On Oct 26, our union President Luke Daccord, alongside our unit representatives, addressed the Governing Council of the University of Toronto. The Governing Council serves as the supreme authority overseeing the university’s academic, operational, and student-related matters.

During our presentation, Luke highlighted our upcoming negotiations, emphasizing the fact that “70% or 700 of our members earn less than the $23.15/hr threshold, which constitutes the living wage in the Greater Toronto Area.” FTPT Representative Jude Pereira addressed the pressing issue of contracting out, shedding light on its implications. Similarly, 89 Chestnut Representative Soosai Rajendiram discussed concerns regarding understaffing and the burdens of overwork within our university. Casual Unit Representative Stanley Treivus mentioned how U of T “is using casual work to provide the same service but at a lower cost” and “should commit to equal pay for equal work.”

In addition to our presentation, we also distributed letters to all members of the Governing Council, extending an open invitation for them to connect with us and meet some of our hard-working members. Our aim is to provide them with valuable insights into the nature of our work and the pivotal role we play in maintaining the university’s operations.

 

Our next General Membership Meeting is scheduled for this Saturday, October 21st from 10 AM to 12 PM. The meeting will be hybrid. The in-person location is the William Doo Auditorium (located inside New College at 45 Willcocks St). For those attending online, please register here.

Details: 

WHEN: Saturday, October 21, 2023 10 AM – 12 PM

WHERE: William Doo Auditorium (45 Willcocks St) OR Online via Zoom (Hybrid Meeting)

Register here if attending online. A Zoom link will be sent to your email once registered.

The agenda will include:

• Announcement of executive election runoff results
  • Vice President, Chief Steward
• Installation and oaths of office for new executive members
• Full-time Part-Time, Casual, and 89 Chestnut Bargaining Update
• Financial report
• Budget approval for holiday party
• Nominations for Faculty Club Unit Representative

Download (PDF, 2.7MB)

Great News! Our very first online/in-person election has concluded. As your election officers, we would like to recognize you for the amazing turnout. A total of 434 (33.3%) members voted! This is the highest turnout for this type of election in our local’s recorded history.

The election results are as follows:

Vice President

1. Edwin Viteri 166 (39.7%) (Moves to runoff)
2. Andrew Chilton 131 (31.3%) (Moves to runoff)
3. Kevin McDermott 121 (28.9%)

Abstain 16 (3.7%)

Chief Steward

1. Wilson Franco 188 (45.4%) (Moves to runoff)
2. Joe Madden 166 (40.1%) (Moves to runoff)
3. Raffi Demerji 60 (14.5%)

Abstain 20 (4.6%)

Full-Time & Part-Time Unit Representative

1. Anthony Jude Pereira 162 (54.2%) WINNER
2. Robin Baj 137 (45.8%)

Abstain 30 (9.1%)

Trustee

1. Arnold Park 194 (50.5%) WINNER
2. Mike Moniz 190 (49.5%)

Abstain 50 (11.5%)

Congratulations to Anthony Jude Pereira and Arnold Park who have been elected to serve as Full-Time & Part-Time Unit Representative and Trustee, respectively.

Runoff Election October 16-20

Per our bylaws if no one candidate receives majority of the vote, a runoff election will be held where the top two candidates face off. This means that we will be having a runoff election for the Vice-President position between Edwin Viteri and Andrew Chilton, and for Chief Steward position between Wilson Franco and Joe Madden. The voting will be held exactly in the same manner beginning on Monday October 16th at 7am and end Friday, October 20th at 7pm.

Voting links will be emailed out on Monday October 16th at 7am.

In-Person Voting Location and Dates Oct 16-20

For members who are unable to vote online, in person voting stations will be made available throughout the week across each campus. The locations and dates are listed below:

Monday, October 16

• Location: U of T Press Warehouse
• Room: York Board Room
• Time: 3PM – 5PM

Tuesday, October 17

• Location: UTM
• Room: Davis Building – Room DV 3214
• Time: 7AM – 9AM and 4PM – 6PM

Wednesday, October 18

• Location: UTSC
• Room: Kina Wiiya Enadong – Room MW 130
• Time: 2PM – 4PM and 9PM to 11PM

Thursday, October 19

• Location: St. George Campus
• Room: Union Office (703 Spadina Ave., Second Floor)
• Time: 10AM – 7PM

Friday, October 20

• Location: 89 Chestnut
• Room: Lombard Suite
• Time: 2PM – 4PM

If you have any questions or concerns about voting, please contact the elections committee at elections@cupe3261.ca 

Download (PDF, 1.12MB)

Elections for the CUPE 3261 Executive and Trustee are approaching this coming October. In this election, there are three contested positions for the executive team and one contested position for trustee, with a total of 10 candidates participating. The list of candidates can be found below.

