Ratified
April 16, 1998 - Amended October 1998 and April 2002
- As of October 2003
Article
1-NAME
The name of this organization shall be the Graduate Employee
Organization of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst or GEO, a unit within Local
2322 of the United Auto Workers (UAW).
Article 2-PURPOSE
| A. |
GEO
is a democratic union that aims to organize and represent
all graduate employees
at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst over
issues related to their employment
and the improvement of their working conditions.
GEO also supports
the struggle of
all workers, and in solidarity with other unions and progressive
organizations fights
for social and economic justice. |
| B. |
GEO
is authorized to negotiate on the employment practices
and policies of the
University as they relate to graduate employees including,
but not limited to:
affirmative action,
appointment and reappointment
process,
childcare,
contract length,
discipline,
dues check-off and agency fee,
evaluations,
fee waivers,
grievance and
arbitration,
health and safety,
health benefits,
hours of work,
job descriptions,
retrenchment,
salary,
seniority,
sexual harassment,
sick leave,
training, and
workload.
GEO
is not authorized to negotiate on academic practices
and policies as
they relate to graduate employees in their simultaneous capacity
as students, salary
maximums or limitations on employee's rights to choose the
time and manner of their
work. |
| C. |
GEO
shall not discriminate against person on the basis
of race, class, native language
or dialect, color, gender, religion, marital status, parental status,
national origin,
age, weight, sexual orientation, disability, political affiliation
or belief, veteran
status, citizenship, or HIV status. GEO strives to be an
inclusive union and build a
broad based unity among its members. It will actively seek
to promote the participation
of socially oppressed groups and underrepresented work sites at all
levels of the union. |
Article
3-MEMBERSHIP
A.
|
The
Membership consists of all full and associate members
in good standing of the
bargaining unit. |
| B. |
A
graduate employee of the University of Massachusetts
who is included in the bargaining unit is eligible
for full membership during the term of employment. |
| C. |
A
full member in good standing who ceases to be included
in the bargaining unit may remain a full member through
the next semester plus one day, provided they retain
their graduate student status. Summer session is
not defined as a semester. |
| D. |
Any
graduate student who does not meet the above criteria
shall be eligible for associate membership. |
| E. |
A
member is considered to be in good standing if they
are current in their payment of dues. A member is
considered to be a full member if they have paid
their initiation
fee. |
| F. |
An
associate member is in good standing if they pay
dues and the initiation fee. The initiation fee is
set in accordance with the UAW constitution and Local
2322
bylaws. |
| G. |
A
full member in good standing is entitled to full
voice and a single vote on all
questions and to hold any elected or appointed position. |
| H. |
An
associate member in good standing is entitled to
full voice and a single vote on
all questions, exception contract ratification, and where specifically noted
in these
Bylaws. |
| I. |
Associate
members are not eligible to hold the elected offices
of President,
Vice-President, Secretary Treasurer, or At-large Member of the Steering Committee,
and
they may not serve on the Negotiating or Grievance Committees. |
Article
4-OFFICERS
A.
|
Election
of officers shall be held during the spring semester. Members are asked to
consider the requirements of Article 2(C) when voting. |
| B. |
All
officers are elected for one year terms. They will
take office on June 1 of the
year in which they were elected. |
| C. |
Officers
may only be removed by following procedures outlined
in Articles 30 and 31
in the UAW International Constitution. |
| D. |
For
the academic year in which they serve, the three
officers will each receive one
full time equivalent(FTE) stipend so long as such stipends are provided by the
University. |
| E. |
There
are three officers: |
| |
1.
