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2006 - 2011
UA CONSTITUTION

Organized
October 11, 1889
United
Association
of Journeymen
and Apprentices
of the
Plumbing and
Pipe Fitting
Industry of the United States
and Canada
GENERAL OFFICERS AND THEIR DUTIES
SEC. 34.
(a) The officers of the United Association
shall consist of a General President,
Assistant General
President, General Secretary-Treasurer, six
(6) Vice
Presidents, and thirty-four (34)
International
Representatives. They shall be elected for
five (5)
years or until their successors are elected
and
installed, and all officers of the United
Association
shall devote eight (8) hours of their time
each work
day to the business of the United
Association. All fulltime
paid General Officers and International
Representatives shall receive a two (2) week
vacation
annually with full wages.
(b) The General President, upon retirement,
with
the consent and approval of the General
Executive
Board, shall assume the title and position
of General
President Emeritus for life and shall
perform such
duties and undertake such assignments as the
General
President may from time to time request.
SEC. 35.
(a) The General President is authorized to
employ Special Representatives as the
occasion arises,
their compensation to be determined by him.
Special Representatives shall be paid a
weekly
allowance of $900.00 for hotel, meals and
other incidental
expenses and, in the event any portion of
such
allowance is not expended, it shall be
considered as
compensation. In addition, they shall be
reimbursed
for airplane, railroad and other
transportation costs
and such other extraordinary expenses as may
be
incurred in the discharge of their duties.
(b) They shall file an expense account for
all reimbursable
or extraordinary expenses upon forms
furnished
by the General Secretary-Treasurer. Such
expense accounts shall be submitted to and
approved
by the General Executive Board. Special
Representatives shall receive a two (2) week
vacation
annually with full wages.
(c) In employing Special Representatives
pursuant
to this section, the General President may
establish
titles for such personnel that are
descriptive of the
duties to which the personnel are assigned
by the
General President.
SEC. 36.
(a) Recognizing that the General Officers
and Special Representatives of the United
Association
do not work regularly scheduled hours and
receive no
compensation for overtime or premium pay and
also
recognizing that the General Officers and
Special
Representatives are required to pay varying
amounts
for lodging and meals, depending upon the
city to
which they travel, and recognizing that they
must participate
in cultural, civic, political, educational,
charitable,
social and other activities in addition to
their basic
duties as provided by the Constitution and
By-Laws of
the United Association and that such
activities benefit
the United Association, the Local Unions and
the members;
and further, that the time spent in such
activities
is unpredictable and unascertainable, the
General
Officers and Special Representatives are
granted a
weekly allowance, both for in-town and
out-of-town
work, respectively, which, in the case of
out-of-town
work, shall cover hotel and meals and other
incidental
expenses. Such General Officers and Special
Representatives shall not be required to
make a daily,
weekly or other accounting to the United
Association
for such allowance as provided in this
Constitution.
(b) In addition to the allowances set forth
with
respect to each particular General Officer
or Special
Representative, all United Association
General
Officers or Special Representatives or
special
employees shall be reimbursed for all air
travel, railroad
and other transportation costs and such
other
extraordinary expenses incurred by them in
connection
with their activities.
Eligibility
SEC. 37.
Any member of the United Association,
provided he has been a continuous
good-standing
member for not less than three (3) years
prior to election
and who has not reached his 65th birthday by
the
date of nomination, shall be eligible for
any office in
the United Association. Any General Officer
or
International Representative who reaches his
65th
birthday while holding office shall be
allowed to complete
his current term of office.
Election
SEC. 38.
(a) The election of General Officers of the
United Association shall take place at the
quinquennial
convention, an absolute majority of all
votes cast
being necessary for election. Should no
candidate
receive a majority of all votes cast upon
the first ballot,
then there shall be a new ballot taken, and
all candidates
shall be dropped from the list except the
one
who received the highest number of votes and
the one
receiving the next highest number of votes.
All officers
so elected shall take office on January 1,
following.
All candidates running for General Officer
may
have one or more observers (the number to be
determined
by election officials). All observers must
be
delegates or candidates for office at the
convention in
which the election is being held.
Protests Arising During the Election
(b) The procedure for processing protests
pertaining
to the conduct of the election of General
Officers
of the United Association, that are raised
or could
have been raised during the election and
prior to the
certification of the vote, shall be as
follows:
1. Any candidate, observer or delegate may
raise a
protest pertaining to eligibility to vote,
the conduct of
the election, the counting and certifying of
the ballots or
the fairness of the election by, either
verbally or in writing,
raising the protest with the election judge.
