One member One Vote for National Officers

[Postaltexan]

One member One Vote for National Officers

By: (a) Name of Document _______NRLCA BYLAWS___________________________________
(B) Article _____XVIII______ Section 10____ Paragraph____A. and B._____

WHEREAS: At present Article XVIII, Section 10 states as follows:

Subsection A. The nomination and election of Officers shall take place at each Convention of the National Association. Nominations shall be in order at any time after 10:00 a.m. of the second day of the National Convention and until the time of election.

Subsection B. The election of Officers shall be by ballot except where there is only one candidate placed in nomination. Where only one candidate has been nominated, the President and/or Secretary-Treasurer shall declare the election by consent. Where there are more than one candidate for the same office, it shall require the majority of all votes cast to elect. Where there are more than two candidates for the same office after the third ballot, the one receiving the least number of votes in each succeeding ballot shall be dropped until election is accomplished. Write-in votes shall not be considered valid.


BE IT RESOLVED: That the above be amended as follows:


Subsection A. The NRLCA Vice-President will cause to be published in the second issue in the month of February of the National Rural Letter Carrier magazine a list of all open elective NRLCA positions along with a solicitation for nominees for these positions. A nomination blank similar to the one used for delegates to National Convention will be included in said issue. The nominations are to be submitted to the NRLCA Secretary-Treasurer no later than 120 days prior to the start of the National Convention.

Subsection B. No member shall be nominated to be a candidate for National Office who from the time of nomination through the end of the election holds a position in management (either permanent or temporary) in the Postal Service; in any other postal craft; or any other job which competes with the Postal Service and /or this Association. This policy is defined as follows:


1. When a rural carrier craft member is serving in a managerial or supervisory position such as an OIC or 204B, the member is prohibited from Union participation. The member may not be nominated or elected as a National Officer.


2. However, there are many instances where a member may be utilized by Postal Management to assist in the rural craft that equally benefit the rural craft and Postal Management. In those instances, where the individual is not in a managerial/supervisory position, the individual will not be prohibited from any Union participation. (Such examples may include but are not limited to, assisting with route adjustments, mail count, academy trainers, automation team member, safety teams).


3. If a Steward is utilized by the Postal Service in this type of position, the Steward must notify the affected carrier(s) whom to contact in the Steward system for representation in any dispute where the Steward is involved. By doing this, the Steward will avoid any appearance of conflict of interest and will be in compliance with Article XIV of the National Bylaws.


Subsection C. The NRLCA Secretary-Treasurer will contact each nominee in writing via certified mail, return receipt to request that said nominee declare in writing for the position. This declaration of intent to be a candidate for a National Board position is to be returned to the NRLCA Secretary-Treasurer no later than 100 days prior to the start of the National Convention.

Subsection D. The person that nominated a candidate for a National Board position submits a narrative to the NRLCA Vice-President as to why he/she nominated the person for a particular office. The nominee submits a narrative to the NRLCA Vice-President giving an outline of his/her qualifications for the position he/she is seeking, what goals/objectives he/she hopes to accomplish if elected, how he/she plans to achieve those goals/objectives, and why members should vote for said nominee. Both of these narratives shall be returned to the NRLCA Vice-President no later than 90 days before the start of the National Convention. Both of these narratives will be printed in the immediate following issue of the National Rural Letter Carrier magazine.


Subsection E. Any candidate for National Office shall be able to obtain a mailing list and/or mailing labels of members so that campaign literature can be mailed out to every member.

Subsection F. No later than 45 days prior to the National Convention the NRLCA Secretary-Treasurer shall cause a ballot clearly showing the positions and candidates for each position to be mailed via First Class mail to all regular, part time flexible rural carrier, substitute, rural carrier associate, rural carrier relief, auxiliary carrier and retired members in good standing.


1. An envelope marked "Ballot" shall be provided each member in which to seal the ballot

for mailing.

2. To permit verification of membership enrollment and to maintain the integrity of the

voting procedure, the sealed envelope containing the ballot shall be placed in another

envelope by the member and mailed to the designated post office box. The other

envelope, also marked "Ballot" shall clearly identify name and address of the member.


Subsection G. An Election Committee of five (5) members shall count the ballots. Members in good standing shall be selected during the president's legislative seminar, secretary's seminar, and state steward's seminar by each state association present. Each seminar will select one (1) member and the National Board will select two (2) members. No member whose name appears on the ballot may serve on the Election Committee. Ballots shall be returned to a post office box accessible only to the Election Committee. At the end of the cut-off period, said ballots shall be collected and counted at the National Convention. Any candidate may observe the ballot tabulation.


Subsection H. The ballot vote of the members of this Association shall determine the newly elected Officers of the NRLCA. Results will be announced at the end of the last business day of the Convention and published in the next immediate issue of the National Rural Letter Carrier magazine.

Subsection I. In the event of a tie vote for any open position, another election conducted as prescribed in Subsection 4. for that office shall be initiated immediately by the NRLCA Secretary-Treasurer among the candidates for whom an equal number of votes is cast. The Election Committee will need to reconvene to count the ballots and report the finding in the next immediate issue of the National Rural Letter Carrier magazine


INTENT OF / REASON FOR CHANGE:

This will allow all members to have the right to vote for National Officers of the NRLCA; it is the procedure used by just about every major Labor Union in this country. All members will receive campaign literature, not just State Board members.

There will be NO need for an annual Convention – a major cost saving to the NRLCA, and to delegates and members attending said annual Convention. The Convention could be held every second or third year to have elected delegates address and vote on resolutions and amendments to the NRLCA Constitution & Bylaws, along with holding seminars and workshops for delegates and members.


True UNION democracy is NOT reflected by delegates electing National Officers. Candidates will no longer be able to make promises in a specific caucus for votes received, nor will it be possible for incorrect information being given out about other candidates without those candidates being able to rebut.