Bylaws
Bylaws
BYLAWS
Denver Newspaper Guild
TNG-CWA LOCAL 37074
Bylaws of the Denver Newspaper Guild, as amended July 12, 2010.
The Denver Newspaper Guild shall be governed by the Constitution of the Communications Workers of America (CWA), policies adopted at CWA International Convention, the Constitution of The Newspaper Guild Sector of CWA (TNG-CWA) as amended, and the following Local Bylaws which are supplementary thereto:
Section 1. The membership meeting of the Local shall be the supreme authority of the Local.
Section 2. Between general membership meetings of the Local, its governing body shall be the Representative Council. Between Representative Council meetings, the Executive Committee shall make decisions and take action on behalf of the membership, or direct the Administrative Staff to do so. However, the Representative Council or Executive Committee shall make no decision permanently establishing general policies of the Local.
ARTICLE II – MEMBERSHIP MEETING
Section 1. Regular meetings of the membership shall be held quarterly. The annual meeting shall be held in January, with other membership meetings in April, July, and October. At the October membership meeting, nominations for officers of the Local will be received.
Section 2. The Secretary or Administrative Staff shall give not less than five days notice to the membership in advance of every membership meeting, except that in an emergency, the President or, by majority vote, the Representative Council may call a special membership meeting on two days notice. Notice shall consist of a posting on Guild bulletin boards and on the local’s website. No motion to reverse or review previous decisions of the membership or Representative Council shall be acted upon unless it is contained in the notice of the meeting. The Secretary or Administrative Staff shall include in the meeting notice any motion from ten or more members in good standing of an intention to move for such review or reversal.
Section 3. A special membership meeting shall be called by the Secretary or Administrative Staff on instructions of the Representative Council, on a written petition signed by not fewer than ten members in good standing at the time of the filing of the petition, or on a request from a Unit Chair or the President.
ARTICLE III – REPRESENTATIVE COUNCIL
Section 1. The Representative Council shall have general direction of all Local Officers and staff.
Section 2. The Representative Council shall consist of 17 members. Its members shall include: (a) The President, First Vice-President, Second Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer of the Local. (b) Twelve (12) Members elected from the units at their annual meetings. The number of representatives from each unit within the group of twelve shall be proportionate to the number of active members each unit has as of January 1, of each year, according to official records of the Local. Every unit shall be entitled to at least one representative. In the event a unit is added after January 1, the Representative Council shall make an interim determination regarding how to ensure the new unit has at least one representative on the Council until the next Annual Meeting.
Section 3. The Representative Council shall meet every month, the time and place of such meetings to be designated by the President.
Section 4. Special meetings of the Representative Council shall be called by the President, by the Secretary, or by the Administrative Staff upon written request of three of the members of the Representative Council or on petition of ten members of the Local.
Section 5. The Representative Council shall supervise the handling of all Local funds except for payments of strictly routine nature and subject to approval of the Local membership. Checks shall be valid when signed by two Local Officers or a Local Officer and a staff member who have been authorized as signers of the account by the Representative Council.
Section 6. Any member of the Local may attend Representative Council meetings, except that the President is empowered to decide whether such members may take part in the discussions of the Council.
ARTICLE IV – DUTIES OF OFFICERS
Section 1. The Executive Committee of the Local shall be the President, First Vice-President, Second Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer.
Section 2. The President shall preside at all membership meetings and at meetings of the Representative Council, appoint all Local committees except an election committee, subject to the approval of the Representative Council, and shall supervise other officers in the exercise of their respective duties.
Section 3. The First Vice-President shall perform the duties of the President in the absence of that officer.
Section 4. The Second Vice-President shall perform the duties of the President or the First Vice-President in the absence of these officers.
Section 5. The Secretary shall keep accurate minutes of membership meetings and meetings of the Representative Council.
Section 6. The Treasurer shall be the custodian of all funds of the Local under the direction of the Representative Council. Day-to-day functions of the Treasurer may be assigned to the Administrative Staff. No authorization shall be required for routine expenditures, or routine transmission of International funds to TNG. The Treasurer shall cause a report on the Local’s finances to be given at all regular meetings of the Local and whenever called upon by the Representative Council .
Section 1. The paid staff shall be appointed by the Representative Council with the advice and consent of the membership. An agreement defining conditions of employment, salary, fringe benefits, duration of the Agreement and conditions under which the Agreement may be suspended, shall be executed within one month after the appointment.
Section 2. The paid staff always shall be subject to the direction of the Representative Council and Officers of the Local. Staff shall meet with the Representative Council regularly or upon its request.
Section 3. The Administrative Staff may be assigned to be custodian of the Local’s records, to conduct the correspondence of the Local and discharge those duties directed by the Representative Council. As assigned by the Representative Council, the Administrative Staff may be a member of all committees except the Council and shall supervise the conduct of all contract negotiations and grievances in accordance with policy determined by the Representative Council or the Membership. In all matters of Union policy not clearly defined through past practice or established precedent, Administrative Staff shall refer all questions to the Executive Committee, Representative Council, or, when applicable, the Unit Chair, or the membership for final decision. The Administrative Staff shall maintain an accurate membership list of the Local, including mailing addresses. Such mailing lists shall be the sole property of the Local and shall not be available to any affiliate of the Local or outside organization except upon specific instructions of the Representative Council or the membership. The Administrative Staff shall maintain the Local’s office. The Administrative Staff shall keep accurate records of the membership dues. The Administrative Staff shall supervise the routine financial operations of the Local.
