Who’s Really holding up the Bylaws Process?
Don’t let Damita Davis-Howard and International President Andy Stern take the MAC and the Executive Board OUT OF THE BYLAWS PROCESS! [Download Flyer]
What happened at the last Bylaws meeting?
After two years of intense bylaws negotiations, the Member Advisory Committee (the MAC) and the Executive Board came to an agreement on June 21 in Fairfield regarding two important issues: the size and make-up of the Executive Board, and whether Staff can be full members with the right to run for office and campaign. With this breakthrough, the two bodies were in agreement on a complete bylaws document.
Around an hour later, three appointed Officers of our Local voted down this final bylaws draft that the MAC and the Executive Board had come together around (the two bodies have a combined delegate membership of more than one-hundred.) This bylaws document would have gone to the members for a vote, but Stern and the officers wanted the bylaws to designate a small, elite body of officers with enormous decision-making powers; and they wanted staff to run for office and have the right to campaign for candidates.
At the end of June, Local 1021 President Damita Davis-Howard unilaterally declared our Local’s bylaws process to be at an impasse and sent a letter to Stern asking him what to do (a copy of the letter was sent to MAC members). Neither the MAC nor the Executive Board had discussed the impasse issue, and at its July meeting, the Executive Board voted to continue the bylaws process with a functioning mediator. Davis-Howard ignored this vote and failed to communicate it to the MAC.
What has happened since?
Three months later, in mid-September, Stern finally responded to Davis-Howard’s letter. He said that more bylaws meetings were not necessary, and in fact were discouraged. He said Davis-Howard had the authority to send an earlier bylaws draft to the membership for a vote–a draft adopted by the small Bylaws Content Committee (BCC) in April. That document would allow staff involvement in the Local’s officer-election campaigns. Stern’s letter insisted on bylaws language that would give the president the power to run the Local with virtually no oversight or control by the members.
During the three months since the June 20 and 21 marathon meetings between the Mac, the Executive Board and the Officers, Davis-Howard did not allow further bylaws meetings despite requests from the Executive Board, the Vision and Bylaws Committee Co-Chair, and several members of the MAC.
What now?
We are at crossroads: will Stern and Davis-Howard be able to force us into a Staff-Driven Union? Or, will the Executive Board and MAC members fight back for the members’ voice in the creation of bylaws for a democratic, Member-Driven Union?
It is important that the MAC has the opportunity to weigh in on the bylaws document that will be presented to the membership for ratification. A democratic process to reach agreement on these issues must be allowed to continue.
A group of concerned members has created a website to discuss options. Please visit this website and weigh-in, and stay connected with us! We oppose the following provisions of the April BCC bylaws document that Stern and Davis-Howard want to impose on the membership:
- STAFF INVOLVED IN OFFICER-ELECTIONS: the BCC draft would allow staff to run for President, and campaign if they take a leave of absence, or if they are ‘off-the-clock.’ The BCC bylaws would give the president the power to hire and fire staff. Staff would lose job security and would have no choice but to be completely loyal to the Local’s president.
- STAFF-DRIVEN, NOT MEMBER-DRIVEN: a staff-president would have union resources that would allow staff to always dominate the Local. If staff can run for office, the playing field will be completely uneven.
- ELITE OFFICERS: the BCC draft creates an elite group of five “Officers” with extensive power and authority, making the rest of the Executive Board meaningless.
Please visit our website and stay connected with us:
www.change1021.org September 26, 2009 – labor donated
