Rebecca Strung

Rebecca has been serving as the Benefits & Advocacy Officer since April 2010. She helps members access their benefits, advocates for members when problems arise, liaises with various McMaster departments and insurance companies on benefits-related issues, processes benefits applications, makes decisions about coverage, and keeps track of benefits expenditures. She also chairs the benefits committee, which makes decisions about benefits funding and coverage, assesses Unit 2 professional development and hardship applications.

Rebecca was also a member of the Unit 2 bargaining team in 2010 and the Unit 1 bargaining team in 2009. In the Winter of 2010, she was one of the union's member mobilizers. She headed a Unit 1 mobilization committee which created, edited and published the new CUPE magazine (now called the Ally).

Rebecca is a PhD candidate in the Department of History and a member of Unit 1. Her dissertation investigates the experiences of ethnic German immigrants who migrated to Canada from Eastern European countries in the interwar years and immediately after WWII.

Rebecca is managing an election campaign for our local NDP candidate, Trevor Westerhoff. She will not be in the office until after October 6th, but will still respond to your benefits inquiries via email. Our staff members, Nancy MacBain and Dave Hauch, are also well equipped to help you with your benefits inquiries. You can contact them by phone, email or in person. For more information on the campaign, see trevorwesterhoff.ca You can also follow the campaign on twitter (@Westerhoff_ADFW) and Facebook (Trevor Westerhoff NDP).

Email Rebecca

Canada Post Lockout & CUPE 3906 Benefits

General

Jun 162011

The nation-wide Canada Post lockout will affect the processing and delivery of your benefits in a variety of ways. Please read the following post carefully.

Equitable Life will continue to process Unit 1 (TA and RA in lieu) and Unit 3 (Post-doc) dental claims. The Prosure group will continue to process Unit 2 benefit claims and Unit 1 childcare. Both Equitable Life and Prosure have agreed to send benefits cheques to CUPE 3906 via courier. These cheques can be picked up at the CUPE 3906 office in the basement of Wentworth Hall.

We will try to notify members by email if a cheque is available for pick up. Members who are expecting a cheque are encouraged to email their up to date contact info to the benefits officer, Rebecca Strung, at benefits@cupe3906.org.

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers has indicated that there is a lot of mail in the system that will not be delivered. This means that benefits claims might be held up on route to Equitable life or Prosure. It also means that benefits cheques that were already mailed out may be stuck in the system. Members who recently submitted a claim should thus expect long delays. Inquiries about the status of a benefits claim should be directed to the benefits officer at benefits@cupe3906.org.

Please note that Unit 1 vision care and UHIP claims are being held until the end of August and will not be affected by the Canada Post lockout. Click here for more information.

Please feel free to contact Rebecca at benefits@cupe3906.org or the CUPE office if you have any questions or concerns about how the Canada Post lockout will affect your benefits.

Unit 2 Health Spending Account (HSA) Increase

Events, General, News, Unit 2, Unit 2

Feb 152011

The benefits committee is pleased to announce that the Unit 2 Health Spending Account (HSA) entitlement will be increased to $400/year on a trial basis. The increase may be adjusted in the future if the claims activity is higher or lower than expected. The decision to increase the HSA was made after a careful review of Unit 2 HSA claims over the past couple of years, which suggested that there was room to adjust the maximum entitlement without exceeding the Unit 2 benefits budget. The increase is effective immediately.

CUPE Quarterly now available

CUPE Quarterly

Apr 082010

The first issue of a new magazine created and edited by our own 3906 members is now available! Pick up your copy in the union office or download it here: