Hi everyone,
As inevitable as the sunrise or the deafening volume level of a MCU film, we find ourselves once again in the annual election season for CUPE 3913. The details of the timeline, deadlines, and requirements for candidates and voters will be discussed at the CUPE 3913 Winter Membership Meeting later this month. In this article we will be listing the open and closed positions for the Executive Committee, College and Department Stewards, and Caucus Chairs. Included in this list will be a brief description of the duties of each position, as well as the working hours per month. We will not be posting the honorarium for these positions. If you are interested in knowing the honorarium for one or more positions, please contact me at president@cupe3913.on.ca and I will let you know.
To clarify, Open positions are those which have no incumbent – that is, the person who currently holds the position will not be running again, or the position is currently unstaffed. Contested positions are those in which the incumbent has opted to run for the position. Please note that you may run for a Contested position, and that only Contested positions with two (2) or more candidates running for the position will be included on the election ballot; members who are nominated to an Open position will be automatically acclaimed to that position unless they revoke their candidacy during the campaign period.
Executive Committee – Contested Positions
President (Scott Duchesne)
Duties: Chief administrative officer, responsible for running the local; supervise local staff; represent the local with the employer; chair and call meetings for Bargaining, Bylaws, and Executive Committee; member of Finance and Grievance Committee; enforce the CUPE National Constitution and CUPE 3913 bylaws.
Hours: Forty (40) hours per month / Ten (10) hours per week.
Unit 1 Steward (Farhan Chowdhury)
Duties: Co-chair and call Steward meetings with the Unit 2 Steward; meet with College Stewards on a monthly basis; maintain and update contact information for all College and Department Stewards; be a member of the Grievance Committee and either the Bargaining, Bylaws, or Internal Committee; maintain the record of attendance at all Executive, Steward, and Membership meetings.
Hours: Twenty (20) hours per month / Five (5) hours per week.
Unit 2 Steward (Ahmed Mahmood)
Duties: Co-chair and call Steward meetings with the Unit 1 Steward; meet with College Stewards on a monthly basis; maintain and update contact information for all College and Department Stewards; be a member of the Grievance Committee and either the Bargaining, Bylaws, or Internal Committee; maintain the record of attendance at all Executive, Steward, and Membership meetings.
Hours: Twenty (20) hours per month / Five (5) hours per week.
Finance Officer (Omid Norouzi)
Duties: Call and chair meetings of the Finance Committee; hold signing authority for cheques and official documents; ensure that the Local’s funds are used only as authorized by the CUPE constitution, local bylaws, or vote of the Executive Committee or membership; be a member of the bargaining and bylaws committee.
Hours: Twenty (20) hours per month / Five (5) hours per week.
Equity Officer (Safia Mahabub Sauty)
Duties: Call and chair meetings of the Equity Committee; be a self-identified member of one of the Local’s caucuses; engage and represent members who identify with a traditionally marginalized or oppressed constituency or an underrepresented member group; liaise with campus and community groups to engage and educate members on
identity-related issues.
Hours: Ten (10) hours per month / Two point five (2.5) hours per week.
Member Representative (Abolfazl Rahimnejad)
Duties: Be a member of committees and groups that the Local participates in at the University and in the wider community; be a member of the External Committee and one (1) of either the Bargaining Committee,
Bylaws Committee, or Internal Committee.
Hours: Ten (10) hours per month / Two point five (2.5) hours per week.
Executive Committee – Open Positions
Vice President Internal
Duties: Chair and call meetings of the Internal Committee; be a member of the Finance Committee; record minutes of all Executive Committee and Membership meetings; work with the Administration and Finance Coordinator to maintain and update the Local’s website; hold signing authority; maintain and update Steward, Caucus, and Executive lists; perform all duties of President in the case of absence.
Hours: Twenty (20) hours per month / Five (5) hours per week.
Vice President External
Duties: Chair and call meetings of the External Committee; Liaise and Communicate with campus Unions and groups, including (but not only) CUPE 1334, University of Guelph Faculty Association, Graduate Students Association, and Central Student Association; Member of Health and Safety Committee, and Bargaining Support Committee.
Hours: Twenty (20) hours per month / Five (5) hours per week.
Grievance Officer
Duties: Call and chair meetings of the Grievance Committee; meet with members concerning grievance and grievance-related matters; attend all meeting related to grievances including arbitrations; give reports to the Executive and Membership concerning grievances and arbitrations; be a member of the Bargaining Committee.
Hours: Twenty (20) hours per month / Five (5) hours per week.