The election
judge shall be a member of the Election
Committee
selected by the Committee Chairman. If the
election
judge is unavailable, the protest may be
brought to the
attention of the Election Committee
Chairman.
2. All such protests must be communicated
immediately,
at the time of the occurrence of the conduct
that
is the subject of the protest, or as soon
thereafter as it is
discovered, so as to provide the opportunity
for immediate
resolution. In no event may such a protest
be
raised after the voting results have been
certified at the
conclusion of the tallying of the votes
unless the complainant
can show that the matter was not known and
could not have been reasonably known or
discovered
through the use of an observer during the
election.
3. The complainant shall provide the basis
of his
protest, all information that is relevant to
the subject
matter of the protest and the remedy
requested.
4. The election judge is authorized to
resolve any
protest presented. He may also refer matters
to the
Committee as a whole or a subcommittee
thereof. The
election judge’s, Election Committee’s, or
its
designee’s, decision shall be final and
binding.
5. If the Election Committee determines that
it is
not able to resolve a protest prior to the
certification
of the election, it may refer the protest to
the General
Executive Board for resolution. The voting
results
may be certified notwithstanding the
pendency of any
protest. If a protest is referred to the
General
Executive Board, it shall be considered by
the Board
in accordance with the rules set forth below
under the
post-election protest procedure.
Post-Election Protests
(c) The procedure for processing protests
pertaining
to the election of General Officers of the
United
Association, that are raised after the vote
has been
certified, shall be as follows:
1. Any candidate, delegate or member may
raise a
protest pertaining to the election by
submitting the
protest to the election judge. A protest
must be
received by the election judge no later than
the end of
the afternoon session of the fourth day of
the current
convention. The election judge shall forward
all such
protests to the General Executive Board for
investigation
and resolution. Protests can be submitted
directly
to the election judge or may be addressed to
the judge
and submitted to the UA Convention Office at
the site
of the current convention.
2. All protests shall be in writing and
state the basis
of the protest and shall include all
information in support
of and relevant to the subject matter of the
protest
and the remedy requested.
3. The General Executive Board has the
authority
to reject any protest that could have and
should have
been raised during the election with the
Election
Committee.
4. The General Executive Board may request
additional
information from the complainant, a
candidate,
a delegate or any other pertinent witness;
may conduct
a hearing; may assign a representative to
investigate
the protest; or may take any other action it
deems
necessary to investigate, consider and
respond to the
protest. The General Executive Board may
delegate
all or some of its responsibilities to a
subcommittee or
other designee.
5. The General Executive Board will issue a
written
decision within 90 days from the date the
protest is
received by the election judge. The General
Executive
Board’s decision will be final and binding.
Obligation of General Officers
SEC. 39.
Each General Officer, after being duly
elected at a convention of the United
Association,
shall, in the presence of the delegates of
the convention,
take the following pledge and oath of
obligation:
In the presence of the delegates of the
United
Association of Journeymen and Apprentices
of
the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry of
the
United States and Canada, here assembled
in
convention, I (STATE NAME)___________ do
hereby certify that I am familiar with
the provisions
and requirements of the Constitution and
Ritual of the United Association and I do
hereby
pledge and obligate myself to perform the
duties
and obligations of the office to which I
have been
elected during my official term and
thereafter in the manner and to the
extent specified and intended by the
Constitution and Ritual of the
United Association, and that in the
performance
of my official duties I will require all
members to
comply fully with their duties and
obligations
and will give due consideration to the
rights of
all members without prejudice and without
exception, and I will deliver to my
successor all
books, papers, monies or other property
of the United Association which may
be in my possession at the close of
my official term, all in accordance
with this pledge and obligation taken. I
further pledge that all of my official
acts while
holding this position shall be just and
honorable
and I will work for the success of the
United
Association and the triumph of its
principles.
General Officers Convention Report
SEC. 40.
The General Executive Board with the
General President and General
Secretary-Treasurer
shall make a Convention Report for all the
General
Officers of the United Association. The
International
Representatives shall submit their
recommendations
to the General Office at least three (3)
months prior to
the convention.
Pension Plans
SEC. 41.
