2006 - 2011

United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the

Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry of the United States and Canada

LOCAL UNION OFFICERS AND THEIR DUTIES

(a) Each Local Union shall elect a President, Vice President, Recording Secretary,     Financial Secretary, Treasurer, Inside Guard, Executive Board of five (5) members, one of whom shall be the Vice President, and a Finance Committee of three (3) members. A Building and Construction Trades Local Union and combination Local Union shall also elect an Examining Board to examine and qualify all journeymen for membership and work in the Building and Construction Trades industry. Each Local Union of the United Association has the right to elect one or more of its own members as Business Agent and Business Manager, and when they are elected they shall be considered as officers of the Local Union. Each officer elected by a Local Union must remain in good standing during his term of office. If he becomes suspended his office shall automatically be declared vacant and must be filled in accordance with the provisions adopted by the Local Union for filling vacancies.

(b) Each Local Union may provide in its Constitution and By-Laws that Business Agents assisting a Business Manager or Assistant Business Agent, may be elected or appointed in the manner set forth in the Local Union’s Constitution and By-Laws. Any member appointed as Assistant Business Agent hereunder shall work directly under the supervision and control of the elected Business Manager or Business Agent and shall not be considered an officer of the Local Union. The termination of an appointed Business Agent or Assistant Business Agent shall be in accordance with the Local Union Constitution and By-Laws. A Business Manager must be elected and if a Local Union has only one Business Agent, he must be elected.

The President shall preside over all meetings and conduct the same in conformity with rules of order and common sense. He shall have a general supervisory control over all matters pertaining to the welfare of the Local Union. The President shall be ex officio over all committees.

The Vice President shall be chairman of the Local Union Executive Board and have supervision over all members entering the assembly room and upon a member presenting his membership card in good standing he will give him the password. He shall also have supervision over all members departing from the room, assist the President to keep order during meetings, and in the absence of the President will assume the chair.

The Business Manager (Business Agent) has control and supervision over the daily affairs and business operations of the Local Union. The Business Manager (Business Agent) meets in daily contact with the public and with employers becoming the trustee of the welfare of the members of the Local Union. It is his solemn duty and obligation to vigilantly protect the trade jurisdiction of the United Association in the plumbing and pipe fitting industry of his locality; also to compel employers to observe and respect collective bargaining agreements, adjusting all grievances between members of his Local Union and their employers with justice and fairness, as well as fostering and promoting employment for the members of the Local Union.

The Business Manager (Business Agent) of each Local Union shall be Chairman of all Negotiating Committees and shall immediately after the signing of the Local Union collective bargaining agreements, forward a copy of the agreements to the General Office so that the Local Union’s negotiated wage rates can be filed with the appropriate federal, state or provincial agency. It shall be the primary duty and responsibility of the Business Manager (Business Agent) to file copies of the Local Union’s collective bargaining agreements, or any supplementary wage provisions, with the General Office in compliance with the mandate of the Constitution. All correspondence from the General Office pertaining to Local Union business shall be sent to the Business Manager (Business Agent).

The Recording Secretary will keep a correct and intelligent account of all resolutions, motions, and the general  business transacted at Local Union meetings; and perform any other duties, special or otherwise, that may develop upon him by action of the Local Union. He shall immediately after the election of officers forward to the General Secretary-Treasurer the names and addresses of the officers upon blanks furnished by the United Association. The Recording Secretary shall also handle all official correspondence to the UA Journal. The names and addresses of the Recording and Financial Secretaries shall be published in the official United Association Roll Call, classified by states.

(a) The Financial Secretary shall keep a correct account of the financial standing of all members of the Local Union, and receipt and account for all monies received or disbursed by order of the Local Union. He shall, not later than forty-eight (48) hours after the last day of the calendar month, forward to the General Office per capita in the amounts stated in Section 74 of the Constitution, 50 percent of all $50.00 reinstatement fees, $100.00 for issuance of withdrawal card fees, $100.00 reinstatement fees for members reinstating with a current paid up withdrawal card, $40.00 initiation fees, and $100.00 for renewal of withdrawal card fees, and the sum total of all United Association assessments.

(b) These remittances shall be forwarded on the original cash sheets furnished by the General Office, with the seal of the Local Union attached, the same to be countersigned by the President and Financial Secretary, and the duplicate cash sheet to be retained by the Local Union, subject to the inspection of the Finance Committee. The Financial Secretary shall record on the cash sheets the names of all members   who have been initiated, reinitiated, and reinstated on deposit of withdrawal cards, as well as the renewed withdrawal cards and transfer cards which have been

accepted.

It shall be the duty and responsibility of the Financial Secretary to obtain a surety bond for the Local Union so that every officer, agent, representative or employee of the Local Union who handles funds or other property of the Local Union shall be bonded as required by law.

The Financial Secretary shall require all members to affix their signatures upon the membership roll book, also upon the back of the membership cards and on travel cards and transfer cards.

(a) The offices of Financial Secretary and Treasurer may be combined into one office, to be known as Financial Secretary-Treasurer, if the interests of the Local Union are benefited thereby.

