Dear Colleagues,
Over the last six months, members of our Executive Board and Council of Representatives have undertaken the project of reviewing and revising our Union bylaws. This is the first major update to our bylaws since 2003.
There will be time on the agenda at the April 8 General Membership meeting to discuss the proposed changes to the bylaws. After the meeting, you will receive a ballot by email to vote on the proposed changes. Bylaws amendments require two-thirds support of those voting. The bylaws amendment vote will be on the same ballot as the elections for Vice President, Treasurer, and Member-at-Large of the Union.
You can see the old bylaws here. The new bylaws are attached as both a clean copy and a redlined version.
Summary of Proposed Changes:
There are a number of minor changes to language throughout. We have defined a Member of the Union as someone who is up to date on dues. A Member is different from a bargaining unit member, who is represented by the collective bargaining agreement, but does not pay dues.
We have addressed irregularities in the roles of Executive Board members. There were a number of seats that had undefined term lengths and start and end dates. We’ve established term lengths for all seats, and start/end dates. Of the four Member-at-Large seats on our Executive Board, two have been elected by the General Membership, and two appointed. We are proposing that all four seats be elected, and, if the bylaws amendments pass, we will hold a special election in September. There were two ex officio seats on the Board that did not have voting privileges: Academic Staff Steering Committee and Lecturer Steering Committee chairs. They have long had a seat on the Executive Board, and we are proposing that all Executive Board members have voting privileges.
We have also clarified some procedures around the discipline and removal of elected and appointed Union members on committees. We do not expect this to be an issue, but last year, for the first time in 30 years, a grievance was brought to the Executive Board against a member and it was made clear that our existing procedures were inadequate.
The proposed revisions are the work of a committee that included members of the Executive Board and Council: Kristen Chinery (Bylaws Committee Chair), Paul Beavers, Kathleen Crawford-McKinney, Pramod Khosla, Tracy Neumann, Hayg Oshagan, Aaron Retish, and Danielle Aubert (ex officio).
We are putting forth this proposal with support from the Executive Board and hope to have your support in passing them.
In solidarity,
Danielle Aubert, President
Hayg Oshagan, Information Coordinator
AAUP-AFT Local 6075
