2006 - 2011

United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the

Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry of the United States and Canada

Regular conventions of the United Association shall be held once every five (5) years. The date, time and place for holding the convention shall be set and established by the General Executive Board. The General Secretary-Treasurer shall notify all Local Unions as to the city designated where the convention will be held and the date the convention will open.

The basis of representation of delegates to each convention shall be one (1) delegate for each Local Union, provided that said Local Union shall not have less than twenty (20) members in good standing during the fifth full month immediately preceding the month in which the convention is to be held, and one (1) delegate for each additional one hundred (100) members. A Local Union, whether a Building and Construction Trades Local Union, or a Metal Trades Local Union, or a combination Local Union, having less than twenty (20) members in good standing during the fifth full month immediately preceding the month in which the convention is to be held may combine with the nearest Local Union and if such Local Unions together have not less than twenty (20) members in good standing during the fifth full month immediately preceding the month in which the convention is to be held, they shall be entitled to one (1) delegate together. No Local Union shall be entitled to representation at conventions of the United Association until it has been affiliated at least one (1) year previous to the convention.

For the purpose of determining the number of delegates to which a Local Union is entitled, only those members in good standing during the fifth full month immediately preceding the month in which the convention is to be held will be counted. The cash sheet of each Local Union for the fifth full month immediately preceding the month in which the convention is to be held shall be used to make this determination. All cash sheets shall be filed in the General Office not later than the 15th day of the fourth month prior to the date of the convention.

Each State or Provincial Association, having been organized and recognized by the General Office of the United Association for at least one (1) year prior to the United Association convention, shall be entitled to one (1) delegate. No member shall be eligible to act as a delegate to represent a State or Provincial Association to the International Convention unless he has been a member in good standing of a Local Union within the jurisdiction of said State or Provincial Association for a continuous period of two (2) years previous to his election.

All delegates to the convention shall be elected by secret ballot. Nominations of delegates shall be held by a Local Union at least twenty-five (25) days prior to the election. At least ten (10) days prior to the nomination meeting, notice shall be mailed to the last known address of all members in good standing of the Local Union setting forth

(1) the date and place of the nomination meeting, and stating that delegates to a convention will be nominated at the meeting;

(2) the notice shall also state the date, time and place of the secret ballot election of delegates to the convention; and

(3) the notice should state also that in the event of a tie vote and a runoff election is necessary, then the date, time and place of the runoff shall be so stated. Protests of an election of delegates to the United Association Convention shall be processed under the provisions of Section 125 of this Constitution.

The candidate or candidates receiving the highest number of votes in the delegate election shall be declared the elected delegate or delegates. The candidates receiving the next highest votes shall be the alternates, by descending numerical order, and shall act in case of the inability of any regular delegate to attend the convention.

No member shall be eligible as a delegate or alternate unless he shall have been a good standing member of the Local Union which he is to represent for at least the two (2) continuous years previous to his election and he remains in good standing from the date of his election through the period of the convention.

The duties of weekly salaried elected officers of Local Unions shall also include serving as a delegate to the United Association convention for his Local Union.

Note: The interpretation of this section shall not mean that all weekly salaried elected officers are automatically delegates to the United Association convention if the number of weekly salaried elected officers in a given Local Union exceeds the number of delegates the Local Union is entitled to as defined in Section 12.

The Recording Secretary of each Local Union shall, after the election of a delegate or delegates, immediately forward to the General Secretary- Treasurer upon the official credential form the names, card numbers and addresses of the members elected, and the General Secretary-Treasurer shall submit same to the Credentials Committee of the United Association.

The credentials of delegates and alternates elected shall be filed at the General Office at least ninety (90) days prior to the date on which the convention shall be held.

Each delegate shall be entitled to one (1) vote (this to include State and Provincial Association delegates also).

The General Officers of the United Association as represented by the General President, Assistant General President, General Secretary- Treasurer, members of the General Executive Board, and International Representatives shall have all privileges and rights of a delegate at all International Conventions of the United Association.

The expenses of delegates to the United Association Convention shall be defrayed from the Convention Fund of the United Association upon the following basis: each delegate shall be paid the standard rate of wages in his home town, and an expense allowance for a maximum of one (1) day’s travel to the convention site, for a maximum of one (1) day’s travel from the convention site to his home, and for each day the convention is in session. Each delegate shall also be paid his round trip transportation based on regular coach air fare from the city where his home Local Union is located to the convention site by the shortest route. The expense allowance shall be $150.00 per day. In the event any portion of the expense allowance or transportation allowance is not expended it shall be considered as compensation. Wages in this section shall include the basic hourly wage rate established by the collective bargaining agreement of the delegate’s Local Union and, also, contributions an employer is required to make by such agreement to health and welfare and pension funds and supplementary unemployment funds. Vacation contributions an employer is required to make that are not included within the basic hourly wage rate, are also considered wages. Apprentice and Industry Fund contributions shall not be considered wages within the meaning of this section.