(a) The pension and retirement plan
covering
all Officers and Special Representatives
shall be
continued under a trust agreement and plan
approved
by the General Executive Board.
(b) Local Union Officers and Employees—The
General Officers shall establish and
maintain a
National Pension Plan for full-time,
salaried officers
and employees of Local Unions, State and
Provincial
Associations, and District Councils. For the
period
January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2011, the
rates of
contribution to the Plan will be set
periodically by the
Trustees of the Plan covering Local Union
officers and
employees after consulting with the Plan’s
actuary.
The amount of contribution to the Pension
Plan
shall be in addition to the salary presently
being paid
to the full-time officers and employees. The
General
Officers are authorized and empowered to
make the
necessary actuarial study as the basis for
the establishment
of a pension plan and to determine the level
of
pension benefits, rules of eligibility, and
all other
terms and conditions of the pension plan.
The General
Officers are further directed and authorized
to establish
and maintain a Trust Fund, adopt a pension
plan,
and institute all the administrative
procedures necessary
to implement and carry out the establishment
of
a national pension plan for full-time
salaried officers
and employees of Local Unions, State and
Provincial
Associations, and District Councils, as of
January 1,
1967.
Discipline of General Officers
SEC. 42.
If any General Officer of the United
Association is charged by ten percent (10%)
or more
of the UA Local Unions in good standing with
having
violated the Constitution of the United
Association or
his oath of obligation or with being
negligent in his
duties as an officer of the United
Association, the
charges shall be heard by the General
Executive
Board. The members of each Local comprising
the
10% shall have approved the filing of the
charges by
a majority vote of those voting, by secret
ballot, at a
special meeting. The first Local Union
filing the
charges with the General Executive Board
must do so
within sixty (60) days of the discovery of
the offense,
stating with reasonable certainty the nature
of the
offense charged, the time and place of the
occurrence,
the date of discovery, the identities of the
witnesses,
and sections of the UA Constitution
involved.
Thereafter, additional Local Unions will
have sixty
(60) days from the date the initial charges
are filed
with the General Executive Board to adopt
the
charges in accordance with the same
procedures used
by the first Local Union and file the
charges with the
General Executive Board.
A copy of the charges must also be sent by
each of
the charging Locals to the General
Secretary-
Treasurer, who shall verify that the charges
are supported
by ten percent (10%) of the UA’s
good-standing
Local Unions. If the General
Secretary-Treasurer
is an officer charged, the charges should be
sent to the
General President (or most senior General
Officer not
charged), who shall do the same. The charges
will
then be forwarded to the General Executive
Board.
The Board will notify the charged party
(parties)
and the Business Manager of each of the
charging
Local Unions of the date, time and location
of the
hearing. All parties may be represented by
counsel,
who must be good-standing members of the
United
Association.
Within thirty (30) days of the close of the
hearing
or the filing of briefs, if permitted by the
General
Executive Board, the General Executive Board
shall
render its decision which must be supported
by majority
vote. If the General President or a member
of the
General Executive Board is a charged General
Officer, he may not vote or participate in
the hearing
except in his capacity as a charged party.
If the decision of the General Executive
Board is
not guilty, the charges shall be dismissed
and there
shall be no right of appeal.
If the charged officer is found guilty, he
may be
fined, reprimanded, removed from office,
ordered to
make restitution to the United Association,
and/or
expelled from the United Association.
If the decision of the General Executive
Board is
guilty, the General Secretary-Treasurer (or
the
General President or next senior General
Officer if the
Secretary-Treasurer and/or the General
President are
the charged parties) shall immediately send
the decision
to all Local Unions in good standing. Each
Local
Union shall be directed to schedule a vote
on the
question of whether the guilty verdict of
the General
Executive Board should be sustained. The
vote shall
take place at a special meeting no later
than sixty (60)
days from the date of mailing of the General
Executive Board decision.
The verdict in each Local Union must be by
majority
vote of those voting by secret ballot. The
President
and Recording Secretary of each Local Union
will
notify the General Secretary-Treasurer of
the results
of the vote.
If two-thirds (2/3) of the UA Locals in good
standing
vote in favor of sustaining the decision of
the
General Executive Board, and if removal from
office
was one of the penalties imposed, the
general officer
involved will immediately vacate his office
and any
other penalties imposed on him shall become
effective.
The decision of the Local Unions shall then
become final and binding with no further
appeals
available.
