New updates from OPSEU HQ

Good morning OPSEU Local 596 members! 

Since the elections many of you have connected with us to know who was elected and what happens next. As you deserve to be informed about your local's developments, here's a summary of what happened in the past weeks.

What happened at the election? Who was elected? On November 25th we had 366+ members present at the Election GMM after registration and the doors were tiled. In the first president ballot we had the following split:

James - 167 Votes (Incumbent) Aman - 115 Votes (Change platform) Sarah - 84 Votes (GrowingStrong Change Team)

Incumbent Candidates - 167 Votes Change Candidates - 199 Votes Difference of 33 votes. The change candidates had the clear majority.

None of the candidates had the required 50% +1 vote tally.

Prior to the announcement of the results we moved on to elect the uncontested positions by popular demand from the membership. The treasurer and trustees elections. James nominated Matthew Forester for treasurer who refused the nomination. With only 1 candidate the treasurer (Aneesh Tiberias Murali) was acclaimed by the 366 members present. The trustees were also uncontested and were acclaimed.

During the second ballot, there were 188 votes cast.

James - 91 Aman - 97 Difference of 6 votes. There were no spoiled ballots. The change candidate had the clear majority.

Quorum (137) was maintained at 140 members present (physically counted down) when the announcement was made. 

Was this election a surprise?  No, the constitution sets elections for every two years. The last election was in November 2017. The logistics of this election (booking a room, choosing a date late in November, determining that it would be a 1-hour GMM, and asking OPSEU HQ for the required number of support staff) was organized by the current President and VP. And by their own admission they invited HQ to oversee the elections and run it. The elections costed us approx. 1501$ for the venue rental.

What happens next with the election? After reviewing our local's election the President of OPSEU Warren “Smokey” Thomas declared the November 25th election null and void citing administrative issues and ordered a new election. Therefore, a new election will take place again to elect the President, VP-Chief Steward, Treasurer and Secretary. Additionally, the current Officers and LEC have had their term of office extended past the December 31 2019 date until the new election is completed.

There is a meeting today, Friday, December 6th at OPSEU HQ to determine the logistics of the next election. Our team will be pushing hard for e-voting and polling stations for this election and for it to be setup as early as mid-January. We cannot allow the current leadership to continue indefinitely and we must fight hard to preserve our rights to an election and to accessible voting. This is a fundamental principle of democracy and our team is committed to seeking that outcome. 

Our team has always wanted polling station or e-voting or a combination of both for 2 important reasons:

1) We want greater accessibility for members to vote. Especially those that endure acute claustrophobia, or who have mobility issues, or who have visual impairments.

2) The elected officials would have the largest mandate from the electorate if e-voting and polling stations were adopted and would have the right to govern as a clear representation of the memberships will. This is in service to democracy. 

We are still here for change. Thank you for showing up on November 25th! This year we had 366+ members attending the election, with the majority choosing to elect new leadership, while in 2017 there were only 183 members present.

On an upcoming date (depending on our current leadership's willingness to schedule it), we will still be running for the positions we have been campaigning for and supporting Sarah Bukhari's election as president of our local. 

Sarah has the longevity of service and the temperament of a good leader. She is a leader who inspires others and encourages dialogue. Her leadership style is democratic and empowering. She listens to her team and delegates effectively, making it possible for her to separate the operational tasks from planning ahead and developing a long term vision that takes into account competing priorities. She is not afraid to make the tough decisions and ask the hard questions that will protect the community and move everyone forward.

Sarah will spearhead administrative reforms in her first year of office and then focus on creating micro-committees to handle the issues around collective bargaining. It’s called collective bargaining because it utilizes the collective whole of our membership. We need more grassroots dialogue about member’s issues and what they want to see changed for the betterment of themselves, their work environment and their families. Sarah has a track record of doing this at the senior administrative level at Ryerson, in her service on Ryerson Board of Governors, and her philanthropic work with various non-for-profit organizations.

Sarah began her career as a teacher and she continues to teach lessons today. She teaches patience, collaboration, and team-work and will serve you well in the capacity of President.

Our Other Candidates Elizabeth Mobeen for VP, Aneesh T. Murali for Treasurer, and Deborah Jesus for Secretary still need your support to make the changes that our local desperately needs.

Request A New Election Date What we all can do to move things forward is to ask for a new election date with a more efficient process to guarantee all members' participation.

Here's who you can contact to request that:

Warren (Smokey) Thomas, President of OPSEU: wthomas@opseu.org Mandy Dumais, Region 5 Supervisor: mdumais@opseu.org James Mckay, President of OPSEU Local 596: james.mckay@ryerson.caThank you for your continued support, The Grow Strong Through Change Team.