Constitution: Difference between revisions

== Article 10 ‐ National Executive Board ‐ Duties and Powers ==

== Article 11 ‐ National Officer Elections ==

=== Section 1 ===

Eligibility:

=== Section 2 ===

Nominations/Primary Elections:

=== Section 3 ===

Election Committee:

=== Section 4 ===

Elections:

=== Section 5 ===

Campaigning:

(d) A Special Election Publication, printed at Union expense, shall accompany each ballot mailed to eligible voters. It shall contain factual information concerning election/voting procedures together with any photographs and/or statements not exceeding 300 words that are furnished to the Election Committee at the National Headquarters by the candidates no later than 10 days prior to the scheduled date on which the ballots are to be mailed. Any group of candidates running as a slate shall be entitled to be identified on the ballot as members of a designated slate provided that notice is given by each such candidate no later than 10 days prior to the scheduled date on which the ballots are to be mailed.

=== Section 6 ===

Election Protests:

== Article 12 ‐ National Convention ==

=== Section 1 ===

This Union shall convene a Mail Handler National Convention every four years, between the first day of August and the last day of September during each leap year. This National Convention shall be the highest decision‐making body of this Union. The exact date of such Mail Handler National Convention shall be determined by the National Executive Board. The location of the next Mail Handler National Convention shall be determined by the delegates at each National Convention. A special convention may be called at any time by the National President with the approval of the National Executive Board, or by five of the seven members of the National Executive Board.

=== Section 2 ===

At least ninety (90) days prior to the National Convention a call shall issue from the National Secretary‐Treasurer to each Local Union and each other subordinate body of this Union which is entitled to be represented at the National Convention advising of the date and location of the National Convention. Each Local Union and other subordinate body shall be entitled to send as many delegates to such Mail Handler National Convention as it is entitled to votes; provided, however, that a Local Union or other subordinate body may send fewer delegates to a National Convention than it is entitled to votes, and such delegates shall be authorized to cast the entire number of votes to which their Local Union or other subordinate body is entitled. No Local Union or other subordinate body shall be entitled to representation by proxy at a National Convention.

=== Section 3 ===

Local Unions and subordinate body delegates to a National Convention shall be elected by secret ballot in accordance with rules adopted and promulgated by the National Executive Board. Such rules shall require that, in order to qualify as a candidate for delegate, a regular member shall be required to have been in continuous good standing in the National Postal Mail Handlers Union for a period of two years and in continuous good standing in his/her Local Union for a period of two years immediately prior to nomination and current in the payment of dues, and s/he cannot have applied for or been employed in a supervisory or managerial capacity by the Postal Service (including any EAS position involved in discipline of employees or application of the National Agreement) for any time during that period, or by the USPS Office of Inspector General or the Postal Inspection Service (including as a confidential informant) for any time during that period. These requirements relating to continuous good standing, payment of dues, and applying for or being employed as a supervisor or manager also must be satisfied during the period from nomination as a candidate for delegate through the adjournment of the Convention.

=== Section 4 ===

Representation of Local Unions at a National Convention shall be based upon the average monthly regular membership of each Local Union for the calendar year next preceding the year in which the Convention is to be held. The average monthly regular membership shall be computed on the basis of the full amount of per capita tax paid monthly by each Local Union or regular members thereof to this Union. Any Local Union which has not been in existence during the entire calendar year next preceding a National Convention shall be entitled to representation on the basis of its average monthly regular membership for the entire period but not to exceed twelve (12) months, from the month preceding the call for a National Convention. No Local Union shall be entitled to representation at a National Convention which was not chartered at least three (3) full calendar months immediately prior to the call for a National Convention.

=== Section 5 ===

Every Local Union, regardless of its numerical regular membership, shall be entitled to at least one (1) vote at a National Convention. Local Unions with more than twenty‐five (25) regular members shall be entitled to one (1) vote for each twenty‐five (25) regular members or major fraction (13/25) thereof.

=== Section 6 ===

The presence of delegates representing a majority of both the delegates and delegate votes in attendance at a National Convention shall constitute a quorum.

=== Section 7 ===

Each member of the National Executive Board shall be entitled to one (1) vote at a National Convention and shall be accorded all of the privileges of fully‐accredited delegates, except that a Board member shall not be permitted to vote in any election of officers at the National Convention unless, during the most recent election for members of the National Executive Board, s/he was elected by secret ballot, or if unopposed, by acclamation, to serve as a member of the National Executive Board.

