Page 11 - Work Force October 2020

Meeting and Locals having more than 1,000 members shall receive reimbursement for the expense of
one additional delegate for each additional 1,000 members or major fraction thereof. The maximum reimbursement for such delegate shall be for full group rate quotation if appropriate, or full lodging and meal expenses which shall not exceed the rate approved by the State Board of Directors.
Rest of Article Remains the Same.
EXPLANATION: This proposal was submitted with the following justification:
“The Non-mandatory delegates meeting for the purpose of Union training has not proven to be beneficial to the membership. The same training can be provided at the Annual Delegates meeting as well. Being a non-mandatory delegates meeting member who wants to attend the training, means having to use their own time accruals to attend. They are not entitled to the use of Employee Organizational Leave under the contract.”
“The business for the Organization cannot be conducted in a timely fashion by having a meeting every two years. If a proposal takes two readings, it could take 2-4 years before any change is made to the Constitution and By-Laws.”
“The reasoning for the change in 2013 was because of a significant decrease in membership but since post-Janus, we have seen an increase in membership, resulting in an increase of dues revenue. At the same time there have been no changes to the provided services and or programs.”
The Committee does not support this proposal. First, there is a proposal presented that eliminates the need for two readings for constitutional changes. If passed, the argument that it takes too long to amend the Constitution is no longer valid.
Second, the “training conventions” have been successful, especially in a year where local/unit elections have taken place because it is an excellent opportunity to provide officer training on a large scale. Further, a regular convention does not offer the opportunity to afford all the same trainings due to what is constitutionally required to be held and provided.
Third, CSEA has hired staff as promised, including Labor Relations Specialists in all Regions.
Fourth, while Janus did not have the deleterious effect that its backers had hoped, the fact remains that CSEA still lost thousands of agency fee payers. While membership is in fact up thanks to all of
you, the activists, and the blitz campaigns, CSEA’s membership has not recovered all of the fee payers lost. More importantly, this proposal was submitted before the known effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, we are seeing economic strife across the State of New York and our membership has suffered a great number of layoffs and furloughs with no guarantee that those jobs, and therefore members, are coming back. Thus, it would be irresponsible to ramp up spending in the face of economic uncertainty.
FOR THE PURPOSE OF PLACING THIS AMENDMENT BEFORE THE DELEGATES, ON BEHALF OF THE COMMITTEE, I MOVE THE ADOPTION OF THIS AMENDMENT. THE COMMITTEE RECOMMENDS A “NO” VOTE.
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THE FOLLOWING ITEMS ARE BEING PRESENTED TO THE DELEGATES BY THE COMMITTEE AS PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO THE BY-LAWS. IF PASSED AT THIS MEETING, THESE AMENDMENTS WILL BECOME EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY.
Proposal 5
The following By-Laws proposal was submitted by Mary E. Sullivan, Statewide President; Denise Berkley, Executive Vice President; Richard Bebo, Statewide Secretary and Nicole Meeks, Statewide Treasurer: ARTICLE II – Meetings
Section 1. REGULAR DELEGATES’ MEETING.
(a) ASSOCIATION. The Regular Delegates’ Meeting
of the Association shall be held on call of the President between the 1st day of September and the 30th day
of November at least once every two years. The President shall give notice of the date of such meeting to the President of each Local, Region and members
of the Board of Directors before April 15 in each
year a meeting will be held. When held, the Regular Delegates’ Meeting shall last for five (5) days. Prior to the convening of the general session, meetings shall be conducted which shall be consistent with the internal makeup of CSEA with direction toward bargaining
unit seminars and State Department meetings for the State Division delegates and appropriate workshops
for the various components of the Local Government and Private Sector Divisions. Standing Committees, which are submitting reports to the delegate body,
shall conduct an open forum during the first two (2) days of the meeting. Separate sessions of the State Division, Local Government Division and Private Sector Division shall be held prior to the general meetings. Necessary business appropriate to the separate divisions shall be conducted at these separate sessions, while business pertaining to the Association as a whole shall be conducted at the General Business meetings. Subsequent dates shall be devoted to an agenda
fully prepared, described and distributed to Local Presidents, Region Presidents and delegates, thirty
(30) days prior to the Regular Delegates’ Meeting. The President may call a meeting of the Board of Directors for the day prior to the first day of a Regular Delegates’ Meeting.