(b) The Local Union may combine the offices of Business Manager and/or Business Agent and the office of Financial Secretary or the office of Financial Secretary-Treasurer after an application has been  made to the General President and he has approved the combining of these offices.

The Treasurer shall receipt for all monies turned over to him by the Financial Secretary at the close of each meeting, and pay all bills upon proper vouchers ordered by the Local Union. He shall deposit all money in a bank designated by the Local Union Executive Board, and pay all bills by check. He shall be placed under bond with some reputable bonding company, the bond to be paid for by the Local Union.

The Inside Guard of each Local Union shall have charge of the door and be under the direct supervision of the Vice President.

Every Local Union shall elect an Executive Board of five (5) members, which shall include the Vice President of the Local Union who by virtue of his office shall be a member thereof and chairman of the Executive Board. They shall meet at least once in every month and the Local Union Executive Board shall be empowered to comply with the direction of the General Executive Board of the United Association as provided in these By-Laws.

The Local Union Executive Board shall, between the meetings of the Local Union, transact such business as may be referred to it by the Local Union, or the duly elected Local Union officers.

(a) Every Building and Construction Trades Local Union and combination Local Union shall elect an Examining Board for the purpose of examining and determining the qualifications of all applicants as Building and Construction Trades journeymen in said Local Union, and before said applicant is admitted and initiated as a journeyman member of said Local Union, and thereby eligible to work in the jurisdiction of the Building and Construction Trades Department of the AFL-CIO, he must pass said examination.

(b) An apprentice member of the Local Union having successfully completed his five-year apprenticeship program, and having been certified by the Joint Apprentice Committee, shall not be examined by the Local Union Examining Board and shall automatically be entered on the rolls of the Local Union as a journeyman.

Each Local Union shall elect a Finance Committee of three (3) members who shall all serve for the same term in office as the other officers of the Local Union. The Finance Committee shall examine the bank books and bank accounts and count all money in the possession of the Financial Secretary and Treasurer. They shall, if they deem it necessary, require a bank statement from the cashier of the bank in which Local Union monies are deposited, and they shall report their findings at the first regular meeting in the following month.

SEC. 116. The Finance Committee shall have power to examine the accounts of the different officers anytime they deem it necessary to do so, and any officer or member refusing to deliver to such Finance Committee any books, papers, stamps or other matter necessary for such examination, or who shall in any manner harass the Finance Committee in the discharge of their duties, shall be assessed not less than $25.00.

It shall be the duty of all Local Unions attached to the United Association to appoint a special committee of three (3), to be known as the Legislative Committee, whose duty it shall be to investigate the various systems of work installed in their vicinity. It shall be the duty of said committee to try by all possible and legitimate means to elevate the standard of work done and report from time to time to the General Secretary-Treasurer such progress as may have been made towards perfect sanitation.

Each Local Union shall establish a Committee for Political Education. The members of the committee shall be appointed by the Business Manager or Business Agent. The duties and functions of the committee shall be to educate the membership and the public on the issues and candidates in state, municipal and national elections; to encourage and assist members and their families to register and vote in elections; and to coordinate the Local Union’s political activities with the trade unions in the area.

All Local Unions shall establish a committee which shall adopt and set up an advanced journeyman training program that will enable journeymen members to acquire a full and complete knowledge of the advancement and new techniques and skills in the craft covered by the jurisdiction of the Local Union. The Business Manager shall appoint the members of the committee.

(a) All Local Unions of the United Association shall establish an apprentice system and related apprentice training that will afford apprentices a full and complete knowledge of the particular craft or trade covered by the jurisdiction of the Local Union. The Business Manager of the Local Union shall appoint a Committee on Apprentice Training whose duties shall be to establish an apprentice training program and related apprentice training courses covering the particular craft or trade of the Local Union, and said apprentice training program shall conform with the Federal Apprenticeship Standards as approved by the United Association.

(b) All Local Unions of the United Association shall include in their training programs, courses on the history of the Union movement, United Association heritage, and the responsibilities of today’s Union members.

No member shall be eligible to be nominated for office in any Local Union unless he shall be a journeyman member and shall have been a member of the United Association and the Local Union in  good standing for at least a period of two (2) years  immediately prior to the election. Any journeyman member who owes or has paid a reinstatement fee within a period of two (2) years immediately prior to the date of the election shall not be eligible to be nominated for office in any Local Union. See Section 161 regarding eligibility of member contractors.

(a) All officers of Local Unions shall be elected for a term of not less than three (3) years.  Nomination of officers for Local Unions shall be held during the months of May or November, and the election shall be held during the months of June or December and not earlier than twenty-five (25) days after the nomination meeting. 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, setting forth (1) the date and place of the nomination meeting and the offices to be filled; (2) the date, time and place of the election meeting; and (3) the notice shall state also that, in the event of a tie vote and a runoff is necessary, the date, time and place of the runoff shall be stated. In an election of Local Union officers, a member may only be nominated for one (1) of the offices set forth in Section 100.