Within a month prior to the date upon which a convention is to convene, the General Secretary-Treasurer shall cause to have a sufficient amount of money paid in advance to delegates, which amount of money will be charged as delegates’ expense, and shall be in an approximate amount sufficient to pay the expense of the delegate or delegates in accordance with the allowance heretofore specified to the last day of the convention.

An Expense Committee shall be appointed by the General President prior to the convention, whose duty it shall be to estimate and recommend to the convention the proper amount to be allowed each delegate for transportation and each day’s expense in accordance with previous section. If any money shall be due any delegate or delegates according to the report of the committee, as adopted by the convention, said amount shall be advanced by the General Secretary-Treasurer.

(a) All resolutions and amendments submitted for consideration by delegates shall be approved by their Local Union and filed at the General Office at least ninety (90) days prior to the date on which the convention shall be held, and no resolution or amendment otherwise submitted shall be considered by the convention unless by authority of a two-thirds vote of the delegates.

(b) Upon approval by a majority vote in a State or Provincial Association, or other recognized and affiliated United Association bodies, the association or other body shall be entitled to present resolutions to the United Association Convention, and the resolutions shall be signed by the President and Secretary of the State or Provincial Association or other body. Resolutions must be processed through the General Office in the same manner as provided in the preceding paragraph for resolutions submitted by Local Unions.

The General President shall appoint the following standing committees: Committee on Credentials, Committee on Rules and Order, Committee on Laws, Committee on State of Association, Committee on Appeals and Grievances, Committee on Resolutions, Committee on Jurisdiction, Committee on Officers’ Reports, Committee on Convention Expenses, and Committee on Press.

The General President shall appoint a Committee on Credentials at least one (1) week before the meeting of the United Association Convention consisting of eight (8) members or such other number of members as the General President deems in the best interest of the United Association. This committee shall be in session at least twenty-four (24) hours before the time of the convention to receive and act on all credentials. They must be ready to report as soon as the convention is called to order.

At least twenty (20) days before the meeting of the United Association convention, the General President shall appoint a Committee on Laws, to be composed of seven (7) members. To this committee the General Executive Board shall submit such information, data and propositions as shall be deemed necessary to amend and improve the Constitution, By- Laws and General Laws.

The Laws Committee shall meet at the General Office at least one (1) week previous to the convention and shall proceed assiduously to consider all information, data and propositions and they shall submit a report in full on all propositions favorably acted upon and substance of all propositions adversely acted upon to the convention. All amendments submitted during the sessions shall be referred without debate. It shall have leave to sit during session and shall have the right to report at any time during the convention.

The General President, at the hour of 11 a.m., on the second day of each convention of the United Association, shall rap his gavel, regardless of any other matter, and call on the delegates and guests attending the convention to stand in silence for one (1) minute in respect to our deceased brothers.

(a) Ten percent of the total number of Local Unions in good standing may propose the holding of a special convention of the United Association. By a majority vote of the membership of each Local Union, constituting a sufficient number of Local Unions to comprise 10 percent of the Local Unions in good standing, they will adopt a written proposition, not to contain more than five hundred (500) words, setting forth their reasons for such convention. Each Local Union so adopting such a proposition shall forward it to the General Executive Board through the General Secretary-Treasurer of the United Association. Once said proposition has been passed by a majority vote of the requisite 10 percent of Local Unions and forwarded to the General Executive Board, the General Secretary-Treasurer shall immediately forward the said proposition to all Local Unions of the United Association, asking them to take a vote of their Local Union endorsing or rejecting the proposition of holding a convention on a date specified. If within sixty (60) days from the date of sending the above proposition out to the Local Unions, 25 percent of the general membership, by secret ballot, endorse the same, then the General Secretary-Treasurer shall immediately send to all Local Unions the necessary ballot to take a general secret ballot vote on the question, “Will the United Association hold a special convention on the date specified?”

(b) Each Local Union shall vote by secret ballot (yes or no) on the proposition to hold or not to hold a convention on the date specified, and shall immediately make returns of votes cast for and against by the members actually present and voting secretly.

The General Secretary-Treasurer shall compile and publish the returns in the UA Journal, and it shall require a two-thirds majority of all votes cast to carry the proposition, and no proposition to hold a special convention shall be considered adopted if less than 55 percent of the good standing membership vote.

Decisions made by a convention shall not be changed between conventions, except by a referendum vote.

RULES OF ORDER FOR UNITED ASSOCIATION CONVENTION

1. The General President of the United Association (hereinafter the “President”) shall be Chairman of the convention and preserve order and decorum in the proceedings. The President may relinquish the chair at any time to any member, but such a substitution shall not extend beyond conclusion of that day’s session.