Any resolutions which are to be submitted for action by the delegate body concerning any subject matter must be submitted to the Secretary of the Association by [May 15] July 1 of the year of a Regular Delegates’ Meeting at which the resolution will be considered. The Secretary will forward the resolution to the Resolutions Committee for study and recommendation to the delegate body. The Resolutions Committee will publish the resolutions together with its recommendations in the official newspaper of CSEA at least fifteen (15) days prior to the beginning of a Regular Delegates’ Meeting at which the resolutions will be considered. Any resolution which does not comply with this provision can be presented for action to the delegate body only upon the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the delegates present at the delegate meeting.
The Resolutions Committee will be appointed on or before July 15 in each year ...
Rest of Article Remains the Same.
EXPLANATION: This proposal was submitted with the following justification:
“(1) To give Delegates additional time to submit
resolutions; and
(2) To give an incentive to increase the amount of
resolutions submitted (we have received very few at recent ADMs).”
The Committee supports this proposal for the reasons set forth by the proposers.
FOR THE PURPOSE OF PLACING THIS AMENDMENT BEFORE THE DELEGATES, ON BEHALF OF THE COMMITTEE, I MOVE THE ADOPTION OF THIS AMENDMENT. THE COMMITTEE RECOMMENDS A “YES” VOTE.
Proposal 6
The following By-Laws proposal was submitted by Mary E. Sullivan, Statewide President; Denise Berkley, Executive Vice President; Richard Bebo, Statewide Secretary and Nicole Meeks, Statewide Treasurer: ARTICLE II – Meetings
Sections 1-8. Text Remains the Same
Section 9. NOTICE AND QUORUM.
(a) NOTICE OF ASSOCIATION MEETINGS. Notice of all
meetings of the Association, the Board of Directors, the Directors’ Committee, the State Executive Committee, the Local Government Executive Committee or the Private Sector Executive Committee shall be given in the official publication or by mailing or by [telegram] email to each delegate or committee member at least three (3) days before the date of such meeting. The President may call an emergency meeting upon 24 hours notice.
(b) NOTICE OF RETIREE DIVISION MEETINGS. Text Remains the Same.
(c) QUORUM OF ASSOCIATION MEETINGS. The presence in person or by virtual technology of one- third of the members entitled to vote shall be necessary to constitute a quorum at all delegate meetings of the Association, the Board of Directors, the Directors’ Committee, the State Executive Committee, the Local Government Executive Committee or the Private Sector Executive Committee. The presence in person of one- half of the committee members entitled to vote shall constitute a quorum for that committee.
Sections 10-11. Text Remains the Same.
Section 12. PARLIAMENTARY PROCEDURE. Parliamentary procedure shall be in accordance with Roberts’ Rules of Order, Revised. [A Parliamentarian shall be appointed by the President of the Association within thirty (30) days after the President’s election, and this Parliamentarian shall be present at all meetings of the Association. A Parliamentarian shall be appointed by the President of the Association to preside at all meetings of the Retiree Division.]
EXPLANATION: This proposal was submitted with the following justification:
“This is partly a housekeeping proposal to conform the By-Laws to CSEA’s practices with regard to notices which are currently being sent via email and will likely be sent via email in the future. Further, while CSEA retains a parliamentarian for the regular ADM, it has not done so for other Association meetings. This proposal also amends the quorum requirements to allow for virtual meeting as opposed to an ‘in-person’ requirement.”
The Committee supports this proposal for the reasons stated by the proposers.
Continued on page 12.
October 2020
The Work Force 11