reach out to the local. We are available to members online (by email or virtual meetings) or over the phone. If you have any questions, please send them by email to COMMS@locallines.org or call (613) 727-4723 ext. 7716.
In solidarity,
Martin Lee (he/him)
Local 415 Steward | Partial-Load Liaison