GFT Constitution

ARTICLE I

Name

Section 1. The name of the organization shall be the Greenon Federation of Teachers,

Local #4370 American Federation of Teachers.

ARTICLE II

Purposes

Section 1. The purpose of the Federation shall be to promote the educational objectives of

the local school system and of the state and nation; to protect the welfare and

advance the interests of its members by obtaining for them the rights to which they are

entitled; to foster professional attitudes; to raise the standards of the educational

profession by securing the conditions essential to the best professional attitudes;

and to establish and maintain helpful, friendly relationships with the membership.

ARTICLE III

Membership

Section 1. Any certified persons employed as a teacher full time or part time by the public

schools of Greenon Local may become an active member of the Federation by

paying annual dues. Those persons not choosing full membership will pay a service

fee as per master agreement (see By-Laws for dues, service fee, and rebate

procedures).

Section 2. Active members of the Greenon Federation of Teachers, Local # 4370, shall also be

members of the American Federation of Teachers, the Ohio Federation of Teachers,

the Ohio AFL-CI0 and the Mad River Valley Federated Labor Council, AFL-CIO.

Section 3. Supervisory personnel with the rank of assistant principal or above shall not

obtain membership. Members, who are promoted to the positions with the rank of assistant

principal or above, automatically are removed from membership on the effective date of

promotion.

ARTICLE IV

Officers and Their Duties

Section 1. The officers of this Federation shall be President, Vice -President, Recording

Secretary, Corresponding Secretary, Grievance Chairperson and Treasurer.

Section 2. The President shall preside at all meetings of the Federation and of the

Executing Committee and shall be an ex-officio member of all committees.

The President shall be responsible for calling special meetings and

coordinating the Federation activities. All books, records, files, and supplies that are the

property of the Federation shall be in the President’s custody or the president’s designee and

be in such order that they are usable and may be passed on satisfactorily to the successor.

He / She shall be the custodian of the seal and charter of the Federation. The president shall be

responsible for the distribution of all Federation printed materials to the membership.

Section 3. The Vice-President shall preside or act in the absence of the President.

Section 4. The Recording Secretary shall keep a record of the proceedings of the

Federation and the Executive Board. All minutes of the Federation’s Executive

Committee and General Membership Meetings shall be in the Recording Secretary’s

custody and in such order that they are usable and may be passed on satisfactorily

to the successor.

Section 5. The Corresponding Secretary shall handle all internal and external

correspondence of the Federation as requested by the President.

Section 6. The duties of the Treasurer shall be:

a. The Treasurer shall receive all monies belonging to the Federation, small make

payments when properly authorized, shall keep an itemized account of receipts and

expenditures, and shall make reports of the balance at regular meetings. The Treasurer

shall file a written report annually. When the funds of the Federation exceed $500,000,

The Treasurer shall be covered by a bond paid for by the Federation.

b. The Treasurer shall forward all per capita dues and current membership lists to the
Office of the American Federation of Teachers and to other affiliated organizations to keep

this Federation in good standing at all times. Special care shall be taken to see that per

capital tax through June 30th is sent to the National Office no later than 15 days prior to

the opening date of the National Convention to make sure delegates from this Federation

may be seated.

c. The Treasurer shall submit an annual IRS Tax Return.

d. The Treasurer shall be the chairman of a Biennial Audit Committee and shall submit the

audit report to the OFT National Office.

ARTICLE V

Executive Committee

Section 1. The Executive Board shall be composed of the President, Vice-President,

Recording Secretary, Corresponding Secretary, Grievance Chairperson, Treasurer,

Past-President, Chairpersons of all standing committees, and delegates from each

building in the system who shall hold the title of Building Representative or a

Building Representative's alternate.

Section 2. The Executive Committee shall serve as the agency through which the

policies of the Federation will be put into effect and have general

supervision of all activities sponsored by the Federation. It shall report

its transactions to all members. It shall have the power to act for the good of the

Federation in emergency situations where policy cannot be set by the membership.

Section 3. The Executive Committee shall meet at least once a month and at any other time at the call of

The President. The president shall set the time and place of the Executive Committee meeting

with notification given to the membership. The first meeting to be held is in September.

Section 4. There shall be one Building Representative in each building for every ten members or major fraction thereof. Vacancies in the ranks of Building Representatives may be filled by appointment of the President with approval of the Executive Committee.

Section 5. A member from the local non-certified association may send a representative to Executive Committee meetings and regular meetings upon request to the Greenon Federation of Teachers.