Section 1. Officers of the Local, shall, in the event of a contest, be elected annually by secret ballot.
Section 2. Nominations shall be received for the office of President, First Vice-President, Second Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer at the October membership meeting. The Secretary or Administrative Staff shall assure posting on all unit bulletin boards the names of persons nominated and notification that additional nominations may be submitted within thirty days of the October membership meeting on signed petition of at least ten members in good standing. Every person nominated for Local office shall signify in writing within fourteen days of the close of nominations, his or her willingness to serve if elected. Such certification shall be submitted to the Secretary or Administrative Staff. If such certification is not received, the name of the person nominated shall not be placed on the ballot. In the event of the withdrawal of all candidates for a post before the election, the post shall be filled by nomination from the floor and election at the annual meeting.
Section 3. At the October membership meeting, an Election Committee shall be formed. The committee shall serve for one year. The size of the committee shall be established by the membership present, but shall not be less than three. Volunteers or nominations to serve on the committee shall be taken from the floor. If the number of members who volunteer or are nominated is greater than the number of positions established, members present shall vote on the candidates. Those receiving the greatest number of votes shall be the committee.
The Election Committee shall establish the dates, times, locations and methods for voting. The election shall be conducted in compliance with federal law, TNG Constitution, these bylaws, and any local election rules established by the Representative Council or the membership. Write-in votes shall not be permitted. The Election Committee may establish a process for absentee voting.
Section 4. The election of officers shall be conducted by secret ballot. Ballot boxes shall be open for the deposit of ballots for a reasonable length of time in an adequate number of locations to provide a majority of members with a convenient opportunity to vote. The voting period shall not be less than one day or more than three days.
In the event there are more than two candidates, the candidate receiving the highest number of votes shall be the winner. In the event of a tie for first place, the winner shall be elected at the annual meeting.
Section 5. All officers shall take office at the annual meeting and shall hold office until the next annual meeting.
Section 6. Vacancies in the post of Local officers shall be filled by the Representative Council, but the members so designated shall hold office only until the next membership meeting of the Local, when a successor or successors shall be nominated from the floor and elected by secret ballot vote of members present.
However, in the event that the interval between the onset of the vacancy and the designated time for annual nominations is three months or less, such action shall be deferred until the annual election.
Section 7. Delegates and alternates to the TNG Sector Conference and Convention of CWA shall be nominated and elected in accordance with TNG/CWA constitution and bylaws. The number of delegates and payment of per diem and/or lost time by the Local shall be decided by the Representative Council taking into consideration the financial condition of the Local.
The method for election or appointment of delegates to meetings of other councils and organizations shall be determined by the Representative Council or the membership.
Section 1. Each Unit shall elect annually in January the unit officers. Unit officers shall be the Chair, Vice-Chair and Unit Secretary.
Section 2. Unit election disputes shall be decided by the Representative Council.
Section 3. Unit meetings shall be held at least quarterly. They also may be called by the Representative Council or any Unit Officer and shall be called by the Unit Secretary on petition of seven Unit members in good standing.
ARTICLE VIII – COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
Section 1. Negotiators in collective bargaining on behalf of the Local or any of its Units shall be appointed by the Chair of the Unit(s) involved and approved by the Representative Council.
Section 2. Any agreement arrived at in collective bargaining negotiations shall be submitted to the members concerned for approval. Before it is signed, it shall also require approval by the Representative Council and the TNG Contracts Committee.
Section 1. Monthly dues shall be no less than the Minimum Dues Schedule set forth in the TNG Constitution. The Local may assess dues amounts greater than the TNG Minimum Dues Schedule to comply with other TNG or CWA financial requirements, or for other purposes approved by the membership.
Section 2. The rates of monthly dues may be changed by majority vote of the members in good standing at a regular or special meeting provided that notice of the proposed dues change is included in the properly posted meeting notices.
Section 1. These Bylaws may be amended by any membership meeting upon submission of the proposed amendment by the Representative Council on its own motion or by petition signed by not fewer than five per cent of the members in good standing. Notice of a proposed amendment shall be posted on all Guild boards. A secret ballot on such proposed amendment shall be held at the next membership meeting after the membership meeting at which such proposed amendment is presented. Open discussion shall precede the secret ballot.
These Bylaws shall be interpreted by the Representative Council subject to appeal to the membership.
Nothing in these Bylaws shall be deemed to conflict with or take precedence over provisions of the currently effective CWA and TNG-CWA Constitutions except that in purely local matters the Denver Newspaper Guild reserves jurisdiction unto itself wherever TNG-CWA is silent.