The short answer is YES. Please see the notice about ballot secrecy below:

TO:  MEMBERS OF THE NEWSGUILD OF NEW YORK

FROM:  THE LOCAL ELECTION COMMITTEE

DATE: AUGUST 2, 2022

REGARDING:  REFERENDUM BALLOT PACKAGES

By now, you should have received a referendum ballot package.  Those packages were mailed out to members on July 28, 2022.  We understand that some members have asked about the privacy sleeve which was part of the ballot package.  The sleeve is precut and not sealable, and people have wondered whether this means that their ballots will not be secret. 

The fact that the sleeve is precut and not sealable does not affect the secrecy of anyone’s ballot.   To appreciate this, we want to explain to you how the ballot count process works.  The ballots are counted by employees of GES, a company the union has hired to mail and count the ballots, under the supervision of the Local Election Committee.  To count the ballots, GES employees first register each envelope to check for eligibility and ensure only one ballot per voter is counted. Then they use automatic envelope openers  to cut open the outer envelopes received from eligible voters.  They then separate the inner sleeves from the outer envelopes, putting them into two separate piles­--a pile of outer envelopes and a pile of inner sleeves.  Once the GES employees have done that separation process,  the outer envelopes with voter identification are removed from the tabulation tables and sealed in containers.  The ballots stay in the sleeves until all ballots have been removed from the outer envelopes.  The ballots are then removed from the sleeves, unfolded and separated into 2 piles - Yes/No.  Because no ballot is counted or even looked at until the outer envelopes are separated from the inner sleeves, it is impossible to determine how any member voted.  Thus, the fact that the inner sleeve is pre-cut and not sealable does not in any way compromise the secrecy of a member’s ballot. 

The U.S. Department of Labor, which oversees union officer elections, allows the type of sleeve used in the referendum ballot package.  The type of inner sleeve used in this referendum  has been used in a number of other union and public office  elections.

Thus, the bottom line is this:  Guild members can have complete confidence that they will be casting a secret ballot, and that no one will be able to know how they voted.  

If you have not received a ballot by August 5, 2022, please contact Global Election Services by phone at: 877-455-
9367 or by email at: helpdesk@voteges.com no later than 12 noon Eastern Time on August 17, 2022. Be prepared to provide your name, Member ID or official/current address, and a callback phone number.  

If you make a mistake on your ballot, you may use “white-out” or completely cross out the voting error and correctly mark and indicate your corrected choice. DO NOT place your name or initials next to the corrected choice. In addition, you may contact Global Election Services by phone at: 877-455-9367 or by email at: helpdesk@voteges.com no later than 12 noon Eastern Time on August 17, 2022. Each member must call personally and provide their name, Member ID and a callback phone number. If you cannot locate your Member ID, call the Local at 212-575-1580 or email Tim Try at the Guild's membership office. Do Not call the Local office for ballot requests.

Yes! Call Global Election Services by phone at: 877-455-9367 or by email at: helpdesk@voteges.com no later than 12 noon Eastern Time on August 17, 2022. You'll need to provide your name, Member ID or official/permanent address, and a callback number. ]

If you don't know your Member ID or what address is on file with the Guild, you can call the Local at 212-575-1580 or email Tim Try at the Guild's membership office. Do Not call the Local office for ballot requests.

• Orient our bylaws to more clearly support the building of rank-and-file power
• Establish roles and responsibilities for elected officers, unit councils and individual members, all of which will ensure that we are best able to organize and exercise our power, as a Local and as individual units
• Create more flexibility and allow us to operate more efficiently at our current scale
• Implement changes mandated by our parent union,TNG-CWA

Absolutely. The Local's Executive Committee recently committed to change "sexual preference" to "sexual orientation" in Article !!, section 2 (below) this fall during the Local elections, which is the next time we'll have a Local-wide mailing.  

