ACT-UAW (UAW LOCAL 7902)
NEW SCHOOL UNIT
2009 BARGAINING COMMITTEE ELECTION RULES
1. CONSTITUTION
AND BYLAWS
The nomination and election of ACT-UAW (UAW Local 7902) New School Unit Bargaining Committee Members
will be conducted in accordance with the International Constitution and the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act
of 1959, as amended, and the bylaws of ACT-UAW.
2. NOTICE OF NOMINATIONS
An abridged Notice of Nominations
postcard will be mailed to the last known home address of each ACT-UAW New School Unit member and retiree, directing them
to read the full Notice of Nominations, which will be a web page: http://actuaw.org/nominations/. The full Notice will state the offices to be voted on; the eligibility criteria for each office; who has been automatically
nominated to each office; the instructions for nomination; the deadline for nominations, which shall not be less than 14 days
after mailing; the instructions for accepting nominations; the deadline for accepting nominations, which shall not be sooner
than the deadline for nominations; and that printed copies of the full notice and these election rules will be available in
the Local's office. The postcard will state the offices to be voted on; the deadline for nominations and nomination acceptance;
and directions to the web page containing the full Notice.
Voting for each office must begin no more than 45 days
after the deadline for nominations. If this deadline cannot be met for an office, another round of nominations must be held
for that office.
3. ELIGIBILITY TO HOLD OFFICE
As provided in Article 38, Section 3 of the International
Constitution, no member shall be eligible for election as a Bargaining Committee Member unless s/he is a member in good standing
of ACT-UAW's New School Unit. In addition, candidates must have been a member in continuous good standing of the Local
for the preceding 6 months (in accordance with ACT-UAW's bylaws).
4. CANDIDATE ELIGIBILITY DETERMINATIONS
The Executive Board will review ACT-UAW records to determine the eligibility of all who accept their nomination. Eligible
nominees who have accepted will be notified of their eligibility, and ineligible nominees who have accepted will be advised
of the reason(s) they are not eligible to run for office, no later than five (5) business days after the deadline for accepting
nominations.
If the number of eligible nominations accepted for an office does not exceed the number of positions
available, the Executive Board will declare the accepting nominee(s) elected by acclamation, and campaigning and balloting
will not occur for that office. If, on the other hand, the number of eligible nominations accepted for an office exceeds the
number of positions available, campaigning and balloting will occur; in other words, the office will be "contested."
Eligible nominees for contested offices will be given a copy of these rules, and will be asked how they wish their names to
appear on the ballot.
5. ORDER OF NAMES ON BALLOT
The order in which the names of the candidates will
appear on the ballot will be determined by a random drawing.
6. INSPECTION OF THE MEMBERSHIP LIST
Each
candidate for a contested office may inspect (not copy) the ACT-UAW membership list once prior to the election. No candidate
may receive a copy of the list, or copy information from the list.
Inspection of the membership list will be arranged
with at least two Executive Board representatives present. Any candidate who wishes to inspect the list should contact the
Executive Board at the office of ACT-UAW at 212-432-2120, or by email at mail@actuaw.org.
7. DISTRIBUTION OF CAMPAIGN LITERATURE
ACT-UAW will honor any reasonable request by a candidate for
a contested office to distribute campaign literature to all members at the candidate's expense. Requests will be honored
in the order received. If the literature displays a return address, the Executive Board's post office box for returned
mail must be used: ACT-UAW Executive Board, PO Box 1210, New York NY 10276. Campaign literature must be provided to the office
of ACT-UAW, in one of the following forms:
- In sealed, stamped envelopes
that are ready for mailing. Each candidate should check with postal officials to determine the proper postage. The candidate
must pay $20.00 in advance for each mailing to cover the cost of address labels. Arrangements have been made for ACT-UAW office
staff to put address labels on the envelopes containing campaign literature at a rate of $10.00 per hour. To arrange a mailing,
the candidate should contact the Executive Board at the office of ACT-UAW at 212-432-2120, or by email at mail@actuaw.org.
- In an electronic file, in a format accepted by Click2Mail (http://www.usps.com/createmail/click2mail.htm), a service of the US Postal Service. The Candidate must deliver to the Executive Board: a cashier's check or money order
for the full amount of the cost of printing and mailing; specification of the Document Type, Paper Type, Mail Class, and Color
Options, choosing from the options offered by Click2Mail; and the file containing the literature's design. The Executive
Board will place the order with Click2Mail within five (5) business days of receipt of all required materials. The Executive
Board, the Local, and the UAW assume no responsibility beyond ensuring that the order is placed as specified by the Candidate;
the Candidate assumes all other responsibility, including, but not limited to, the content of the file containing the literature's
design, Click2Mail's accuracy when printing that design, and Click2Mail's timeliness and accuracy of mailing. Click2Mail
does not offer refunds or credits. The Candidate may ask the Executive Board for estimates of the cost of printing and mailing;
the Executive Board will obtain the estimates from Click2Mail, and provide them to the Candidate in writing via email within
five (5) business days.