|
President:
Responsibilities will include but are not
limited too:
* Organizing and overseeing the election of Stewards
in departments and/or work sites; * Chairing
Steering Committee meetings and General Membership meetings and
ensuring
agendas
are set for both;
* Supervising membership drives;
* Primary GEO representative
to
the Joint Council of Local 2322 and must attend Joint Council meetings;
* Except where otherwise noted, the President shall be considered
to be the official
representative of GEO to the Administration and in all external
relations;
* Signs
agreements between GEO and the University (with approval of the
General Membership
and/or Assembly of Stewards);
* Shall serve as Liaison for the Steering
Committee
to the Staff and its Staff Coordinator; responsible for ensuring
GEO representation
at Labor Council/Leadership Coalition meetings;
* Speaks on behalf
of GEO to media,
the University, etc.;
* Acts
as primary Liaison between GEO and other Unions. |
|
2. |
Vice
President:
Responsibilities include but are not limited
to:
* Attending Assembly
of Stewards meetings;
*
Chairing
Steering Committee meetings in the absence of the
President;
* Managing the production of media and publicity;
* Overseeing publication
of GEO newsletter and web page;
* Organizing Standing Committees;
* Assuming
duties if
the President is unavailable. |
|
3. |
Secretary
Treasurer:
Responsibilities include but are not
limited to:
* Chairing
GEO
Finance Committee, serving on Local Finance committee;
* Administering GEO
operating
budget;
*
Planning annual budget;
* Overseeing the functioning
of the GEO office;
* Maintaining
records of organization;
* Ensuring that minutes
are taken at all GEO
meetings;
* Submitting requisitions to the Local
and International as needed;
* Facilitating GEO sponsorship
of events and organization;
*
Shall chair meetings
in
the absence of the President or the Vice-President;
* Shall assume duties of the
President or the Vice President if the President and the Vice President
are
unavailable. |
F.
|
Although
each officer has her or his specific job responsibilities,
all three officers
are jointly responsible for ensuring the smooth functioning of GEO and
are collectively responsible for all the duties mentioned above. |
Article
5-STAFF
| A. |
GEO
will hire at least five full time equivalent (FTE)
employees in a given academic
year. One of these shall be the Grievance Officer as stipulated in
the contract between
GEO and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. |
| B. |
Officers
and staff shall be paid at the average hourly stipend
rate of FTEs. |
| C. |
GEO
shall determine GEO related duties of all local personnel
assigned to work at GEO. |
Article
6-STEERING COMMITTEE
A.
|
The
Steering Committee will consist of:
*
the three officers,
* two Stewards elected by
the stewards assembly, and
* two members at-large elected by the
Membership.
Each
member of the Steering Committee will be entitled
to one vote on any issue raised at any
Steering Committee meeting. In addition, all staff members of
GEO are ex-officio,
non-voting members of the steering committee. |
| B. |
The
Steering Committee shall be responsible for the day-to-day
operation of the unit
including, but not limited to:
* The direction of the day-to-day operations of
the
organization;
* The oversight of the staff; preparation and submission of all proposals,
budgets, budget requisitions and budget modifications to the Assembly of Stewards
for
approval;
* Coordination and oversight of standing committees;
* The appropriate
maintenance of the health of the organization;
* Management and execution of the
budget;
* All correspondence and relations between the leadership, the Assembly of Stewards
and
the membership; and
* All external relations excepting those duties specifically
proscribed for other committees (such as the Bargaining Committee). |
| C. |
The
Steering Committee shall meet at least two times
a month during the academic year.
The committee shall meet once a month at other times. Additional meetings can
be
called as needed by the officers. |
| D. |
A
quorum of one half (rounded upward) of the voting
members of the Steering Committee
is necessary to conduct business. |
| E. |
The
Steering Committee shall be empowered to make decisions
on behalf on the
membership, except as limited by these bylaws. The Steering Committee shall not
make
any decisions which contradict those made by the Assembly of Stewards or the
membership or contradict the will or intent of the Assembly of Stewards or the
membership. |
| F. |
All
Stewards are welcome to attend Steering Committee
meetings and shall be considered
ex-officio non-voting members of the Steering Committee. |
| G |
An Evaluation Sub-Committee, consisting of the four members of Steering who are not GEO officers, shall be created. This sub-committee shall be responsible for conducting semi-annual evaluations of the staff, with cooperation from the GEO officers. In order to facilitate such evaluations, members of the Evaluation Sub-Committee shall make arrangements to ensure that, insofar as possible, at least one member is in attendance at each weekly GEO staff meeting. |
Article
7-STEWARDS
A.