=== Section 8. A Local Union or other subordinate body that is not in good standing at the opening of a National Convention shall have no standing or rights therein. A Local Union must be notified by the National Secretary‐Treasurer sixty (60) days prior to the Convention of any National Union claim against its good standing along with the basis and actions needed to correct its standing.

=== Section 9. The National President shall be in charge of all National Convention arrangements, and on behalf of the National Executive Board s/he shall prepare a report to the delegates on the activities and accomplishments of this Union between National Conventions. The National President shall have the authority to establish such committees in advance of a National Convention for such purposes as s/he shall deem necessary. Committees shall include, but not be limited to, an Arrangements Committee, a Credentials Committee, a Committee to Elect the Election Committee, a Rules Committee, a Constitution Committee, and a Resolutions Committee. The National President shall serve, ex‐officio, as a member of all committees. S/he shall appoint one or more Sergeants‐at‐Arms and other officers of the National Convention as s/he deems necessary. S/he shall preside at the National Convention personally or by designee.

=== Section 10. The National Convention shall have authority to act upon the business of this Union, including the enactment of amendments to this Constitution. It shall require two‐thirds (2/3) of the total delegate votes cast at a National Convention to enact a constitutional amendment. Such amendments shall become effective upon their adoption. For proposed amendments to this Constitution to be considered by a National Convention, such amendments must be submitted in writing by Delegates, Local Unions or other subordinate bodies in good standing, or regular members in good standing to the National President no later than sixty (60) days prior to the opening of the National Convention. Such proposed amendments shall be referred by the National President to the Constitution Committee for consideration and recommendation to the National Convention.

=== Section 11. Prior to and during a National Convention, the Credentials Committee shall be empowered to examine, pass upon, and determine the validity of the credentials of all delegates. The Credentials Committee shall report its findings to the National Convention and recommend the seating of those delegates whom it has accredited. The final decision on seating delegates shall rest with the properly‐seated Convention delegates by majority vote.

=== Section 12. Any regular member in good standing of a Local Union or of another subordinate body who desires to protest the manner of selecting a delegate or delegates to the National Convention from his or her Local Union must file a protest with the National President by forwarding a copy of such protest to the National President not later than thirty (30) days after the Local’s delegate election. The National President shall acknowledge such protest and advise the member as to the manner in which such protest will be considered by the Credentials Committee.

=== Section 13. Prior to the convening of a National Convention there shall be furnished to each Local Union and each other eligible subordinate body the official credentials for each delegate. Upon receipt of such credentials, the President of each Local Union (or other eligible subordinate body) shall sign the official credentials; a duplicate of each credentials shall be signed by the chair of the Credentials Committee and maintained by the Credentials Committee. The original credentials or other appropriate identification shall then be presented to the Credentials Committee by each delegate upon registration at the Convention. A delegate shall be required to register with the Credentials Committee in order to be duly accredited and seated at the National Convention.

=== Section 14. The order of business and rules of the National Convention shall be considered by the Committee on Rules, and it shall prepare its report for submission to the National Convention for adoption or modification at the opening thereof. The report of the Committee shall be provided to each delegate upon registration at the Convention.

=== Section 15. Resolutions submitted for consideration of the National Convention must be received by the National President no later than sixty (60) days prior to the opening date of the National Convention. Such resolutions shall be referred to the Committee on Resolutions for consideration and recommendation to the Convention delegates for adoption, modification, or rejection thereof.

=== Section 16. Alternate delegates may be seated in the absence of regular delegates upon presentation of proper credentials or other appropriate identification and certification by the Credentials Committee.

=== Section 17. Each Local Union and other subordinate body shall be responsible for the reasonable living and travel expenses incurred by its delegates.

=== Section 18. The National Executive Board shall have the power following the adoption of a resolution or a constitutional amendment by the National Convention, to make such typographical, grammatical, and punctuation corrections, rearrangements, and renumbering of articles and sections, or otherwise, including the supplying or remedying of inadvertent omissions or errors, as are necessary to carry out the spirit and intent of any resolution or amendment adopted.

