CUPE3906

What CUPE3906 does

CUPE 3906 (legal name: CUPE Local 3906) is a certified labor union local affiliated with the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), Canada's largest public-sector union. Headquartered at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, the local represents approximately 3,000+ academic workers across four bargaining units: Unit 1 (Teaching Assistants and Research Assistants in lieu), Unit 2 (Sessional Faculty), Unit 3 (Postdoctoral Fellows), and Unit 4 (Residence Life workers). It was established in 2006 and operates with a small staff of around 9 people serving its represented membership.

The union's core offering is member representation through collective bargaining, grievance handling, and workplace advocacy. Ancillary services include health and safety programming, benefits administration (health spending accounts, dental coverage, gender affirmation and reproductive health funds, professional development funds, child care reimbursements), immigration assistance, political action, and equity-oriented programming. The organization runs a community-led go-to-market model — stewards, lead stewards per unit, an elected executive committee, and standing committees (Equity Action Committee, Political Action Committee, Health & Safety, International, Women and Gender) — and reaches members through a website, email, social media, and Zoom-based General Membership Meetings.

Financially, CUPE 3906 is a non-profit organization funded entirely by recurring union dues from its members; it generates no commercial revenue. It has a single employer-counterparty (McMaster University) and no disclosed technology products, APIs, or AI capabilities. Strategic activity in the 2024–2026 period has been dominated by the addition of Unit 4 (Residence Life workers), the negotiation and ratification of Unit 4's first collective agreement in February 2026, and a series of executive committee transitions including the installation of a new 11-member executive in April 2026.

Name

CUPE3906

Legal name

CUPE Local 3906

Website

https://cupe3906.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

CUPE 3906 is a CUPE-affiliated labor union local representing 3,000+ academic workers at McMaster University across four bargaining units (TAs, sessionals, postdocs, residence life staff), funded by member dues and focused on collective bargaining, grievance handling, and benefits administration.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Labor Union / Worker Representation Services

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Labor Relations & Employment Practice Advisory (BPAHAGAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Co-Employment Risk Management & Insurance (Workers’ Comp, Liability) (BPACAGAH), Employment & Labor Law (BPAHAAAD)

Keywords

• Labor union representation
• Collective bargaining services
• Academic worker advocacy
• Union benefits administration
• Member grievance handling

Headquarters

HQ city

Hamilton

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Union Dues: CUPE 3906 is funded through union dues paid by its members (TAs, sessionals, postdocs, and residence life workers at McMaster University). The union does not generate commercial revenue.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

CUPE 3906 provides labor union representation services to approximately 3,000+ academic workers at McMaster University across four bargaining units (TAs/RAs, Sessional Faculty, Postdoctoral Fellows, Residence Life workers). Its core offerings are collective bargaining of wages, benefits, and working conditions; grievance handling and workplace advocacy; and administration of member benefits including health spending accounts, dental plans, gender affirmation and reproductive health funds, professional development funds, and child care reimbursements.

Product overview

CUPE 3906 is a labor union representing over 3,000 academic workers at McMaster University across four bargaining units: Unit 1 (Teaching Assistants and RAs in lieu), Unit 2 (Sessional Faculty), Unit 3 (Postdoctoral Fellows), and Unit 4 (Residence Life workers). The union's core offering is member representation through collective bargaining and grievance handling, supported by a comprehensive benefits administration system that includes health spending accounts, dental plans, gender affirmation and reproductive health funds, professional development funds, and child care reimbursements. Additional services encompass health and safety advocacy, immigration assistance, political action, and equity initiatives including anti-racism programming.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Member Representation Services Union representation services including grievance handling, collective bargaining, workplace advocacy, and member support for academic workers across all four units (TAs, Sessionals, Postdocs, and Residence Life workers) at McMaster University.
• Collective Bargaining Negotiation of collective agreements covering wages, benefits, working conditions, and workplace policies for approximately 3,000+ academic workers at McMaster University, with separate agreements for each of the four bargaining units.
• Benefits Administration Administration of health spending accounts, dental plans, health and dental coverage (Units 1, 2, and 3), gender affirmation funds, reproductive health funds, professional development funds, and child care reimbursements for members across the four units.
• Health and Safety Advocacy Workplace health and safety advocacy, education, and capacity-building programs for union members, delivered through the Health & Safety Officer (Mahnaz Tajik) and Health & Safety Committee.
• Political Action and Advocacy Union political engagement on issues affecting members including tuition policy, OSAP changes, labor rights, and broader public-sector concerns, coordinated through the Political Action Committee.
• Immigration Help Services Support services for international members regarding immigration matters and workplace concerns related to visa status, coordinated through the International Officer and the International Committee.
• Equity and Anti-Racism Initiatives Equity Action Committee programming including anti-racism strategy implementation, Pride events, workshops on anti-racism and disability justice, and support for equity-seeking groups across the membership.
• General Membership Meetings (GMM) Regular union meetings held via Zoom for member participation, executive elections, collective decision-making, and ratification of bargaining outcomes such as collective agreements and policy changes.
• Employee Family Assistance Program (EFAP) Access Confidential mental health resources and support services accessible to all union members through McMaster's Employee Family Assistance Program.
• International Solidarity International solidarity programming coordinated through CUPE National and the local International Committee, supporting global labor solidarity initiatives.