|
A group
of graduate employees who share a common employing
department or unit are
considered a work group. The Steering committee
is authorized to determine the work
group divisions in the event there is a dispute. |
| B. |
The
membership of each work group shall elect one Steward
for each 25 employees or
fraction thereof. Stewards shall be elected at the start of each Fall semester
and
shall serve until the next elections. If no members in the work group are able
to
serve as Stewards, the graduate students from the same department who are employed
in
a different work group may be elected instead. The stewards shall be
democratically elected by all GEO members in the work group. When an election occurs by secret
ballot, outside of a meeting, a reasonable period shall be provided for return
of
ballots. The election shall be conducted by any two members who are not candidates
in
the election. Stewards may be recalled at any time by a vote of all members
working under the Steward's jurisdiction. This vote must be initiated by a petition and
set
forth the reasons why the recall is sought. The petition must be signed by at
least 25
percent of the current members working under the jurisdiction of the Steward. |
| C. |
Two
or more work groups, each with fewer than 25 members,
may choose to combine for
purposes of Steward election, by majority vote of each such group. Such combined
work
groups shall then be treated as a single work group. |
| D. |
The
Stewards shall be responsible for: organizing and
mobilizing departments,
assisting members with grievances, calling meetings of the group, distributing
literature to the members, recruiting new members,
serving on committees, and attending the Assembly
of Stewards. |
Article
8-ASSEMBLY OF STEWARDS
A.
|
The
assembly shall be composed of elected stewards from
work sites and various
ex-officio members as specified by these bylaws. The assembly shall
meet at least
twice during the semester. Additional meetings can be called by the
Steward Assembly
Chair(s) or 20% of the Stewards by means of a signed petition to
the Steering
Committee. |
| B. |
A
quorum of one-fourth of the Stewards and one-fourth
of the total voting members is
necessary to conduct business. |
| C. |
The
Assembly shall be empowered to make decisions on
behalf of the Membership, including the
ability to override decisions made by the Steering
Committee. The
Assembly cannot override a decision made by the Membership at a Membership Meeting. Except
as limited by these bylaws, the Assembly can draft its own rules, including the
election of Assembly meeting chair(s). |
| D. |
The
assembly of stewards aims to:
* To create and develop
shop floor activism and to
organize and mobilize rank-and-file participation and coordinate their struggle,
* To
develop a team of activists and union leaders,
* To increase the communication
between
the leadership and the membership,
* To get the stewards involved in decision-making
regarding union policy, contract administration, contract negotiations, and other
work
related issues,
* To bring the stewards together, to share information,
* To learn
from
one another, and
* To support each other. |
| E. |
Non-steward
members of the Steering Committee (i.e. the four
officers and the three
elected at-large members) and committee chairs as designated in Article
9(C),
are
ex-officio, full-voting members of the Assembly. |
| F. |
Each
semester the Assembly shall appoint two Stewards
to serve as voting members of
the Steering Committee. |
| G. |
The
Chair of the Assembly shall be elected by all members
of the Assembly at the first
Assembly meeting of each semester. Ex officio members of the Assembly
are not eligible
to serve as Chair. In the absence of an elected Chair, the President may appoint
an
interim Chair. |
Article
9-STANDING COMMITTEES - CURRENT
COMMITTEE INFORMATION
A.
|
Committees
carry out and facilitate the various functions of
the union and aim to
bring consistency and continuity to the work of the union. In addition, they are
instrumental in facilitating rank and file participation in union
activity and
decision making. All members are eligible to serve on all committees
except where
noted in these bylaws and every effort shall be made to ensure the
membership of all
committees is representative of the diversity of the GEO members. |
| B. |
Except
where specifically noted in Article 9(D), the steering
committee will appoint
acting chairs to the standing committees until such time as the committee meets
to
elect a formal chair. |
| C. |
Chairs
of Committees are ex-officio, non-voting members
of the Steering Committee and
are ex-officio, full voting members of the Assembly of Stewards, except where
noted
in Article 9(D). |
| D. |
The
standing Committees include, but are not limited
to: |
| |
1.
|
Organizing
Committee
Which shall be chaired by the
GEO staff person responsible for
internal organizing. This committee will also consist of
all lead organizers as well
as at least one elected officer. The committee will be responsible
for signing up new
members, working with stewards and developing leadership in departments
and clusters.