The General Executive Board, if it sustains
the
charges against the charged General
Officer(s), may
suspend the officer(s) involved pending the
vote of
the Local Unions. If the Locals do not
sustain the vote
of the General Executive Board, the charged
officer(s)
shall be entitled to back pay and benefits
for the period
of suspension.
Funeral Expenses
SEC. 43.
No funeral expenses of General Officers
shall be paid from the general funds without
the consent
of the Local Unions of the United
Association,
except where an officer or a representative
of the
United Association is taken sick and dies
away from
home in the interests of the United
Association; then
the General Executive Board is empowered and
is
hereby instructed to take charge of the
arrangements
and pay all necessary expenses to place said
officer or
said representative in his home.
Vacancy in
Office
SEC. 44.
(a) The General President shall be
authorized
to fill any vacancy in any of the General
Offices
for the unexpired term of said office with
the approval
of the General Executive Board.
(b) Upon the death, disability or
resignation of the
General President, the Assistant General
President
shall assume the duties of the General
President.
Within five (5) days after the assumption of
the duties
of the office of General President, the
Assistant
General President shall call and convene the
General
Executive Board to elect, by secret ballot,
a successor
to the office of General President for the
balance of
the unexpired term.
Salary
Adjustments
SEC. 45.
Notwithstanding other provisions contained
in this Constitution, the General President
and
the General Secretary-Treasurer shall be
authorized between conventions to increase
or decrease salaries
of the General Officers, International
Representatives
and Special Representatives whenever, in
their judgment,
salary inequities exist or economic facts
and
circumstances or the financial well-being of
the
United Association warrant such action,
provided
such increase or decrease of salary shall be
approved
by the General Executive Board.
General
President
SEC. 46.
(a) It shall be the duty of the General
President of the United Association to
preside at all
conventions and meetings of the General
Executive
Board of the United Association and conduct
the same
according to the Constitution and rules of
order, and
should the meeting be equally divided by
vote on any
question he shall cast the deciding vote.
(b) He shall by virtue of his office serve
as a credentialed
delegate
to the American Federation of
Labor and Congress of Industrial
Organizations
Convention and all its affiliated
departments and shall
appoint all of the necessary delegates to
these conventions,
as well as to the Canadian Federation of
Labour
and also to such other conventions as may be
deemed
necessary for the welfare of the United
Association,
and supervise the entire interests of the
United
Association, and endeavor to settle all
disputes arising
in the United Association, subject to appeal
to the
General Executive Board of the United
Association.
(c) He or his authorized representative
shall, after
notice and hearing, have the power to
suspend any
Local Union of the United Association for
violation of
the laws and Constitution of the United
Association or
for any acts detrimental to the interest of
the labor
movement and the United Association.
(d)
He shall sign all orders on the treasury
for the
payment of such monies as are legally
authorized and
shall issue the quarterly password. He shall
sign all
charters and submit to the General
Secretary-
Treasurer an itemized account of all monies
expended
by him in behalf of the United Association,
which
shall be paid by the General
Secretary-Treasurer upon
approval of the General Executive Board.
(e) In case of emergency he shall have
authority to
call a meeting of the General Executive
Board.
(f) He is empowered to render decisions and
to
adjust disputes among affiliates of the
United
Association and/or others concerning the
interpretation
or application of this Constitution, and/or
concerning
any matter related to the United
Association.
He may delegate this authority pursuant to
other provisions
of this Constitution and he may, in his
discretion,
defer to decisions and adjustments of other
officers
rendered pursuant to their powers under this
Constitution. All decisions of the General
President
shall be subject to appeal to the General
Executive
Board, except where specifically limited by
this
Constitution.
(g) The General President shall appoint from
and
among the International Representatives
a Director of
Organization and a Director of Trade
Jurisdiction,
who shall be under the direct supervision
and control
of the General President.
They shall be paid an annual salary in the
sum of
$169,416, to be paid in monthly
installments, and
they shall be paid an allowance of $900.00
per week
for hotel, meals and other incidental
expenses, and in
the event any portion of such allowance is
not
expended, it shall be considered as
compensation. In
addition, they shall be reimbursed for air
travel, railroad
or other transportation costs and such other
extraordinary expenses as may be incurred in
the discharge
of their duties.
