Below are the candidate statements for the Spring 2017 General Election. Polls will open on March 8 and will close on March 14. All members will receive a voting token by email. If you do not receive a token and believe this was in error, please email trustee(at)tssu.ca
 

Derek Sahota - Chief Steward

After 11 months as your Chief Steward, I'm asking you to elect me for a second and final term.Since the election, the Union has been very busy implementing the terms of our new Collective Agreement and fighting on behalf of our membership. We've had a successful year and I want to be around to build upon our momentum and prevent the Employer from using their imaginary "financial hardship" to undermine our hard fought rights and pay.

As part of my platform promise from last year, we've reconstituted the grievance committee, which now regularly meets with 6-10 members in attendance to strategize over the Employer's consistent violation of our Collective Agreement. Because of that group effort, we've been able to achieve numerous settlements including:

1. Guard.me: $100,000 about to be paid out to past members plus $25,000 / year ongoing (most members will either make money from, or pay $0 for Guard.me coverage),

2. Limited Term Lecturer Conversions: by this summer over 20 long term sessionals will have received offers for conversion to appointments in the Faculty Association,

3. Sessional Seniority: numerous members have been able to assert their seniority rights and have been given compensation plus credit for courses they were denied,

4. MSP Continuance: we forced the Employer to maintain coverage into the next semester,right until the contract end date listed on your appointment form resulting in thousands paid out to mostly Tutor Markers.

Over the next year I want to continue the work of enforcing the collective agreement, but also have two new goals:

1. mentoring several TSSU members on how to receive, analyze and use the substantial amounts of data we receive, and that available through SFU's website or Freedom of Information requests.

2. working with the Member Representative to conduct a mock arbitration to introduce Grievance Committee members to the art of 3rd party labour arbitration.

With 2 more years until we have to bargain our Collective Agreement again, the willingness of members to come forward with problems will play a key role in the success or failure. The improvements we won through striking are are only real if our Employer abides by the contract we've both signed.

I ask you today not to just vote for me, but to support the future of the Union by being on the lookout for tricks the Employer will play, by emailing or coming to the TSSU office when you have a problem that needs to be solved, and by standing together against the Employer when they violate the contract. Together we can build a stronger, even more activist union and achieve the equitable workplace we desire.

Matthew Greaves - Ex-Officio

Hello TSSU members!

I’ve been working with the union, in one capacity or another, for about 5 years. I’ve been a member of the Strike Committee, in the most recent round of job action; a steward for the School of Communication; a member of the Social Justice and Membership Mobilization Committees; representative to the Vancouver and District Labour Council for two terms; representative to the Coalition of Graduate Employees Union, twice; and, most recently, acted as commissioner for the Solidarity and Social Justice Committee. The job of Ex-Officio is to provide institutional memory for the union, a task for which I believe I’m well suited given my years work with the TSSU in a variety of roles.

Solidarity forever,

Matthew Greaves

Sarah Power - Secretary

Hello, my name is Sarah Power and I am running for the position of Secretary. I have been a member of the TSSU since September 2015 and have become more involved in the actions of the union by joining the Membership Mobilization Committee. Additionally, I serve as a Steward in the Psychology department in an effort to improve communication between the TSSU and members in my department. I believe my experiences with the TSSU so far make me an excellent candidate for secretary.

I appreciate your consideration and would welcome the opportunity to learn the inner workings of the executive committee by serving as your secretary.

David Dvorak - Solidarity & Social Justice Commissioner

Hello, my name is David Dvorak and I am a M.Sc. student in the Department of Physics.

My vision for the Solidarity & Social Justice Committee is one of proactive engagement with our membership and with external community organizations. Together with the committee members I would work to make progress on issues such as housing affordability, workers’ rights, environmental sustainability and equality.

I would continue the admirable work of the TSSU and the SSJC in our community, including support for SFU food services workers and the campaign to stop demovictions. In terms of the committee’s regular donations to external organizations, I would push for more transparency in how union dues are spent and prioritize organizations that directly benefit our community.

I am running because I feel strongly that the TSSU is at its best when it focuses on issues that affect its members and workers in the local community. The TSSU is not an international political organization and should not be endorsing policies like the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel (this is the subject of an upcoming TSSU referendum). Regardless of one’s views on this particular topic, it is both beyond the scope of the objectives of the TSSU and needlessly singles out this one issue for inclusion in the TSSU bylaws.

