This spring’s General Membership Meeting will be held on Friday, April 8th at 5:30 PM at the Corvallis Senior Center. Same time, same place, just a bit earlier in the term than usual – the end of week two instead of week four. Please join us! Electing officers is one way members can influence the course of the union. There will also be a vote on some changes to CGE’s governing documents, the Constitution and Bylaws. For more information on both votes, check below the fold. But first, a map!
Generic GMM Directions and Maps
Officer Elections. Every spring we elect new officers to sit on the Executive Council. This year, presuming one of the proposed changes to the Constitution and Bylaws passes, we’ll be electing seven officers. The last two positions have been test–driven over the past year by non-voting volunteers:
- President. The President is the face of CGE, chairs EC meetings, and generally does all the little things that help keep CGE running. Rob Hess is the current President and he can be contacted at president@cge6069.org.
- Vice President for Collective Bargaining and Grievances. This person is responsible for chairing the bargaining team in a bargaining year (which the 2011-2012 year is) and for fielding any grievances that come in. They are also responsible for chairing EC meetings if the President is gone. Matt Loewen is the current officeholder and he can be contacted at vp_bargaining@cge6069.org.
- Vice President for Organizing. This person is responsible for bringing new members into CGE and recruiting Reps/Stewards and other volunteers. Michelle Zellers is the current Organizing VP and she can be contacted at vp_organizing@cge6069.org.
- Vice President for Communications. This person is responsible for maintaining CGE’s web presence, monthly email digests, quarterly newsletters, and other communication activities as required. Miriah Russo is the current Communications VP and she can be contacted at vp_communications@cge6069.org.
- Secretary-Treasurer. This person works with the Business Manager to keep CGE’s books and meeting minutes. They also chair an annual budget committee and oversee the annual audit. Mindy Crandall is the current Secretary-Treasurer and she can be contacted at treasurer@cge6069.org.
- External Relations Chair. This person maintains CGE’s relationships with external organizations such as ASOSU, SEIU, and AFT-Oregon. They often work with the President. This is a proposed position [see below]. It is currently held by John Osborne. If you have questions about the position, you can contact John at external_relations@cge6069.org.
- Social Activities Chair. This person helps plan events and works on building community among grad employees both as part of CGE’s regular activities and in a standalone capacity. This is a proposed position [see below]. It is currently held by Michelle Marie. If you have questions about the position, you can contact Michelle at activities@cge6069.org.
Constitution and Bylaws Amendments. The current Executive Council is proposing a total of five changes to the CGE Constitution and Bylaws:
- Creating two additional elected officer positions. [Constitution Article V]
- Social Activities Chair. This position would work on building community among graduate employees by working on social events like bar/restaurant meetups, barbeques, rec sports teams, etc.
- External Relations Chair. This position would be responsible for building and maintaining CGE’s relationship with external organizations including AFT-Oregon, the Oregon AFL-CIO, ASOSU, and others.
- Allowing for online voting. Online voting has been used successfully by the GTFF at UO for both contract ratification and officer elections. The major advantage of moving to online voting would be explicitly to increase the number of CGE members who can participate in elections – for example, members with parents, or members working outside Corvallis at the time an election is held. We could add language that allows for, but does not require, online voting, and specifically note that it must be done in a way that maintains the integrity of the union’s democratic process. [Constitution Article IV]
- Acknowledging the existence of fair-share dues. The bylaws have information about full and associate member categories, so it makes sense to acknowledge the existence of fair-share payers as well. [Bylaws Article 1]
- Removing the cap on bargaining team size. The current cap is nine, and some members of the last bargaining team would like to see that cap raised or eliminated. The strength of the CGE team was the number and diversity of people on the team, and preventing more people from being involved doesn’t make any sense. [Constitution Article V]
- Use of consensus process for decision-making. We would not remove Robert’s Rules of Order, but use consensus primarily and RRO as a back-up. [Constitution Article XV]
If you want to read the existing C&B in their entirety, see this PDF. For the text of the proposed C&B changes, see this PDF.