2011 Constitutional Amendments

2011 Constitutional Amendments

Be it resolved that Article III, Section 1, (e) Honorary Membership be amended by adding the (1) as printed below:

Any member who has honorably left his/her employment, and has been a member for five consecutive years immediately preceding termination, and is not eligible for any other type of membership, may become an honorary member for the duration of his/her life. Eligibility shall be recommended and approved per Article X “Duties of Committees,” Section 2 “Standing Committees,” (b) “Duties of Standing Committees,” (7) “Honorary Membership Committee” and Article VII “Board of Directors,” Section 5 (c) “Power and Duties.”

(1) Honorary Members shall not qualify for the requirements, responsibilities, and obligations of the following articles of this Constitution – Article VII “Board of Directors” and Article IX “Officers and their Duties.”

Be It Resolved that Article III Section 3 Charge and Trial Board be changed to

Section 3. CHARGE AND TRIAL BOARD
a) FORMATION AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE TRIAL BOARD

(1) The Trial Board: The Board of Directors shall appoint a Trial Board Chairperson at its first meeting after the annual convention. Within three months of this appointment, the Chairperson will recruit a five-member trial board pool to be approved by the SEA board of directors. Current members of the SEA board of directors will not be allowed to serve on the trial boards. The trial board chairperson may, with approval of the SEA board of directors, replace a member of the trial board pool, provided that no such replacement shall affect the course of an ongoing trial proceeding. The trial board chairperson may request from the SEA board of directors the appointment of additional trial pools members to serve on an ad hoc basis if there are not enough members of the trial pool.

(2) The Chairperson: The Chairperson shall serve as the presiding officer at all hearings before the Trial Board and shall have the authority to issue rulings and decisions concerning the conduct of such hearings. The Chairperson will act in neutrality and transparency in all processes of the trial board. Before reviewing any cases the Chairperson will produce procedures that will govern the conduct of any hearings brought before the trial board. These procedures will be reviewed and approved by the SEA board of directors. These procedures will remain in effect until the next Chairperson is selected after the next annual convention.

(b) PRE-CHARGE DISPUTE RESOLUTION

(1) The Association’s goal is to resolve disputes between members at the lowest possible level. All parties involved in a dispute that may result in the filing of formal charges are requested to exhaust all informal dispute resolution remedies before filing formal charges under this procedure.

(2) An individual member who has a complaint against another member regarding a union-related activity which he/she believes rises to the level of a formal complaint should first attempt to resolve the problem by discussing it with the member. A neutral member may be present at the discussion at the request of either member.

(3) If the parties cannot mutually resolve the disagreement, the parties involved may request the assistance of a mediator to be appointed by the chairperson of the trial board. If this option is requested, the parties will be required to agree to good faith mediation within thirty (30) calendar days of the request.

(4) If there is no resolution following the above steps, a member may then file formal charges.

(c) FORMAL CHARGES

(1) Any member may be charged with acts considered detrimental to the Association.

(2) Acts considered detrimental to the Association include, but are not limited to, the following:
• Violation(s) of any specific provision(s) of the SEIU Constitution SEIU Local 1984 Constitution, SEIU Local 1984 Policies or Chapter Bylaws;
• Violation(s) of an oath of office;
• If an officer, gross inefficiency, which might hinder and impair the interests of the Union;
• Financial malpractice;
• Engaging in corrupt or unethical practices or racketeering;
• Advocating or engaging in dual unionism, including but not limited to aiding a rival labor organization in actions against the interests of the Association;
• The wrongful taking or retaining of any money, books, papers or any other property belonging to the Association; or the wrongful destruction, mutilation or erasure of any books, records, bills, receipts, vouchers, or other property belonging to Association;

(d) FILING OF CHARGES

(1) Whenever charges are preferred against any member or SEIU Local 1984, the charges shall be filed with the Chairperson of the Trial Board.

(2) All charges shall be in writing and shall set forth the specific facts that are the basis of the complaint, including the nature, date or timeframe and/or when applicable, the location of the offense. The written charge must also identify the provisions of the SEIU or SEIU 1984 Constitution, Board Policy, or Chapter By-laws that have been allegedly violated.

(3) No charges may be filed more than six months after the charging party learned or could have reasonably learned of the act or acts that are the basis for the charges.

(4) Upon receipt of the charges, the Chairperson of the Trial Board shall send copies to the person(s) accused in the charge and members of the trial board.

(5) Before proceeding to a formal hearing, the Chairperson and one member of the Trial Pool will perform a preliminary review of all submitted documents to determine if they provide clear examples of what provisions of the SEA rules or policies have been violated and how they were violated. Should it be determined that the submitted documents are vague and do not clearly identify the details of the charges and applicable provisions of the Association’s rules or policies, the charges will be deferred and the submitting party will be provided with a written reason for the decision of the Trial Board Chairperson. *The intent of Section five should not be construed to mean that the Trial Board has the authority to make summary judgments or dismiss any charges brought before them without conducting a hearing.