2. For each session, the President shall call the convention to order at the appointed hour.

3. After the convention is called to order on the first day, the names of the delegates shall be recorded and absentees noted. One-third of the members elected to the convention shall constitute a quorum to do business. Members and officers of the convention are required to attend each session of the convention except upon a leave of absence granted by the President.

4. All committees and committee members shall be appointed by the President and shall serve at his pleasure. The President may direct any committee or subcommittee of a committee to meet prior to the convention to consider matters referred to such committee.

5. Each committee shall take up any and all matters referred to that committee by the President or by the convention.

6. When a motion is made to refer a particular matter to committee, the President shall determine to which committee the matter shall be referred.

7. Each committee will submit a report to the President on each matter referred to the committee and thereafter each report will be read to the convention by a member of the committee or a person designated by the President without a motion.

8. Except as otherwise provided for by these rules, the order in which questions will be entertained by the convention will be determined by the President. The President will announce each question in turn.

9. Once a question is announced, a member who wishes to address the convention will rise and respectfully address the President. The President shall announce the member by name and then the member may speak. The President shall recognize speakers in the order in which they rose to speak, but when two or more members rise at once, the President will name the member who is to speak first.

10. No two members from the same Local Union shall speak on the same question in succession unless the members from other Local Unions do not wish to address the convention.

11. No member will be allowed to speak more than twice on the same question and unless the convention grants an exception, no member will be allowed to speak for more than five minutes on each question.

12. Each recognized speaker will limit his or her remarks to the merits of the question before the convention and avoid personalities.

13. When a question is being debated, the convention will only entertain motions to adjourn, to recess, to lay the question on the table, to vote on the question, (move the previous question) to amend the question, and to postpone the question indefinitely. If more than one of the above listed motions is made, the motions will be considered in the order set out herein.

14. Motions to amend which involve a subject unrelated to the question before the convention will not be allowed.

15. No debate will be allowed on motions to adjourn, recess, lay on the table, to vote on the question, postpone or take from the table.

16. If a member violates the rules of the convention, the President may call the member to order or any member of the convention may raise a point of order.

17. When a point of order is raised, the speaker will be seated and the President will decide the point of order without debate. The President’s decision may be appealed to the convention upon a motion duly seconded. Debate may be had on any motion for an appeal of the President’s decision. In such a debate, the President may speak in preference to other members.

18. If a point of order is decided in favor of the member called to order, he or she may proceed. If a point of order is decided against a member, he or she will not be allowed to proceed.

19. All motions and points of order will be restated by the President if he deems it necessary.

20. At the conclusion of debate or upon a successful motion to vote on the main question, the President or his designee shall summarize the question. The President shall then ask all in favor of the question to say aye and all opposed to say no.

21. When a question is put, or the President is addressing the convention, all members will be seated.

22. After an expression of the ayes and nos, the President will announce the result of the vote. If the President has doubts about the result he may call for a division of the house. If a member moves immediately for a division of the house and such motion is duly seconded, the President shall put such motion to a vote without debate, and if carried by a majority of the members present voting by voice, the President shall order a division of the house.

23. If a division of the house is called, all those in favor of the question will rise and be counted. After the count is made by the General Secretary-Treasurer, all those opposed will rise and be counted and all those in favor will be seated. The result of the division of the house will then be announced to the convention.

24. A motion to reconsider a vote must be made by a member voting with the prevailing side, and a motion to reconsider must be made within forty-eight (48) hours after the vote was taken or before the adjournment of the convention, whichever occurs first.

25. Except as provided in the following sentence, these rules shall not be altered without twenty-four (24) hours notice of a proposed change and approval by majority vote of all members of the convention. The convention may adopt special rules to supplement these rules at the start of the convention. No rule or order of business shall be suspended except by a vote of at least three-fourths of those present.

26. Unless otherwise specified, all matters will be decided by a majority of those voting. Voting in committees will be on the same basis.

27. Roberts Rules of Order, Current Edition, shall control in all cases not provided for in these rules.

ORDER OF BUSINESS OF THE UNITED ASSOCIATION CONVENTION

1. Call to order by the General President and opening remarks.

2. Announcement of members appointed to Standing Committees.

3. Report of Committee on Credentials.

4. Report of Standing Committees to be made throughout convention as called on by General President.

5. Call convention to order to stand in silence for one minute on the second day of convention at 11 a.m. to respect and honor the memory of our deceased members.

6. Election of Officers may take place on any day during the convention that is decided upon by a majority vote of the delegates present, or may be set by the Committee on Rules and Order for a special order of business at least one session previous to the time specified.

7. Installation of Officers.

8. Adjournment.