Quantifiable outcome

• Unit 4 members voted 94% in favor of ratifying their first collective agreement in February 2026
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• CUPE (Canadian Union of Public Employees)coreOthersCUPE 3906 is a local union of CUPE, the largest public sector union in Canada. CUPE provides national support, resources, conventions, and represents locals in federal politics and policy.
• Hamilton and District Labour Council (HDLC)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCUPE 3906 participates in the Hamilton and District Labour Council, a regional labor federation that coordinates labor activities across the Hamilton area.
• PerkopolisminorOthersMcMaster University partnered with Perkopolis as their employee discount program provider starting January 1, 2026, replacing the previous Venngo partnership. CUPE 3906 members as McMaster employees can access these perks.
• Prosure GroupcoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerThird-party administrator for CUPE 3906 benefits including dental plan reimbursements, health care spending accounts, and gender affirmation/reproductive health fund claims for Unit 1, 2, and 3 members.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Regional players

• CUPE Local 1 (Simon Fraser University): CUPE local representing teaching support staff and other workers at Simon Fraser University. Comparable as a CUPE academic-sector local, but operates in British Columbia rather than Ontario.
• CUPE Local 3338: CUPE local at the University of Northern British Columbia. Comparable in mandate (academic-worker collective bargaining under CUPE) but geographically separate from CUPE 3906's Ontario base.

Broad incumbents

• CUPE Ontario: Provincial division of CUPE coordinating Ontario-based CUPE locals. Comparable as a CUPE-affiliated labor body providing regional coordination, advocacy, and support to member locals including CUPE 3906, though operating at the provincial rather than local level.
• PSAC (Public Service Alliance of Canada): National union representing federal public-sector workers and academic staff at select Canadian institutions. Comparable in labor-relations focus and academic-worker representation, but operates at a much larger national scale beyond a single university.
• CAUT (Canadian Association of University Teachers): National federation of Canadian academic staff associations and unions. Comparable in representing postsecondary academic-worker interests nationally, but acts as an advocacy federation rather than a single-employer bargaining agent.

Direct peers

• CUPE Local 1977: CUPE local at the University of Victoria representing academic and skilled-trades workers. Directly comparable as a CUPE academic-worker local providing collective bargaining and member services at a Canadian university.
• CUPE Local 2544: CUPE local at the University of Toronto representing academic workers (TAs, sessionals, postdocs). Highly comparable to CUPE 3906 in mandate, structure, and constituent groups, differing only by employer and campus.
• CUPE Local 5430: CUPE local at the University of Regina. Comparable as a CUPE academic-worker local conducting collective bargaining on behalf of university employees with a similar multi-unit structure.
• CUPE Local 1285: CUPE local at the University of Windsor representing academic workers. Direct peer with the same CUPE parent federation, serving the same academic-worker categories (TAs, sessionals, postdocs) at another Ontario university.
• CUPE Local 416: Canadian Union of Public Employees local in Toronto. Direct peer as a CUPE-affiliated labor union local operating under the same parent federation with comparable collective-bargaining and member-services mandate, though serving municipal workers rather than academic employees.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/cupe_3906
• Facebookfacebook.com/107069862647481
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cupe3906

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles16 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about CUPE3906