They shall file an expense account for all
reimbursable
and extraordinary expenses upon forms
furnished
by the General Secretary-Treasurer. Such
expense account shall be submitted to and
approved
by the General Executive Board.
(h) In localities where a strike or lockout
by a combination
of employers is threatened, the General
President shall be empowered to investigate
and arbitrate
with the employers for the removal of the
cause
that prevents an amicable adjustment.
(i) The
General President may appoint from and
among the International Representatives
three (3)
Administrative Assistants who shall be under
the
direct supervision and control of the
General
President, their salary to be determined by
the
General President subject to the approval of
the
General Executive Board.
They shall be paid an allowance of $900.00
per
week for hotel, meals and other incidental
expenses
and, in the event any portion of such
allowance is not
expended, it shall be considered as
compensation. In
addition, they shall be reimbursed for air
travel, railroad
or other transportation costs and such other
extraordinary expenses as may be incurred in
the discharge
of their duties.
They shall file an expense account for all
reimbursable
and extraordinary expenses upon forms
furnished
by the General Secretary-Treasurer. Such
expense accounts shall be submitted to and
approved
by the General Executive Board.
(j) The General President shall appoint from
among
the Canadian members
a Director of Canadian Affairs
who shall be under the direct supervision
and control
of the General President, his salary to be
determined
by the General President subject to the
approval of the
General Executive Board.
He shall be paid an allowance of $900.00 per
week
for hotel, meals and other incidental
expenses and, in
the event any portion of such allowance is
not
expended, it shall be considered as
compensation. In
addition, he shall be reimbursed for air
travel, railroad
or other transportation costs and such other
extraordinary
expenses as may be incurred in the discharge
of
his duties.
He shall file an expense account for all
reimbursable
and extraordinary expenses upon forms
furnished
by the General Secretary-Treasurer. Such
expense accounts shall be submitted to and
approved
by the General Executive Board.
SEC. 47.
The General President shall receive for
his services the sum of $267,800 per year,
to be paid
in monthly installments. He shall be paid an
allowance of $900.00 per week for hotel,
meals and
other incidental expenses and, in the event
any portion
of such allowance is not expended, it shall
be
considered as compensation. In addition, he
shall be
reimbursed for all air travel, railroad and
other transportation
costs and such other extraordinary expenses
as may be incurred in the discharge of his
duties.
He shall file an expense account for all
reimbursable
and extraordinary expenses upon forms
furnished
by the General Secretary-Treasurer. Such
expense accounts shall be submitted to and
approved
by the General Executive Board. Any
expenditure above and beyond the weekly
allowance of $900.00 that, in his judgment,
is reasonably
related to furthering the objectives and
purposes
of the United Association and its
membership, and is
supported by vouchers, shall be considered
extraordinary.
Assistant General President
SEC. 48.
(a) The duties of the Assistant General
President shall be to assist the General
President and
perform the work assigned to him by the
General
President. He shall be under the supervision
and
direction of the General President.
(b) He shall receive for his services the
sum of
$210,028 per year, to be paid in monthly
installments,
and he shall be paid an allowance of $900.00
weekly
for hotel, meals and other incidental
expenses and, in
the event any portion of such allowance is
not
expended, it shall be considered as
compensation. In
addition, he shall be reimbursed for air
travel, railroad
or other transportation costs and such other
extraordinary
expenses as may be incurred in the discharge
of
his duties.
(c) He shall file an expense account for all
reimbursable
and extraordinary expenses upon forms
furnished
by the General Secretary-Treasurer. Such
expense accounts shall be submitted to and
approved
by the General Executive Board.
Any expenditure above and beyond the weekly
allowance of $900.00 that, in his judgment,
is reasonably
related to furthering the objectives and
purposes
of the United Association and its
membership, and is
supported by vouchers, shall be considered
extraordinary.
(d) The General President may direct or
delegate
the Assistant General President to act for
him in any
manner wherever the General President deems
it necessary
or proper.
General Secretary-Treasurer
SEC. 49.
(a) The General Secretary-Treasurer shall
keep
a true record of the proceedings of the
United
Association and meetings of the General
Executive
Board. He shall keep a correct list of all
Local Unions,
the numbers of same and the addresses of all
the
Business Agents and Secretaries of said
Local
Unions. This book shall be known as the
United
Association Roll Call, same to be kept in
the office of
the General Secretary-Treasurer. He shall
attend to all
correspondence, etc., which may not require
the consideration
of the General President and the General
Executive Board. He shall communicate with
each
Local Union when necessary. He shall collect
and
receipt for all monies due the United
Association.
