Newsletter Q3 2026

Greetings Brothers and Sisters,

I trust that you have all enjoyed a wonderful summertime here in beautiful Atlantic Canada. In a few short weeks the students will return and we will all be in the thick of it for another school year.

Since last time we have elected a new executive and have had a surprise announcement from our President (spoiler alert) as he takes some time to help CUPE out in Nova Scotia.

Your executive remains committed to serving the membership, and veteran exec members have stepped up to fill in the gap while KC is away.

As always, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us if you have any questions or concerns. We are ready to assist.

Yours in solidarity,

Jordon Davidson
Communications Officer
CUPE 3433

Acting President’s Message

Hi MASA Members,

I hope you have all enjoyed a relaxing summer and are feeling refreshed for the Fall 2026 semester! I am truly honoured to step into this role and support our community while KC is on leave.

I know the upcoming semester brings challenges, particularly regarding the current parking situation and the recent increase in gym membership fees. Please know that your frustration is completely valid. I strongly encourage you to share your specific concerns and feedback with both myself and upper management. The more we collectively voice our concerns—and explain exactly how these changes impact our daily lives—the more impact we will have in demonstrating how these decisions negatively affect our workplace.

On a lighter note, please join us for the Welcome Back BBQ hosted by our Social Committee!

  • Date: August 26th
  • Location: Academic Quad We would love to see you all there to reconnect and kick off the new semester together.

If you have any questions, ideas, or concerns as we transition into the fall, please do not hesitate to reach out.

Take care,

Jess
Acting President CUPE Local 3433
Mount Allison Staff Association

Since Last Time

AGM

The highlight of the 29 April Annual General Meeting was the election of the new slate of Executive and Trustees. Your new executive is:

Executive

  • President: KC Hingley
  • Vice-President: Jessalyn Hart
  • Secretary/Treasurer: Eileen Wells
  • Recording Secretary: Alana Estabrooks
  • Communications Officer: Jordon Davidson
  • Education Officer: Charline Kelly
  • Grievance Officer: Jonelle Mace
  • Membership Officer: Leticia deJesus Aparicio

Trustees

  • Three Year: Candace Sears
  • Two Year: Trisha Wilson
  • One Year: Angela Thibodeau

Based on the request from the February GMM The Secretary/Treasurer’s report was given to the membership in hard copy to make it easier to follow.

Jordon gave his report on the CUPE NB conference attended by himself, KC, and Allana. The membership was certainly happy to hear that we are having a better time with our finances and treasurer than they have had over the past few years!

Overall it was decided that the parking situation, although not ideal, was not something that we would be continuing to actively pursue any further.

VOIP Rollout

As Mount Allison switches from traditional PBX telephones to Microsoft Teams VOIP calling, some members have reported receiving work calls on their personal phones where the Teams app has been installed.

Please remember that you are NOT required to have work applications installed on your personal devices. If your managers require you to have access to these apps for your duties the employer must provide a device for you.

Should you decide (as many of us have) to install these applications on your personal phones for your convenience, but do not want to be bothered by Teams calls in off-work hours, your best bet is to go to your device’s notifications settings and Turn off all notifications from the Teams app. (Some versions of the App on some platforms may have the ability to selectively turn of notifications during designated out-of-office periods, but this is not consistent.)

Executive Updates

As we learned on 5 August, our president, KC Hingley, is going on a leave of absence from 10 Aug to 10 October 2026 to work as a CUPE National Representative in Nova Scotia.

Stepping in to fill that void will be VP Jessalyn Hart as Acting President, and Recording Secretary Alana Estabrooks as Acting VP.

I’m sure that we all wish KC well in this role with CUPE, and look forward to his return. At the same time let’s all throw our support behind Jessalyn and Alana as they continue to work for all of us in their new roles.

Congratulations

The local would like to extend their congratulations to Fatemeh Bahmani, Residence Life Coordinator – Leadership and Engagement, on receiving the Carol’s Creed award at the 2026 Atlantic Association of College & University Student Services Annual Conference.

This award recognizes a student services professional who has shown “infectious enthusiasm” for the profession of services to students through a commitment to health, well being, love and laughter in their connection with students and colleagues on a personal level.

Congratulations Fatemeh!

Social Committee

We’re also toying with the idea of having a Chocolate Bar Bingo evening – bring your family and up to 4 chocolate bars per person, max. Trade your chocolate bars for Bingo cards (1 bar = 1 Bingo card) and play to win a confection collection! If you think you and your family would be interested in this fun family evening of Bingo, please let us know!

Jessalyn & Charline

Education Opportunities

CUPE has numerous workshops for anyone interested in attending. There are courses on Anti-Racism , Conflict Skills, Mental Health and Wellness, Health and Safety Learning, They can be found here, https://cupe.ca/mrm-union-education/workshops. If you wish to attend any of these sessions, please let Charline know – any costs associated with it will be covered by MASA.

ITCILO.org/courses/bargaining-voices is a free course on collection agreements and negotiation, developed by the Workers’ Activities and Employers’ Activities programme of the International Training Centre.
This course is delivered right to your phone, and takes approximately 4-5 hours to complete. Participants will receive a digital badge upon completion.

Finally, if anyone has any ideas on Lunch-and-Learn topics, Charline would love to hear them!

Some ideas include a session on pension and benefits basics from the university, retirement planning or estate planning/wills, tax tips (this one might be a good one for a February Lunch-n-Learn), stress management, navigating tough conversations… or maybe we could curate an “ask an expert” panel on a topic you’re interested in (gardening, local history, etc.)

Upcoming Events

Welcome Back Barbeque

  • 26 August, Academic Quad over lunchtime.

3433 GMM Meeting

  • 23 September 2026 (In Person and online)
    • Tweedie Hall 11h30 – 13h00

Eastern Human Rights conference