The
goal of the committee will be to build a strong
internal organizing structure able
to lead and support a contract campaign, respond to and prevent
grievances, create a
stronger union presence and awareness in individual departments
campus-wide. |
|
2. |
Bargaining
Committee
Which will consist of nine members
and an unspecified number of
alternate members elected by the membership. The chief and the co-chief
negotiators will be elected by the bargaining committee members. All
bargaining committee members
shall serve throughout the duration of a contract negotiation and shall not be
required to seek re-election if contract negotiations go beyond a year. If bargaining
committee members resign or are recalled, new members of the committee will be
elected
by the membership as needed. A quorum of five is needed to make decisions. All
decisions shall be made by consensus. If consensus cannot be reached,
the decision in
question shall be brought to the membership for final determination. Membership
has
oversight over the bargaining committee. The bargaining committee shall
be responsible for assessing membership needs and concerns prior to contract
negotiations, and issuing regular written bargaining updates to the membership
during negotiations. These updates shall also be posted regularly on the GEO
web site. |
|
3. |
Grievance
Committee
Which will consist of not less
than five members. Committee
members must be trained in labor grievance procedure. Any graduate employee coming
forward with a grievance shall be interviewed by the Chair of this committee
and one
member of the committee, apprising them of their rights according to the contract
and
advising them on how to proceed; the committee shall meet to decide which grievances
will be filed. All grievance requests must be kept on file and the Chair will
ensure
that these records are in order. The Chair of this committee shall be the staff
person
hired by GEO. |
|
4. |
Communications
Committee
Which
shall be chaired by the vice-president of GEO,
shall
be responsible for generating the newsletter;
drafting and distributing press releases;
maintaining the GEO web page; and the creation and distribution of posters,
flyers and
billets. |
|
5. |
Finance
Committee
Which will be composed of the Treasurer
(as Chair) and two members
(one from the Assembly of Stewards and one from the General Membership). All
members
have responsibilities that include serving on Local 2322 Finance Committee, attending
all Joint Council meetings, drafting the annual budget for the unit, and preparing
requisitions for the Joint Council. The annual budget for the unit will be presented
at the first membership meeting of the spring semester and passed by a simple
majority. |
|
6. |
Elections
Committee
The membership will annually elect an
Elections Committee to
oversee the election of officers and at-large members of the Steering Committee.
This
committee must be composed of at least five members, none of whom are seeking
office
or are currently elected officers or at-large members of the Steering Committee.
The
chair of this committee is not an ex-officio member of the stewards assembly
or the
steering committee. |
|
7. |
Civil
Rights Committee
Which will oversee issues concerning
any violation of the
civil rights of GEO members, including internal incidents which may violate the
civil
rights of GEO members. The Committee will assist any GEO member who submits a
grievance through the campus Harassment Policy, Sexual Harassment Policy, and/or
the
Affirmative Action Office. The committee shall investigate any accusations
of racist,
sexist, or other discriminatory or defamatory action on the part of GEO members
against other GEO members. If any incident of such behavior is verified by this
committee, the committee will report such incidents and its recommendation (including
sanctions) to the Steering Committee where the appropriate action shall be taken
or
begun. The decision of the Steering Committee may be appealed by either party
before
the Assembly of Stewards where final disposition of the issue shall rest. Sanctions
may include expulsion from the unit. |
|
8. |
Coalition
and Political Action Committee
Which shall be responsible
for organizing
GEO participation in local, state, national, and international concerns; building
coalitions with campus and local unions, student organizations, community
organizations and caucuses, including, but not limited to, those representing
international students, ALANA students, poor and working class students, women,
GLBT
students, and other under-represented groups in our union. GEO resolves
to actively support legislation which seeks to improve the higher education system,
including the
principle of educational access and promotes free collective bargaining. This
committee shall recommend proposed actions or endorsements to the Assembly of
Stewards. Political endorsements and expenditures shall require a two-thirds
vote of
approval by the Assembly of Stewards or the embership. |
|
9. |
Family
Issues Committee
Which is responsible for
providing the membership with
information concerning child care, housing, and other family concerns, as well
as
discussing with individual members how GEO can improve the living conditions
of
members who have families. This committee shall have at least three members (from
either the Assembly of Stewards or the Membership). The committee shall be chaired
by
the family issues advocate. |
|
10. |
Personnel
Committee
Which will be composed of seven representatives
elected by the
Membership and two members of the Steering Committee, who are not Steward
representatives, selected by the Steering Committee. This committee may include
elected officers and current staff members who are not seeking re-appointment.
