Constitution                  Bylaws of UFF Political Action Committee

BYLAWS

ARTICLE I. RULES OF ORDER

Section 1. Robert's Rules of Order, revised, shall govern in all cases not covered by the Constitution and Bylaws.

ARTICLE II. CHAPTERS, BARGAINING COUNCILS AND PRESIDENTS' COUNCILS

Section 1. Chapters shall be established by the UFF Senate.

Section 2. Bargaining Councils of senators shall be established by the UFF Senate. Bargaining Councils shall set legislative, bargaining, and other priorities in the area under their jurisdiction.

Section 3. The Senate shall establish a Presidents’ Council for each Bargaining Council, made up of the Chapter Presidents in that Council, or that chapter president’s representative, to facilitate dialogue on issues and matters confronting the union and its chapters. The Vice Presidents of the Bargaining Councils shall chair meetings of their respective Presidents’ Council. The President of UFF shall chair collective meetings of the Presidents’ Councils.

Section 4. Presidents' Councils shall meet at least twice a year, at least one of which meetings must be apart from the Senate meetings, shall prepare the agenda for their respective Bargaining Council meetings, shall work with the state leadership in establishing union priorities, and shall review union progress in the areas of membership, political action, contract enforcement, and other relevant areas.

Section 5. The Presidents’ Council shall have the authority to act for their respective bargaining councils between meetings of the bargaining councils and shall report all actions to the bargaining councils.

ARTICLE III. DELEGATE SELECTION TO AFFILIATE ORGANIZATIONS

Section 1. The president and president-elect and first vice-president and first vice-president-elect shall be delegates to the NEA Representative Assembly . All other delegates to the NEA Representative Assembly shall be elected in accordance with NEA Bylaws biannually to two-year terms.

Section 2. The president and president-elect and first vice president and first vice president -elect shall be delegates to the FEA Representative Assembly. Remaining delegates shall be elected annually through elections in each chapter and statewide among the at-large members, with the number of delegate seats to be elected by members of each chapter and by the at-large members determined by the membership count as of January 15. The delegate election process shall provide for open nominations and be conducted by secret ballot. The members receiving the highest numbers of votes shall be elected as delegates. Remaining nominees may serve as alternate delegates. Candidates for UFF senator or Alternate Senator may run concurrently for FEA delegate or alternate delegate. The number of FEA delegates per chapter shall be fixed at one for each 50 members or major portion thereof. The number of FEA alternate delegates shall be limited to the number of FEA delegates. In the event a chapter cannot send its allotted delegation to the FEA delegate assembly, alternate delegates from other chapters shall be selected by the UFF President from the same bargaining council if possible. FEA delegates and alternates must be elected and reported to UFF at least 30 days prior to the convening of the first session of the annual FEA Representative Assembly.

Section 3. Directors for the FEA Board shall be elected in conjunction with the election of UFF officers. FEA Governance Board members shall be elected to two-year terms commencing on July 15 of odd-numbered years.

Section 4. In the event of a vacancy on the FEA Governance Board, a successor will be elected following open nominations and secret ballot of the UFF membership. Vacancies on the Board shall be filled within 60 days. The person elected will serve for the period remaining in the existing term.

Section 5. In the event that one of the Director positions is lost in an even-numbered year, the Directors who received the most votes will continue in their positions.

ARTICLE IV. DUTIES AND ELECTION OF OFFICERS

Section 1. The president shall preside at all meetings of the UFF Senate and of the UFF Steering Committee. The president shall be an ex-officio member of all committees, shall sign all necessary documents and papers, shall represent the organization, shall coordinate and oversee the organization's programs and policies, as determined by the UFF Senate, shall make an annual report to the members, and shall convene special meetings of committees, councils, and Senates.

Section 2. The first vice-president shall represent the president when the president cannot be present and shall carry out the duties assigned by the president or the Senate. In the event of a vacancy in the office of the president, the first vice-president shall serve as acting president. A vacancy in the office of the president will be filled within 60 days, following open nomination and secret mail ballot of the UFF membership. The person elected shall fill the vacant office for the period remaining in the existing term.

Section 3. In the event of a vacancy in the office of first vice-president, a successor will be elected within 60 days following open nomination and election by secret ballot of the membership. The person elected shall fill the vacant office for the period remaining in the existing term.

Section 4. The vice-presidents selected by the Bargaining Councils shall preside at meetings of their respective Bargaining and Presidents’ councils.

Section 5. By April 1, the president and first vice-president shall be elected by open nomination and secret mail ballots of the UFF membership to congruent two-year terms commencing on August 15 of odd-numbered years. The vice-presidents selected by the Bargaining Councils shall be elected by open nomination and secret ballot at the first meeting of the Bargaining Council after March 1 of each year and shall take office immediately upon election.

