Article III - Representative Council

  1. Representation of Units

    1. The Representative Council shall consist of the elected Local Officers, Unit Chairpersons and Vice-Chairpersons or their alternates, and unit delegates or their alternates. Unit delegates shall be elected by the unit membership on the basis of one delegate for each 150 members or major fractions in good standing in the unit.

      In the application of this section, the number of members in good standing in any unit shall be examined on the 15th day of January, April, June and October, and where the number is increased, the unit shall fill the vacancy in the usual manner, and where the number is decreased, the Unit shall decide which delegate or delegates shall be dropped. Units may, at their own option, elect alternates to the Representative Council. No full time staff member of the Local shall be a candidate for election to the Representative Council.

      A unit of newly-organized members shall have representation on the Representative Council upon a successful certification vote, the receipt of a certificate from appropriate governmental authorities, or by the approval of the council.

    2. Past Presidents

      The Immediate Past President shall be a non-voting member of the Representative Council.

    3. Eligibility if Applying for Management Job

      Any member elected to Union office will immediately ask the Local Executive Committee for a leave of absence upon applying for an excluded, management job. The leave will continue until the person either gets or is rejected for the management job.

  2. Regular Meetings

    The Representative Council shall meet six times every calendar year. All meetings shall be day time bookoff meetings.

  3. Special Meetings & Emergency Resolutions

    1. Special meetings of the Representative Council may be called by the President, and shall be called by the Secretary upon written request of ten members of the Representative Council from at least three bargaining units. The Secretary shall give 48 hours' notice in calling special meetings, except in case of emergency.

    2. Emergency resolutions may be put to the Representative Council between meetings by telephone poll or personal contact on the instruction of any Local Officer through the Union office staff. Every reasonable effort will be made to poll every member of the Council in good standing over a 24-hour period. The purpose of the poll and its results shall be reported to the next Representative Council meeting.

  4. Voting

    1. A quorum at any meeting of the Representative Council shall consist of delegates representing not less than 30% of voting members and five bargaining units.

    2. The Secretary shall record attendance at each meeting for reporting purposes.

      The Representative Council may excuse a member from attendance, to carry out other Union activities. Representative Council members excused to carry on other Union business shall be recorded as “Excused on Union Business” and shall be considered absent for good cause.

    3. On any vote of the Representative Council, any member may demand that it be recorded. In a roll call vote, voting and the vote of each delegate present shall be weighted in proportion to the membership he or she represents. For a roll call vote, the latest monthly roster report shall be used to determine the number of dues paying members in each bargaining unit. In a newly organized unit, the number of employees on the voters’ list will be used. Notice of motion must be given to the Representative Council before the proportional vote may be used to recommend a bylaw amendment or approve any other motion. No notice is required to oppose a motion by proportional representation vote.

      The Secretary shall calculate the weight of each delegate's vote for each roll call by dividing the number of members in delegate's units by the number of that unit's delegates present and voting.

  5. Trustees

    1. The Representative Council shall choose from its number a Committee of Trustees of no more than three non-Executive Committee members and shall provide the Trustees with means sufficient to investigate the Executive Committee's conduct of union business and determine whether it is consistent with budgets, policies, resolutions and directives adopted by the Representative Council.

    2. The Committee of Trustees shall submit quarterly reports with recommendations to the Executive Committee at least one week prior to a meeting of the Representative Council. The report, including replies from the responsible officers as necessary, shall be presented to the Representative Council and upon approval by the Council shall be published in SONGsheet. The Committee of Trustees shall have oversight of the Local’s financial statements.

    3. The Representative Council shall have general direction of all Local Officers.