Annual General Meeting

Overview

This year’s Annual General Meeting, or AGM, will be held on Mach 30th, 2026, at 2:00  p.m. online via Zoom. A secure registration link has been sent to you directly via your McMaster email address.

As per our bylaws, the AGM Agenda includes annual reports, and the election of all executive positions and a 3-year trustee. A full description of each of the executive positions can be found in our bylaws in Article 5. [A description of the Trustee Position is available in Article 3(a).]  The election process is described in Article 4. (Please see below for a summary.)

 

Materials

Our equity statement and land acknowledgement statement are here.

Minutes of last year’s (2025) AGM can be found here.

The agenda for this year’s AGM is available here.

 

Annual Reports from Executive Officers and Committee Chairs

Annual Executive Reports (2026):

Committee Reports:

Applicable Bylaws 

  • The election process will be governed by the CUPE Local 3906 bylaws, and in particular Article 4.
  • A full copy of the bylaws can be found here: https://cupe3906.org/wp-content/blogs.dir/501/2022/02/CUPE-3906-Bylaws-updated-Dec-2021.pdf
  • All executive positions listed under Article 5 of the Local 3906 bylaws, as well as a 3 year Trustee (term ending 2029) will be open and elected at the AGM
  • Please note that in order to vote, you must be in attendance at the Annual General Meeting
1) Any member can self-nominate or nominate a fellow member for any executive position in advance of the meeting by following the instructions here: https://cupe3906.org/2026/02/19/cupe-3906-annual-general-membership-meeting-agm-2026-notice/. Members who are (self) nominated and cannot attend the meeting can send a brief statement (250 words maximum) which will be read on their behalf at the meeting prior to voting on the position(s) for which they are contesting. If you are nominating someone else, please CC them in the email to ensure that they are aware of the nomination
2) Any member can self-nominate or nominate a fellow member at the meeting when nominations are open for any specific position
3) Elections will occur in the following order: President, Vice President, Vice President External, Treasurer, Recording Secretary, Benefits and Advocacy Officer, Lead Steward Unit 1, Lead Steward Unit 2, Lead Steward Unit 3, Lead Steward Unit 4, Undergraduate Officer, Equity Officer, International Officer, Health and Safety Officer, and Trustee (3 year term)
4) The expectations of each position, and any criteria for running for the position, can be found in Article 5 of the Local 3906 bylaws.
5) Voting for each of the four Lead Steward positions is limited to members of that Unit.
6) As per usual practice, there will be three calls for nominations for each position. Those (self)nominated in advance will have their names put forward automatically during the third and final call
7) When nominations close, nominees can either stand for the election (ie. agree to run in the election) or decline their nomination and not run in the election. All members self-nominated in advance, and any member nominated in advance who has confirmed their acceptance of the nomination, will stand for the election
8) Should there be more than one candidate standing for election, an election will be held. If only one candidate stands for election, that person will be acclaimed. If there are no candidates, the executive can – at its sole discretion – appoint someone to an interim role. An election for any vacant spots will occur at the next regular GMM, including those which may have been filled by an interim appointment
9) Should more than one candidate contest the position, each candidate will have 3 minutes to speak to the membership about their candidacy and to motivate members to vote for them. Following the speeches, members may ask the candidates questions for a period of 5 minutes [re: Bylaws Article 4(a)]
10) Voting for all positions will be done by Election Runner following the meeting, according to Article 4(d) of the Bylaws. The polling will be anonymous; results will be made known to staff and any scrutineers.  The Staff will announce a winner, but not a breakdown of votes. In order to vote, you must be in attendance when the vote is being held.
11) Each candidate may appoint a scrutineer to validate the election results. The chair can also appoint a scrutineer if there are no volunteers or if candidates do not appoint one
12) As per Article 4(d)(viii) of the Bylaws, “For hybrid and/or online meeting, a majority of votes cast shall be required before any candidate can be declared elected. These elections will occur following the meeting and will use an Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) system in which voters rank all candidates. The online voting platform will automatically use second and subsequent ballots, if necessary, to obtain a majority. On the second and subsequent ballots the candidate receiving the lowest number of votes in the previous ballot shall be dropped and ranked votes reallocated. In the case of a tie in the final vote, the remaining candidates shall be invited to address the membership at the next meeting and a new election will be held.”
13) Newly elected executives will assume the position as of 12:01 a.m. on the day following the completion of the election process.

Elections and Voting Process

  • We expect the ballots to go out on Tuesday March 31st as we need to ensure an accurate voting list and ensure that the Lead Steward ballots are accurate and cross-referenced, which will take some time
  • There will be 5 ballots: a “universal” ballot for the all-unit positions (e.g. Pres, VP, VPE etc.) that will go to all attendees, and 4 separate Lead Steward ballots (for members of those respective units who attend – and it is possible to get more than one Lead Steward ballot if you are a member of more than one unit)
  • The ‘universal’ ballot will go out first because the voting list is much easier (i.e. anyone who logs in) and the Lead Steward ballots will follow.
  • Balloting will end on Tuesday, April 7th at 5 p.m. This is more than the minimum 72 hours in the Bylaws and also accounts for two statutory holidays (Good Friday, Easter Sunday) as well as Easter Monday for those who observe
  • Ballots will be reviewed on Wednesday, October 8th at TBA in conjunction with scrutineers
  • Contested positions with 2 candidates will have a multiple choice option (ie/ pick one OR the other) while contested positions with 3 or more candidates will have a rank-order ballot whereby people rank all candidates in order of their preference
  • In accordance with the Bylaws, these will produce only one winner and will have a majoritarian outcome (either in a single election or in a run-off election when there are 3 or more candidates contesting the election). Positions with only one interested candidate will be acclaimed at the meeting

Guidelines for candidate forum

-These guidelines are in reference to the “candidates’ forum” outlined in Articles 4(a)(iii) and (iv) of the Local’s bylaws (page 9): https://cupe3906.org/wp-content/blogs.dir/501/local-3906-bylaw-final-2025-03-12.pdf

“4(a)(iii) When all nominations are submitted and candidates have indicated a willingness to stand for election, a candidates’ forum will be chaired by a staff member or CUPE National staff in which candidates will be permitted to make a 3-minute introductory statement to the membership advocating for their candidacy. For each elected position, 5-minutes of questions and answers will be reserved so that members can pose questions to the nominees. This period can be extended at the discretion of the Chair. The Chair shall ensure that no member has asked a second question until all members have been given an opportunity to ask one question.

“(iv) At no time will these statements violate the Local’s equity statement.”

-ALL members are expected to respect and abide by the Equity Statement and rules of order.

-Questions for candidates should be straight-forward and delivered without context, stories/anecdotes, or opinions. (This is an opportunity for members to ask questions in good faith and listen to the candidates’ responses so that all members can make an informed decision. It is the time for the candidates to talk, and the “audience” to listen.)

-Unless you are the speaker who is recognized by the chair (or are making a point of order or privilege according to parliamentary procedure), please keep your microphone muted and refrain from making distracting gestures, typing inflammatory comments in the chat, etc., especially while others are speaking.

-Members who violate the equity statement or these guidelines will receive one warning about their behaviour from the chair. If the behaviour persists, the chair will ask such members to leave the meeting.