Individuals admitted to membership shall not discriminate against any fellow member because of their age, sex, race, ethnicity, national origin, religious or political conviction, marital or parental status, sexual orientation preference, gender identity or expression, physical or mental ability, military service, or anything they write or otherwise create for publication 

• Memorializing past practices so everyone eligible can have a voice in our union 
• Making our bylaws in compliance with TNG-CWA, by updating the language to reflect  our long-standing practice that members of units who have organized but who do not yet have a ratified first contract participate in our union democracy. 
• Updating size and structures of our leadership bodies 
• Create minimum guidelines for unit councils
• Flexibility in elections of non-officer leadership positions 
• Changes to keep the Executive Committee to a manageable size, while ensuring all shops are represented
• Improve transparency and engagement in our leadership structures
• Clearly defined roles and expectations for officers and leaders at all levels (local-wide, unit-wide) 
• Foster leadership participation on unit councils and executive committee

Guild members who have signed a card and are currently working in a certified bargaining unit as of July 18, 2022, are eligible to vote. This simply means that you have signed a membership card, are paid up on your dues (if you have a contract), and are currently working in a NYGuild-represented unit. As per the Rules for the 2022 Bylaws Referendum if you’re not yet paying dues because you’re still negotiating your first contract, as long as you meet the other two criteria, you’re eligible to vote.

Based upon our historical practice, members in units who are certified but not yet paying dues (also known as Organizing Members) are eligible to participate in Local elections, referendum and other democratic processes of our union. This practice comes from the belief that once a unit is certified and elects a unit council, they fully take on being a Guild shop and with that the responsibilities and ownership of contributing to our Local. 

Article XIV Section 1(c) of the TNG Constitution states "the rights, if any, of Organizing Members with regard to Local elections, governance and activities shall be granted in accordance with historical practices and Local bylaws." This referendum in part memorializes the current right of Organizing Members to participate in our union democracy.

• Memorializing that members of new units (aka Organizing Members) currently have the right to participate in our union democracy, including voting in Local elections and referendums 
• Clear anti-discrimination language
• Quarterly Local-wide membership meetings

• Clearly defining the role of unit councils and unit officers, to ensure we are best able to organize members and exercise the power of our units
• Allowing more flexibility to expand and adjust unit council to reflect changes in the unit's work and demographics.
• Addressing concerns that some unit councils do not have enough members to represent their unit by establishing a minimum unit council size, based on a ratio. 
• The number of seats recommended is a floor, not a maximum which means that unit councils can grow along with the unit itself

• Making Treasurer a full-time role, rather than part-time, ensuring we can effectively manage the finances of our growing Local
• Making a new Local-wide Secretary position to handle internal communications
• Reducing the number of "at large" elected Vice Chairs on the Executive Committee, making the number of committee members manageable as more new units organize
• Allowing Unit Vice Chairs to attend and vote at Executive Committee meetings in the absence of the Unit Chair, in order to bolster participation and ensure all shops are represented

Streamlining the process for unit council elections, allowing for votes by email or in person. In smaller shops, allowing unit officer elections to be conducted by secret ballot run by the Local, rather than by costly contract with a third party, provided no candidate objects

• Adding strong anti-discrimination language that makes clear that any form of discrimination by one member against another will not be tolerated
• Prohibiting members from divulging the confidential business of Local to non-members, i.e. management, while protecting the rights of members to free speech and dissent

The vote will be conducted by mail ballot. Ballots will be mailed to all eligible members on July 28, 2022. Ballots must be returned by 9 a.m. August 24, 2022. This allows ample time for all members to ask questions to the Executive Committee and Unit Council members before voting.

If you do not receive your ballot or need a replacement, you may contact Global Election Services (Phone: 1-877-455-9367, E-mail: helpdesk@voteges.com) after July 28. Replacement ballots must be requested by August 17, 2022. In order to pass, the referendum needs simple majority support from voting members. The Guild will inform members of the results immediately after the vote is tallied.

If passed, some changes will be in effect upon ratification, some on September 1, 2022 for the upcoming 2022 Unit Council and Executive Committee elections. Minimums for the size of Unit Councils go into effect for the 2025 elections.

If this referendum vote does not pass, the bylaw changes will not go into effect. Which means that in January 2023 Organizing Members will lose their right to participate in our Local's democratic processes, we will not have full-time Treasurer to manage our finances, the clarifying guidelines for unit and local governing structures will not go into effect, and some aspects of our bylaws will not be in compliance with the TNG-CWA Constitution. 

• Contact your unit chair or an EC member
• asktheec@nyguild.org