ARTICLE VI

Elections

Section 1. The President shall appoint, subject to the approval of the Executive Committee, a Nominating

Committee of not less than three or more than five members which shall prepare a slate with

not less than two nominees for each office.

Section 2. Candidates may be placed on the ballot by

a. the Nominating Committee and/or

                       b.   submitting a letter of intent to seek a particular office to the Nominating
                  Committee or President before scheduled elections meeting is called to order
                   and/or

                       c.    petition signed by ten members of the Federation and filed to the Nominating
                  Committee or President before scheduled elections meeting is called to order
                   and/or

d. nominations from the floor during the membership meeting prior to the ballot
being taken.

Section 3. The annual election of officers shall take place during the month of April and the

elections shall be by ballot in each building.

Section 4. The officers elected shall assume their duties on the Monday following the last day of

the regular school year.

Section 5. Any candidate for office shall be a member of the Greenon Federation of Teachers

and affiliated associations and must be in this process of bringing to completion at

the time of the elections at least one year of experience in the Greenon Local School

District.

Section 6. The President, Vice-President, Recording Secretary, Corresponding Secretary, Grievance

Chairperson and Treasurer shall serve a two-year term in office.

Section 7. The Building Representatives shall be elected at building elections held in the beginning of each school year. This Election is to be conducted by the Building Representatives or designee who shall be appointed by the President.

All teachers in the building are eligible except the following:

a. those who are not members or the Federation.

b. those holding elected offices in the Federation,

c. those with less than one year of service in the Greenon Local School District.

Section 8. If there are not enough interested parties to hold an election for Building Representatives,

the President may appoint those needed at each building.

ARTICLE VII

Committees

Section 1. All committees shall be appointed by the President, subject to the approval of the Executive Committee,

Section 2. The Federation, when applicable, shall have the following standing committees:

a. Grievance Committee

b. Nominations Committee

c. LPDC Committee

d. Negotiations Committee

e. Evaluation Committee

f. Supplemental Committee

g. Scholarship Committee

Section 3. The Duties of these committees shall be such as are determined by the Executive Board.

ARTICLE V III

Affiliations

Section 1. This Federation shall maintain affiliations with and whenever possible send delegates to the following organizations:

A. The American Federation of Teachers - all delegates - and alternates to the
National Convention of the A.F.T. shall be elected by majority vote at the April membership meeting, and a list of candidates shall be mailed to each member 15 days prior to the election. The President and Secretary shall certify the election and forward the credentials of all elected delegates and alternates to the National Office as soon as possible, but not later than 10 days before the convening of the National Convention. The delegates shall confer with the Treasurer to make sure MRG.F.T. per capita through June has been sent to the National Office at least 15 days before the convening of the National Convention.

B. The Ohio Federation of Teachers delegates shall be elected at least one month

before the State Convention according to the OFT Constitution.

C. The Mad River Valley Federated Labor Council, RFL-CIO - delegates shall be
elected at the regular elections of officers.

D. The Ohio AFL-CIO - delegates shall be elected at least one month before the

State Labor Convention.

Section 2. All delegates, upon request by the President, shall make written or oral reports to the Executive Board on meetings attended.

Section 3. Every reasonable effort shall be made by this Federation to pay the legitimate expenses of delegates to meetings and contentions of affiliated organizations, upon approval of the Executive Committee.

Section 4. The federation to the best of its ability shall be active in the affairs of affiliated organizations.

Section 5. Delegates to affiliated organizations shall meet the same requirements as officers of this local (Must be members in good standing of this Federation for at least one year.)

ARTICLE IX

Constitution

Section 1 This Constitution shall become effective immediately upon the adoption of a majority vote. The vote will be by ballot in the building

Section 2. Three copies of this Constitution and all future amendments shall be submitted to the National Office of the American Federation of Teachers.

Section 3. Copies will be made available to other affiliated organizations upon request.

Section 4. Copies will be made available for any members of this Federation upon request to the President.

ARTICLE X

Amendments

Section 1. No alterations, additions, deletions, or amendments shall be made to this Constitution except by approval of two-thirds of all members. The vote will be by ballot in the building

Section 2. Proposed changes in this Constitution shall be presented in writing to the membership at least two weeks prior to the meeting at which they will be considered.

ARTICLE XI

Dissolution

Section 1. In the event the Mad River Green Federation of Teachers dissolves, any balance in the treasury shall be assigned by the Executive Committee.