We will be hosting a candidate forum on Saturday, September 30 from 10 AM to 12 PM. During this forum, each candidate will have an opportunity to make a statement and answer any questions from the membership. We encourage all members to attend to learn more about the candidates.

Have a question of the candidates? Submit your question to elections@cupe3261.ca for it to be considered. Please note that due to time constraints not all questions will be asked.

Each candidate has also been given the opportunity to submit a statement. See the statements here.

Please note that this meeting will be conducted online via Zoom. To access the event, please register here

Candidate Forum

Date: Saturday, September 30, 2023

Time: 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM

Format: Virtual via Zoom

Register in advance for this meeting:

https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwrdeuhqDIsGNSt_U-jBiBDL9qqVSA5ZuUm

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

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Candidates

At-Large Voting (Everyone votes for these positions):

Vice President:

• Andrew Chilton
• Kevin McDermott
• Edwin Viteri

Chief Steward:

• Raffi Demerji
• Wilson Franco
• Joe Madden

Trustee:

• Mike Moniz
• Arnold Park

Only Members of the Unit Vote for these positions:

Full-Time & Part-Time Unit Rep:

• Robin Baj
• Anthony Pereira
  

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Changes to Our Election Process

We are pleased to announce that CUPE National has approved our amendment to our elections bylaw. As a result, this election will be significantly different than previous ones. Elections will no longer be limited to in-person voting at the GMM.

Instead, the election will be conducted electronically, spanning one week from Friday, October 6th, to Friday, October 13th. In the event of a run-off, a second election will be held October 16th to 20th. Each member will receive an email containing a voting link to the email we have on file.

Additionally, to accommodate members who are unable to vote online, voting stations will be set up across our campuses. More details on the dates and locations will be provided soon.

The election results will be announced at our October General Membership Meeting, scheduled for October 21, 2023. This meeting will be conducted in a hybrid format, allowing members to participate either in person or online.

If you have any questions on the elections process, please contact the elections committee at elections@cupe3261.ca

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Acclaimed Positions:

The following positions are not contested and the following members will be acclaimed at the October GMM.

Secretary-Treasurer:

• Jenny Luc

Casual Unit:

• Stanley Treivus

U of T Press Unit:

• Chris Stanford

Recording Secretary:

• Chris Tavares

89 Chestnut:

• Soosainathar (Soosai) Rajendiram

Health and Safety Officer

• Nancy Tomas

Click here to join the CAT team!

Download (PDF, 1.54MB)

Download (PDF, 413KB)

2023 CUPE Convention Delegates

The 2023 CUPE National Convention will be held from October 23-27, 2023 in Quebec City. CUPE‘s National Convention is the union’s supreme decision-making body and is held every two years. Delegates participate in setting the union’s priorities, deciding its policies, and electing its leaders. During our last Special Membership Meeting, we elected five delegates to represent our local at the convention. The elected delegates are:

• Chris Stanford
• Chris Tavares
• Joe Madden
• Kevin McDermott
• Nancy Tomas 

Bylaw Amendment

During the last Special Membership meeting, the membership approved the bylaw amendments to our election process. The amendment has been submitted to CUPE National who must approve it before it comes into effect. 

The amendment will change how we elect union officers. Instead of being elected at a membership meeting, all members will have a chance to vote for officers electronically over a five-day period. A run-off vote will be limited to the top two contenders, and members can only run for one position at a time. 

You can review the finalized amendment language here. 

Casual Unit 

On July 19th, we held a casual unit meeting to elect the casual unit bargaining committee. We are pleased to announce the following members have been elected to the committee: 

• Shayan Malik
• Roy Su
• Tawfiq Nasim
• Marie James (alternate)

Default members of the committee also include Stanley Treivus (Casual Unit Representative) and the President, Luke Daccord. 

89 Chestnut Tentative Agreement Ratified

We are pleased to announce our 89 Chestnut Unit reached a tentative agreement with the employer, which was approved by the membership on July 25th. The new agreement is primarily retroactive and in effect until the end of this year. The agreement can be viewed under Collective Agreements in the Resources tab.