ACT-UAW (UAW Local 7902)
2011 Election
Notice of Nominations

Published February 24, 2011

ACT-UAW (UAW Local 7902) will hold its triennial election for the offices shown below in Spring 2011. If you are eligible for these offices, you have already been automatically nominated to them. This is the only notice of nomination you will receive. To run for any of these offices, you must follow the highlighted instructions below by 5:00pm on March 17, 2011.

* Member in continuous good standing: A person who has signed an ACT-UAW membership application, and has either paid dues or signed a dues authorization allowing his or her employer to deduct dues from his or her pay. This is different than a member in good standing, which is a person who has signed an ACT-UAW membership application, and has not notified ACT-UAW of his or her permanent separation from ACT-UAW's Units. Nominees must be members in continuous good standing, for the periods listed above; whereas voters must simply be members in good standing.

The term of each office is three years. The responsibilities of each office can be found below.

To run for any of the offices above, you must accept the nomination in writing, delivered either by mail (we recommend return receipt requested for proof of mailing) or by hand to:

ACT-UAW Election Committee
256 West 38th Street, Suite 702
New York NY 10018

All acceptances must be received no later than 5:00 p.m. on March 17, 2011. We cannot accept election nominations or acceptances by email, fax or phone. You cannot accept a nomination on the behalf of another person.

Your acceptance letter must include the following information:

• Your name
• Your email address
• Your phone number
• Your home mailing address
• The name of the office you are accepting a nomination for, exactly as it appears in the table above
• Today's date

Here is a sample acceptance letter:

Date

I, Your Name, hereby accept the nomination for the office(s) of Office(s) Listed In The Table Above.

  Signature

Full Name
Email Address
Phone Number
Home Street Address
Home City, State Zip

In general, you may accept nomination for only one office, but there are exceptions for the office of Steward:

• You may accept nominations for both Steward and one other office at the same time, and if elected to both offices, you may hold them simultaneously.
• If you are a member of both Units, you may accept both Units' nominations for Steward, along with one other office. If elected to all three offices, you may hold them all simultaneously.
• You may accept a nomination for only one of the following offices: President, First Vice President, Second Vice President, Recording Secretary, Financial Secretary, Trustee, Sergeant at Arms, Guide, Unit Chairperson, Joint Council Delegate. If you are a member of both Units, you may accept only one Unit's nomination for Unit Chairperson or Joint Council Delegate.

The Election Committee will confirm each accepting nominee's eligibility. If any office is contested: 1) the Election Committee will meet with all candidates for contested offices on March 29, 2011 at 7:00pm in ACT-UAW's office at 256 West 38th Street, Suite 702, New York NY; 2) the Election Committee will mail an Election Notice regarding all contested offices to all eligible voters, and make absentee ballots available, on March 31, 2011; 3) voting for contested offices will occur on April 21, 2011.

We urge all nominees to read and understand the Election Rules, which are available on our website at http://actuaw.org/election. If you have questions, please contact the Election Committee at election@actuaw.org. Printed copies of this notice and the Election Rules are available by request.

In addition to the automatic nominations described above, any member may nominate any other member. To nominate a fellow member, you must send notification in writing, either by mail (we recommend return receipt requested for proof of mailing) or by hand delivery, to ACT-UAW Election Committee, 256 West 38th Street, Suite 702 New York NY 10018, by March 14, 2011. You must also notify the nominee, so that s/he will be aware of his or her obligation to accept the nomination as described above. Failure to give the nominee notice will not invalidate his or her nomination, nor excuse the nominee's obligation to accept before the deadline above. If a nominee does not respond, it shall be deemed a rejection of the nomination.

DESCRIPTION OF OFFICES

Executive Committee
These officers serve our entire Local:

President is the chief official of our Local. S/he presides over all meetings of our Local, appoints committee members not otherwise elected, serves as an ex officio member of all committees, and countersigns all checks issued by the Financial Secretary. The President may also delegate duties to other board members in order to advance the interests of the membership.

Vice Presidents assist the President in all duties. There are two Vice Presidents: First Vice President and Second Vice President. If you are eligible, you may run for one, but not both, offices (your nomination acceptance letter must specify which office's nomination you are accepting). In the absence of the President, the First Vice President performs all the duties of the President.

Recording Secretary is responsible for all the records of our Local and has the general responsibility for our Local's correspondence (except correspondence that is directly related to the duties of the other officers).

Financial Secretary is responsible for our Local's accounts. S/he handles all dues and other income, maintains membership lists, and pays our Local's bills. The Financial Secretary also is responsible for our Local's property.

Trustees conduct biannual audits of our Local's funds and property. There are three Trustees.

Sergeant at Arms maintains orders at membership meetings. This can mean helping to check in members at meetings and ensuring that discussion is orderly. The Sergeant at Arms introduces new members and visitors, and performs other duties as assigned.

Guide helps to preserve order at meetings and to assure that everyone present is a member in good standing. The Guide performs other duties as assigned.

Unit Officers
Our Local is an amalgamation of two Units, one serving The New School and another serving NYU. Each Unit has its own officers, who are elected only by members of that Unit:

Unit Chairperson is the chief executive of the Unit, has a vote on the Joint Council, and is an ex officio member of the Executive Committee.

Joint Council Delegates have a vote on the Joint Council, along with our Local's Executive Officers and Unit Chairpersons. In an amalgamated Local like ours (a Local with more than one contract, and therefore one Unit per contract), the Joint Council is considered the membership body of the Local, and our Local's highest authority, aside from the members themselves; it approves our Local's Financial Report, has a say in political action, and is a forum for the Units to report and discuss concerns of the membership, contract negotiations, and important issues. The Executive Committee reports to the Joint Council. Joint Council meetings are held monthly.
    Other major responsibilities: Representing members in grievances. To do this effectively, a delegate must be knowledgeable about our contract and legal union rights; we train all new delegates. Introducing new employees to our Local. We ask all delegates to take responsibility for contacting new employees to make sure they sign up for our Local, receive their union information packet, and get a good first impression of our union. Each Delegate is assigned a School or Department. Assist in organizing Membership Meetings, rallies and other Local events. We depend on Delegates to get the word out and encourage fellow members to participate in Local activities. This could involve distributing flyers in your assigned area, sending out an encouraging email to members, or phoning members to come to a rally.
    Qualifications Needed: You must be a committed person who cares about fellow faculty, is willing to stand up against injustice in the workplace, and is dedicated to keeping our union strong and united. Delegates are leaders, whether they're standing up for our contract in one teacher's grievance, or standing up for our union as a whole.
    Our Bylaws specify that there will be one Delegate for every 75 Unit members.

Stewards represent members in grievances, introduce new employees to our Local, and assist in organizing Membership Meetings, rallies and other Local events. Our Local will determine the number of Stewards. A member may simultaneously hold the office of Steward and another office.