Unit 1 Contract Lecturers appointed on a part-time hourly basis accrue one-third (0.33) of a seniority point per semester. Unit 1 Contract Lecturers appointed on a full or reduced sessional workload accrue one-half (0.5) of a seniority point per semester. However, Unit 1 Contract Lecturers do not officially accrue seniority points until they have earned one (1) full seniority point. Until that time, the seniority list designates those Unit 1 members with less than one (1) seniority point as having zero (0) seniority points.

Unit 1 Contract Lecturers lose their seniority points if they do not hold a Unit 1 contract for over six consecutive terms or two academic years. There are specific leaves that can be taken by Unit 1 members that are addressed in the collective agreement, but require that particular steps be followed for members to retain their seniority points. For more information, please contact the union directly.

The department(s) where you hold a Unit 1 appointment(s) keeps track of the seniority points for all CUPE Local 3904 Unit 1 members who teach in that department. In Unit 1, seniority points are department specific, but not course specific. The seniority list for each department is required, under the new Collective Agreement, to be made public on the job postings for each semester. If you do not know how many seniority points you have accrued in the department(s) in which you teach, you should ask your Department Chair or Department Assistant to inform you of your seniority points.

CUPE Local 3904’s Unit 1 Bargaining Committee fought hard against management to maintain class size limits. The Unit 1 Collective Agreement has always allowed for university management to load additional students above and beyond the existing class size limit. The Unit 1 Collective Agreement designates that the Contract Lecturer is to be paid $80 for each of the additional 33 students over the class size limit and $90 for each additional student after the 33 additional students, or they may use this money to have their Department hire a marker/grader to handle the additional marking and workload of these extra students.

Extra student pay, should you opt to be paid this money and do the work yourself, is paid in one lump sum at the end of the semester through your bi-weekly pay. Human Resources at TMU or your Department Assistant generally sends out an email notifying all Unit 1 members who are eligible for this money what pay date to expect this lump sum.

Once a Contract Lecturer begins to accrue a full seniority point, they become eligible for Service Adjustment Pay. Service Adjustment Pay is paid every time you accrue a full seniority point. Unit 1 members holding full time and reduced sessional appointments receive Service Adjustment Pay after two consecutive terms. Unit 1 members holding part time sessional appointments receive Service Adjustment Pay after three consecutive terms.

Service Adjustment Pay is paid at the beginning of the term, either in the first or second pay, in which you accrue a full seniority point. We encourage our members to read their pay stubs with each pay to ensure that they are being appropriately compensated. Service Adjustment Pay is reported on your pay stub as a separate line from your Unit 1 bi-weekly pay. Service Adjustment Pay shows as a gross amount of $2,500.00 for the academic year or $1,250.00 gross per term.