(6) In the case that a charge is deferred, the charging party has the right to re-file a more detailed charge in compliance with this section. Should the charging party fail to re-file the complaint within the prescribed six month time frame outlined in Section 3 (d) (3) the charges will be considered vacated and the Chairperson will issue a written notice to the parties involved documenting the closure of the case.

(e) THE TRIAL/HEARING PROCESS

(1) In the event that a hearing is to be held on formal charges brought by one member against another, the Chairperson shall appoint two members of the Trial Board pool to serve as a Trial Panel. The Trial Board will be made up of the appointed members and the Chairperson.

(2) The Trial board members shall hear and decide charges. All charges shall be decided by a majority vote.

(3) Trial board members with potential conflicts of interest should voluntary remove themselves from consideration. The Chairperson shall make the final determination of conflict of interest.

(4) No Trial Board member who has heard and decided charges on a particular case shall be appointed to serve on the Trial Panel that rehears the same case. In the event that any member of the Trial Board is disqualified during a trial, the Chairperson shall appoint a replacement from among the Trial Pool.

(5) If the Trial shall conduct a hearing on the charges the Chairperson of the Trial Board shall provide all involved parties with a copy of the charges, Trial Board procedures and written notice of the time and place of hearing at least 10 days prior to the holding of such hearing. Any decision of the trial panel shall be in writing.
• The Trial Board shall have access to all witnesses and materials pertinent to the charges under consideration.
• The Trial Panel shall base its decision solely upon the evidence presented during the hearing.
• No evidence shall be accepted after the close of the hearing.

(6) In case the charges are sustained, the Trial Panel shall reprimand, suspend, or expel the guilty party.

(f) APPEALS

(1) Either the plaintiff or the defendant may appeal the ruling of the Trial board to the Board of Directors. All appeals must be in writing, filed with the SEA, SEIU Local 1984 Secretary within thirty days of receipt of the decision. While an appeal is pending, the decision appealed shall remain in effect.

(2) The SEA, SEIU Local 1984, Secretary shall notify the parties in interest, the Local President, the Board of Directors, and Trial Board that an appeal has been filed. The appeal must be specific as to:

• the decision or portion of decision being appealed;
• the charges that gave rise to the appealed decision(s); and
• the grounds for appeal.

The grounds for appeal shall be:

• procedural error which substantially affected the outcome of the decision;
• the discovery of significant new evidence which was not available at the time of trial; and/or
• that the decision was procured by fraud or other undue means.

(2) Within fifteen days of the notice of appeal, the SEA Board of Directors will conduct an official hearing to listen to arguments of the parties to the appeal. However, any such hearing shall not be in the nature of a de novo review. Final rulings on the appeal shall be decided by a majority vote of the Board of Directors. The Chairperson of the Trial Board or his/her designee shall represent the Trial Board during the appeal.

(3) The Board of Directors may uphold or reverse the decision of the Trial Panel, or may return it to the Trial Board due to procedural error or the presentation of significant new evidence.

(4) Either party to a complaint has the right to request an appeal of said ruling of the Board of Directors to a Special Association Council Meeting. The request for appeal needs to be submitted in writing to the SEA President. Within 60 calendar days of receiving a request for appeal, the President of the Association will call for the Council meeting in accordance with Article VI, Section 2 (e) of the SEA Constitution. The President (or his/her designee) will send to the members of the Council an overview of the case being presented and any supportive documentation for their review.

(5) Members present at the Council meeting will designate a presiding officer for the hearing portion of the meeting. The procedures used for the hearing will be established based on the procedures used by the Board of Directors and be limited to the past testimony and evidence presented to the Trial Board and the Board of Directors appeal. The Chairperson of the Trial Board (or his/her designee) will represent the Trial Board and an appointed Director who was present for the appeals hearing will represent the Board of Directors. The parties to the complaint will be allowed equal opportunity to present their case to the Council.

(6) The ruling on the appeal shall be decided by a majority vote of the Council members registered. The members involved with the complaint and any witnesses previously called in the matters being presented will not be allowed to vote on the appeal. The Council may vote to uphold or reverse the decision of the Trial Board and the Board of Directors.

(7) Replacing the Chairperson: In the case that the Chairperson resigns or is unable to continue in their current position, the board of directors shall appoint an interim Trial Board Chairperson at their next meeting. The interim Trial Board Chairperson has all the rights and privileges of the original Chairperson with the exception of producing procedures.