Committees & Caucuses
CUPE Local 3913 has several working committees and caucuses. All members are welcome to join a committee or a caucus. For more information please contact committee and caucus chairs by emailing them directly. Email addresses for all members of the Executive Committee can be found on our Representatives and Staff page. Note: In order to join a caucus, you must identify as a member of the group that the caucus represents.
Committees
Executive Committee
Chair: Scott Duchesne , President
Member: For a complete list, see the list of Executive Committee members.
Mandate: To ensure the smooth, professional, and orderly running of the Local (see the Bylaws for a full description).
Email: president@cupe3913.on.ca
Finance Committee
Chair: Scott Duchesne , President
Mandate: To administer the Local’s funds and to perform, supervise, and adjudicate financial transactions on behalf of the Local including but not limited to benefits, insurance, and membership dues.
Email : president@cupe3913.on.ca
Grievance Committee
Chair: Abu Raihan , Chair Grievance Officer
Mandate: To review and file (where appropriate) individual and policy grievances and to make recommendations to the Executive Committee about cases to be put forward for arbitration (see the Bylaws for a full description).
Email: grievance@cupe3913.on.ca
Health & Safety Committee
Chair: Iftekhar Hussain , Health & Safety Officer
Mandate: To discuss the mandate, minutes, and agendas of the Central Joint Health & Safety Committee (CJHSC), to prepare for CJHSC meetings, and to discuss issues and concerns raised by members about the health and safety of their workplace.
Email: hs@cupe3913.on.ca
Stewards Committee
Chair: Farhan Chowdhury , Unit 1 Steward; Ahmed Mahmood, Unit 2 Steward
Mandate: To organise and guide College Stewards and Departmental Stewards and to maintain a network of stewards (see the Bylaws for a full description).
Email: unit1@cupe3913.on.ca
Email: unit2@cupe3913.on.ca
Bylaws Committee
Chair: Scott Duchesne, President
Mandate: To review and make recommendations for regular revisions of the Bylaws.
Bargaining Committee
Chair: Scott Duchesne, President
Mandate: To research, establish priorities, and strategize for the next round of bargaining with the Employer. Our current Collective Agreement is due to expire on August 31, 2023.
Equity Committee
Chair: Safia Mahabub Sauty
Mandate: to engage and represent members who identify with a traditionally marginalized or oppressed constituency or an underrepresented member group.
Caucuses
Indigenous Caucus
Chair: Vacant
Email:
People of Colour Caucus
Chair: Vacant
Email:
Representatives & Staff
President, Scott Duchesne
president@cupe3913.on.ca
Vice-President Internal, Chris Hempel
vpi@cupe3913.on.ca
Vice-President External, Alexis Fabricus
vpe@cupe3913.on.ca
Unit 1 Steward, Farhan Chowdhury
unit1@cupe3913.on.ca
Unit 2 Steward, Ahmed Mahmood
unit2@cupe3913.on.ca
Finance Officer, Omid Norouzisafsari
finance@cupe3913.on.ca
Grievance Officer, Vacant
grievance@cupe3913.on.ca
Equity Officer, Safia Mahabub Sauty
equity@cupe3913.on.ca
Health and Safety Officer, Vacant
hs@cupe3913.on.ca
Past Executive Officer, Iftekhar Hussain Chowdhury
pastofficer@cupe3913.on.ca
Member Representative, Parirokh Afzali
trishan.memberrep@cupe3913.on.ca
Member Representative, Olatunbosun Ayetan
memberrep@cupe3913.on.ca
Member Representative, Shahrear Kawsa Towhid
saiful.memberrep@cupe3913.on.ca
Member Representative, Vacant
ghazizadel.memberrep@cupe3913.on.ca
University of Guelph Humber-Theo Selles
guelphhumber@cupe3913.on.ca
College of Business and Economics (CBE), Lena Jingen Liang
cbe@cupe3913.on.ca
College of Biological Science (CBS), Hannah Brazeau
cbs@cupe3913.on.ca
College of Arts (COA), Joseph Shea Carter
coa@cupe3913.on.ca
College of Physical and Engineering Science (CPES), Fatemeh Safari
cpes@cupe3913.on.ca
College of Social and Applied Human Sciences (CSAHS), Megan Shaver
csahs@cupe3913.on.ca
Ontario Agricultural College (OAC), Vacant
oac@cupe3913.on.ca
Ontario Veterinary College (OVC)-Vacant
ovc@cupe3913.on.ca
Graduate Service Assistant (GSA-1) Caucus Chair, Vacant
gsa1caucus@cupe3913.on.ca
International Teaching Assistant Caucus Chair, Alessia Ursella
international@cupe3913.on.ca
Members with Disabilities Caucus Chair, Vacant
disabilitiescaucus@cupe3913.on.ca
Queer Caucus Chair, Bridget Baldwin
queercaucus@cupe3913.on.ca
Women’s Caucus Chair, Nour Abu Hosan
women@cupe3913.on.ca
Undergraduate Teaching Assistant Caucus Chair-Vacant
utacaucus@cupe3913.on.ca
Black Caucus Chair, Vacant
Indigenous Caucus Chair, Vacant
People of Colour Caucus Chair, Vacant
Labour Relations Coordinator, Jeff Cornelissen
labourrelations@cupe3913.on.ca
Admin & Finance Coordinator, Shelly Sarkisian
adminfinance@cupe3913.on.ca
3-year, (Vacant)
trustees@cupe3913.on.ca
2-year, (Vacant)
trustees@cupe3913.on.ca
1-year, (Vacant)
trustees@cupe3913.on.ca
Elections Officer, (Vacant)
elections@cupe3913.on.ca
About Us
The Canadian Union of Public Employees is Canada’s largest union, with 700,000 members across the country. CUPE represents workers in health care, emergency services, education, early learning and child care, municipalities, social services, libraries, utilities, transportation, airlines and more. It has more than 70 offices across the country, in every province.
The basic unit of CUPE is the local. The members of each CUPE local, by majority vote, set the structure and by-laws of the local. The local represents a group of employees and negotiates the Collective Agreement (CA) with the employer, which governs the wages, benefits, and working conditions. Once a collective agreement is established between the union and the employer, the union ensures that it is not violated by management.
CUPE Local 3913 at the University of Guelph encompasses two types of workers which are divided into two units with separate Collective Agreements. Unit 1 is the bargaining unit for all Graduate Teaching Assistants, Graduate Service Assistants employed in work directly related to the academic
enterprise, and Undergraduate Teaching Assistants. Unit 2 is the bargaining unit for all persons employed under contract as Sessional Lecturers to teach in University degree credit courses.