A
quorum of five members is required for all meetings of the personnel committee.
The
primary responsibility of this committee is to hold interviews for applicants
interested in staff positions. The personnel committee shall establish a time-line
for each hiring and submit it to the assembly of stewards. Upon completion of
the
interview process, the committee will deliberate on the merits of each candidate
and
submit a list of recommended candidates to the Assembly of Stewards. The Assembly
of
Stewards will decide what action to take on the recommended list. The final hiring
decision is made by the Assembly of Stewards. Interim and temporary appointments
for
periods no longer than six weeks, may be made directly by the steering committee.
|
|
11. |
By-Laws
Committee
All GEO members are invited to meetings
of the By-Laws Committee.
The responsibility of the by-laws committee
is to try to achieve broad consensus about procedures
in GEO, to educate people holding positions in GEO about their
rights and duties according to the bylaws and established practices and to resolve,
on the basis of consensus, conflicts related to the bylaws. The bylaws committee
has
the right and the duty to give recommendations on: |
| |
|
(a) Changes of the by-laws, from general concepts to
final drafts
(b) Disputes over interpretations or implementations of the by-laws
(c) Conflicts between actual procedures and procedures as outlined
in the by-laws
|
| E. |
The
Assembly of Stewards shall decide if any additional
committee chairs shall have a
vote in the stewards assembly. |
| F. |
The
committees may decide upon their own operational
procedures, except when specified
by these bylaws. |
| G. |
The
following procedure shall be followed when electing
members to the bargaining and
personnel committees. |
| |
1.
|
Appropriate
notification will be given two weeks prior to when
such elections are due
to take place. |
|
2. |
Nominations
are due at the membership meeting at which the elections
are scheduled to
take place. If the nominee is present in person, s/he is required to make a short
statement to the meeting prior to the elections. If the nominee is not present
in
person, s/he is required to submit a written statement to the President, who
shall
ensure that the statement is read out to the meeting, prior to the elections. |
H.
|
In
order to recall any member from a committee a petition
which sets forth the reason
why recall is sought must be signed by twenty members and submitted
to the President
no less than ten days before a membership meeting in order to be
put on the agenda of
that meeting. The President will see to it that this agenda item
is announced ten days
prior to the meeting. A two-thirds vote of the membership is required
to recall a
committee member. |
Article
10-CAUCUSES - CURRENT
CAUCUS INFORMATION
A.
|
Caucuses
are formed around issues of social oppression. They
aim to provide a voice for
underrepresented groups in the Union and a forum in which their concerns
and issues can
be addressed. Caucuses should provide a supportive context for underrepresented
groups
and facilitate their active involvement and full participation in
the union as a whole. |
| B. |
Chairs
of caucuses are ex-officio non-voting members of
the Steering Committee and full
voting members of the Stewards Assembly. |
| C. |
The
Steering Committee will appoint acting chairs to
the caucuses until the caucus
meets to elect a formal chair. |
| D. |
The
Caucuses include, but are not limited to: |
| |
1.
|
ALANA
and International students Caucus, which
will consist of ALANA graduate
employees and International graduate employees of color. |
|
2. |
Women's
Caucus, which will consist of graduate employee women. |
|
3. |
Queer
Caucus, which will consist of lesbian, gay, bisexual,
and transgendered
graduate employees. |
| E. |
Caucus
members may choose to expand the scope of their membership. |
| F. |
The
Assembly of Stewards shall decide if any additional
caucus chairs shall have a
vote on the Stewards Assembly and ex-officio non-voting status on the Steering
Committee. |
Article
11-MEMBERSHIP MEETINGS
A.
|
A
general meeting of the membership shall be held at
least twice each semester. |
| B. |
Additional
meetings can be called as needed by the Steering
Committee, the Assembly
of Stewards, or by petition of one-tenth of the membership. |
| C. |
Decisions
of the Membership override decisions made by any
other GEO body. |
| D. |
The
quorum for Membership meeting will be 10% of the
Membership or 35 members,
whichever is less. |
Article
12-PROCESS AND PROCEDURES AT MEETINGS
A.
