Westchester Community College Local 2431

WCCFT CONSTITUTION

Phone: 914-345-8856

Campus Phone:914-606-8421

Fax: 914-345-2761

E-mail: rafael.rodriguez@wccft.org

 

Constitution of the Westchester Community College

Federation of Teachers

 

As revised by the Executive Committee on September 23, 2004

 

Article I. Name

                 Section 1 Name

The name of this organization shall be the Westchester Community College Federation of Teachers.

 

                 Section 2 Affiliation

This organization is chartered by American Federation of Teachers (AFT) as Local #2431 and shall be affiliated with the New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) and the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO).

 

Article II. Objectives

                 Section 1 Rights and Working Conditions

To represent the faculty, full time and adjunct, in collective bargaining with the college and the county, to achieve and maintain optimal terms and conditions of employment and a safe, healthy work environment in accordance with the Taylor Law of New York State, including:

 

1) academic freedom and tenure rights which protect the faculty against arbitrary and capricious treatment;

 

2) a workload in terms of hours, preparation and class size which supports the academic goals of faculty in fulfilling its obligations to students and to the College;

 

3) compensation, salary increases and benefits which will attract and retain a competent and diverse faculty;

 

4) defense of aggrieved faculty against contract violations or discriminatory action;

 

5) faculty participation in college governance and policy-making;

 

6) a central role in appointments to faculty and administrative positions;

 

7) generous sabbatical, sick, personal, terminal, emergency and other leaves;

 

8) opportunities for substantial professional and educational growth on and off campus;

 

9) office space, secretarial assistance, classrooms, equipment and supplies which meet the requirements of effective functioning as faculty;

 

10) recruitment of new Union members among both adjunct and fulltime faculty to achieve 100 percent membership;

 

11) encouragement of member involvement with local, state and national unions dedicated to furthering the interests of all union and non-union employees.

 

                 Section 2 Development of the College

To further the development of Westchester Community College as a comprehensive institution of higher learning in the service of the community.

 

Article III Membership

                 Section 1 Definition

The Union welcomes into membership all faculty, adjunct and full-time, as defined by the recognition clause of the collective bargaining agreement (CBA). All members shall be dues-paying members in good standing.

 

                 Section 2 Dues

The dues shall be determined by a majority vote of the members at a general membership meeting.

 

Section 3 Membership Rights

The membership shall be responsible for establishing the direction of the Union, implementation of all union goals, in accordance with this constitution and properly mandated policies and procedures of the state and national organizations with which the Union is affiliated. Members shall be encouraged in every way to participate in the discussions, activities and policy decisions of the Union.

 

College administrators, who hold adjunct faculty membership, may not belong to the Executive Committee of the union, or participate directly in collective bargaining with as members of the bargaining team. Such members shall also be excluded from union meetings dealing with grievance issues or where their presence will interfere with free and open discussion.

 

Article IV Structure

                 Section 1 Officers

The officers of the Union shall include President, Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer who shall be elected to serve two-year terms of office.

 

The order of succession in the event of the inability of the President to perform the duties of the office shall be as follows:

Vice-President

Secretary

Treasurer

 

The President shall preside at meetings of the Union and the Executive Committee and share material and information from local, state, and national unions with the membership. The President is responsible for implementing the goals of the Union and for representing the Union (or designating a

representative) on governance and policy-making bodies of Westchester Community College and in its dealings with College, state and local officials. The President will also serve as an ex officio member of all Union committees.

 

The Vice-President shall preside at all meetings in the absence of the President, and shall perform such other duties as the President or the Union may delegate.

 

The Secretary shall be responsible for keeping a record of the proceedings of all Union meetings and shall make minutes and agenda items available to the membership. The Secretary shall be responsible for Union correspondence with members and for updating the membership lists.

 

The Treasurer shall collect dues from all members, remit “per capita” dues to the affiliated bodies, disburse sums approved by the Executive Committee, and keep proper financial records. The Treasurer will be responsible for preparing the annual budget and reporting to the Executive Committee and to the general membership.