Health and Safety Officer
Duties: Chair and call meetings of the Health and Safety Committee; hold or complete certification to perform health and safety inspections at the University of Guelph as outlined in the Occupational Health and Safety Act (1990) and the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act (1997); represent the Local at the Central Joint Health and Safety Committee (CJHSC); be a member of the External Committee.
Hours: Ten (10) hours per month / Two point five (2.5) hours per week.
Three (3) Member Representative Positions
(See Member Representative above for duties and hours)
Caucus Chairs
All Caucus Chairs have the focus of a traditionally marginalized or oppressed constituency or an underrepresented member group (all members of a caucus must self-identify as members of the constituency that the caucus represents except in the case of underrepresented member groups).
Caucus chairs work 7.2 hours per month / 1.8 hours per week.
Caucus Chairs – Contested Positions
Black Caucus (Malissa Bryan)
International Teaching Assistant Caucus (Alessia Ursella)
Women’s Caucus (Nour Abu Hosan)
Caucus Chairs – Open Positions
Graduate Service Assistant (GSA -1) Caucus
Indigenous Caucus
Members with Disabilities Caucus
People of Colour Caucus
Queer Caucus
Undergraduate Teaching Assistant Caucus
College Stewards
College and Department Stewards are front-line members, the ‘eyes and ears’ of the Union; College Stewards are the lead for all departments/schools; they are expected to attend all Committee and Member meetings, save regrets/emergencies where they will deliver a monthly report, and to meet with Department Stewards on a monthly basis. College Stewards communicate directly with Unit Stewards and the President regarding College/Department issues.
College Stewards work 7.2 hours per month / 1.8 hours per week.
College Stewards – Contested Positions
College of Physical Sciences and Engineering (Fatemeh Safari)
College of Social and Applied Human Sciences (Alexis Fabricus)
Lang School of Business (Lena Liang)
Ontario Agricultural College (Nastaran Chalabianlou)
University of Guelph-Humber (Theo Selles)
College Stewards – Open Positions
College of Arts
College of Biological Science
Ontario Veterinary College
Department Stewards
College and Department Stewards are front-line members, the ‘eyes and ears’ of the Union; Department Stewards are expected to attend all Committee and Member meetings, save regrets/emergencies; they must hold a one (1) hour office time to meet with members; they may carry out additional (but related) duties assigned to them.
College Stewards work 7.2 hours per month / 1.8 hours per week.
College of Arts: Contested Positions
Department of Philosophy (James Bedford)
School of English and Theatre Studies (Joseph Shea-Carter)
College of Arts: Open Positions
Department of History
School of Fine Art and Music
School of Languages and Literatures
College of Biological Science: Contested Positions
Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology (Alyssa Banaag)
College of Biological Science: Open Positions
Department of Integrative Biology
Department of Human Health and Nutritional Sciences
College of Engineering and Physical Sciences: Contested Positions
Department of Chemistry (Yazdinejad Abbas)
School of Computer Science (Azmoodeh Amin)
Department of Mathematics and Statistics (Mohammad Amiri-Zarand)
School of Engineering (Mohammad Maghsoudimehrabani)
College of Engineering and Physical Sciences: Open Positions
Department of Physics
College of Social and Applied Human Sciences: Contested Positions
Department of Family Relations and Applied Nutrition (Siyao Peng)
Department of Geography (Christopher Worden)
Department of Psychology (Megan Shaver)
Department of Political Science (Ajay Sharma)
College of Social and Applied Human Sciences: Open Positions
Department of Sociology and Anthropology
Collaborative International Studies
Lang School of Business – Contested Positions
Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management (Parisa Nazarian)
Department of Management (Parirokh Afzali)
Department of Marketing and Consumer Studies (Ying Zhou)
Lang School of Business – Open Positions
Executive Programs
Department of Economics and Finance
Ontario Agricultural College: Contested Positions
Department of Food Agriculture Resource Economics (Reihaneh Abdi)
School of Environmental Design and Rural Development (Mohsen Hesami)
Ontario Agricultural College: Open Positions
Department of Animal Science
School of Environmental Sciences
Department of Food Science
Department of Plant Agriculture
Ontario Veterinary College: Contested Positions
Department of Pathobiology (Latasha Ludwig)
Department of Population Medicine (Tony Carreira Bruinje)
DVSc Program (Phillipe Larose)
Ontario Veterinary College: Open Positions
Department of Biomedical Sciences
Department of Clinical Studies
University of Guelph-Humber: Open Positions
Department of Business
Department of Early Childhood Studies
Department of Family and Community Social Services
Department of Justice Studies
Department of Kinesiology
Department of Media Studies
Department of Psychology
If you have any questions or concerns, do not hesitate to contact Scott @ president@cupe3913.on.ca.
