MEMBERS ONLY: Rules for New York Times Guild Unit Council Nominations and Membership Meeting

05/20/2022

Rules for Nomination and Election of Vice Chairs and Secretary
of the Unit Council at The New York Times and Notice Of Nominations

May 19, 2022

There will be a nomination meeting held for the New York Times unit of The NewsGuild of New York via virtual Zoom meeting on May 24, 2022, at 5 pm Eastern (all times in these rules are Eastern time). Written nominations will be accepted as well, under the rules described below, for a period starting on May 24, 2022 at 6pm and ending at 11:59 p.m. on May 29.

The nomination and election to fill the position of Secretary and 18 Vice Chair(s) positions at the New York Times unit shall be conducted in accordance with the bylaws of The NewsGuild of New York, The NewsGuild constitution, the Communications Workers of America constitution, federal law and these rules adopted by The NewsGuild of New York Election Committee on May 19, 2022.

Guild members who are in good standing as of May 20, 2022 shall be nominated to fill the following vacant positions:

  • Secretary
  • Vice Chair(s) (18)


Nominations will be held via Zoom membership meeting on May 24, 2022 at 5p.m. via the Zoom link sent to members on Friday, May 20, 2022. If you did not receive an email with a zoom link, please contact nytimesguild@nyguild.org to have it re-sent to you.

Section 1 - Officers to be Elected

  • Secretary
  • Vice Chair(s) (18)


Section 2 - Election Date
In the event of a contest, an election shall be held among members of The New York Times, with results to be tallied on or about August 12, 2022.

Section 3 - Term of Office
The member(s) shall be elected to a term to expire on Oct. 31, 2022.

Section 4 - Nominations

(a) A nominations meeting will be held on May 24, 2022. Notice of the date, time, and location of that meeting is contained in this email. Nominations may also be done in writing pursuant to the rules outlined in section 4(c) below

(b) To be nominated, a Unit member must be in good standing as of May 20, 2022. To be nominated, a Unit member must be nominated by a member who was in good standing as of May 20, 2022. To be nominated, a Unit member’s nomination must receive a second from a Unit member in good standing as of May 20, 2022. Self-nomination is permitted.

(c) In addition to the nominations at the meeting, nominations may be made in writing. Written nominations and seconds must be received by the Guild no earlier than May 24, 2022 at 6 p.m. and by no later than May 29, 2022 at 11:59 p.m. Only the following delivery methods will be accepted: email. Nominations and seconds delivered by email must be emailed to Local Representative Alex Kulenovic.

(d) For all nominations, the nominator or the nominator’s designee must provide Local Representative Alex Kulenovic with an email address and telephone number where the nominated candidate can be reached and do so by no later than May 29, 2022 at 11:59 p.m.

(e) The Guild will notify all nominated candidates of their nomination. For a nominated candidate to appear on the ballot, the Guild must receive written confirmation of the candidate’s willingness to run by no later than May 30, 2022 at 11:59 p.m. Confirmation must be emailed to Local Representative Alex Kulenovic.

(f) If, at the close of the period for nominations, only one person is nominated for the position, that member shall be declared elected without contest.

Section 5 - Local Election Committee
The election in every Unit shall be supervised by the Local Election Committee. No candidate for Unit office may serve on the Local Election Committee.

Section 6 - Election Notice
An election notice and mail ballot will be mailed to all Guild members not later than July 13, 2022.

Section 7 - The Ballot
(a) The Local Election Committee shall supervise and be responsible for the preparation of the ballot. The ballot shall be arranged so that the voter will have the choice of voting for individual candidates by marking boxes to the left of each candidate’s name.

(b) In designing the ballot, the Local Election Committee will place candidate names in alphabetical order.

(c) Slate voting shall be permitted.

Section 8 - Voter Eligibility
All Unit members in good standing as of June 30, 2022 may vote in their Unit election. Instructions for members not receiving a ballot on how to obtain a duplicate ballot will be provided on the Guild’s website.

Section 9 - Voting Procedure and Ballot Count
(a) The election will be conducted by mail ballot.

(b) The AAA or another neutral organization with experience in conducting elections, under the supervision of the Local Election Committee, or the Local, at the discretion of and under the supervision of the Local Election Committee shall mail ballot packages to all members by no later than July 13, 2022. For a ballot to be counted, a voter must mail the ballot back, in conformity with the voting instructions, so that it is received by no later than a date on or about August 12, 2022 to be selected by the Local Election Committee.

