We are pleased to invite you to our virtual spring General Membership Meeting (GMM) and Local elections on Tuesday, April 30th at 6:30 p.m.
The two-year terms for the following positions are expiring and up for election: president; vice-president; chief steward; treasurer; secretary; trustees (2 required); equity steward and stewards from all faculties. The job description for all local union executive roles can be found here: https://opseu354.ca/member-information/.
In addition to the positions above, members can also be nominated to join the Whitby or Oshawa Joint Health and Safety Committees (JHSC). These positions are chosen by the union but are not part of the Local Executive Committee.
If you’re interested in any of these positions, you can find the nomination forms here: https://opseu354.ca/member-information/links/. Nominations can also be made in person at the virtual GMM, but both the nominee and the nominating member must be in attendance. Please note that anyone wishing to run for an officer position must first be nominated for and accept a steward position. Trustees cannot also serve as a steward or officer.
There is no financial compensation for any union roles, but release time from teaching is available for all officer positions and sometimes for faculty stewards engaged in special projects. This time varies from a few hours up to a full release from teaching, depending on the role and the number of union committees you are involved with. JHSC members get 2.5 hours of complementary time on their SWF.
Partial load members cannot be given release time without a SWF, but other forms of compensation can be considered.
As well, OPSEU is currently providing funding for up to six hours of release from teaching for one member to take on the role of Local Organizer for this upcoming bargaining year. The Local Organizer role involves outreach and mobilization during the negotiation process to keep members informed of any developments or votes that may be required.
At the upcoming GMM, we will also be discussing a pilot project to grant some teaching release time to ALL elected stewards. There is a financial cost for this proposal as the college is paid for release time through a combination of OPSEU funds and local dues. Prior to the GMM, the Local will be holding virtual info sessions to discuss this proposal on April 29th from 3:30-4:15 p.m. ( https://meet.google.com/snq-qoxo-bdo) and again at 7:00-7:45 p.m. (https://meet.google.com/uso-jrri-drf).Please feel free to reach out to our office or any member of the current Local Executive Committee (LEC) with any questions you might have about the GMM and elections. You can find a list of the current LEC here: https://opseu354.ca/local-executive/
In order to attend the April 30th virtual GMM and elections at 6:30 p.m., please RSVP to office@opseu354.ca and a link to the virtual meeting and any relevant meeting documents will be sent out prior to the meeting.