(b) The election shall be by secret ballot at such place or places as shall be established by the Local Union. It shall be the duty of the Local Union to provide safeguards for the honest and fair conduct of such election, including the granting of the right of each nominee in such election of at least one (1) observer at the candidate’s own expense at each polling place who must be a member of the Local Union in good standing. Voting by writing in the name of a person not nominated shall not be permitted. The candidate for each office who receives a plurality of the votes cast shall be declared elected.

Where several positions in one office must be filled, as in the case of the Executive Board, Examining Board or Finance Committee, etc., the candidates shall be elected in the descending order of the votes received, starting with the candidate receiving the highest number of votes cast. In case of a tie of two or more candidates, a runoff election shall be conducted among those candidates.

(c) All Local Unions of the United Association are to immediately amend their Local Union Constitution and By-Laws to provide for the filling of vacancies in Local Union offices by either appointment or election, as the Local Union may determine.

(d) In an election of Local Union officers, an officer holding an office that is not up for election is not eligible for nomination to some other Local Union office set forth in Section 100 unless he first resigns the office he holds. His resignation must be written and filed with the Local Union prior to the mailing of nomination meeting notices.

(e) The General Executive Board shall have full discretionary authority to waive the time requirements of Section 122 for Local Unions that hold an election of officers six (6) months prior to the United Association Convention. The General Executive Board shall determine the months to which the Local Unions shall advance the holding of their elections of officers. An advancement of a Local Union’s election of officers under this section shall not affect the term of office of incumbent officers. Where a Local Union holds nominations for Local Union offices at the same time it nominates delegates and alternates to the United Association Convention a member may be nominated for either a full-time salaried office or as a United Association Convention delegate or alternate, or both.

(a) Mail balloting may be authorized in elections of Local Union officers under the following conditions: The Local Union membership shall, at either a special or regular meeting, by appropriate motion, file a request with the General President for permission to use the mail ballot. This request shall be filed with the General President thirty (30) days prior to the holding of nominations and shall set forth the reasons why mail ballots are necessary. The General President may, in his discretion, for the best interest of the Local Union and the United Association, grant or deny such request. The General President may, in his discretion, for the best interest of the Local Union and the United Association, order that an election of Local Union officers be held by mail ballot in the absence of a request from the Local Union membership.

(b) The General President shall prescribe rules and regulations controlling the use of the mail ballots so that the integrity and secrecy of the ballot box may be safeguarded. When the General President authorizes the use of a mail ballot, he may also authorize the Local Union to move its nominations and elections one (1) month earlier than the times prescribed in Section 122(a), with installation of officers to occur during the same month the Local Union previously installed their officers. The decision of the General

President shall be final and binding and there shall be no appeal from his decision granting or denying the

request of the Local Union to use a mail ballot.

(a) No member shall vote at any election of any description unless he has been a member in good standing in the Local Union where the vote is being taken for a period of one (1) year immediately prior to the date of election. Any member who owes or has paid a reinstatement fee within a period of one (1) year immediately prior to the date of election shall not be eligible to vote in any Local Union election. See Section 161 regarding eligibility of member contractors to vote.

(b) The General Secretary-Treasurer will upon request of the Business Manager or the Financial Secretary of a Local Union furnish an eligibility list indicating those members eligible to vote and seek office in Local Union elections.

(c) The request for such list should be made at least thirty (30) days prior to nominations in the Local Union.

(a) A protest of the conduct and validity of any Local Union election shall be filed with the General President within five (5) working days after the election and, pending the decision of the protest, there shall be no induction of officers. A copy of the protest must be simultaneously served on the Local Union. The protest shall clearly and specifically set forth the grounds upon which the protesting member relies to set aside or invalidate the election. The General President shall refer the protest to one of his representatives, who shall conduct an investigation and render a decision. A member or the Local Union not satisfied with the representative’s decision must appeal, in writing, within three (3) working days to the General President. The General President shall have the right to affirm, reverse, modify or change the decision of his representative or enter such other decision as the facts in his discretion warrant. The decision of the General President shall be final, binding and conclusive, and there shall be no further appeal.

(b) A protest to the eligibility of a member of a Local Union for nomination for office in a Local Union shall be made to the Local Union immediately by the protestant upon discovery of the grounds of ineligibility. Appeal may be taken from the decision of the Local Union to the General President, whose decision shall be final, binding and conclusive, and there shall be no further appeal.

(c) A member protesting a Local Union election to any governmental agency or court must simultaneously file a copy of his protest with the Local Union whose election is being protested.

Before entering upon the duties of his office, each elected officer of the Local Union shall take the following pledge and oath of obligation:

I,____________________, in the presence of the members of Local Union ________ of ________________, in addition to the pledge of honor and oath of obligation taken as a member, do further pledge and obligate myself on my word of honor that I will, to the best of my ability, perform the duties and obligations of the office to which I have been duly elected, as laid down in the Constitution and By-Laws and usages of the United Association until my successor is duly elected and installed; that I will sacredly guard, protect, preserve and deliver to my successor in office all books, papers, monies or other property of this Local Union which may be in my possession at the conclusion of my official term, and should the Local Union lapse or cease to function, I will convey and deliver all such books, papers, monies or other property of this Local Union to the officer legally authorized to receive the same under the Constitution and By-Laws of the United Association; and 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.