ELECTIONS COMING IN JANUARY 2011
1. Elections and Shop Stewards:The term for a shop steward who was duly elected by their co-workers is 2 years.
Shop stewards who were appointed throughout the year by the Vancouver Local Executive need to run in the next election to be held sometime in January 2011. A date will be announced by the Balloting Committee.
In either case, if you are unsure if your term is up, please call the Hall. The staff has this information readily available.
2. Elections and your status as member in good standing (MIGS).
You must be a member in good standing to exercise your right to vote. A member in good standing is any person who has signed a membership card and who is not 3 or more months in arrears. Therefore, if you have been off on any type of leave and are currently paying dues arrears, you may not be a member in good standing.
If you fall into this category and believe you are close to being paid back (within 3 or 4 months) please call the Secretary-Treasurer, Andy Henderson. He can then verify with National and have your standing made good, if applicable, so that you may exercise your right to vote in the upcoming Vancouver election.
If you have been on any type of leave and did not pay dues for 3 or more months, you may still find yourself classified as a non-MIGS even if you have paid back all of your dues by arrears. The return to MIGS is not automatic. The Constitution, Article 1.10, states that a member must ask the Local to reinstate their MIGS status.
Due to the size of the Vancouver Local and the number of members on leave, we have asked National to automatically reinstate our members when they are paid up. For the most part, this is done. However, some members get missed as there are only two persons at National to deal with 52,000 members’ status.
All these changes must be done prior to the election as National office is 3 hours ahead of us. At the time we are counting votes National office is closed and verification is not possible. Your vote will not count.
On a final note, any member who had a problem voting at last year’s elections may also contact Andy to ensure that the situation has been rectified.
3. Rand Members
Rand members are employees who have not yet signed a membership card. This can create some confusion as union dues are deducted from all employees. Therefore, some employees believe they must be members. This is not the case. You must sign a membership card to be a member.
All persons working in the CUPW bargaining unit pay dues. After all, they receive all of the same benefits achieved by collective bargaining that members do.
It is actually a requirement of the Collective Agreement that any new employee become a member of the union, Article 4.07; Article 44.31.
In Solidarity,
Andy Henderson
Secretary-Treasurer
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