National Presidents' Conference
American Postal Workers Union
Constitution
(As amended October 25, 2010)
1. PURPOSE: The purpose of the President's Conference is to improve the structure of the APWU and develop a unity of purpose among locals with common problems.
2. REPRESENTATION: Delegations will consist of the President or one other delegate from each local or state. In the absence of the President, delegations will be limited to two members. Observers without voice or vote may take part in conference meetings. Observers will be certified by their Presidents. Both delegates for a local and state and all observers must be members of the local or state.
3. DELEGATES: The president of a local or state or in his/her absence, one who has been certified in writing by the President at the beginning of the conference to take the President's place. No local or state may have more than one delegate who can vote on roll call votes or in the elections. Delegates also have a voice and may take part in discussions. Delegates will be identified by a red colored badge and registration card. National Officers may not be a certified designee.
4. ALTERNATE DELEGATE: The VicePresident of a local, state, or duly certified designee in writing. Alternates may have a voice vote on the floor, engage in discussion, but may only vote in roll calls or elections upon the permanent absence of the delegate. The delegate must notify the Chair prior to his/her departure that the alternate will cast his/her vote. Alternate delegates will be identified by a blue colored badge and registration card. National Officers may not be a certified designee.
5. OBSERVERS AND GUESTS: Will be identified by a greencolored badge and registration card. They have no vote in any proceedings and may only have voice at the pleasure of the body convenedupon request of a delegate. Observers and guests will have a section of the meeting hall set aside for them. After delegations are determined for each conference, no substitutes may be made. Each local and/or state that participates in the conference will be required to present a letter signed by the President identifying the delegation prior to the meeting, providing the President does not attend.
6. VOTING:Each delegate may vote on voice votes. Each local and/or state is entitled to one vote on roll call votes. At least ten locals and/or state must second the call for roll call vote
7. AUTHORITY:The Chair's ruling shall be final on parliamentary questions. Robert's Rules of Order shall be followed; however, no parliamentarian will be used
8. MEETINGS: There shall be three National Presidents' Conference meetings per year. The meetings will be in March, June, and October to the extent possible. Conference sites will rotate in the following order: Southern, Western, Central, Eastern, Northeast. However, the March Conference in odd years will be held in the Washington DC area. This conference will serve as our Legislative Conference and will consist of a day of lobbying on Capital Hill. The selection of the next conference will be determined while convened in conference in that site. (e.g. The next Northeast conference site will be selected while convened at the Northeast conference) The State/Local (Host) interested in hosting a conference will submit a letter of interest to the Chairperson. The Chairperson will conduct a vote of the delegates in order to determine the Host. The vote for the next selected Host will be the first order of business on the second day (Monday) of the conference. A majority vote of the delegates present and voting will select the Host. Once approved the Host will provide a letter to the Chairperson within thirty (30) days confirming their acceptance to host the conference and evidence showing authorization from their membership and/orExecutive Board. A selected Host/Site can only be changed with consent of the selected Host President and upon a 2/3 vote of the National Presidents' Conference delegates in attendance. A different Host will than be selected by majority vote of the body as above. A special caucus may be called by a majority vote of the body or on the call of the Chairperson or ViceChairperson. The Host is responsible for the registration of all delegates and shall provide the Chairperson of the conference a listing of all registered delegates, alternates, and observers. Registration shall begin no later that 3:00 p.m. on Saturday and close not later than 4:00 p.m. on Sunday of the conference. The Host is responsible for “blocking” a sufficient number of rooms as determined after discussions between the Host and the NPC. Additional rooms should be reserved for Friday and Monday evening.
9. SPEAKERS: The National APWU President or his/her designee shall be given adequate time to address the conference, after 10 am on Monday.Upon conclusion, additional speakers are offered the opportunity to address the Conference upon the majority vote of the delegates present. This does not preclude the Presidents' Conference from planning presentations by invited speakers for future conferences. It is suggested that the majority of time be spent as open forum.
10. FINANCES: A registration fee of $65.00 will be assessed for each delegate and observer. $45.00 will be remitted to the host local to help defray expenses. $20.00 will be remitted to the Chairperson to help defray expenses. That the registration fee for anyone registering after the Thursday preceding the NPC conference be $90. The extra monies will be divided between the NPC and Host Local - $10 to NPC and $15 to host local.The Host is responsible for any hospitality room and related refreshments during the two (2) day business session of the conference, in addition to any training sponsored by theHost. Within30 days of the conclusion of the conference, the Host will remit to the NPC Chairman a detailed financial report of the conference and its portion of the registration fee. The NPC shall be responsible for costs during the conference, including copies, audio equipment, and any cost associated with any NPC sponsored training.No outside organizations will be permitted to contribute to the conference in any way.
