ARTICLE 30
Charges and Trials of International Officers
Section 1. Charges against International Officers or International Executive Board Members may be filed in either of these manners:
(a) Upon written affidavit signed by five (5) or more Board Members and filed with the International Secretary-Treasurer.
(b) Upon written affidavit signed by a Local Union member and endorsed by the member's own Local Union and by at least ten (10) additional Local Unions in the International Union, or in the case of charges against an International Executive Board Member, upon written affidavit signed by the Local Union member and endorsed by the member's own Local Union and a majority of the Local Unions within the region from which the International Executive Board Member is elected.
Section 2. In case the charges to be filed are against the International Secretary-Treasurer, they shall be filed with the International President who shall in that case alone perform the duties with reference to the trial procedure.
Section 3. Upon receipt of the charges the International Secretary-Treasurer shall immediately send a copy of the charges by receipted registered or certified mail to the accused and copies to all International Executive Board Members, notifying the accused that s/he has fifteen (15) days to prepare a defense and notifying the International Executive Board Members of a Special International Executive Board Meeting to be called ten (10) days following filing of the charges.
Section 4. Pending the trial, the International Officer or International Executive Board Member accused shall continue to function in her/his elected capacity unless a Special International Executive Board Meeting is convened and votes by a two-thirds (2/3) vote for suspension as otherwise provided in this Constitution.
Section 5. The first order of business at the Special International Executive Board Meeting shall be the setting up of an International Union Trial Committee. This Committee shall be chosen from among present members in good standing who were seated delegates at the preceding International Union Convention, but excluding any such who, at the time of selection of the Trial Committee panel, are officers or employees of the International Union or are members of the International Executive Board. The name of each member qualified as aforesaid for service on the Trial Committee shall be written on a slip of paper on which shall also appear the number and location of the Local Union from which s/he was a delegate, the said slips being all of uniform size and appearance. The said slips of paper shall be deposited in a box by the Secretary-Treasurer in the presence of the International Executive Board and the box shall be sealed and thoroughly shaken. The International Secretary-Treasurer shall then open the container and the member of the International Executive Board selected for that purpose and blindfolded shall draw the names of fifty (50) delegates, one by one. After these names are drawn they shall be read by the International Secretary-Treasurer in the presence of the International Executive Board and each name in succession shall be set opposite a number from one (1) to fifty (50).
Section 6. During the drawing of the names, the accused or her/his personal representative shall have the right to be present, as may the accuser or a representative of the accuser.
Section 7. Immediately following the drawing of the panel, the Trial Committee shall be chosen. The accused and the accuser shall each have the right to strike ten (10) names from the panel. Either may waive the right in whole or in part, striking in such case, less than ten (10) names, but the right of either party to strike ten (10) names shall not be affected by any such waiver by the other. The parties shall proceed alternately in striking names from the panel, beginning with the accused.
Section 8. After these challenges have been made, the first twelve (12) persons whose names remain on the list shall be notified to report to the International Office within five (5) days to proceed with the trial. Local Unions shall also be notified when any of their members' names are drawn for service on the International Trial Committee.
Section 9. Such an order shall be mandatory upon any member of the Union receiving this notice. Should s/he fail to appear, unless her/his absence is excused by a signed affidavit of illness or Local Union emergency, attested to by the Executive Board of the member's Local Union, such a member may be subject to charges in her/his Local Union, and to expulsion.
Section 10. Upon a member's appearance at the International Office, each member of the Trial Committee thus notified shall produce affidavit attesting her/his membership in good standing in her/his Local Union, signed by the Financial Secretary of the Local Union.
Section 11. In case one (1) or more members of the Trial Committee thus notified shall fail to appear for the above reasons or fail to produce such certificate of membership in good standing, the next member of the panel, numbering down from one (1) to fifty (50) shall be notified to report.
Section 12. The International Trial Committee shall go into session immediately upon arrival of the full panel and shall hear the charges brought by the accuser and all the witnesses named for substantiation, and shall hear the defense of the accused and all her/his witnesses for substantiation. The Trial Committee shall decide its own rules of procedure relating to the conduct of the trial and may elect its own Chairperson and Secretary, providing that verbatim minutes of all evidence shall be reported by a court stenographer. The accused and the accuser shall have a right to be represented by counsel.
Section 13. The Trial Committee, upon completion of the hearing on the evidence and arguments, shall go into closed session to determine the verdict and penalty. A two-thirds (2/3) vote shall be required to find the accused guilty. In case the accused is found guilty, the Trial Committee may, by a majority vote, reprimand the accused or it may, by two-thirds (2/3) vote, suspend or remove the accused from office, or suspend or expel her/him from membership in the International Union.
Section 14. In case a Trial Committee finds the accused innocent they may determine the honest or malicious intent of the accuser. If they find the accuser guilty of obvious malice in filing the charges, they may assess a penalty against her/him in accordance with Section 13 of this Article.
Section 15. Charges against an International Officer or International Executive Board Member, concerning her/his own Local Union, shall not be filed according to Local Union trial procedures, but in accordance with the above provisions.