(b) He shall be furnished with a special
seal which
shall be affixed to all official documents
except circular
letters. He shall keep a copy of all
documents and
communications issued from his office and
have same
properly indexed.
SEC. 50.
He shall keep a correct and accurate list
of the membership of each Local Union,
including the
number of journeymen and the number of
apprentices
and their financial standing. He shall
record any disciplinary
action taken against a member approved by
the General Executive Board, and keep a
record thereof.
SEC. 51.
He shall keep a history of each member
of the United Association.
SEC. 52.
The General Secretary-Treasurer shall
provide a semi-annual financial statement to
each
Local Union. The semi-annual financial
statement
shall be prepared by the General
Secretary-Treasurer
with the assistance of the Comptroller and
audited by
an independent certified public accountant.
The independent
certified public accountant shall render an
opinion on the statement which shall be
included in
the semi-annual financial statement provided
to Local
Unions. The semi-annual financial statement
will
cover the financial operations of the United
Association and all United Association
subsidiary
organizations. The General
Secretary-Treasurer shall,
in due time, notify all Financial
Secretaries of Local
Unions to elect delegates to the convention.
The
General Secretary-Treasurer shall deposit
all money,
except for the petty cash fund, in such
banks as may
be designated by the General Executive
Board. He
shall procure a surety bond for every
officer, agent,
representative or employee of the United
Association
who handles funds or other property thereof,
as
required by law.
SEC. 53.
(a) The General President and General
Secretary-Treasurer shall have the power,
when
expressly authorized by the General
Executive Board,
to purchase, acquire, encumber, sell, lease,
trade or
exchange, improve or repair any real or
personal property,
including the United Association’s
headquarters
building, and to execute contracts,
guarantees, assignments,
deeds, conveyances, mortgages, liens, loans
and other instruments of writing, concerning
any or all
of such property for and on behalf of this
United
Association, wherever the same may be
situated.
(b) In advance of each fiscal year, the
General President shall submit to the
General Executive Board
for approval a proposed operating and
capital budget
for the coming year. The General
Secretary-Treasurer
shall, in conjunction with the General
President, assist
in preparing the annual operating and
capital budget.
The operating budget shall set forth the
anticipated
income and the source thereof and
anticipated expenditures
and their purposes. The capital budget shall
set
forth, among other things, any anticipated
major
equipment purchases and significant
renovations to
real property. The General President and
General
Secretary-Treasurer shall promptly report
any major
deviation from the approved budgets. For
purposes of
this section, the term “major deviation”
refers to any
expenditure(s) that will result in budget
overruns in
excess of 10% of the total operating or
capital budgets.
(c) All contracts shall be included in the
operating
and capital budgets. Any contract that
cannot be terminated
without additional costs within 90 days, or
any contract that binds the United
Association to costs
in excess of $50,000 must be reviewed by the
United
Association’s attorney. Any contract that
binds the
United Association to costs in excess of
$500,000
must be reviewed by the United Association’s
attorney
and approved by the General Executive Board.
(d) The General Secretary-Treasurer shall
prepare a
quarterly financial report, which shall
contain a statement
of assets, liabilities, and fund balance for
each
United Association Fund and subsidiary
entity, and a
statement of revenue and expenses for each
United
Association Fund and subsidiary entity.
Consistent
with the budget requirements in Section
53(b), the
quarterly financial report will provide
detailed budget
information. The financial report will show
year to
date actual expenses, year to date budgeted
expenses,
and year to date expenses for the prior
year. The
General Executive Board will receive a copy
of the
quarterly financial report once it is
finalized, and will
review the report at its subsequent meeting
with the
General President and the General Secretary-
Treasurer.
(e) The United Association shall employ a
Comptroller to assist the General
Secretary-Treasurer
in managing the day-to-day financial
operation of the
United Association. The Comptroller shall be
a qualified
certified public accountant. The
Comptroller, as
part of his duties, shall assist the General
Secretary-
Treasurer in preparing the quarterly
financial report.
The Comptroller shall also, at all times,
answer
inquiries from the members of the General
Executive
Board about financial operations of the
United
Association. The United Association will
also retain a
certified public accounting firm to audit
the books and
records of the United Association and
prepare a financial
statement on a semi-annual basis. The
outside
accounting firm will review the work
product, systems,
and reports prepared by the General
Secretary-
Treasurer so as to ensure the accuracy of
financial
information provided to the General
Executive Board.
