General Members Meeting September 27

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The local is holding a general meeting on Thursday, September 27, at 4 pm in Thistle 246. There will be food. Remember that the union is only as good (read your working conditions) as the members (you) make it! **

We have an IMPORTANT AGENDA this first GMM of the term.  ELECTIONS FOR SEVERAL POSITIONS are going to be held at the meeting. Any member in good standing can run for any of open the positions. See elections of officers, article 7.12 in our bylaws

Vice President Graduate Students Members – NEW POSITION

Equity Officer, see description of duties in our bylaws, article 7

Health and Safety Officer, see description of duties in our bylaws article 7

Unit 2 Vice President*

Unit 2 Steward*

Unit 3 Vice President*

Unit 3 Steward*

We are also going to elect delegates to these two conferences:

Delegates to CUPE Ontario Health and Safety and Injured Workers Conference

Delegates to CUPE Ontario Women’s Conference

*Only members of these respective units can run for and elect members to these positions.

** 4.1 The governing bodies of the Local shall consist of the following:
(a) The Membership
(b) The Executive Committee
(c) The Stewards Council
(d) Committees: Committees of the executive may be formed to make specific recommendations to the executive on any given issue. Committees of the general membership may also be formed, open to all members in good standing. Committees can work toward new policy or on the basis of already existing policy, but they cannot contravene the Local’s by-laws, and must not act so as to undermine the policies duly enacted by the general membership.
4.2 The plenary authority of the Local shall rest with the membership of the Local. Such authority shall be exercised in properly constituted membership meetings and referenda, in accordance with these bylaws.

MicroSocials 2018

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This year, we have a list of varied social/entertainment/chilling out events rather than one big social. Most of these micro socials require to let the union know your intention to attend and some of them necessitate partial coverage of the cost, though the local is paying for most of the expense. This way we can fit within the budget allocated for social activity last April by our members, while reaching members with differing interests.  We are starting off with three MicroSocials in the next few weeks: a trip to Canada’s Wonderland, live CBC radio stand up comedy show, The Debaters, and a hike through the Niagara escarpment in the splendor of early fall colours. Continue reading →

Mark Your Calendars: Table of Events for September/Ocotber

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September 8 TA DAY Centre for PedagogicaI Innovation
September 19 CUPE 4207 OPEN HOUSE Noon to 4 pm MC C 402 and hallway
September 20 Take Back the Night 6 pm St. Catharines Library
September 27 General Members Meeting 4:30 TH 147
September 30 Microsocial Wonderland 9:30 am to 10 pm Brock Location TBA
October 2 Microsocial Debaters 7 pm Partridge Hall, St. Catharines
October 13 Microsocial Bruce Trail hike 2 pm Brock location TBA
November 23
 IceDogs v Barrie Colts 7 pm Meridian Centre St. Catharines

Niagara District CUPE Council School

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The Niagara District CUPE Council is a central CUPE  body with which CUPE locals in the Niagara Region, such as ours, choose to affiliate.  Elected delegates attend monthly meetings and act as an information liaison between the local and the council. You can see that it is very important for locals to communicate by staying connected. After all, different occupations and workplaces are not the source of division but commonalities that we all experience and share as workers.

The School
The Niagara District CUPE Council hosts union educational and workshops. Our local will send up to 6 members to each of the workshops listed and linked below. Most of them are Steward Learning Series [SLS] modules and thus preference is going to be given to our stewards should more than 6 people (stewards among them) express interest and commitment to attend.

This does not mean that other members are excluded from their chance to attend! We all have different schedules and not all stewards would likely be attending every single school.

Continue reading →

Strategic Planning meeting

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Our local holds strategic planning meeting on June 15th from 9 am to no longer than 5 pm in Plaza 308.

This meeting is open for all members; elected officers should be attending. Lunch and snacks are covered by the local. Morning session will be facilitated by CUPE National.

Strategic planning is a collaborative way to set achievable and measurable goals for your local. It will help you determine what will be implemented over a matter of weeks and years so your local can evolve and grow to serve your membership better. It is also a way to build capacity and activism within your local. This is not an off the shelf workshop. Each situation is different and requires a tailor made approach.

Register here:

https://cupe.ca/mrm-union-education/event/1562

Special General Members Meetings

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We are holding two special membership meetings with the objective to present, discuss and vote on our local bylaws* that include the changes CUPE National asked our local to make for a full endorsement of the bylaws required by CUPE constitution.

There are two steps to bylaw change. First, the local gives notice to members that change(s) to bylaws is being proposed. The second step of the process takes place at the next general meeting where a discussion about the bylaw amendment(s) takes place, followed by a motion to accept the amendment(s). To make change(s) to bylaws, two thirds of the votes are necessary to pass the changes.

It is understood that members will acquaint themselves with the changes as presented in the first step, and come prepared to discuss and vote in the subsequent meeting.

Here are the amendments to our bylaws as requested by CUPE National. Only the bylaw articles undergoing changes are being presented here. The bold text indicates addition of a new language; cross through text indicates replacement of the old text by the new/bold and/or proposed to be removed. The whole set of bylaws is on our website.

  1. SGMM to give notice of bylaw amendments. This step involves simply notifying  members that there are proposed changes to bylaws (in this particular case it involves the entire set of bylaws).                                                                          May 10, Thursday,  from 12 pm – 1:30 pm in WH 324
  2. SGMM to discuss and vote on the amended bylaw package:                                    May 16, Wednesday, from  4 pm – 7 pm in WH 204
  • there is also a proposed amendment to our Policies. In addition to our default agenda items, following reading of the  Equality Statement, it is proposed to also read Recognition of Territory, and hold  Moment of Silence for fallen workers. While we have been practicing these two acknowledgements, we need to have this practice recorded.

 

 

Sad news

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One of our most senior members, Darrell Short, has passed on April 17th. Darrell worked  in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics. He had received Governor-General’s Medal at Brock in 1982.

Darrell has been a long-standing member, dear coworker and a friend of our union. He will be greatly missed!

In Darrell’s memory, our local has contributed $500 to Crohn’s and Colitis Canada.

We extend our sincere condolences to his family.

Obituary and online condolences:

http://tallmanfuneralhomes.ca/tribute/details/7326/Darrell-Short/obituary.html#tribute-start