CUPEU Committees

CUPEU is made up of various groups representing the larger membership. These include the Executive and a number of committees. This page details these groups in order to demystify how the various groups contribute to the functioning of our Union.

This information had been summarized, and in some cases copied, from the CUPEU Constitution.

Executive Committee

Executive Committee members represent the union on various Inter-Union and University committees.

The responsibilities of the executive committee are as follows:
a) To guide the union’s affairs;
b) To determine the time and place of union meetings and to convene when necessary the union council; Page 13
c) To authorize expenditures set out in the budget, and whose maximum amount has been determined by the general meeting; to check the vice-president finance’s accounting books and reports;
d) In light of the priorities of the union, and taking into account the available resources, to adopt budgetary provisions for recommendation to the general meeting;
e) To ensure that the rules and regulations adopted by the general meeting are respected;
f) To set up any committee required to study, to discuss, to promote or to further the goals of the union;
g) To name people to represent the union to the various bodies to which the union
participates;
h) To accept members;
i) To receive member’s complaints, to examine and dispose of them, in accordance with articles 14, 15 and 16 of the present constitution;
j) To receive and examine all communications and information submitted by the general
meeting to them, and to report back to the general meeting;
k) To abide by the decisions made by the general meeting, which constitute a mandate to be executed on behalf of all of the members of the union;
l) To submit to the general meeting any question or issue requiring a vote by the members;
m) To present a report of the previous year’s activities and accomplishments to the annual general meeting;
n) To see to the temporary replacement of the president if he or she is absent for a short period of time;
o) Authorize all the procedures and legal acts necessary for the best interest of the union.

This committee meets at least once per month and is made up of the following roles:

President

Responsible for the internal operation of the Union.

VP Communications

Responsible, along with the President, for all communications between the executive committee or union council and the union membership.

VP Finance

The responsibilities of the vice-president finance are as follows:
a) To be responsible for the union’s financial administration and the handling of the union’s properties;
b) To ensure that all financial transactions are properly recorded in the appropriate
accounting statements and registers as per the system established by the CSN or in
accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in Canada;
c) To collect all union dues and any monies owed to the union;
d) To present to the executive committee, upon request, or at least every four (4) months, the bank reconciliation and the union’s financial statement;
e) To make all disbursements authorized by the executive committee and to sign cheques jointly with the president;
f) To make available to any member, who so desires, the accounts ledgers, as well as
statements from the banking institution, in the course of union meetings;
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g) To deposit as soon as possible in the banking institution any funds on hand, and to send
the appropriate amounts owed to the bodies to which the union is affiliated;
h) To prepare the budgetary provisions, in collaboration with the executive committee, and to ensure their presentation to the executive committee, the union council and the general meeting;
i) To prepare the annual financial statements at the end of the fiscal year and to ensure their
presentation to the executive committee, the union council and the general meeting;
j) To prepare, within two months of the end of the fiscal year and in collaboration with the executive committee, an interim operating budget for the following year and to ensure its presentation to the executive committee, the union council and the general meeting.
k) To be empowered, at all times, to disclose the union’s ledgers and all appropriate exhibits to the duly authorized representative of the executive committee of the CSN and to the union’s own auditing committee.

VP Grievance

Responsible for the investigation of member complaints (including those related to university policies, municipal, provincial, or federal legislation) deriving from the administration and application of the collective agreement.

VP Operations

Define, document, publish, and archive all relevant processes, policies, and procedures of the Union in consultation with, and approval by, the Union Council and to ensure that these are procedures are reflected appropriately.

VP Membership

Responsible for the coordination and administration of all aspects of the union membership from the moment they join the union to the
moment they leave.

VP Negotiations

Responsible for coordinating all aspects of the negotiations of the CUPEU collective agreement with the University.

VP Special Projects

Responsible for assigned responsibilities by the president in consultation with the executive committee.

Union Council

The union council assumes authority between the general meetings. In particular, it has the following responsibilities:

1.  In conjunction with the vice-president operations, to research, develop, maintain, and, as necessary, refer to the general assembly for approval, Union By-Laws that:
   1. Expand, as necessary, on the roles, responsibilities, and duties of the:
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      1. union council and union council representatives; and
      2. ii. executive committee and executive committee membership as described in this constitution;
   2. Set out in detail all union policies, procedures, and practices.
   3. To ensure that the executive committee follows through on the mandates given to it by the general meeting; it shall replace any union officer or union delegate who resigns, is unable to act or is absent; and thus, until the following general meeting; where an election shall be held to fill the vacant position(s);
   4. To elaborate on the policy and activities of the union between general meetings, especially those involving the collective agreement and inter-union matters;
   5. To create the appropriate committees to see to the proper functioning of the union and to elect the members to said committees;
   6. To name delegates to represent the union to the various bodies where the union participates;
   7. To prepare the general meetings.

The Union Council generally meets once per month.