OBJECTIVES:
- To examine the significance of establishing clear and comprehensive By-Laws.
- To examine your own local By-Laws in order to determine any deficiencies or inconsistencies and to identify necessary amendments.
Section 9(1) of the PSAC Constitution states:
“A Component shall establish By-Laws and policies for its operation and such By-Laws and policies shall be fully consistent with the Constitution of the PSAC and shall in no way contravene its provisions.”
Similarly, UTE By-Law 6, section 4 states:
“Each Local shall adopt By-Laws for the conduct of its affairs consistent with the provisions of the By-Laws and the Constitution.”
As a result, every Local must develop its own set of By-Laws and review them periodically to ensure that as amendments are enacted to the PSAC Constitution and/or UTE By-Laws, Local By-Laws continue to remain consistent and in compliance with these others.
Other than being required to establish Local By-Laws, doing so will prove to be extremely useful in administering a Local.
There are a number of major benefits in establishing clear and comprehensive By-Laws. These include, but are not limited to:
- Provides clear rules for all members;
- Provides guidelines to those empowered to administer the Local;
- Defines areas of jurisdiction and authorities;
- Defines the decision making process;
- Establishes rules around spending and finances;
- Assists in reducing/eliminating internal conflict.
While the subjects or topics that may be included in Local By-Laws are relatively unlimited, there are a number of core matters that should be identified. The UTE By-Laws and Regulations may be used as a guide, but in any event, the items listed below should always be prevalent.
- Index
- Definitions
- Local Structure
- Membership rights
- Election of officers
- Stewards
- Union Meetings
- Filling of vacancies
- Dues
- Finances
- Discipline
- Dissolution
- General Provisions
- Amendment of By-Laws
- Regulations
At the March 2007 Presidents’ Conference, the UTE National By-Laws Committee delivered a presentation to all those in attendance. Following is the presentation.
BY-LAWS COMMITTEE PRESENTATION
MARCH 2007
PRESIDENTS CONFERENCE
PREAMBLE
UTE BY-LAW 7, Section 4: (Now By-Law 6)
- Each Local shall adopt By-laws for the conduct of its affairs consistent with the provisions of these By-laws and the Constitution of the PSAC.
UTE BY‑LAW 19, Section 1: (Now By-Law 17)
- Nothing in these By-Laws shall be construed to conflict with the Constitution of the PSAC.
OBJECTIVES
- To ensure Local By-Laws are in accordance with UTE By-Laws.
- To provide suggestions to achieve consistency within Locals By-Laws.
Duties of RVP:
UTE Regulation 8.1.(2)(j): (Now Regulation 8.3(j))
- Reviews and suggests changes to Local By-Laws.
Local By-Law Review Checklist
- INDEX
- STRUCTURE OF LOCALS
- ELECTION OF OFFICERS
- ELECTION/ SELECTION/ APPOINTMENT OF LOCALS STEWARDS
- VACANCIES
- FINANCIAL ITEMS
- AMENDMENTS
- DISCIPLINE
- DISSOLUTION
- DEFINITIONS
- GENERAL PROVISIONS
- REGULATION
INDEX
Should have index for ease of reference.
By-Laws should be grouped by subject matter: i.e.
- Name
- Purpose
- Membership
- Structure
- Duties
- Elections
- Financial
- General
STRUCTURE OF LOCALS
How many of you have the same structure as this, for their Executive?
- President
- Vice president
- Treasurer
- Secretary/Administrative Assistant
- Chief Shop Steward
What other positions do you have on your Executive?
ELECTION OF OFFICERS
How many Locals have nominations and elections at their AGM?
How many have nominations and elections prior to the AGM, and swear in the officers at the AGM?
How many have nominations prior to the AGM and only elections during the AGM?
Any other variation?
ELECTION/SELECTION/APPOINTMENT OF LOCALS STEWARDS
- How many locals elect stewards?
- How many locals select stewards?
- How many locals appoint stewards?
- Appointments – How is it done?
Does your local have a maximum number of stewards provided for in your By-Laws?
Recommendations:
- Stewards should NOT be elected by the membership. They should be appointed by the local executive.
- Only the Chief Shop Steward should be elected and sitting on the executive of the local.
VACANCIES
- Do your By-Laws have provisions for vacancies?