The accounting firm shall also prepare and
file appropriate
Department of Labor management reports and
review internal financial controls and make
recommendations
in writing to the General Secretary-
Treasurer for changes or modifications to
the system
of internal controls. A representative of
the accounting
firm shall meet with the General Executive
Board
at least on a semi-annual schedule. The
accounting
firm shall answer all inquiries from the
General
President, the General Secretary-Treasurer,
and the
members of the General Executive Board about
the
United Association’s financial operations.
The
engagement letter for the certified public
accounting
firm shall be approved by the General
Executive
Board, and the certified public accounting
firm cannot
be terminated without the approval of the
General
Executive Board.
(f) In sanctioning or approving expenditures
of the
funds of the United Association, the General
Executive Board shall have the authority to
sanction
any and all expenditures that are in their
judgment
reasonably related to furthering the
objectives and
purposes of the United Association and its
membership,
including but not limited to, such
expenditures
as are in accordance with standard
practices, customs
and procedures of the United Association.
SEC. 54.
He shall be empowered to employ such
help as is absolutely necessary and he shall
submit to
the General Executive Board for their
approval a
monthly statement of this expense together
with the
names of the employees and the salaries they
receive.
He shall render decisions and adjust matters
in dispute
which arise out of the duties of the office
of
General Secretary-Treasurer as set forth in
the
Constitution. The decisions of the General
Secretary-Treasurer shall be subject to
appeal to the General
Executive Board.
SEC. 55.
(a) He shall receive the sum of $229,814
per year to be paid in monthly installments
and he
shall be paid an allowance of $900.00 per
week for
hotel, meals and other incidental expenses,
and in the
event any portion of such allowance is not
expended,
it shall be considered as compensation. In
addition, he
shall be reimbursed for all air travel,
railroad and
other transportation costs and such other
extraordinary expenses as may be incurred in
the discharge of
his duties.
(b) He shall file an expense account for all
reimbursable
and extraordinary expenses upon forms
furnished
by the General Secretary-Treasurer. Such
expense accounts shall be submitted to and
approved
by the General Executive Board.
Any expenditure above and beyond the weekly
allowance of $900.00 that, in his judgment,
is reasonably
related to furthering the objectives and
purposes of
the United Association and its membership,
and is supported
by vouchers, shall be considered
extraordinary.
(c) He shall be given the privilege of a
vacation of
two (2) weeks each year, the same to be of
one (1)
duration or at intervals.
General
Executive Board
SEC. 56.
(a) The General Executive Board shall
consist of six (6) Vice Presidents allotted
to the following
districts:
One from District No. 1-Connecticut,
Delaware,
Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New
Jersey,
New York, Rhode Island and Vermont.
One from District No. 2-District of
Columbia,
Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Ohio,
Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.
One from District No. 3-Alabama, Arkansas,
Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi,
North
Carolina, Oklahoma, Republic of Panama,
South
Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas.
One from District No. 4-Illinois, Iowa,
Kansas,
Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska,
North
Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
One from District No. 5-Alaska, Arizona,
California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada,
New
Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Washington.
One from District No. 6-Canada.
(b) The General President and General
Secretary-
Treasurer shall have the discretionary
authority to
realign and reallocate the states that
comprise the districts
of the six (6) Vice Presidents with the
approval
of the General Executive Board.
SEC. 57.
(a) The General Executive Board shall
have full discretionary power over all
things connected
with the Association between conventions
(except
decisions made at conventions), and they
shall furnish
each convention with a detailed report of
all proceedings
of said Board.
(b) The General Executive Board shall have
authority
to approve the merger of any Union into the
United Association and to take any action
necessary
to effectuate such mergers notwithstanding
any provisions
of the United Association Constitution to
the
contrary.
(c) The General Executive Board, upon
recommendation
from the General President, shall have the
authority to effectuate the United
Association’s affiliation
with, or disaffiliation from, any national,
international
or intermediate body, including
organizations of
international or national unions and
councils or departments,
whenever they determine it is in the best
interest
of the United Association and its members to
do so.
SEC. 58.
In all matters that go before the General
Executive Board for its action, the involved
Local
Union or Local Unions shall be notified of
the
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