Section 6. Chapter presidents shall preside at all meetings of their respective chapters. They shall be ex-officio members of all committees of their chapters and members of their respective Presidents’ Council, shall sign all necessary documents and papers of their chapters, and shall represent their chapters within UFF. Chapter presidents shall make annual reports to the membership of their chapters.

Section 7. Elections for all statewide UFF offices and all delegates to the FEA Representative Assembly and the NEA Representative Assembly, shall be by plurality vote.

ARTICLE V. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Section 1. The UFF Executive Director shall be the chief administrative officer of the United Faculty of Florida and shall implement and carry out the union program of activities as determined by the UFF Senate and President.

ARTICLE VI. UFF SENATE

Section 1. The number of senators shall be fixed at one for each 25 members or a major portion thereof for each chapter, including the chapter president, who shall be a senator. The number of senators shall be determined by the membership on file as of January 15. Senators shall be elected by and shall take office on April 1 of each year. Every chapter shall have at least two senators regardless of membership.

Section 2. A chapter with more than four senators shall elect at least half of the senators from precincts established by the chapter. The precincts shall have approximately the same number of members and the members shall have a community of interest.

Section 3. Each voting member of the UFF Senate may carry the proxy of up to two other members of the Senate, provided that the members are from the same chapter.

Section 4. Meetings of the Senate shall be scheduled, when possible, to be held in various parts of the state.

Section 5. Each chapter of UFF may elect as many alternates as Senators and may send alternates to replace delegates who may not attend. The seat of a senator who is not represented for two consecutive meetings shall be declared vacant, unless the absence is excused by the Senate. The alternate, if any, shall fill the vacancy or a replacement shall be elected.

ARTICLE VII. UNION STANDING COMMITTEES AND COUNCILS

Section 1. The following shall comprise the union's Standing Committees:

1. Contract Enforcement
2. Government Relations
3. Membership

Section 3. The president may appoint special committees when needed.

Section 4. The Senate shall set forth the functions of all committees and councils and shall establish policies and procedures governing their operations.

ARTICLE VIII. MEETINGS

Section 1. The time and place of the Senate meetings shall be fixed by the UFF Senate. All policy resolutions shall be referred to the UFF Senate for consideration.

Section 2. Special Senate meetings of the United Faculty of Florida may be called by the president, by a majority of senators, or by a majority of the Steering Committee.

Section 3. Bargaining Council meetings may be called by a majority of the senators composing the Council, by the bargaining council vice presidents, or by the UFF President.

Section 4. Presidents’ councils shall meet in conformity with Article II, Section 4, of the Bylaws.

Section 5. All Senate meetings of the United Faculty of Florida and of its councils, chapters, and committees, including the Steering Committee, are open to the membership, except when personnel matters and grievances are being considered.

ARTICLE IX. DUE PROCESS AND APPEALS

Section 1. All subordinate bodies of the United Faculty of Florida (such as chapters, councils, etc.) and members thereof, shall be entitled to the right of appeal.

Section 2. An initial appeal goes to the membership of the appropriate chapter or council for decision, to be taken at a membership meeting, in the case of a chapter.

Section 3. If the appellant is dissatisfied with the decision rendered on the initial appeal, a written appeal may be filed within 30 days to the Steering Committee through the president. The Steering Committee also has the authority to take jurisdiction over an initial appeal that is not acted upon within 45 days after it has been submitted.

Section 4. If the appellant is dissatisfied with the decision of the Steering Committee, it may be appealed to the UFF Senate whose decision shall be final and binding upon all parties of interest.

Section 5. Only the chapter from which the grievance is filed may appeal to the UFF Steering Committee a decision by the Contract Enforcement Committee to not arbitrate a case. The Steering Committee decision shall be final.

ARTICLE X. AFFIRMATIVE ACTION

Section 1. To carry out its commitment to affirmative action within the internal governance structures of the union, the UFF urges all members to commit themselves to selected balanced representation, with due regard to proportional representation of ethnic minorities and women.

ARTICLE XI. DUES

Section 1. Regular dues shall be one percent of regular salary for members of those chapters which are bargaining agents or part of larger units for which the United Faculty of Florida is the bargaining agent or for those members serving as executive officers of UFF, FEA, or NEA. Regular dues shall include the dues of FEA and NEA.

Section 2. Dues for members of UFF who are not members of bargaining units shall be $45 plus the cost of FEA and NEA dues. This amount shall be raised each year by the average increase in salary for UFF members as determined by the UFF Senate. Dues for Life UFF Retired members shall be $100 plus FEA and NEA life dues.

Section 3. Dues for those members who are off the payroll during the regular academic year, whether on unpaid leave or on phased retirement, shall be one-half the dues set forth in Section 2, above, for each semester the member is not on the payroll.

ARTICLE XII. AMENDMENT

Section 1. Proposed amendments shall be mailed to all senators at least 30 days prior to the Senate meeting at which proposed action is to be taken. A majority of the senators present and voting shall be sufficient to adopt the amendment.

Constitution                  Bylaws of UFF Political Action Committee