UAW Constitution - Officers and Elections

ARTICLE 10

Section 1. The elective officers of the International Union shall be one (1) International President, one (1) International Secretary-Treasurer, four (4) International Vice Presidents, who shall be elected by the Convention, and such International Executive Board Members as provided in Section 21 of this Article. In the event of the death, removal, or resignation of any of the four (4) Vice Presidents at any time after July 1, 2010, the International Executive Board shall have the authority to reduce the number of Vice Presidents from four (4) to three (3). The duties of the Vice Presidents shall be to assist the International President.

Section 2. Within the geographical districts as determined by the International Constitution, the International Executive Board Members shall be nominated and elected in the regions as established by the International Executive Board and existing on the actual day any such election commences. Only the delegates from the Local Unions in such regions shall nominate and vote for their International Board Members. Any member in continuous good standing for one (1) year, and who has worked at least ninety (90) working days in a workplace(s) located within the region, whose Local Union is located within the region can be nominated and elected. It shall require a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the International Executive Board to change the composition of any region within a geographical district.

Section 3. The term of office of all elective officers shall be for the period up to the next Convention and the term of office shall begin immediately upon installation. The term of office of the Trustees shall be as provided for in Article 51.

Section 4. Nomination and election of all elective officers and Trustees shall take place in the regular order of business of the Convention and election shall be determined by a majority vote of the delegates voting. Candidates shall be elected to various offices by one (1) roll-call vote. In the election of the Vice Presidents each delegate may vote for up to five (5) candidates. If there are ten (10) or more nominees for the five (5) offices and less than five (5) candidates receive a majority vote, the candidate receiving the lowest number of votes shall be eliminated from the run-off election, and in each successive run-off election the candidate receiving the lowest number of votes shall be eliminated, unless such elimination would result in reducing the number of candidates in nomination to a figure equal to the remaining vacancy or vacancies.

Section 5. All elections of International Officers and International Executive Board Members shall be by roll-call vote. In any election for International President, International Secretary-Treasurer, International Executive Board Member, or International Trustee where there are three (3) or more candidates and, on the first ballot no such candidate receives a majority, there shall be a run-off between the two (2) candidates who received the highest number of votes on the first ballot.

Section 6. No member shall be nominated or elected as an elective officer of the International Union, as set forth in Section 1 of this Article, who has not been in continuous good standing for a period of one (1) year preceding the date of nomination.

Section 7. No member of any Local Union shall be eligible to hold any elective or appointive position in this International Union or any Local Union in this International Union if s/he is a member of or subservient to any political organization, such as the Communist, Fascist or Nazi Organization which owes its allegiance to any government other than the United States or Canada, directly or indirectly.

Section 8. No member of any Local Union shall be eligible to hold any elective or appointive position in the International Union, or any Local Union, if s/he is affirmatively engaged in the promotion, implementation, furtherance, or support of organized workplace rackets, such as numbers, bookmaking, etc.

Section 9. The acceptance of an elective or appointive office or position or of nomination to an elective office or position by any member who is ineligible under Sections 7 or 8 of this Article is an offense against the Union punishable by a penalty up to and including expulsion.

Section 10. When a charge is preferred that a member is violating Section 9 of this Article, it shall be made and the accused member shall be tried according to the appropriate provisions of Articles 30 and 31. Resignation from an elective office or appointive position, or withdrawal of candidacy by any member charged with violation of Section 9 shall not require the dismissal of such charges.

Section 11. Upon conviction of a member by a Trial Committee of a Local Union or by an International Union Trial Committee of violation of Section 9 of this Article, any elective or appointive office or position then held by such member shall be automatically vacated regardless of any other penalty imposed.

Section 12. No member of any Local Union shall be eligible to hold or seek any elective or appointive position in the International Union, or in any Local Union, if s/he affirmatively engaged in: the promotion, implementation, furtherance or support of any other union or collective bargaining group with the purpose or intent of supplanting the International Union, or any subordinate body thereof, as the recognized collective bargaining agent; in efforts to decertify the International Union or any subordinate body thereof as the recognized collective bargaining agent; or aiding or abetting an employer or another Union to thwart organizing efforts by the UAW to become the bargaining agent. If, upon investigation by the International Union, it should appear by convincing evidence that any member is in violation of this Section, the International President, or the International Executive Board, may summarily suspend that member from any office or position, or the right to seek such office or position. Said suspended member shall be promptly notified and, within thirty (30) days of such notification, may appeal the suspension, in which case the member's appeal shall be processed in the same manner as appeals to the International Executive Board from decisions of subordinate bodies under Article 33 of this Constitution; provided that the suspension shall automatically be lifted unless the International Executive Board has rendered its decision within one hundred twenty (120) days of the day the appealing member commences an appeal.

If the suspended member fails to appeal from the suspension within the thirty (30) days allowed, or if the International Executive Board upon review up holds the suspension by a two-thirds (2/3) vote, the member shall be considered removed from any office or position s/he may have held, as well as from the privilege of seeking election or appointment to any office or position, and the member shall not thereafter be eligible to hold any office or position unless and until the removal has been lifted by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the International Executive Board. Any member so suspended, who has taken an appeal to the International Executive Board without having the suspension lifted, may appeal the suspension either to the Public Review Board or the Convention Appeals Committee as provided for in Article 33 of this Constitution. The procedure provided in this Section shall be in addition to, and exclusive of any other action which may be taken against such member.

