Disability Caucus Co-Chairs Acclaimed
At today’s Disability Caucus meeting, CUPE 3903 members voted to officially acclaim the inaugural Disability Caucus Co-Chairs! Congratulations to Elena Basile and Steff Mendolia, who will be taking on the Co-Chair roles for 2026-2027, which also form part of the Accessibility Committee.
For any members who couldn’t be there today or want to know more about the new Disability Caucus Co-Chairs, you can find their respective candidate statements below. Stay up to date with the calendar and the newsletter for more upcoming Disability Caucus meetings and events!
Elena Basile
My name is Elena Basile, I am a Unit 2 member, and I have lived with type 1 diabetes for the past two decades — a chronic illness that requires extensive and expensive management. I am grateful to CUPE3903 for fighting for extended health benefits that have enabled members like me with permanent medical needs to afford their expenses and for fighting to have language in our contracts that recognizes the rights and needs of workers with disabilities and chronic conditions. I am committed to continuing to implement a disability justice framework in the union, and want to help the Disability Caucus grow into a lively and active caucus where we can get to socialize and learn about the range of issues our members with disabilities face on campus, and continue to advocate for improving contract language and fighting for continuing to build the necessary legal and material infrastructure to ensure that all our members are treated with equal dignity and respect.
Steff Mendolia
My name is Steff Mendolia (they/them). I’m a Unit 1 member and serve on the Unit 1 Bargaining Team. I’m an artist and cultural worker with a deep commitment to disability culture and disability justice.
Over my time at York, I have been involved in a range of advocacy and organizing efforts. This includes work with Student Accessibility Services, where I helped develop a student-run advisory; co-writing the Terms of Reference for Enable York alongside the Centre for Human Rights, Equity & Inclusion; and participating in the student-run Mad Students Society, among other organizing initiatives. I also have materials and documentation from this work that I would be glad to share.
I’m interested in the caucus as a space for advocacy, mutual support, and preserving and learning disability history within CUPE 3903, particularly the experiences and efforts of rank-and-file members. I would love to help gather and uplift the organizing work of disabled graduate students and contract faculty who have worked to reduce barriers at York.
Together, we can document and challenge ableism, sanism, audism, and the other systemic forces that create conditions of disablement for our members and the broader York community.