- Is the provision by election, succession or appointment?
- Is there a timeframe for filling vacancies (i.e. after the vacancy occurs)?
Your By-Laws CANNOT be silent on how vacancies can be filed.
Recommendations:
- Vacancy in the office of President should be succession by the Vice-President (1st).
- Vacancy of other officers should be by election process within a specific timeframe.
- Vacancy not filled by election process, authority may vest with the local executive to appoint.
FINANCIAL ITEMS
- Fiscal period (in By-Laws)
- Auditing of statements (how)
- Handling of property and funds
- Signing Officers
- Expenses – Claims
UTE By-Law 7 (Now By-Law 6) section 8 states there is an obligation to forward to the National Office yearly financial statements of the local.
This should be in the local By-Laws as a duty of the Treasurer.
Recommendations:
- Ensure financial items are in your By-Laws and /or Regulations.
- You are the custodian of the members’ dues.
AMENDMENTS
Do you have provisions for amending your By-Laws?
By-Laws MUST include a provision for the amendment of By-Laws.
Recommendation:
- Provision to amend By-Laws can only be done at an AGM by a two thirds (2/3) majority vote of the members presents.
DISCIPLINE
Must conform to the UTE By-Laws and PSAC Constitution:
- UTE By-Law 11 (Now By-Law 12) and Regulation 26,
- PSAC Constitution Section 25 and Regulation 19.
Does your local have provisions for Recall or allow for Petitions for the removal of officers?
Recommendations:
Must have provisions for discipline in accordance with the PSAC Constitution and UTE By-laws for the purposes of;
- What constitutes discipline,
- Disciplinary procedures.
Those locals who have recall or petition mechanisms for the removal of officers should remove those provisions.
DISSOLUTION
- Your By-Laws MUST have a provision that states :
The Local may be dissolved by a two-thirds (2/3) majority vote of the local membership, by way of a secret ballot supervised by the National Office.
Note:
- All assets of a dissolved local immediately become the property of UTE.
- Members of a dissolved local will be re-allocated to another UTE local by direction of the National President or Executive Council.
DEFINITIONS
Definitions are good. They help to provide clarification of items such as:
Acronyms: PSAC – Public Service Alliance of Canada,
President should be defined as Local President,
National President defined as National President of UTE.
GENERAL PROVISIONS
- Quorum :
For all meetings of your local, i.e. committees, executive meetings, AGM’s and Special Meetings should be outlined in the By-Laws.
Recommendations:
- Committees and Executive Meetings should be 50% of the participants.
- AGM and Special Membership Meetings MUST be defined in the By-Laws.
- By-Laws should include the following statement concerning quorum:
«No business may be legally transacted at a meeting unless the required quorum is present ».
RULES OF ORDER:
The rules of procedure at all meetings of the local shall be according to the UTE Rules of Order adopted by the Executive Council on June 2002 with subsequent amendments.
Items that are not specifically covered by the UTE Rules of Order shall be according to Rules of Order for PSAC meetings adopted by the National Board of Directors of the PSAC on January 24, 1974, with subsequent amendments.
REGULATIONS
By-Laws are the WHAT of the organization.
Regulations are the HOW of the By-Laws.
Examples:
Clarifying how a By-Law is administered such as UTE By-Law 11 (Now By-Law 12) and Regulation 26.
Items not directly linked to By-Laws such as UTE Protocol on Mourning.
END OF PRESENTATION
The establishment of clear and comprehensive By-Laws is essential to the efficient administration of a Local. As we stated earlier, while Local By-Laws must be consistent with the PSAC Constitution and UTE By-Laws, they need not be identical. Each Local is recognized as being unique and has the autonomy to administer its own operations to a large extent in so far as it is not offensive to the Constitution or National By-Laws. As a result, careful thought needs to be given to whether or not there are other matters that should be included in Local By-Laws. Perhaps as well, guidelines or rules may be needed, but should be outlined in a Regulation, rather than a By-Law. Again, a good rule of thumb to follow is that when in doubt,
- a By-Law is usually the WHAT of the union while a Regulation
- is usually the HOW.
And remember, review your By-Laws and Regulations periodically to ensure that they still meet the compliance requirement and equally as important, that they still contribute to the efficient administration of your Local.