Section 13. No member removed from office or position by reason of a conviction of any offense enumerated in Section 17 of Article 31 by a Local Union Trial Committee, shall be restored to office or position by reason of a reversal of such conviction by the body, which elected the Trial Committee, until after the lapse of sixty (60) days following such reversal, without a review having been ordered by the International Executive Board.

Section 14. Whenever any member removed from elective office or position by reason of having been convicted of an offense shall have taken an appeal under Article 33, and whenever a review of any such conviction shall have been ordered by the International Executive Board under Section 18 of Article 31, the vacancy in office or position may be filled according to the applicable provisions of Section 14 of Article 38 or Section 15 of this Article, but any successor in such office or position shall hold the office or position subject to the right of restoration of the removed officer upon reversal of her/his conviction, subject to Section 13 of this Article.

Section 15. No member shall be entitled as a matter of right to restoration to any appointive position by reason of acquittal or reversal of a conviction.

Section 16. Incoming elective officers of the International Union shall be obligated and installed immediately after being elected. The obligation shall be the same as that provided for Local Union officers.

Section 17. Unless the International Executive Board exercises the authority to reduce the number of Vice Presidents as described in Article 10, Section 1, in the event of the death, removal or resignation of the International President, International Secretary-Treasurer, or any of the International Vice Presidents, the officer shall be replaced by majority vote of all members of the International Executive Board by a member eligible to be a candidate in accordance with Section 6 of this Article.

In the event of the death, removal or resignation of an International Trustee, the International Executive Board shall elect a replacement to serve until the next regular Constitutional Convention.

Section 18. In the event a vacancy occurs on the International Executive Board because of the death, removal, promotion of a member or other cause, the International Executive Board shall, within thirty (30) days, call a special regional convention for the region which the International Executive Board Member represented. Such vacancy shall be filled by a member elected by the delegates from the Local Unions in the region. In the event of such vacancy occurring within sixty (60) days before a regular Constitutional Convention, no election shall take place and the office shall remain vacant. In any such special regional convention, the delegates from each Local Union who had been elected to the preceding regular Constitutional Convention shall serve as delegates to the Special Convention. Each Local Union shall carry the same total vote as it carried at such previous regular Constitutional Convention.

If there are vacancies in the voting delegation, they shall be filled in the following manner:

(a) By alternates where the same were elected to the preceding Constitutional Convention;

(b) If the number of delegates is insufficient after applying (a), by reapportioning the votes of the Local Union among the remaining delegates to the extent permitted by Section 7 of Article 8;

(c) If the number of delegates is insufficient after applying (a) and (b), by electing additional delegates, these additional delegates to be nominated and elected by secret ballot at successive membership meetings; the required notices for such nomination and election being those set forth in Sections 22 and 24 of Article 8.

Section 19. The International Executive Board shall consist of the International Executive Board Members elected from the regions together with the International President, International Secretary-Treasurer and the International Vice Presidents.

Section 20. Voting strength of International Executive Board Members: (a) Questions coming before the International Executive Board may be decided by unit vote of its members, but any member may demand a roll-call vote on any question.

(b) Each member of the International Executive Board shall have one (1) vote for each one thousand (1,000) members or major fraction thereof represented by the member in her/his region.

(c) Voting strength of each region shall be computed on the basis of average monthly per capita tax payments from each respective region through the period of twelve (12) months commencing thirteen (13) months preceding each quarterly meeting of the International Executive Board. The voting strength of Executive Board Members at special Executive Board Meetings shall be on the basis as at the preceding regular Executive Board Meeting.

(d) The International President, International Secretary-Treasurer and the International Vice Presidents, shall each carry the same number of votes, which shall be equal to the average of the votes cast by the remaining members of the International Executive Board.

(e) Members of the International Executive Board may cast their votes by proxy.

Section 21. The geographical districts and the number of International Executive Board Members for each district of the International Union in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico shall be as listed below.

1. Michigan, Canada.......................Regions 1, 1A, 1C and 1D

2. Ohio....................................................................Region 2B

3 Indiana, Kentucky..................................................Region 3

4. Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Wyoming...................................................................Region 4

5. Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, and Washington..............................................................Region 5

8. Alabama, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Pennsylvania (counties of Adams, Cumberland, Franklin and York), and South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia......................................................................Region 8

9. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania (excluding the counties of Adams, Cumberland, Franklin and York), Rhode Island, and Vermont......................................................Regions 9 and 9A

When an Executive Board Member vacancy occurs in any region, for any reason, and the International Executive Board determines that conditions and factors exist comparable to those which necessitated the decisions in 1984 to combine the regions in the Detroit Area and in 1990 to combine the regions in the Ohio district (that is, Ohio, West Virginia, and those parts of Pennsylvania west of and including the counties of McKean, Cameron, Cambria and Somerset), and further, determines that it is in the overall best interest of the Union, then the region will be combined with one (1) of the other contiguous regions. The remaining Executive Board Member will have jurisdiction over the combined regions.