We are pleased to announce that Joe Madden, Robin Baj, and Kevin McDermott have been elected to the FTPT bargaining committee. Habon (Bonnie) Hassan, the runner-up, will serve as an alternate.
The final members of the bargaining committee are as follows:
Edwin Viteri (Acting President)
Anthony Jude Pereira (FTPT Representative)
Joe Madden
Kevin McDermott
Robin Baj
Chris Tavares (UTSC)
Danny Tavares (UTM)
Habon (Bonnie) Hassan (alternate)
Thank you to all the candidates for your participation! Your initiative and commitment are greatly appreciated.
Trustee Election
Congratulations to Renos Manolis who has been acclaimed to the position of Trustee. Trustees are responsible for monitoring the financial activities of our union and serve a three-year term.
Bylaw Amendment Results
The bylaw amendment to add an additional seat to the Full-Time & Part-Time Bargaining Committee that is exclusively reserved for Part-Time members did not pass. The vote failed to meet the required two-thirds (2/3) majority of those present at the meeting.
Bylaw Committee
During the meeting, we established a new bylaw committee and welcomed volunteers to join. The committee’s purpose is to receive, review, and recommend proposed amendments to our existing bylaws with the goal of improving our rules and regulations. The new members of the bylaw committee are Andrew Chilton, Janny Tram, Nancy Tomas, Robin Baj, Stanley Treivus, and Tuan Vuong.
Please be advised that a Special Membership Meeting will be held on Saturday, March 18, 2023, from 10 AM – 11 AM. During this meeting, we will be electing our Full-Time & Part-Time (FTPT) bargaining committee, nominating and electing a trustee for a three (3) year term, and nominating and electing members for the bylaw committee. To see the list of candidates for the bargaining committee, please see below under “Bargaining Committee Nominations”.
Meeting Details:
Date: Saturday, March 18th, 2023
Time: 10 AM – 11 AM
Location: Sidney Smith Hall (100 St. George St), Room 1088 and virtually via Zoom
Establishment and appointment of a By-Law Committee
Approval of bylaw amendment*
Adjournment
*The proposal is to amend 14(b) of the bylaws to state:
February 25th General Membership Meeting Summary
We had a productive general membership meeting on February 25th and appreciate everyone who made the time to come out. Below is a summary of the meeting:
Bargaining Committee Nominations
During the meeting, we held nominations for the Full-time & Part-time (FTPT) bargaining committee. The next round of bargaining for the FTPT collective agreement will begin later this year as the current agreement expires on June 30th, 2023.
The bargaining committee has seven members total (the President and FTPT Representative are default members), with five positions open to the general membership. Of these five positions, one position each is reserved for UTM and UTSC. A total of eight members were nominated for the five available positions. Of the eight members running, there was one nominee from UTSC and one nominee from UTM. As a result, those two nominees are acclaimed. The remaining three positions will be contested by the remaining six nominees in an election.
The nominees for the three (3) remaining spots in the Full-Time & Part-Time Bargaining Committee are:
Habon (Bonnie) Hassan (FT)
Joe Madden (FT)
Kevin McDermott (FT)
Michael Moniz (FT)
Nancy Tomas (FT)
Robin Baj (PT)
The following members were acclaimed and will not participate in the election:
Chris Tavares (UTSC Representative)
Danny Tavares (UTM Representative)
The election will be held at our next Special Membership Meeting on March 18, 2023. Each candidate will be given an opportunity to speak at the meeting prior to voting.
Member Motion to Add Designated Part-Time Spot in FTPT Bargaining Committee
During the meeting, a proposal was put forward to amend the bylaws to add an additional seat to the Full-Time & Part-Time Bargaining Committee that is exclusively reserved for Part-Time members. The membership agreed to the proposal. The next step involves drafting the new bylaw language and bringing it to the membership for a final vote, which requires two-thirds approval. This will be done at the March 18 Special Meeting. If approved, the amendment must then be approved by the CUPE National President before it comes into effect. In addition, we will have to request approval from the employer as the current collective agreement limits the committee to seven seats.
