Rules for Nomination and Election of Local Officers and Executive Committee Members - NewsGuild Of New York, Local 31003, The NewsGuild-CWA, AFL-CIO CLC

08/08/2019

ADOPTED BY THE NEWSGUILD OF NEW YORK LOCAL ELECTION COMMITTEE, August 8, 2019


The nomination and election to fill the positions of President, Secretary-Treasurer, Local Chairperson, First Vice President, Second Vice President, Third Vice President,  and sixteen Executive Committee members of the NewsGuild of New York, Local 31003, The NewsGuild-CWA, AFL-CIO CLC (the “Local” or “Guild”) 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 August 8, 2019. 

SECTION 1: Officers to be elected:  President, Secretary-Treasurer, Local Chairperson, First Vice President, Second Vice President, Third Vice President, and sixteen Executive Committee members of the Local.  

SECTION 2: Election Date: In the event of a contest, an election shall be held entirely by mail among members of the Local, with results to be tallied on November 22, 2019.

SECTION 3: Term of Office: The term of office for the offices of the positions of President, Secretary-Treasurer, Local Chairperson, First Vice President, Second Vice President, Third Vice President, and sixteen Executive Committee members shall be three years, starting on January 2, 2020 and continuing through January 1, 2023.
 .
SECTION 4: Nominations:
(a) A nomination meeting shall be held on September 17, 2019. Notice of the date, time, and location of that meeting shall be posted on the local website, in shop papers e-mailed to the Guild membership for whom the Guild has email addresses, and on the union, bulletin boards at the employers and the Guild’s Twitter feed and Facebook page 15 days before the meeting date.

(b) To be nominated, a member must be in good standing as of August 31, 2019. To be nominated, a member must be nominated by a member who was in good standing as of August 31, 2019 and seconded by a member in good standing as of August 31, 2019. Self-nomination is permitted.

(c) Nominations may be made at the nominations meeting, and in writing. Written nominations must be signed by a nominator who is a member in good standing as of August 31, 2019, and seconded by a member in good standing as of August 31, 2019. Written nominations and seconds must be received by the Guild by no later than October 2, 2019.  Only the following delivery methods for written nominations and seconds will be accepted: by hand, U.S. mail, overnight mail, fax, or email. All written nominations and seconds must be delivered to Local Election Committee Counsel Hanan B. Kolko, 900 Third Avenue, Suite 2100, New York, New York, 10022. The fax number is 212-563-6527.  Nominations and seconds delivered by email must be emailed to hkolko@cwsny.com.  

(d) For all nominations, the nominator or his or her designee must provide Local Election Committee Counsel with an email address and telephone number where the nominated candidate can be reached, and do so by no later than October 2, 2019.

(e) The Local Election Committee 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 noon on October 4, 2019.

(f) If, at the close of the period for nominations, fewer people than two people are nominated for the positions of President, Secretary-Treasurer, Local Chairperson, First Vice President, Second Vice President, Third Vice President, those people shall be declared elected without contest. If, at the close of the period for nominations, 16 or fewer people are nominated for the Executive Committee, those people shall be declared elected without contest.

SECTION 5: Local Election Committee: This election shall be supervised by the Local Election Committee. No candidate for President, Secretary-Treasurer, Local Chairperson, First Vice President, Second Vice President, Third Vice President, or the Executive Committee may serve on the Local Election Committee.

SECTION 6: Election Notice: An election notice and mail ballot will be mailed to all Guild members no later than 21 days before the due date for the return of ballots.

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 a voter will have the choice of voting for individual candidates by marking boxes to the left of each candidate’s name. Slate voting shall be permitted. 

(b) In designing the ballot, the Local Election Committee will place candidate names in a manner chosen by the Local Election Committee consistent with the TNG Constitution, Article XI(5)(d).

SECTION 8: Voter Eligibility: All members in good standing as of September 30, 2019, may vote in this election. Instructions for members not receiving a ballot on how to obtain a duplicate ballot will be provided on the Local’s website. 
 
SECTION 9: Voting Procedure and Ballot Count:
(a) The election will be conducted by mail ballot. Subject to the approval of the Local Executive Committee, the Local Election Committee may retain the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) to help with the mailing and counting of election ballots. If retained, the AAA shall provide services described below. 

(b) The AAA under the supervision of the Local Election Committee, shall mail ballot packages to all members by no later than October 29, 2019. For a ballot to be counted, the voter must mail the ballot back, in conformity with the voting instructions, so that it is received at the AAA Post Office Box by no later than 1:00 p.m. on November 22, 2019.

(c) The ballots shall be collected at the AAA Post Office box by no earlier than 1:00 p.m. on November 22, 2019. At least one representative of the Election Committee, and interested candidates and/or their observers may accompany the AAA personnel when they empty the AAA’s Post Office Box.

(d) AAA, under the supervision of the Local Election Committee, will count 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 tentatively 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 (handwritten 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 1:00 p.m. on November 22, 2019, will be counted.”

SECTION 10: Election Disputes: Disputes regarding this election shall be decided by the Local Election Committee. All election protests and appeals of any nature must be received by the Local Election Committee within ten (10) days of the tentative certification of the results. Such protests should be emailed to Local Election Committee counsel at hkolko@cwsny.com.  The Local Election Committee shall rule on any such challenges and shall within twenty (20) days of the tentative certification of the results make a final determination or certification.  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 within twenty-seven (27) days of the tentative certification of the results. Such protests should be emailed to the Local Executive Committee, c/o hkolko@cwsny.com.

SECTION 11: Campaign Procedures:  All candidates must be treated equally by the Local 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 or photograph 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 Vincent Mallozzi, Guild Secretary-Treasurer, or Local’s Administrative Assistant, at 212-575-1580, to schedule an appointment.

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 Mark Krevitsky at Candid Litho. His email address is mkrevitsky@candidww.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. Krevitsky.  Candidates may also send e-mails 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 e-mail address is jp@amfax.com. Payment instructions and terms, prices, and other instructions and requirements will be set and provided by Mr. Petallides.  

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 her/his own observer.

SECTION 15: Preservation of Records: The Guild will preserve records of this election for one year.

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

Go back

News Archive

Share this story