 

                 Section 2 Executive Committee

The Executive Committee shall consist of the Officers, an adjunct faculty member (not including full-time or retired faculty) and seven at-large members. The term of office for Executive Committee members shall be two years. The Executive Committee shall be responsible for implementing policy,

coordinating activities of the individual committees of the Union, and communicating with constituent members. The Executive Committee may propose policy to the Union.

 

                 Section 3 Committees

Committees may be created by the Executive Committee or by the general membership. They may be designated “Standing” or “Special.” Each Standing Committee shall consist of a chair who shall be a member of the Executive Committee. The following Standing Committees are hereby created:

Grievance

Adjunct

Health and Safety

Political Action

Budget

Faculty Development

Communications

Membership

Special Committees may be created for specific, limited functions. Special Committee chairs shall be designated by the Executive Committee and shall report to the Executive Committee. Reports of committee activities must be made regularly or at least once a semester at the full membership meetings by committee chairs after reporting to the Executive Committee.

 

Article V Meetings

                 Section 1 Monthly Meetings

The full membership of the Union shall meet once a month unless otherwise notified. The secretary shall provide proper notice of meetings to the membership.

 

                 Section 2 Procedures

Policy questions shall be resolved by majority vote of the membership in attendance unless otherwise specified. Five percent (5%) of the membership in good standing or twenty members, whichever is less, shall constitute a quorum for the purpose of conducting business.

 

Article VI Elections

                

                 Section 1 Officers and Executive Committee

 

                 Section 2 Election Procedures

During the first week of March, the Executive Committee shall mail to the entire membership, a call for nominations. Nominations will be accepted at the March general membership meeting of the Union or submitted in writing to the Secretary of the Union. The last day for nominations shall be the last Wednesday of March. Nominations shall be announced at the April membership meeting. Nominees may express their views at the April meeting.

 

The Executive Committee shall prepare and mail out an official ballot within two (2) days of the April meeting. An Election Committee of three members shall be appointed to count the ballots. No one seeking election shall serve on the Elections Committee. Ballots shall be returned to the Election Committee by the last Wednesday of April. The Committee shall arrange for a count before the May general membership meeting. All candidates may be present for the count. Elections shall be determined by a majority vote of returned ballots. Announcement of the

election results shall be made at the May membership meeting.

 

New Officers and members of the Executive Committee shall assume office on June 1 of the same year.

 

                 Section 3 Vacancies

In the event of the inability of any officer to perform the duties of office, succession will follow as designated above. In the event of the inability of any member of the Executive Committee, Sick Bank Trustee or delegate to the NYSUT Representative Assembly to perform the duties of office, the Executive Committee will appoint a replacement to serve until an interim election by a majority of members at the next general membership can be held if the general election for that office is more than ninety (90) days from the day of resignation.

 

                 Section 4 Representative Assembly of NYSUT

Delegates to the NYSUT Representative Assembly (RA), the number of which shall be calculated to conform to NYSUT rules, will be elected by the general membership for the term of office defined in the NYSUT Constitution. One delegate shall be the President of the Union. The election of RA delegates shall follow the procedures for elections outlined in Article VI, section 2 above.

 

Article VII Recall

                 Section 1 Subject to Recall

Any Officer or member of the Executive Committee shall be subject to recall.

 

                 Section 2 Recall Procedures

A motion in the Executive Committee receiving two-thirds (2/3) of the votes of the Committee or in a regular membership meeting receiving two-thirds (2/3) of the members present for recall of any or all members of the Executive Committee shall initiate recall procedures. Members shall then be notified by mail of a recall meeting where makers of the recall motion and those threatened with recall shall be given equal time to present their cases. A motion for recall receiving two-thirds (2/3) of members

present shall be considered successful.

 

Article VIII Amendments and Ratification

                 Section 1 Amendments

Amendments to the Constitution may be proposed by one of two methods:

1) A petition of fifty (50) members in good standing

2) A majority of the members of the Executive Committee Amendments to the Constitution shall be presented to the members at a general membership meeting and shall take effect upon ratification by a majority of members at the following general member meeting.

 

                 Section 2 Ratification of Constitution

The Constitution must be ratified by a majority of returned mail ballots.

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