By-Laws

Article I

Meetings

Section 1. This Federation shall schedule at least two regular meetings during the school year, held in fall and spring.

Section 2. Business of the Federation may be conducted only at those meetings when a quorum is present.

Section 3. The Executive committee shall meet every month during the school year.

Section 4. The President shall call a special general membership meeting at the written request of 10% of the membership. Business to come before the general meeting must be stated in the call which shall be sent to each building in writing and shall be posted.

ARTICLE II

Dues and Service Fees

Section 1. The annual dues for membership in this Federation shall be no less than $50 over the per capita dues paid to the affiliated organizations.

Section 2. Service fee for non-members shall be equal to the dues paid by members of equal employment status.

Section 3. Agency-Shop Service Fee Rebate Dispute Procedure

Any person making service fee payments to the Federation in lieu of dues under agency-shop provisions in the Federation's Collective Bargaining Agreement has the right to object to the expenditure of a portion of such payments for activities or causes of a primarily partisan, political nature, or for union organizing expenditures. Such objections shall be presented by the objector individually notifying the Federation President and/or Treasurer of his/her objection, in writing, by registered or certified mail, on or before October 1, or within twenty (20) days after the employee's first day on the job, subject to renewal of such objection from year to year, in the same period and in the same manner.

Section 4. The approximate proportion of dues and service fees spent by the Federation for

such political or organizing purposes shall be determined annually, after each school

year, by the Federation's Treasurer and verified by the Federation's accounting firm.

To the extent that such percentage of political fees are established and determined

by the above procedure, these monies shall not be collected from the agency-shop

fees paid by objecting non-members only.

Withholding

Those persons, who file a timely notice of objection as per section I above, shall have monies immediately escrowed in the amount of an additional ten (10) percent. The amount rebated shall accurately reflect the amount expended by the Federation for those purposes outlined above and otherwise prohibited by law, plus all accumulated interest on that amount. The Federation will not access these escrowed funds for any purpose during tile period from the first fee deduction until after the rebate has been paid.

Notice and Repeats

The Federation will provide to each objector at the time when a timely notice has been filed, a statement outlining its expenditures to objecting fee payers, plus the dues to be collected. This statement will be verified by an independent accounting firm. If an objector is dissatisfied with the proportional allocation because he/she feels it does not accurately reflect the expenditures of the Federation in the defined areas, an appeal may be made by said person within thirty (30) days following receipt of such rebate, or receipt of notice of such allocation, by notifying the President of the Federation and/or Treasurer, in writing, of the appeal. Otherwise the rebate, as determined, shall be deemed to be proper and accepted by the fee payer.

Disposition

Within ten (10) days of receipt of the appeal, the Federation shall notify the Ohio State Employment Relations Board (SERB) of the appeal and shall send to SERB those documents requested to make final and binding determination according to law.

ARTICLE III

Vacancies

Section l. Whenever the office of President becomes vacant, the Vice-President shall

automatically assume the Presidency for the remainder of the term, as well as the term

for which elected to serve as President.

Section 2. Whenever the office of President and Vice-President shall become vacant, the remaining

members of the Executive Committee shall so choose one of their number to serve as

President Pro Tempore until a special election by membership is conducted.

Section 3. In the event of a vacancy of any office, the President shall appoint, with the approval

of the Executive Board, a member of the local Federation to fulfill that vacancy until a

special election is held.

ARTICLE IV

Authority

Robert's Rules of Order. Revised. Shall be the parliamentary authority for the Federation on all questions not covered by the Constitution and By-Laws and such standing rules as the Executive committee may adopt.

ARTICLE VI

Quorum

Section 1. Those present at a general meeting constitute a quorum and that 69% of

the Executive Board constitutes a quorum at Executive Committee meetings.

ARTICLE VII

Amendments

Section 1. These By-Laws may be amended by a majority note of the Executive Committee at any regular meeting of the Executive Committee provided that proposed amendments have been previously studied by the Building Representatives two calendar weeks in advance of the meeting at which action is to be taken.

ARTICLE VIII

Officers' Compensation

Section 1. The President of the Federation shall be compensated for expenses in an amount equal to three times the amount of annual dues.

Section 2. The Treasurer and Vice President of the Federation shall be compensated for expenses in the amount equal to two times the annual dues.

Section 3. The Recording Secretary, Corresponding Secretary, and Grievance Chair shall be compensated for expenses equal to the amount the annual dues.

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GFT Constitution

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