The candidate may submit a 200-word statement by email to the Executive Board at
mail@actuaw.org no later than the fourth day following notification of eligibility (see Section 4). All statements will be placed on a "Candidate
Statements" web page (http://actuaw.org/candidates/) at the same time, no later than five (5) business days after the submission deadline. Statements will not be edited, except
that statements exceeding 200 words will be truncated after the 200th word. When displayed on the web page, each statement
will be preceded by the candidate's name (which shall not be counted as part of the 200 words). The candidate may also
submit a digital image of his or her face, due at the same time as the statement, which will be reduced/enlarged to the dimensions
of 100 pixels wide and 100 pixels tall, and placed next to the statement. All candidate statements and images will appear
on a single web page, grouped by office, and within each office in the order they will appear on the ballot. The web page's
address will be publicized in the "Notice of Election" (see section 10) and on the election home page (http://actuaw.org/election.html).
8. CAMPAIGN RESTRICTIONS
Federal law prohibits the use of any Local Union or employer funds to promote
the candidacy of any person in a Local Union Officer Election. This prohibition applies to cash, facilities, equipment, vehicles,
office supplies, etc., of ACT-UAW and any other union, and of employers whether or not they employ ACT-UAW members. Union
officers and employees may not campaign on time paid for by the Local Union.
'Campaign communications' are
defined as all communications that either: 1) are paid for by a candidate; or 2) are paid for by any person or group and expressly
advocate the election or defeat of a candidate. Campaign communications may not use images commonly associated with the Union
(such as the UAW or ACT-UAW logo). Campaign communications must include one of the following statements. Campaign communications
that are authorized by one or more candidates must clearly state: 'This communication was paid for by [full legal name(s)
of the person(s) and/or group(s) who paid], and authorized by [candidates' name(s) as they will appear on the ballot].'
Campaign communications that are not authorized by any candidate must clearly state: 'This communication was paid for
by [full legal name(s) of the person(s) and/or group(s) who paid], [permanent street address, or telephone number, or web
address], and was not authorized by any candidate.' In campaign communications that are printed, written, or otherwise
visible, those statements must be of sufficient type size to be clearly readable by the recipient, must be contained in a
printed box set apart from the other contents of the communication, and must be printed with a reasonable degree of color
contrast between the background and the printed statement. In audible campaign communications, the statements must be clearly
audible to the listener.
All campaign expenses incurred by candidates, including telephone calls, leaflets, envelopes,
stationary etc. must be receipted and made available to the Executive Board upon request.
Federal law also provides
that candidates must be treated equally regarding the opportunity to campaign and that all members may support the candidates
of their choice without being subject to penalty, discipline, or reprisal of any kind.
9. VOTER ELIGIBILITY
As provided in Article 38, Section 10(a) of the International Constitution, "Every member in good standing shall
be entitled to vote at all Local Union Elections." Since this election is for New School Unit offices, only members of
that unit may vote. Voter eligibility will be confirmed by the Executive Board during the ballot tally.
10. ELECTION
NOTICE
If any office is contested, voting will occur. An abridged Notice of Election postcard will be mailed to
the last known home address of each ACT-UAW member at least 21 days before the Membership Meeting where voting will occur
(see Section 12). The postcard will be mailed after the Executive Board notifies nominee accepters of their eligibility (see
Section 5). The postcard will direct members to read the full Notice of Election, which will be a web page: http://actuaw.org/election_notice/. The full Notice will state the offices being voted on; any officers elected by acclamation; the ballot to be used (see Section
12); the date, time and place of the Membership Meeting where voting will occur (see Section 12); instructions and deadline
for Absentee Balloting; the deadline for identifying challengers, the date, time and place of Absentee Ballot pickup; the
date, time and place of the ballot tally; and that printed copies of the full notice will be available in the Local's
office. The postcard will state the offices to be voted on; the date, time and location of the Membership Meeting where voting
will occur; and directions to the web page containing the full Notice.
11. CHALLENGERS
Candidates for
contested offices are entitled to have challengers present during voting at a Membership Meeting, at the tally of ballots,
and at the pickup of Absentee Ballots and the transportation of ballots. Candidates themselves may not be present at these
times. During the pickup and transportation of Absentee Ballots, only one challenger may be present for each candidate. During
voting at a Membership Meeting, one challenger may be present for each candidate at each of the following areas: the voter
check-in table, the area where voters mark their ballots, and the ballot box. During the tally of ballots, a maximum of two
challengers may be present for each candidate. Challengers must be members of ACT-UAW, as required by Article 38, Section
10(g) of the International Constitution, which also prohibits candidates from serving as challengers. Candidates should submit
the names of the challengers in writing to the Executive Board at ACT-UAW Executive Board, 113 University Place 6th Floor,
New York NY 10003 by the day preceding the Membership Meeting where voting will occur (see Section 12).
