TFAC Co-Chair Nominees 2016-17

There are three members who nominated themselves for the position of TFAC Co-Chair. Their statements and campaigning guidelines are below. Voting for the TFAC Co-Chair positions will begin at the upcoming TFAC meeting on March 21, and will continue March 22 & 23 from 10:00 am – 5:00 pm. The polling station will be in the 3903 office at 143 Atkinson, Keele Campus. Only TFAC members are eligible to vote in the TFAC election. TFAC members are members of CUPE 3903 who identify as trans, women, gender queer and gender variant.

Candidate Statements

Nicole Leach

My name is Nicole Leach and I am running for the position of TFAC Co-Chair.  A commitment to anti-oppressive feminist politics motivates my desire to run for TFAC Co-Chair.

I have been active in CUPE 3903 since joining as a Unit 3 member in September 2011. My first active role was as a Unit 3 bargaining team member in the 2011-2012 bargaining round. Following my time on the bargaining team I was part of the 2012 – 2013 CUPE 3903 Executive as the VP for Unit 3.  I have since joined the ranks of Unit 1 and have been an actively engaged rank and file member sitting on various committees, participating and organising with TFAC, and walking the lines in the 2015 strike.

My experience thus far with CUPE 3903 has driven home the important role that TFAC plays within our union.  I am running for the position of TFAC Co-Chair in order to continue to facilitate the important work of TFAC; including, meeting regularly with TFAC members to openly discuss the work that is still needed to address issues of systemic discrimination within our local, to organize to call out continuing systemic and individualised discrimination facing TFAC, and CUPE 3903, members at York University, and to coordinate and work in solidarity with groups on campus (both inside and outside of CUPE 3903).

Joanna Pearce

I’m Joanna Pearce, and I would like your vote for TFAC Co-Chair.

Every year that I’ve been in the union, I’ve been involved with TFAC. I’ve watched TFAC go from monthly meetings with only two attendees to a more active caucus supporting initiatives by members of our local such as Silence is Violence, the Trans Caucus’ work around name policies, Tabbouleh with TFAC and Radical Knitting.

I plan to build on our momentum, reach out to more of our members, and support TFAC’s work across our local. In addition to monthly meetings I will start monthly gatherings, Tea with TFAC, as an opportunity for our members to talk casually about issues they are facing in the workplace and in our union. I will expand upon Tabbouleh with TFAC to do more outreach to undergrads and highlight how our union can work in tandem with students rather than at cross-purposes. I will follow up on the work previous co-chairs have done on archiving TFAC’s past, and will work with the Archives Committee to do so.

I’ve been a strong advocate, within my department and the local, on issues of diversity. I was a member of the Employment Equity Committee and the Accessibility Committee, as well as Equity Officer for my department. I want to use the skills I learned in these positions on behalf of TFAC members. Many of the resources are there, but our members are unaware of them. I want to change that by reaching out to non-active members to find out what they need and how to best bring it to them.

I have been away from the Union for a year. I have missed my TFAC community.  I would like the opportunity to give back to the Caucus and work directly with the Executive of our local.

Donya Ziaee

I have been part of CUPE 3903 since 2007, first as a Unit 3 member and currently as a member in Unit 1. I have served the local in a variety of capacities, including as a program steward for Gender, Feminist and Women’s Studies, a picket captain and member of the Strike Communications Committee during the 2015 strike, and a member of the Joint Health and Safety Committee for the last two years.

If elected as a TFAC co-chair, I hope to build on the important work of previous co-chairs in creating a positive and accessible space within our local for women, trans, gender queer and gender variant people. I am particularly interested in expanding member participation in TFAC meetings, most notably that of members from under-represented constituencies in our local. And I will work to make sure that the interests of all TFAC members are heard and represented in union executive meetings, the local, and the university more broadly.

Combined with the efforts of other bodies within our union working to address exclusionary practices and policies, I believe that TFAC has the potential to serve as a crucial avenue for building a more inclusive local and university.

Campaigning Guidelines

Campaigning has opened, and voting for the TFAC Co-Chair positions will begin at the upcoming TFAC meeting on March 21, and will continue March 22 & 23 from 10:00am – 5:00 pm. The polling station will be in the 3903 office at 143 Atkinson Bldg, Keele Campus. Only TFAC members are eligible to vote in the TFAC election. TFAC members are members of CUPE 3903 who identify as trans, women, gender queer and gender variant.

As the election process unfolds, all candidates are required to adhere to the following campaign regulations:

  1. All campaigning practices and materials must be consistent with our CUPE Equality Statement.
  2. Candidates are not allowed to use the union photocopier or union supplies.
  3. The campaigning phase will continue through until the end of voting.Campaigning during the voting period must respect the following regulations:
    1. No posters, flyers or any campaigning activity within 5 metres of polling stations.
    2. Candidates and their representatives are free to go around the university (including with campaign material) to convince members to vote (“pulling the vote”). This activity cannot take place within 5 metres of any polling station. Intimidation of any kind will not be tolerated.
    3. Candidates can appoint scrutineers to each poll to ensure the impartiality of the process, and ensure that all voters are either on the list or submit a ballot within an envelope. Scrutineers must identify themselves to the poll clerks. But neither candidates nor their representatives will be able to use the voter’s lists for targeted vote-pulling once the polls have opened.
    4. Candidates are free to continue putting up posters, posting on social media, and engaging in other forms of campaigning during the voting period, as long as they respect the 5 metre rule.
  4. The polling station will be equipped with a printed version of the campaign statements from the CUPE 3903 website.
  5. We ask that all members who witness violations of these rules document them as accurately as possible and send the information to the Election Officer. Scrutineers/poll clerks will be briefed on what constitutes a violation. The Elections Officer will then make a presentation on any violations that occurred during the elections at a TFAC Meeting. After the presentation, if members feel that any of the violations were serious enough to warrant further action, it will be up to the membership to pursue.

Elections Officer:

Annelies Cooper
annelies.cooper@gmail.com