ARTICLE I. NAME, AFFILIATIONS AND ORGANIZATION.

Section 1. Name. This organization shall be known as University Council-American Federation of Teachers, Local 1966, or UC-AFT Local 1966.

Section 2. Affiliations. This local shall be affiliated with the University Council-American Federation of Teachers (UC-AFT) and thereby with all organizations with which UC-AFT is affiliated.

Section 3. Executive Board. The Executive Board shall be composed of the officers of UC-AFT Local 1966, which shall make rules, adopt policies, and execute such actions as it deems necessary in consultation with the membership as set forth in this Constitution.

ARTICLE II. OBJECTIVES

The goals of this local shall be to pursue and implement, at UC Riverside, the goals of UC-AFT as set forth in Article II of the UC-AFT Constitution.

ARTICLE III. MEMBERSHIP AND REPRESENTATION

Each member in good standing shall be entitled to cast one vote on election of local officers and other matters. A member in good standing is defined as a member currently paying dues through payroll deduction, or a member on unpaid leave for one academic quarter or less with advance written notice (email notice is sufficient) to the local president and/or field representative.

ARTICLE IV. DUES AND PER CAPITA TAX

Dues shall be in accordance with those established by the UC-AFT Council, as set forth in the UC-AFT Constitution Article IV.

ARTICLE V. OFFICERS

Section 1. Officers. The officers of UC-AFT Local 1966 shall consist of President, Grievance Steward, Vice-President for Communications, Vice-President for Organizing, Secretary, and Treasurer. No person shall occupy more than one office in the Council. However, when a given position is vacant, the President may temporarily assign another officer, member, or field representative to perform the duties of that office. The term of office shall be one year.

Section 2. Term of office. Officers shall assume office on July 1 and serve for two years. The terms of the President, Grievance Steward, and Secretary shall commence in odd years. The terms of the Vice President for Communications, Vice President for Organizing, and Treasurer shall commence in even years.

Section 3. Vacancy. In the event that any officer resigns, the Executive Board may appoint a replacement by majority vote. If the Executive Board cannot agree on an interim President, the vacancy in the office of President shall be filled by the Grievance Steward until a new president can be selected. The replacement shall serve until the next election. At that time nominations shall be solicited for candidates to fill the balance of the unexpired term of the vacancy.

Section 4. Removal. An officer may be removed either by vote of 2/3 of the officers currently serving on the Executive Board, or by vote of the membership. In either case, there must be an allegation and reasonable evidence of gross dereliction of duty.

Section 5. Nomination of officers.

(a) Nominations may be made by any person who has been a member of his/her local for at least one academic quarter before making a nomination. Any employee who has been a member of his/her local for at least one academic quarter before the nomination may be nominated. A member who meets the above conditions may nominate himself/herself. Such notice shall be in writing (email is sufficient) to the person designated by the President to receive them.

(b) Nomination notice and meeting. At least 10 days prior to the nomination meeting, notice shall go to all members that nominations will be open and that candidates will be determined at the nomination meeting, with date and place announced in said notice. If no nominations for an office have been made prior to the meeting, nominations may be made at the nomination meeting.

(c) Acceptance of nomination. Nominators are urged to obtain a verbal acceptance of the nominee prior to making the nomination. Nominations must be accepted either in writing (email is sufficient) prior to the nomination meeting, or at the meeting itself.

(d) Uncontested nominations. If, by the end of the nomination meeting, no more than one candidate is nominated for any one position, election need not be held on that position. New officers under this rule shall be announced to the membership by website posting and e-mail as soon as possible after the nomination meeting.

Section 6. Election of Officers

(a) Procedure. Elections shall be conducted by mail, by secret ballot. Notice and ballots shall be mailed to all members in good standing as soon as possible after the nomination meeting, with at least 30 days between date of mailing of notice and ballots and date ballots are declared due to be returned to an address designated on the ballot envelope.

(b) Candidates' rights. Each candidate may submit a statement to be posted on the UC-AFT Local 1966 website prior to the election, may inspect the union's membership list at any time during this 30 day period with reasonable notice to the field representative, and may designate a representative to observe counting of the ballots.

(c) Results. Election results shall be announced to the membership by website posting and e-mail as soon as possible after ballots are counted.

ARTICLE VI. DUTIES OF OFFICERS.

Section 1. The President.

(a) The President is the chief executive officer of the local and shall have the responsibility to administer all the affairs and implement policies of the local, as determined by the Executive Board, and to direct staff. The President shall ensure that the affairs of the Council are conducted in accordance with this Constitution and with the By-Laws, and shall have the authority to interpret the Constitution and Bylaws, subject to appeal to the Executive Board.

(b) The president shall call meetings, establish meeting agendas, and preside at meetings. However, the President has the authority to delegate the chairing of a given meeting to another member or to staff. "Chairing" of a meeting by a staff designee means facilitating the orderly discussion of agenda items; it does not include voting or interpretation of Constitution and Bylaws.

(c) The President has the power to appoint and remove chairs and members of committees.

Section 2. Grievance Steward. The Grievance Steward shall work with the President and staff to coordinate information about grievances and prescribe appropriate action to the Executive Board.

Section 3. Vice President for Communications. The Vice President for Communications shall maintain the local's website and member email listserves. There shall be one listserve for communication by officers and staff to the entire membership, and a separate listserve to which members may voluntarily subscribe for purposes of more frequent information and informal discussion.

Section 4. Vice President for Organizing. The Vice President for Organizing shall chair the organizing committee, which will conduct membership drives at least once a year. The Vice President for Organizing may also serve as media contact for the local, at the direction of and in consultation with the Executive Board, during such times as it seems advisable for the local to designate a media spokesperson.

Section 5. Secretary. The Secretary shall take minutes at meetings and post the minutes to the local website and/or to the listserve to which members voluntarily subscribe.

Section 6. Treasurer. The Treasurer shall maintain the local's checkbook, reimbursing members for duly authorized expenditures on behalf of the union and keeping proper records which will be available for inspection by the Executive Board. The local Treasurer shall have the authority to discuss and negotiate any budgetary matters with the UC-AFT Secretary/Treasurer.

ARTICLE VII. MEMBERSHIP MEETINGS

The local shall hold at least one membership meeting per academic quarter, at times and places established by the President in consultation with the Executive Board. Such meetings will have established agendas and shall be announced and open to the entire membership. When members of the Executive Board meet informally, reasonable efforts should be made to make interested members aware of the customary times and locations of such meetings. No decisions whereby member voting is required by law or by this Constitution and Bylaws shall be made at meetings which have not been announced to the entire membership. Email notice is sufficient except where otherwise noted herein.

ARTICLE VIII. GENERAL CONDITIONS

Section 1. Committees. The Executive Board may establish such standing or ad hoc committee as deemed useful for the work of the local.

Section 2. Bylaws. The Executive Board may establish bylaws in accordance with this Constitution for the orderly conducting of business.

Section 3. Status and dissolution. This local shall be a non-profit organization. Upon dissolution, remaining funds will be transferred to UC-AFT.

ARTICLE IX. AMENDMENT OF CONSTITUTION AND BYLAWS

This Constitution may be amended by two-thirds vote of members voting after written notice to the membership and secret ballot by mail. Bylaws may be amended by two-thirds vote of the Executive Board. Amendments to the constitution and/or bylaws may be proposed by the Executive Board or by a petition signed by at least ten members in good standing.

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