|
Whenever
a decision is to be made in a meeting of the Assembly
of Stewards, the
Steering Committee, or the Membership, the following process and
procedures will
apply. |
| B. |
The
Chair (the title Chair refers to the individual
conducting the meeting) will
ensure broad participation and open discussion at
these meetings. Members wishing
to
speak at such meetings, who have not spoken already will be given priority over
members wishing to speak, but who have already spoken. The Chair may set a time
limit, applied to all speakers uniformly, on the
duration of speeches. |
| C. |
The
Chair will recognize motions, and amendments thereof,
made by anyone in the group. |
| D. |
Motions
or amendments are proper only after they have been
offered to and accepted by
the Chair, and seconded. |
| E. |
Debate
over motions is closed by a call from the group,
which must be supported by a
second. When the Chair puts this to a vote of the body, a two-thirds majority
of the
voting members present is required to end debate. If enough votes are cast to
end
debate, the chair must call for an immediate vote on the motion and the amendments. |
| F. |
Motions
to table debate are made from the group, and if seconded,
must be put to an
immediate vote. |
| G. |
Any
member may at anytime call upon the Chair for a Point
of Information to clarify
business being discussed. |
| H. |
If
any member disagrees with a ruling of the Chair,
s/he may raise a Point of Order
and state his/her objection to the Chair. The Chair must then rule on this Point
of
Order. |
| I. |
If
any member disagrees with a ruling of the Chair on
a Point of Order, then s/he may,
if supported by a second, appeal from the decision
of the Chair. The member appealing
the Chair's decision will be recognized by the Chair, and given an opportunity
to
state his or her reasons for believing the Chair should be overruled, after which
the
Chair will also have an opportunity to give his or her reasons for ruling against
the
appealing member. No one else may participate in this discussion. The Chair will
then
place the appeal before the group for a vote. A simple majority vote is necessary
to
sustain the appeal. A tie vote sustains the Chair. |
| J. |
Donations Policy
- All Donation Requests to the Graduate Employee Organization must be made in writing and submitted to the GEO Steering Committee for preliminary approval. The Donations Request Form and Donations Policy will be made available on the GEO website and copies may also be found in the GEO office, 201 Student Union.
- GEO will make every effort to reflect and support diversity in terms of providing funding allocation to a variety of groups, causes, and events. While the three main GEO bodies may allocate funding amounts according to Article 15 of the GEO bylaws, in general, GEO will upon review by the appropriate bodies allocate no more than a $100 for each group or issue submitting an allocation for funding.
- If a group or individual brings a proposal of more than a $100 to GEO, the group or individual will send a representative to the Steering Committee to discuss the allocation. Groups or individuals asking for less than a $100 are also welcome to make a funding presentation to the Steering Committee, which under Article 15 is authorized to allocate up to $500 per budget request. The Steering Committee will forward donation requests with their recommendation to either the Stewards' Assembly if the amount is over $500 or to the General Membership if the amount is over $1000. The group or individual will be asked, contingent on receiving funding, to write a follow-up report discussing how the donation was spent. Wherever possible, receipts should be submitted with the written report.
- An emergency funding request may be made at the General Membership Meeting upon request, but notice of such action must be submitted to either the Steering Committee or the Stewards' Assembly (whichever meets first) at least 24 hours prior to the meeting. All other donation requests must follow the protocol detailed above.
- The Secretary-Treasurer of GEO will keep the Steering Committee, the Stewards' Assembly, and the General Membership appraised of the financial situation of the union in order to ensure that the donations budget will not be prematurely exhausted before the fiscal year is complete.
|
Article
13-AFFILIATION
A.
|
|
Affiliation
with another organization, for purposes of better
realizing the goals and
objective of GEO, or conversely, disaffiliation with another organization,
may be
initiated by Referendum (as provided in Article
17). |
| B. |
|
The
affiliation or disaffiliation shall be approved if
more than one-half of the
votes cast are in favor of affiliation or disaffiliation. |
Article
14-DUES
A.
|
|
GEO
dues will be set in accordance with the UAW and Local
2322 constitution and
bylaws. |
| B. |
|
Full
members who do not hold current employment (as provided
in Article 3(C)) shall
pay dues at the same rate as associate members. |
| C. |
|
Associate
members pay $1/month in dues. |
Article
15-MEMBER RIGHTS
A.