12. VOTING
All voting will be conducted by secret ballot. Voting will occur at a Membership Meeting, at the time and location specified
in the Notice of Election. The ballot will be described in the Notice of Election.
Eligible voters who will be unable
to attend the Membership Meeting because of a work assignment or Local Union business may request an Absentee Ballot by submitting
a signed statement to that effect, along with his or her home mailing address, to ACT-UAW Election Committee, 113 University
Place 6th Floor, New York NY 10003. The Executive Board is not responsible for lost statements; therefore voters requesting
Absentee Ballots are urged to obtain proof of delivery by using registered or certified mail, or by delivering their signed
statement in person. Absentee Ballots cannot be requested by email, fax, or phone. The Executive Board will mail an Absentee
Ballot Package to the stated home address within five (5) business days. The Absentee Ballot Package will include Instructions
for Absentee Voting; the Ballot; an unmarked Secret Ballot Envelope, used by the voter to enclose the marked ballot; a Return
Ballot Envelope, used by the voter to mail the Secret Ballot Envelope with the marked ballot sealed inside. A post office
box will be established for Absentee Voters to send the Return Ballot Envelopes to. Absentee Ballots must be received in that
post office box by the pickup time immediately preceding the Membership Meeting where voting will occur (see Section 13).
Absentee Ballots may not be delivered to the ACT-UAW office or the UAW Region 9A New York City Sub-Regional office. Voters
with spoiled Absentee Ballots may request another ballot by contacting the Executive Board by phone at 212-432-2120, or by
email at mail@actuaw.org. Only the last Absentee Ballot received from each voter will be counted.
Voters who request an Absentee Ballot may
not vote at the Membership Meeting.
No campaign activity (including the placement of campaign materials) may occur
in the building where voting takes place, or within twenty (20) feet of that building. The Executive Board may clear activity
from a greater distance if it finds that voters are intimidated or inhibited by the activity.
13. TALLY OF BALLOTS
Envelopes containing Absentee Ballots will be picked up from the post office immediately before the Membership Meeting
where voting will occur, at the time and location specified in the Notice of Elections, and immediately transported to the
Membership Meeting.
All votes will be tallied by the Executive Board immediately following the Membership Meeting
where voting occurs, at the time and location stated in the Notice of Election. Candidates may have a challenger present at
the pickup, transportation and tally (see Section 11).
Write-in votes are not permitted in the election, and pursuant
to Article 38, Section 2 of the International Union Constitution, Executive Officers require a majority vote. In accordance
with Article 38, Section 5 of the International Union Constitution, other officers are elected by a plurality.
14.
ELECTION RESULTS
Election results will be posted on the ACT-UAW website (http://actuaw.org), and on the bulletin board in UAW Region 9A's New York City office at 113 University Place, 6th Floor.
15.
INSTALLATION AND TERM OF OFFICE
Elected members will serve a term that will end when contract negotiations have
been completed. Installation of elected members will occur no more than 60 days after the tally of ballots.
16.
ELECTION RECORDS
The ACT-UAW Recording Secretary and/or Executive Board are responsible for maintaining all nomination
and election records for at least one year after the election, as required by federal law and Article 38, Section 12 of the
International Constitution.
17. QUESTIONS OR PROBLEMS
Candidate and members with questions about the
nomination or election procedures should contact the Executive Board in the office of ACT-UAW at 212-432-2120, or by email
at mail@actuaw.org. Any violation of these rules should be reported promptly to the Executive Board so that corrective action can be taken,
if necessary.
18. PROTESTS
Article 38, Section 11 of the International Constitution provides that any
member may challenge a Local Union Officer Election by filing a protest. In accordance with Article 38, Section 11 following
the election, the Executive Board shall report in writing the canvass of the results of the election to the membership through
the Local unit leadership. No protest to an election shall be considered unless raised within seven (7) days of the date the
written canvass is posted. A protest must be in writing and must be received by the ACT-UAW Recording Secretary at the office
of ACT-UAW (113 University Place, 6th Floor, New York NY 10003) before the deadline.
19. ADDITIONAL RULES AND CLARIFICATIONS
The aforementioned rules are not all-inclusive. Additional election rules or clarifications may be issued by the ACT-UAW
Executive Board as needed during the nomination and election period.
The ACT-UAW Executive Board, by
Joel
Schlemowitz, President
February 26, 2009
