46 VTU members and guests attended our November Annual General Meeting which took place on November 26th in-person and over zoom. Here is a summarized version of the minutes.

Item 1 - Land Acknowledgement and Community Agreements

Item 2 - Financial Report from Treasurer

• The financial report was presented
• Members can email [email protected] for a copy of our financial report
• Motion to approve the financial report
  • VOTE: Motion passed unanimously

Item 3 - Steering Committee Report

• Four healthy and thriving neighborhood chapters: Mount Pleasant, Eastside, Fairview, and the West End
• Organizing in eight buildings
• Hoping to onboard new chapters in 2024

Item 4 - Working Group Updates and Chapter Reports

• Mount Pleasant Chapter
  • Focusing on face-to-face organizing
  • Meetings every Tuesday, alternating between organizing and admin/business
  • Multiple building fights
  • Success having the eviction of a neighbour rescinded!
• Eastside Chapter
  • Action at City Hall to prevent demoviction of member
  • Big fight against a landlord who manages four buildings, including letter writing, protests at the office, and media coverage
  • Continuing pressure to ensure tenant’s demands are met
• West End Chapter
  • Reawakened as of April
  • Tabling at local farmer’s markets
  • Held multiple workshops
  • Learning from past mistakes to ensure the chapter has a wide variety of volunteers to share the burdens of organizing
• Fairview Chapter
  • Was struggling with low attendance
  • Goal was to be self-sustaining, and that has been achieved!
  • Multiple postering campaigns
  • Getting lots of people involved
  • Organizing in five buildings
  • Had a BBQ in late September with over 150 coming out to talk to their neighbours and build solidarity!
• Communications Working Group
  • Lots of background and design work this year
  • Working to build procedures so more union members can be empowered to post on behalf of their chapters
  • Building tools to make that easy
• Education & Outreach Working Group
  • Formerly known as MOATS
  • Meets when necessary
  • Updating workshops with new information
  • Working on a system for people to request workshops
  • Building a VTU library
• Data Tools Working Group
  • Are meeting again!
  • Holding a Hack-A-Thon on December 5th
  • Making those regular monthly events

Item 5 - Steering Committee Election - Members heard from nominees running for a term on the Steering Committee. Because there were fewer nominees than seats available, attending members voted to acclaim all nominees. The newly elected members are:

Jonathan B, Liam Fox, Melanie Budisusilo, Nat, Rebecca L, Victoria B

A big thanks to the amazing work of the outgoing elected Steering Committee members from 2022/23 who have stepped down:

AJ Batalden, Gordon Macdonald, Lillian Deeb, Mazdak Gharibnavaz, Neil Vokey

Item 6 - Special Resolution (ATUN)

• Resolution to join the Autonomous Tenants Union Network (ATUN)
• Members shared their experience with the LA Tenants Union and ATUN earlier this year
• ATUN had their west coast convention this summer and had their national convention in LA last year
• Motion to join ATUN
  • VOTE: Motion passed with a majority

Item 7 - Motion to Fund Translation Equipment

• Discussion about spending resources on translation equipment
• The VTU is increasingly encountering need for translation services so tenants can engage in meetings, building organizing, etc
• Part of the work to become a more inclusive and multilingual union
• Over the summer, there was a commitment from the VTU to join the 105 Keefer campaign, which includes developing a language school
• Motion to fund translation equipment
  • VOTE: Motion passed unanimously

Item 8 - Community Announcements

• Mount Pleasant Social - Tuesday, November 28th at 7pm
• Donate to SLAM, the Montreal autonomous tenants union

Adjournment

Live minutes are recorded at each GM and condensed for the website. For more detailed minutes any member may contact us: [email protected]