== Article 13 ‐ Local Unions and Other Subordinate Bodies

=== Section 1. This Union shall consist of Local Unions and other subordinate bodies. The National President, subject to the approval of the National Executive Board, shall have the authority to issue Local Union and subordinate body charters on such terms and conditions as s/he shall deem appropriate. No such charter shall be issued where there is in existence a Local Union having jurisdiction over the Postal Service facility where there are employees within this Union’s jurisdiction. The National President, subject to the approval of the National Executive Board and by majority vote of the members of each affected Local Union, shall have the authority to amalgamate or de‐amalgamate, affiliate, and otherwise alter existing Local Unions where s/he deems such action necessary or advisable, and such authority shall not be limited by any other provision of this Constitution or of the Uniform Local Union Constitution.

=== Section 2. Neither this Union nor any subordinate body thereof shall be established or maintained on any racial, religious, national, or other discriminatory or restrictive basis; nor shall membership in this Union or any subordinate body thereof ever be conditioned or limited upon the basis of such discriminatory considerations. Mail Handler officers, agents, and members shall not discriminate against any specified group on the basis of race, religion, color, creed, sex, sexual orientation, age, physical or mental handicap, place of national origin, or political affiliation.

=== Section 3. All Local Unions and other subordinate bodies shall be responsible for timely payment of such per capita tax and assessments as are levied in accordance with this Constitution. Any Local Union or other subordinate body which becomes sixty (60) days in arrears in the payment of per capita tax or assessments may have its charter suspended. Before implementation, notice of such proposed suspension, including amounts allegedly owed and the method of computation, shall be served upon such bodies. This notice shall be appealable to the National Executive Board within thirty (30) days; the Board shall, in turn, render its decision within thirty (30) days of receiving the appeal during which period the charter shall remain in effect.

=== Section 4. No Local Union affiliated with this Union may dissolve, disaffiliate, or secede while five (5) or more regular members desire to continue the Local Union in existence; and all funds, assets, and property, real and personal, of a Local Union shall remain in the Local Union as long as it continues in existence. In the event of the complete dissolution of any Local Union or its disaffiliation or secession by unanimous vote or otherwise, all the funds, assets, and properties, real and personal, of the Local Union shall revert to this Union. No subordinate body other than a Local Union may dissolve, disaffiliate or secede except in accordance with its affiliation agreement and Constitution.

=== Section 5. Under no circumstances shall any Local Union or subordinate body of this Union distribute its funds, assets, or properties, or any part thereof, individually among its membership.

== Article 14 ‐ Dues and Per Capita Tax

=== Section 1. The per capita tax payable to this Union shall be $6.95 (six

=== Section 2. Between National Conventions of this Union, the National Executive Board shall have the authority, by majority vote, to increase or decrease the per capita tax per regular member of this Union with the consent and approval of two‐thirds of all Local Presidents.

=== Section 3. The dues of all regular members shall be twenty‐two dollars ($22.00) per member per pay period. Each time that Mail Handlers receive a general negotiated or arbitrated wage increase, the dues for each Local’s regular members shall be increased by one dollar ($1.00) per pay period, of which amount twenty cents ($.20) shall be deducted by the National as increased per capita tax. In addition, during any calendar year in which there is no general negotiated or arbitrated wage increase, but there are one or more cost‐of‐living adjustments that cumulatively total to five hundred dollars ($500.00) or more, there shall be a one dollar ($1.00) per pay period increase in the dues for each Local’s regular members, of which amount twenty cents ($.20) shall be deducted by the National as increased per capita tax. Such dues and per capita tax increases shall go into effect as soon as possible after the effective date of each general negotiated or arbitrated wage increase or the triggering cost‐of‐living adjustment, when applicable. However, only one dues increase per calendar year will be allowed.

Such dues structure shall be maintained in order to permit each Local Union to function effectively and represent its members adequately; however, a Local, to function efficiently and represent its members, may request the National Executive Board, with the approval of two‐thirds of the Local Presidents, to forgo its per capita taxes for a specified period. These provisions should not be construed to restrict Local Unions from establishing a dues structure for its regular members in excess of, or less than, provided herein. A Local may request the National office to waive the one dollar ($1.00) increase or any portion thereof. However, this waiver shall not affect the twenty cent ($.20) per capita tax increase.