11. AMENDMENTS: Adoptions of these rules and subsequent revisions thereto will be decided by a twothirds vote of the presidents or designees in attendance when questions are raised.
12. PUBLICITY: Spokespersons for the Presidents' Conference should clearly indicate that they represent the conferences' views. Individual opinions and statements should be clearly identified.
13. OFFICERS, CHAIRPERSON, AND VICE CHAIRPERSON: The Chairperson and the ViceChairperson will be elected for a term of two years. Nominations shall be the first order of business after lunch on the first day of the October meeting during the odd numbered years. Elections, if necessary, will be the last order of business the same day. Candidates must be a local or state President who has attended at least three of the last six meetings. Elections shall be by secret ballot and elected by plurality vote. The Chairperson will be responsible for conducting the conference, which includes appointing a three-member election committee that will be announced during the Sunday session prior to nominations. The ViceChairperson will perform the duties of the Chairperson when he/she is absent or unable to perform the duties required.
The officers may be reelected. In the case of the absence of both the Chairperson and the ViceChairperson, the host local or state president will chair the conference. No National Officer shall be Chairperson or ViceChairperson of the Presidents' Conference. Both the Chairperson and ViceChairperson must be a President of a local or state body in order to serve in their capacity as the National President's Conference. No later then 30 days after vacating their office, turnover of all records and monies to the new officers shall be completed.
14. SUCCESSION:Should a vacancy in the office of Chairperson occur, the ViceChairperson should assume the office of Chairperson. When there is a vacancy in the office of Vice Chairperson or Chairperson, an election shall occur at the next Presidents' Conference after the vacancies.
15. AUDIT COMMITTEE:An Audit Committee will review all receipts and expenditures of each conference and shall be appointed for twoyear terms. An Income and Expense report shall be distributed at each conference. All expenditures of the conference shall be supported by a receipt and/or voucher At the conclusion of the term of office, the Chairperson and ViceChairperson shall turn over all assets, books, papers, records, and documents that are the property of the National Presidents' Conference to their successor. In the event of misappropriation of NPC funds, all reasonable efforts shall be made to make the conference whole.
16. ADVANCE NOTICE: There shall be one advanced notice mailed out at least 60 days prior to the next NPC listing the site and hotel.
17. MINUTES: The Chairperson or his/her designee shall provide a listof the agenda items for everyconference. There are no official minutes of the conference.
18. DISCUSSION: Delegates will be allowed up to three minutes to speak and may not speak more than twice on the same issue.
19. HANDOUTS: A copy of the updated Constitution will be available to the delegates at each conference upon request.
20. POLITICAL:In order to protect the intent and integrity of the Presidents' Conference, there shall be no formal endorsements for the APWU Union elections from the Presidents' Conference.
21. DATES AND TIMES: The Presidents' Conference shall convene promptly at 9:00 am on Saturday and the order of business shall consist of training agreed to prior to the conference. There shall be a one-hour lunch break. If there is no training scheduled for Saturday the conference will convene promptly at 9:00 am on Sunday. On Sunday the conference will convene promptly at 9:00 am and will recess for lunch from 12:00 to 1:00, and will recess for the day at 5:00 p.m. On Monday' the conference shall convene at 9:00 a.m. and end no later than 4:00 p.m. The March Legislative Conference will be held in odd years withthe Tuesday following the conference set aside as a day of lobbying on Capital Hill.
22. AGENDA: The first order of business will be the distribution of a status report on all motions made at previous Presidents' Conferences. Only those motions approved by the Presidents' Conference as fulfilled and closed shall be removed from the list. All agenda items must be submitted by a local or statePresident or President’s designee The Chairperson or Vice Chairperson will assign agenda items to a category. The categories, in order of discussion by the body, shall beChairman's Items (e.g. internal NPC issues, items of general interest, etc.), Internal APWU Items (e.g. Constitutional, Legislative, Policies), Collective Bargaining (e.g. Labor-Management, Negotiations, Contractual), and Other
Conference Rotation
The rotation of conferences shall be in this order:
1)Southern
2)Western
3)Central
4)Eastern
5)Northeast
(However, the March Conference in odd years will be held in the Washington DC area This conference will serve as our Legislative Conference and will consist of a day of lobbying on Capital Hill.)
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