There are many noble causes worth fighting for and I urge our members to give generously towards those in which they believe. The TSSU, however, is composed of a diverse body of viewpoints and should focus its attention on local issues which impact its members.

As Solidarity & Social Justice Commissioner I would:
- Engage with external partners on housing affordability and living wages
- Focus the committee’s $1500/semester donations on local issues
- Improve fiscal transparency by publishing a list of donation recipients on the TSSU website
- Advocate against singling out specific countries & organizations in TSSU bylaws

Thank you for taking the time to read this statement and those of the other candidates.

In solidarity,

David Dvorak

Lillian Deeb - Solidarity & Social Justice Commissioner

Hello TSSU!

My name is Lillian Deeb, and I am running for Solidarity and Social Justice Committee (SSJC) Commissioner. I am an MA student in the School of Communication, where I have been a steward since January 2015. I have been an active member of SSJC since Spring 2016, in addition to sitting on the Grievance Committee, the Finance Committee, the Internal Relations Committee, and the Membership Mobilization Committee. I am currently working as a TA in the Geography department.

Since beginning my service with the TSSU, I have grown in my ability and enthusiasm for member outreach and education. During the 2015 strike, I took part in knocking on doors to discuss our goals with the general membership, planning educational and social events for our members, and tabling in order to communicate issues to our members and the SFU community. Inspired by these experiences, I dedicated my time and energies to all the committees listed above. I believe my experience and dedication to union organizing makes me the ideal candidate for SSJC Commissioner, and I would truly appreciate the opportunity to facilitate this committee.

The goal of the SSJC is two-fold: to oversee charitable donations and more importantly, to create ties to other movements in order to chip away at the root causes of poverty, inequality, and injustice. As I’ve learned from my time as an activist for TSSU, the most effective way the union can work towards better working environments, equality, and justice is through collective action. Creating connections to other unions in the Vancouver area, supporting the Dakota Access Pipeline water protectors in North America (as we have done), or attempting to support even larger actions, like the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement (about which TSSU is holding a referendum in May), not only helps strengthen these movements, it also helps strengthen TSSU and the work we do here at SFU. Learning the strategies and struggles of those around us helps us understand the context in which our labour takes place, and how to better advocate for our members.

If I am elected to this position, I plan to work with those on the committee to build stronger relationships with movements in the Lower Mainland and beyond. I will do this by helping TSSU members make connections with groups or movements who need the kind of support that TSSU can provide. Locally, this might mean helping to organize attendance at rallies and protests or getting involved in organizing community events. Globally, it could mean writing letters of solidarity, donating money where necessary, or even filing freedom of information (FOI) requests on behalf of other groups who do not have the means to do so. I have worked closely with the previous SSJC Commissioner and am confident I can continue TSSU’s tradition of building solidarity both inside and outside the SFU community.

Hope to see you at a meeting!

In solidarity,

Lillian

Sima Jamali - Treasurer

My name is Sima Jamali and I'm a second year Ph.D. student at Computing Science department. I've been TA'ing since I've arrived at SFU and I've been involved with TSSU since last year as a steward. I've been getting to understand TSSU Bylaws and Collective Bargaining Agreement and using my passion and experience to help our members as a steward and now I'd like to get more involved by joining the executive committee as a treasurer.
As a daughter of an accountant, I've been always exposed to financial matters in organizations and I believe I've gained related skills that makes me confident that I can be a proper treasurer. If elected, I plan to work closely With finance committee and TSSU coordinator to solve any budgetary issues and provide a well-suited transparent budget.

Please feel free to contact me at sja88(at)sfu(dot)ca if you have any questions regarding my candidacy.
Thank you for your time and consideration.

Best,
Sima

Reagan Belan - Trustee II

Hello! My name is Reagan Belan and I would like you to consider accepting me as your second Trustee for the TSSU. In the nearly 4 years that I have been involved with the TSSU - first as Member Mobilization Commissioner and then as Chief Steward - I have become quite familiar with the bylaws and policies and feel confident in my ability to both uphold those bylaws and provide institutional memory of decisions past.

In Solidarity, R*

Candidate statements are up!