Nominations for President
The following members have been nominated for the position of President of CUPE 3261:
Edwin Viteri
Kevin McDermot
Luke Daccord
Tuan Vuong
The election for President will be held at our June membership meeting.
Christmas Party + BBQ Budget (June)
During the meeting, a discussion was held regarding the budget for the annual Christmas Party and summer BBQ. Due to cost concerns, a motion was put forward to defer the approval of the Christmas and BBQ budget to our June general membership meeting. This motion was accepted and the rest of the annual budget was approved.
Nomination and Election of a Trustee
We still have a vacancy for the position of trustee (3-year term). Nominations and elections will be held at our Special Membership Meeting on March 18th. In accordance with our bylaws, all potential nominees for executive and trustee must have attended at least two membership meetings in the last 12 months.
Nominations and Elections for Bylaw Committee
The executive is establishing a new Bylaw Committee. The purpose of this committee is to receive, review and recommend proposed amendments to our existing bylaws. Any changes proposed to the bylaws will be brought to the membership for approval. During our last meeting, we were unable to hold nominations for the committee due to a lack of time. As a result, the item has been deferred to the upcoming Special Membership Meeting on March 18th.
All members are eligible and we encourage anyone interested in improving the rules and regulations of our union to get involved!
UPDATE: The March 4th training session has been rescheduled to Saturday, March 18 from 11 AM – 2:30 PM.
Steward training sessions will be held at the beginning of March on each campus. Any members who are interested in learning more about enforcing the collective agreement and building worker power in the workplace are encouraged to attend!
Please be aware that the number of stewards each bargaining unit is allowed is determined by that unit’s collective agreement. As such, not all members that attend can officially be appointed stewards. As per our by-laws, in areas where more members are interested than we have allotted stewards, elections may be held. Don’t let this stop you from attending however – the more informed we all are on our rights in the workplace, the stronger we become.
General Membership Meeting Saturday, Feb 25, 2023
10 AM – 12 PM
William Doo Auditorium (45 Willcocks St.) or join virtually via Zoom
Please be advised that our next General Membership Meeting will be held in a hybrid format on February 25th. During this meeting, we will be holding nominations for President, nominations for the Full-Time & Part-Time bargaining committee, nominations for one trustee position, a financial presentation, approval of the annual budget, and more.
If you plan on attending virtually, you must register in advance. Click here to register.
The full agenda for the meeting is as follows:
1. Roll call of officers
2. Reading of the equality statement
3. Reading and approval of minutes of previous meeting
4. Matters arising from the minutes
5. President’s Report
6. Treasurer’s Report: 2022 Financial Statement
7. Trustee’s Report
8. 2023 Budget Proposal (including establishing of a strike fund)
9. Motion to donate $1500 to the Workers Action Centre
10. Nominations for President
11. Nominations for Trustee
12. Nominations for FTPT Unit Bargaining Committee
13. Establishment and appointment of a By-Law Committee
14. Unfinished business
15. New business
16. Adjournment
We encourage all CUPE 3261 members to attend. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us.
Nomination Procedure
If you are considering seeking annomination for the President or Trustee positions, we strongly recommend reviewing Section 8 of the CUPE 3261 By-laws titled “Nomination, Election, and Installation of Officers” for detailed information on the nomination procedure and eligibility. These can be found on our website here. If you have any questions about this procedure please don’t hesitate to get in touch with the Union office.
Why Should I attend?
General Membership Meetings set the priorities of our Union. Decisions are often made that directly affect
you, and they are made based on the attendance to each meeting. If attendance is low, this could mean that decisions involving how your dues are used, or who will represent you at the negotiating table, for example, are decided by a select few. General Membership Meetings are only about 2 hours long and are held only 3 times a year. Whether you’ve never missed a GMM, or have yet to attend your first one, we encourage every member to try to make the time to attend this upcoming GMM and join your co-workers in shaping your union.
You and a guest are invited to join our Annual Holiday Party! There will be two parties this year — our main St. George party at the Hilton Toronto and a smaller party at the Dragon Pearl buffet in North York for members who cannot attend the Hilton party.