=== Section 4. The per capita dues of associate members payable to this Union shall be forty‐two ($42.00) dollars per year for both postal and federal government associate members. In the case of postal associate members, the National Union shall be entitled to retain fifty‐one cents ($0.51) per pay period as a per capita tax for such associate members. That fifty‐one cents per pay period per capita tax for those postal associate members who are on dues check off will be deducted from the dues check off payments made by the Postal Service to the National Postal Mail Handlers Union pursuant to the National Agreement. In the case of associate members who are not postal employees, the National shall receive a ten dollar ($10.00) per year associate membership fee from the total forty‐two dollar associate membership annual dues payable by those associate members. That amount shall be paid to the National Union in the course of the billing and collection of those annual associate member dues pursuant to the National Uniform Billing Program. The remainder of the forty‐two dollar ($42.00) annual associate members dues minus the cost of collection under the Uniform National Billing Program shall be returned to the Local Union on a regular periodic basis pursuant to the Uniform National Billing Program; provided, however, that the costs of collection shall be published and distributed annually to the Local Presidents, together with a complete explanation of increases which shall be approved by the National Executive Board.

=== Section 5. Where Locals are responsible for collecting membership dues, they may deduct from the per capita dues owed to the National Union a pro rata portion which reflects the same cost of collection as last published and approved by the National Executive Board for the Uniform National Billing Program.

=== Section 6. Associate member dues shall be credited promptly each month to the Local Union having jurisdiction over the member’s workplace.

=== Section 7. Each member of this Union shall be responsible for ensuring the timely payment of his or her membership dues. Members whose dues are not paid within ninety (90) days shall be automatically suspended from membership in accordance with the Uniform Local Union Constitution.

=== Section 8. Annually, if funds permit, the apportionment, distribution, and allocation of the per capita tax shall be as follows: first, not less than six hundred thousand dollars ($600,000) shall belong to and be placed in a surplus trust account; second, not less than one million seven hundred thousand dollars ($1,700,000) shall belong to and be expended on the Contract Administration Department.

== Article 15 ‐ Financial Affairs/Standards

=== Section 1. The fiscal year of this Union shall commence on the first day

=== Section 2. All officials or employees of this Union who shall handle funds received or expended by this Union shall be bonded in such amounts as the National Executive Board shall from time to time determine.

=== Section 3. All money and property belonging to the National Union or any Local shall be held and used solely for the benefit of the Union and its members. No contracts or expenditures of Union funds shall be made which will result in the personal profit or advantage of any officer or employee of the Union.

=== Section 4. Funds belonging to the National Union or any Local, except as may be necessary to pay current expenses, shall be invested in interest‐bearing accounts, in safe interest‐bearing securities, or in such other investments as the National Executive Board or the Local Executive Board, as appropriate, may authorize. No funds may be deposited in a safe deposit box. No funds may be invested in or loaned to any business which bargains collectively with the Union. No funds shall be invested or loaned in a manner which results in the personal profit or advantage of any officer or employee of the Union, nor shall any Union funds be loaned to any Union officer, employee or member, except as advances for reimbursable expenses.

== Article 16 ‐ Publications

== Article 17 ‐ Trials of National Officers

=== Section 1. Charges that a National officer has violated his or her obligations as a member or officer shall be made in writing and signed by the member(s) preferring the charges. The charges shall be duly sworn to and attested by a notary public and must state the exact nature of the alleged offenses and, so far as possible, the times and places the alleged offenses took place, and the specific provisions of this Constitution or public law that have been violated. The charges shall be endorsed by at least five Local Union Councils and shall be submitted to the National Secretary‐Treasurer unless the charges are against him or her in which case they shall be submitted to the National President.

Section 2. The National officer against whom the charges have been preferred shall be notified of such charges by certified mail, return receipt requested, within ten (10) days after the charges have been filed. The officer and the complainant shall also be notified at the same time of the date, time and place of a hearing not less than fifteen (15) days from receipt of such notice. The complainant and the accused shall have the right to present all relevant evidence and to hear all evidence presented, to confront and examine or cross‐examine all witnesses and to present oral argument and written briefs. Members who are summoned by certified mail, return receipt requested, to appear as witnesses by the Chairperson of the Trial Committee are obligated to appear at the time, date, and place of the hearing specified in the summons. No person shall be required to give evidence which would tend to incriminate herself or himself. No formal rules of evidence shall be applied. Both the complainant and the accused shall be entitled to make a record of the proceedings, provided that such record is made available to the other at cost and that the Trial Committee does not, itself, make a record.