|
GEO
derives all of its power from the members. The membership
reserves the right to
override any decision of the Steering Committee, the Assembly of
Stewards or any
other Committee at any time. |
| B. |
All
GEO meetings are open to all members and all GEO
members have the right to
participate in the discussion of all decisions, with the exception of confidential
personnel matters. This right includes notification of meetings, when feasible. |
| C. |
While
the Steering Committee and the Assembly of Stewards
are empowered to make
decisions on behalf of the membership, they shall not make any decisions which
contradict decisions made by the membership or contradict the will or intent
of the
membership. |
| D. |
The
steering committee is authorized to disperse funds
in an amount not to exceed
$500. The assembly of stewards is authorized to disperse funds in an amount not
to
exceed $1000. Dispersal of funds exceeding these amounts, must be approved by
the
membership. Expenditures for political activity may be made only by the Assembly
of
Stewards or the membership and shall not exceed $500 per semester. |
| E. |
GEO
does not prevent people from holding elected positions
including becoming
officers based upon their political affiliations. |
| F. |
GEO
is a Union made up of graduate employees from many
different countries. We do
not condone or operate under the patriotic notions of any one of these represented
countries, but are instead steered by the common interests of our members as
academic workers. |
Article
16-BYLAWS
A.
|
These
bylaws may be amended by presenting a motion in writing
setting forth the
amendments sought to a Membership meeting. The motion shall be read
at that meeting
and referred to the Bylaws Committee which will report with a drafted
amendment to
the next Membership meeting. A notice of the drafted amendment must
contain a
description of the particular bylaw amendments that will be considered.
If approved
by two-thirds of the Membership vote at this succeeding meeting,
the amendment shall
be adopted. |
| B. |
Only
full members and associate members in good standing
may vote on changes to the
Bylaws. No changes may contradict any provision of this Bylaws, including any
subsequent Amendments. |
Article
17-ELECTIONS AND REFERENDA
A.
|
Elections
of officers and referenda votes shall be held by
secret ballot at membership
meetings. Before this meeting, provisions shall be made for absentee,
mail-in or open
balloting. |
| B. |
If
more than two candidates run for one office, and
if none of the candidates receives
more than 50% of the votes cast, then a runoff election shall be held between
the two
candidates who receive the most votes. |
| C. |
Regular
elections for officers and at-large members of the
Steering Committee shall be
held during the spring semester. |
| D. |
Elections
to fill vacancies shall be held at the first general
meeting following the
date the office became vacant. The Assembly of Stewards can appoint a Steward
or member
of the Assembly of Stewards to fill a position on an interim basis. |
| E. |
Full
members in good standing (as defined by Article
3(H))
may nominate themselves or
any other full member in good standing for any office. Nominations shall be presented
in writing to the Steering Committee. The deadline for nominations shall be 15
calendar
days before the date of the election. Elections must occur no later than the
first full
week of May. |
| F. |
Referendum
questions must be presented in writing at a Steering
Committee Meeting with
the signatures of at least one-tenth of the membership, the signatures of one-half
of
the Stewards, or the signatures of two-thirds of the members of the Steering
Committee,
no later than ten calendar days before the next Membership meeting. The Steering
Committee shall place the referendum on the agenda for the next membership meeting
and
distribute written copies of the referendum within three working days after the
referendum is presented to the Steering Committee. Referenda may specify that
they may
not be amended. If this specification is made, they must be voted on in the form
they
are written and originally presented. |
Article
18-JURISDICTION
A.
|
As
a unit within the UAW, GEO is subject to the rules
and regulations governing the
UAW and Local Union 2322 Bylaws. However, in all unit matters we
have strict autonomy
in accordance with Article 35 Section 3 of the UAW Constitution.
|
| B. |
GEO
has proportional representation on Local 2322 Join
Council based on the dues
dollar amount GEO pays to the Local Union in accordance with Article 35 Section
3 of
the UAW Constitution. |
| C. |
GEO
representatives to the Joint Council shall serve
the greater of one year or until
such time as new elections for representatives to Joint Council takes place.
If a GEO
representative to the Joint Council resigns or is recalled, the Steering Committee
must appoint a new representative to serve until the next membership meeting.
At that
membership meeting a new representative will be elected, in accordance with the
bylaws
of Local 2322. |
Article
19-ENACTMENT
This bylaws shall be voted on by secret ballot and enacted thereupon.
|