(c) The ballots shall be collected at the Post Office box on the tally date At least one representative of the Election Committee, and interested candidates and/or their observers may observe the collection of ballots from the Post Office box. To insure safety, and at the union’s discretion, observation of this process may be done remotely.

(d) AAA or the other neutral organization or the Local Election Committee, will tally the ballots. The count will continue until completed. The Election Committee will supervise the process to ensure that only ballots of eligible members are counted, using an up-to- date eligibility list.

(e) The results shall be certified by the Chairperson of the Local Election Committee and immediately sent to the Local Secretary-Treasurer.

(f) The ballot envelope shall contain an instruction slip. It shall state, in sum and substance: “After marking your vote on the enclosed ballot, fold it face in. Do not otherwise mark the ballot. Do not put your name or any other identification on the ballot. Place the folded ballot in the smaller envelope and seal it. Do not sign or otherwise mark the smaller envelope containing the ballot. A ballot with any identifying markings will not be counted. Place the smaller envelope containing the ballot in the addressed return envelope. Sign and print your name on the designated lines in the addressed return (outer) envelope (hand written and hand printed signatures only). Only ballots in the official return envelopes in the Post Office Box by designated due date will be counted.”

Section 10 - Unit Election Disputes
Unit election disputes shall be decided by the Local Election Committee. All election protests and appeals of any nature must be received by the Local Election Committee no later than seven (7) days after the ballot count at 7:30 p.m. Such protests should be emailed to Local Election Committee counsel Hanan Kolko. Appeals from rulings of the Local Election Committee shall be made to the Local Executive Committee, and must be received by the Local Executive Committee by no later than 7:00 p.m. fourteen (14) days after the ballot count. Such protests should be emailed to the Local Executive Committee, c/o asktheec@nyguild.org.

Section 11 - Campaign Procedures
All candidates must be treated equally by the union regarding the opportunity to campaign. Union and employer resources may not be directly or indirectly used to support the candidacy of any candidate. Union officers and employees may not campaign on time paid for by the union, and members may not campaign on time paid for by the employer. Union members may support the candidate of their choice, and in the exercise of that right, may not be subject to penalty, discipline, or reprisal of any kind by the Guild.

Section 12 - Inspection of Membership Lists
Once within 30 days prior to the mailing of ballots, each candidate has the right to inspect a list containing the names and last known addresses of all Guild-represented members subject to a collective bargaining agreement which covers the employees of the Unit. No candidate may photocopy the list. The list will be maintained at the Guild office in New York, New York. Any candidate wishing to inspect the list must contact Anthony Napoli, Guild Secretary-Treasurer to schedule an appointment. Due to COVID-19, list inspection may, at the union’s discretion, be conducted electronically.

Section 13 - Distribution of Campaign Literature
The Guild will comply with reasonable requests by a candidate to distribute campaign literature at the expense of the candidate. Any candidate who wishes to mail campaign literature must contact Eddie Acosta at Candid Litho. His email address is ea@candidlitho.com and his phone number is 212-431-3800. Payment instructions and terms, prices, and other instructions and requirements will be set and provided by Mr. Acosta. Candidates may also send emails to the personal email addresses which the Guild has. The vendor for this service is AMFAX Corporation. The contact person there is John Petallides. You can reach him at 212-785- 5900 or 917-806-3456. His email address is jp@amfax.com. Please contact him directly for payment instructions and terms and other instructions. If either vendor is unwilling or unable to provide mailing services, the Local Election Committee shall arrange for an alternate vendor.

Section 14 - Observers
Each candidate is entitled to have observers present when ballots are stuffed and mailed, picked up and counted. A candidate may act as their own observer. To the extent possible, in light of COVID-19, the union may provide for remote observation.

Section 15 - Preservation of Records
The Guild will preserve records of all Unit elections for one year.

Section 16 - Notification of Membership
The Guild will notify the Unit membership of the results of their Unit election in its Unit newsletter and on its website.

Section 17 - Retention of AAA or Neutral Organization
The Committee may retain the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) or another neutral organization with experience in conducting elections to help with the mailing and counting of Unit election ballots.

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