NewsGuild Of New York Rules for Nomination and Election to fill Executive Committee position And Notice Of Nominations

November 3, 2020

There will be a nomination meeting held for a vacant Executive Committee position, open to all members in good standing of the NewsGuild of New York . The meeting will be conducted via virtual Zoom meeting on November 10, 2020, from 5:30 p.m. until 6 p.m. Written nominations will be accepted as well under the rules described below. The nomination and election to fill the vacant Executive Committee position shall be conducted in accordance with the Bylaws of the NewsGuild of New York, the Constitution of The NewsGuild, the CWA Constitution, Federal Law, and these rules adopted by the Local Election Committee on November 3, 2020.

Guild members who are in good standing shall be nominated to fill the following vacant positions:

Officers to be elected:
One Executive Committee position

Nominations will be held via Zoom membership meeting from 5:30 p.m. - 6 p.m. on Tuesday, November 10, 2020 via the following Zoom link:

Topic: NewsGuild of New York Local Executive Committee Nomination Meeting

Time: November 10, 2020 at 5:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

 

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Section 1 - Officers to be Elected:
Executive Committee member (1)

Section 2 - Election Date:
In the event of a contest, an election shall be held among members of the NewsGuild of New York , with results to be tallied on January 15, 2021. The following positions shall be voted upon:

Executive Committee member (1)

Section 3 - Term of Office:
The member shall be elected to fulfill the remainder of the current term, which ends January 2, 2023.

Section 4 - Nominations:

(a) A virtual Zoom nominations meeting will be held on November 10, 2020. Notice of the date, time, and location of that meeting is contained in this email to the NewsGuild of New York membership. Nominations may also be done in writing pursuant to the rules outlined in section 4(c) below.

(b) To be nominated, a member must be in good standing as of November 1, 2020. To be nominated, a member must be nominated by a member who was in good standing as of November 1, 2020. To be nominated, a member’s nomination must receive a second from a member in good standing as of November 1, 2020. Self-nomination is permitted.

 

(c) In addition to the nominations at the meeting, nominations and seconds may be made in writing. Written nominations and seconds must be received by the Guild by no earlier than 2:00 p.m. on November 10, 2020 and by no later than 11:59 p.m. November 13, , 2020. Only the following delivery methods will be accepted: email. Nominations and seconds delivered by email must be emailed to Secretary-Treasurer Anthony Napoli at treasurer@nyguild.org

 

(d) For all nominations, the nominator or her designee must provide the Local Secretary-Treasurer with an email address and telephone number where the nominated candidate can be reached and do so by no later than 11:59 p.m. November 13, 2020

 

(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 11:59 p.m. November 14, 2020 Confirmation must be emailed to Secretary-Treasurer Anthony Napoli.

 

(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 shall be supervised by the Local Election Committee. No candidate for 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 December 15, 2020.

 

Section 7 - The Ballot

1. 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.
2. In designing the ballot, the Local Election Committee will place candidate names in alphabetical order.

 

 

Section 8 - Voter Eligibility
All members in good standing as of November 1, 2020, may vote in the 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 some other neutral entity with experience in conducting elections,, under the supervision of the Local Election Committee, shall mail ballot packages to all members by no later than December 15, 2020. For a ballot to be counted, a voter must mail the ballot back, in conformity with the voting instructions, so that it is received at the AAA or neutral entity Post Office Box by no later than 10:00 a.m. on January 15, 2021.

 

(c) The ballots shall be collected at the Post Office box by 10:00 a.m. on January 15, 2021. At least one representative of the Election Committee, and interested candidates and/or their observers may accompany the AAA or neutral entity’s personnel when they empty 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 neutral entity 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.

 

(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. 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). No ballots returned in an unsigned outer envelope will be counted. Only ballots in the official return envelopes in the Post Office Box by designated due date will be counted.”

 

Section 10 - Election Disputes: 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 at hkolko@cwsny.com. 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 assistant@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. 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 at treasurer@nyguild.org 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 will not provide services, please advise Local Election Committee counsel at hkolko@cwsny.com.

 

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 elections for one year.

 

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

 

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