=== Section 3. The National Executive Board shall serve as the Trial Committee, but any member who has such a relationship to any of the parties or events involved in the proceeding as to prohibit making a fair and objective decision shall disqualify himself or herself. The remaining members shall designate from among the regular members in good standing a sufficient number of individuals necessary to bring the Trial Committee up to seven (7) members. In the event all members of the Executive Board disqualify themselves, the Trial Committee shall be comprised of seven Local Presidents chosen by lot from a pool of all Local Presidents with the exception of those whose Locals endorsed the charges. A fair and open selection process shall be conducted by those Presidents whose Locals have endorsed the charges after notice has been given to the charged individual(s) so that they may observe the lottery selection process. Decisions as to guilt and penalty, if any, shall be made by no less than five members of the Committee, provided however that no officer may be suspended or removed from office except by a unanimous vote of the Committee.

=== Section 4. In the event the accused is acquitted of the charges and the Trial Committee finds that the complainant or endorsing Locals acted maliciously and in bad faith, the Committee may assess the complainant and endorsing Locals with the costs of the proceedings.

== Article 18 ‐ Exhaustion of Remedies/Appeals

=== Section 1. Actions and decisions of the National President shall be appealable to the National Executive Board by sending them to the National Secretary‐Treasurer. The Board shall be authorized to grant or impose appropriate relief. Actions and decisions of the National Executive Board or the National Trial Committee shall be appealable in accordance with Article X, Section 1. All such appeals to the National Executive Board and Convention must be in writing and postmarked no later than 30 days following the actions or decisions which are being appealed.

=== Section 2. Appeals shall state the decision or action which is being appealed and the grounds for the appeal. Copies shall be given to the individual or body whose action or decision is being appealed, as well as to the opposing party. Decisions on appeals shall be in writing, shall include a statement of reasons, and shall be furnished to all interested parties.

=== Section 3. Whenever an appeal has been filed, the National President may stay the action or decision being appealed if failure to grant such a stay would impose an irreparable injury, create an unnecessary hardship, render the appeal futile, or otherwise defeat the ends of justice.

=== Section 4. Except as provided by applicable law, no member of this Union or of any subordinate body thereof shall bring or cause to be brought in any court, whether in law or in equity, or before any administrative agency, any action against LIUNA or this Union or any of their subordinate bodies, or the officials, employees, or representatives thereof, in any matter involving rights or obligations which are remediable within the framework and internal processing of this Union without first having exhausted all such internal remedies.

== Article 19 ‐ International Union; Representation at LIUNA Conventions

=== Section 1. This Union and its subordinate bodies shall be subject to the authority of the Laborers’ International Union, as set forth in the International Union Constitution in the same manner as any other subordinate body, except as provided herein provided the LIUNA Constitution does not discriminate against this Union or otherwise single out this Union for separate treatment; and provided further that the exercise of such authority by LIUNA does not infringe in any way upon the powers and rights of this Union and its members, as set forth in this Constitution and the Uniform Local Union Constitution and approved by the Court.

=== Section 2. This Union’s representation at LIUNA Conventions shall be that provided in Article XII of the 1984 Constitution of the National Postal Mail Handlers Union, as amended (attached as an Addendum at the rear of this Constitution) pending further action by LIUNA.

=== Section 3. This Union and its Locals, members and officers shall not be subject to the provisions of Article XXII of the LIUNA Constitution dealing with death benefits.

== Article 20 ‐ Amendments

== Article 21 ‐ Savings Clauses

=== Section 1. Local Unions and other subordinate bodies of this Union and their officers and members are not agents of this Union and are not authorized to act for, or to otherwise bind this Union except where prior approval or authorization is given in writing by the National President, or where the National President ratifies acts performed by such bodies after written notice thereof. However, in no case shall this Union be liable or responsible for the autonomous acts of its subordinate bodies.

=== Section 2. If any provision of this Constitution is declared invalid or is rendered inoperative by any competent authority of the executive, judicial, or administrative branch of a state or the federal government, the National Executive Board shall have the authority to suspend the operation of such provision during the period of its invalidity and to substitute in its place a provision which will be in accord with the intended purpose of the invalid provision. Such substitute shall be effective upon adoption and shall remain in effect until the next Convention unless written objection is received from the LIUNA General Executive Board within ninety (90) days.