All CUPE 3261 members — full-time, part-time, casual, contract, and temporary — across all 3 campuses and all units are invited! (And yes it’s free).
Members can each bring one guest and are welcome to attend whichever of the two parties they wish (but only one!). We especially encourage everyone to join our main party at the Hilton on December 10th, which features a buffet dinner, bar, live DJ, dancing, photo booth, and raffle prizes!
See below for details, and don’t forget to RSVP before the deadline for whichever party you choose.
As with previous years, to prevent losses from non-attendance at the St. George Campus party, there is a $50 cheque deposit required (per person) that will be returned to you when you arrive at the party. The deadline to submit the deposit is December 5th.
St. George Holiday Party
Hilton Hotel (145 Richmond St. West, Toronto)
Saturday, December 10th, 2022 @ 7:00 pm – 12:00 am
RSVP at 3261.cupe.ca/party by December 5th On the form, please read the instructions carefully on how to submit your deposit before December 5th.
North York Holiday Party
Dragon Pearl (865 York Mills Rd, Unit 2, North York ON M3B 1Y6)
Friday, December 23, 2022 @ 7:30 pm – 10:00 pm
RSVP at 3261.cupe.ca/party by December 16th.
We are pleased to announce that a majority of FT-PT members have voted in favour of ratifying the Tentative Agreement presented to you at ratification meetings held this week. The Tentative Agreement and a summary were sent to you by email if you would like to review.
This round of negotiations was important because you organized to achieve important gains that we must continue to build on. The campaign against contracting out and for future bargaining power continues. Next round, the focus will be on winning fair wage increases after 3 years of being subject to Bill 124.
The struggle continues!
During the ratification meetings, we provided sign-up forms to become stewards and join the Good Jobs Action Committee. The committee will help implement some of the gains won in this round, and help build power for the next round.
If you did not submit the form and are interested in becoming a steward and/or joining the committee, sign up here.
In solidarity,
Your Negotiating Committee
Allan James (Union President)
Anthony Jude Pereira (FT-PT rep)
Chris Tavares (UTSC)
Eirinaios “Renos” Manolis (UTSC)
Edwin Viteri (UTSG)
Nancy Tomas (UTSG)
Wilson Franco (UTM)
Preethy Sivakumar (CUPE National Rep & non-voting member)
A summary of the FTPT Unit’s recent tentative agreement, along with the entire document, was emailed to all FTPT members on Saturday November 20th. If you did not receive this email, or would prefer to review the documents in person at the union office, please reach out to info@cupe3261.ca.
We encourage all members to review the summary and attend one of the ratification meetings which are taking place at all three campuses between Tuesday November 22nd and Thursday November 24th (see our calendar). At these meetings, your Negotiating Committee will present the details of the Tentative Agreement and be available to take questions. A vote on whether to approve (ratify) the tentative agreement will be held at the end of each meeting, and the results of these votes will be announced on Friday November 26th.
As a reminder: If you are working during one of these meeting times, the University has agreed to allow members to attend a ratification meeting with no loss of pay. If you are not scheduled for work during the meeting times on your campus you are free (and encouraged) to attend whichever meeting time you wish, and at any campus.
(TORONTO, ON) A strike has been averted and 700 full time and part time front-line service workers have made important gains in a tentative agreement, says CUPE 3261.
“I’m so proud of the members for the powerful example of workplace organizing,” said Allan James, President of CUPE 3261. “Thanks to their historic organizing, we sent a strong message that the services we deliver are critical to the university community and that our jobs need to be good jobs.”
The elements of the tentative agreement includes meaningful improvements on pathways to good jobs for our members and for the bargaining unit’s future. While the agreement does not guarantee limits to contracting out jobs to for-profit operators, one of the union’s key proposals, it includes significant steps in the right direction, according to the union.
“We built a lot of power through our members and with the support of our allies to expose the ways in which contracting out increases poverty-wages, worsens services, cuts important benefits, and is so clearly inconsistent with this university’s principles,” said James. “This is a strong base for us and I’m hopeful that we’ll make even greater gains in the next round of bargaining.”
