Annual General Meeting
Monday, March 16
11:00 am – 2:00 pm
Second Student Centre – Conference Centre
Conference Centre SSC
Exec and Bargaining Team Candidates and Acclamations
Thank you to all members who put nominated themselves for an Exec or BT position. The nomination period has now ended. At the AGM (March 16th) Communications Officer, and the Unit 2 Bargaining Team positions will open for election. Most other positions were acclaimed. Please continue reading for details.
Nominate Yourself for TFAC Co-Chair!
The nomination period for the executive position of Trans Feminist Action Caucus (TFAC) co-chair is currently open. The nomination period will remain open until 5pm March 7, 2020. TFAC members of any unit are eligible for this position. All women, trans, gender queer and gender variant members of the local are automatically members of the TFAC whether or not you have ever attended a meeting. Please see below for a full description of the position’s responsibilities.
Residency and Work Permit Workshop for Grad Students
Graduate Students have specific cases/situations with respect to Permanent Residency and Work Permits. Yet York’s workshops about these topics mostly focus on undergrad students. Come join our International Graduate Student Committee (IGSC) at a workshop for graduate/mature international students on Tuesday Feb 25 from 10:00am to 12:00pm in OverGrad Café (Ross South – Room 167).
Continue reading
Poll-Clerks Needed for 2020 General Election
We are hiring poll-clerks for the upcoming election between March 16 to 23. The rate of pay is $15/hr. If you are interested and available for work during this period, please fill out the questionnaire (.docx) and send a private message to cupe3903eo@gmail.com by March 9, 2020. Members running for office are not eligible to work as poll-clerks.
Committee Elections at AGM – Nominations Open
Nominations are now open for the following committee positions, to be elected at the AGM on March 16th, 2019. If you would like to nominate yourself for a position for one or more of the following committees please email Stacey at cupe3903vpu1@gmail.com no later than 5pm on Friday, March 13th.
Nominate Yourself for CUPE Ontario Convention Committees
The five Convention Committees carry out much of the behind the scenes work at the CUPE Ontario Convention. Nominations are now open for the committees. If you wish to serve on a Convention committee, contact the Recording Secretary, Gizem Çakmak (by February 26th) for your name be submitted to the CUPE Ontario Office. Members selected to serve on Convention Committees will automatically be one of our registered delegates to Convention. Some committees also require you to attend pre-Convention meetings.You can read more about each committee here.
Nominations Open for the Executive Committee and Bargaining Team (Units 1, 2 & 3)
Nominations for the Executive Committee and Bargaining Team (Units 1, 2 & 3) open at noon on February 14th. Nominations will be accepted until March 2nd. Two weeks of campaigning will follow the nomination period. Voting will begin at the Annual General Meeting (AGM), which will take place on March 16th (11am – 2pm in the Conference Centre of the Second Student Centre) and will continue for five days.
Electoral Officer Needed; Nominate Yourself by February 26th
The role of the Chief Electoral Officers is to organize the elections as per the bylaws. There is one vacant position that needs to be filled immediately. The EOs will need to organize the upcoming Executive Officers and Bargaining Team elections. Members can nominate themselves by 5pm on February 26th by emailing Stacey Berquist, VP Unit 1.
Solidarity with Anti-CAA and NRC protestors in India
The Executive of CUPE 3903, supports people across India, who have raised their voices against the rising fascism and far-right extremism underpinning the fundamentally discriminatory policies like the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (CAA), and the National Register of Citizens (NRC). These legislative tools are designed to redefine Indian citizenship on the basis of religion and selectively exclude Muslims undermining their rights to equality guaranteed by the Indian Constitution. Moreover, if these laws are allowed to be implemented may potentially create one of the largest crises of statelessness in the world particularly affecting low income, trans, women, internally displaced people among many others. These laws are also blatant violations of India’s commitment to the United Nations International Convention on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
Under the ruling government’s directives, students, reporters, artists, and the general public have been subjected to severe police brutality and state surveillance. Not to mention that public transit has been halted, gatherings of people have been banned, and banned internet access and phone services across the entire states of Kashmir, Assam, and other major cities. Meanwhile, Home Minister Amit Shah’s declaration in a public forum challenging internationally mandated standards of human rights only part and parcel of the larger structures of unfettered fascism that are clear and present throughout the country. We, as a labour union, severely condemn all such acts of state-sanctioned violence that have been deployed against these protesters.
This movement against the NRC and CAA began as a student-led movement but is now being sustained by Muslim women, Kashmiri and Dalit activists, numerous unionized workers and many others. These protestors are defending their rights to equitable citizenship and social justice. Many of these protesters are also demanding an end to the occupation of Kashmir and the Kashmiri people’s right to self-determination. This social movement has also provided the necessary infrastructure for many other previously socially and economically excluded groups to express their political agency, both in India and amongst the South-Asian diaspora in Canada. We, as a labour union representing many people who are affected by these laws, are proud to express our solidarity with such a movement.
We believe that the Indian state is failing to be accountable to its citizens and has exhibited a blatant disregard for fundamental human rights. We draw great strength from protesters who continue to turn up in large numbers, despite the imminent threat of being detained for exercising their right to dissent. The Narendra Modi-led BJP government should know that these protests are signs of the changes about to come and that the world is closely watching these events unfold.
In solidarity,
CUPE 3903 Executive Committee