• 2008 IAPE Elections
• Feedback

• Your Union
• Assistance Request
• Help Desk

• Layoff Update

• Grievance
• Elections
• Budget
• Contracts
• IAPE Board Meeting
• Audio
• Contact Us

• Links
• Archives
• DJ Quote

• Home

IAPE Elections 2008

Under the terms of the IAPE ByLaws, notice is hereby given for the election of IAPE President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer and members of the IAPE Board of Directors.

The following "Notice and Rules" has been mailed to the last known address of each member of IAPE and will be posted at IAPE-represented worksites across Dow Jones.

NOTICE OF NOMINATION AND ELECTION

NOMINATION AND RULES FOR 2008 REGULAR ELECTION OF OFFICERS, LOCATION AND CLASSIFICATION DIRECTORS AND CWA CONVENTION DELEGATES

Notice is herewith given of the 2008 election of officers, CWA Delegates and all Location and Classification Directors, as provided by the bylaws of IAPE, CWA, Local 1096.

President/CWA Delegate
Vice President/CWA Delegate
Secretary/CWA Delegate
Treasurer/CWA Delegate

CWA Convention Delegates (2)

Location Directors
(Candidates must be employed in the geographic location they wish to represent)
South Brunswick, NJ/Philadelphia, PA (4)
New York (3)
Chicago (1)
Washington, DC (2)
Atlanta/Orlando (1)
Boston (1)
Canada (1)
Dallas/Houston (1)
Detroit/Bowling Green/Pittsburgh (1)
Los Angeles (1)
Palo Alto/San Francisco, CA (2)
Jersey City, NJ (Harborside) (2)

Classification Directors
(Candidates must be employed in the job classification they wish to represent.)
Administrative (1)
Advertising (1)
News (1)
Technology (1)
Production (1)
Factiva (1)

THE FOLLOWING RULES WILL GOVERN THE ELECTION

This Notice of Nomination & Election will be mailed to the last known home address of each IAPE member, in good standing, no later than June 25, 2008 and posted on the IAPE web site www.iape1096.org.

Any IAPE member in good standing can nominate any member in good standing for any position for which the nominee is eligible. Good standing is defined, for purposes of nomination, as being current in union dues or if on leave, in good standing when the employee went out on leave, as of Friday, August 29, 2008. Self-nominations are permissible.

Nominations must be in writing & must be received by the Election Committee (and addressed to IAPE TNG/CWA Local 1096, PO Box 627, Plainsboro, NJ 08536) no later than 10:00 AM, Tuesday, September 2, 2008.

After the nomination deadline, the Election Committee will check the eligibility of nominees. Those who have not nominated themselves will be contacted to determine whether they accept nomination.

Eligible unopposed candidates will be declared elected.

The Election Committee will certify, and post, a list of candidates as soon as practicable after the Tuesday, September 2, 2008 deadline for nominations, but no later than 5:00 PM, Friday, September 5, 2008.

All candidates in contested elections will be allowed to make a statement for posting on the IAPE web site and publication in the October 2008 IAPE newsletter. A maximum of 1000 words will be allowed. The statement must be in Microsoft Word or text format with no custom fonts. A .JPG formatted picture can accompany. Candidate statements must be sent, via e-mail, to electioncommittee@iape1096.org. Statements from certified candidates will be posted on the IAPE website, as soon as practicable, beginning September 8, 2008. Statements to be published in the IAPE newsletter must be received by 10:00 AM, Friday, October 3, 2008.

Every candidate will have the right, once within 30 days before the ballot count, to examine the voter eligibility lists used in their race. Candidates may designate a representative to examine the lists on their behalf. Requests, in writing, should be directed to the Election Chairperson and sent to IAPE TNG/CWA Local 1096, PO Box 627, Plainsboro, NJ 08536.

Any member in good standing may obtain a copy of the current membership list at any time upon written request to IAPE's Secretary. An appropriate affidavit and payment of a reasonable copying fee must accompany that request. A duly nominated candidate for office in the 2008 elections may also obtain a list of only those members eligible to vote for that candidate's office. A duly nominated candidate may also obtain the relevant membership list printed on mailing labels by paying the cost of producing those labels. The candidate must make written request to the Secretary, accompanied by an appropriate affidavit form supplied by IAPE and must pay a reasonable copying fee.

The election will be conducted via online voting. Internet voting will begin Tuesday, October 28, 2008 and close 10:00 AM, Monday, November 3, 2008. Members who were in good standing as of Wednesday, October 1, 2008 will be eligible to vote.

Detailed voting instructions will accompany the ballot

Only official ballots will be counted. No write-in votes will be counted.

All ballots must be cast no later than 10:00 AM, Monday, November 3, 2008 to be counted. Ballots will be tabulated commencing at 10:00 AM, Monday, November 3, 2008. As soon as possible after the count, the Election Committee will issue a tentative certification of the results and will notify the membership. Absent a challenge to the election, the tentative certification will become final ten days thereafter.

All inquires and protests should be directed to the Election Committee. The Committee must receive any and all protests, in written form, by Thursday, November 13, 2008. The Election Committee will rule on any, and all, challenges and issue a final election certification no later than Sunday, November 23, 2008. Further appeals shall be governed by the terms of the CWA constitution, Article XV, Section 4.

Terms of office for those elected in November 2008 will begin December 1, 2008, and end November 30, 2011.

PURPOSE OF RULES

These rules supplement, and must be read and applied in conjunction with, the IAPE by-laws or CWA Constitution provision that is their source.
These rules shall be interpreted and applied liberally to ascertain the actual intent of the voter and the true result of any election, and shall not be interpreted or applied so as to unnecessarily disqualify eligible voters for immaterial irregularity.

FURTHER RULES EXPLANATIONS

Section 401(g) of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959, as amended, prohibits the use of union and employer funds to promote the candidacy of any person in a union officer election.

The following is designed to answer the most common questions arising from that prohibition.

A union or employer may not contribute money or anything of value (such as the use of facilities, equipment, or supplies) to promote the candidacy of any individual in a union officer election.

Federal law bars any and all unions, not just the union conducting the election, from contributing union resources to any union officer campaign. It also bars any such contributions from any and all businesses, again, not just the employer of the union’s members.

A candidate can not use union/employer owned or leased equipment such as computers, telephones, fax machines or copy machines or use union/employer supplies such as stamps, paper, and envelopes.

Candidate e-mails can not be composed or sent on union or employer-paid time or on union or employer owned or leased equipment.

Candidate e-mails can only be sent from personal e-mail accounts via personal equipment on personal time.

Recipients of electronic campaign literature at a work e-mail address should be notified that they should not redistribute or reproduce the literature in any format using employer equipment.

A candidate can not campaign on time paid for by the union or employer, but campaigning by union officials which is "incidental" to union business is not a violation nor is campaigning which is "incidental" to a challenger's employer-paid job.

Under no circumstances can an employer "subsidize" a candidate by providing paid time off or altered work schedules for the purpose of campaigning.

It is not an election rules violation for candidates to visit members in work areas or distribute campaign flyers — as long as the candidate is on non-union, non-work time. But candidates need to be mindful of legitimate company concerns about "disruptive activities" and company rules on workplace access.

In the case of any improper use of union or employer funds or misuse of union or employer work time, the election committee will take appropriate corrective action such as requiring a candidate to reimburse the union or employer.

No union-financed newspaper, newsletter, website or other publication may promote or criticize a candidate in any way during the nomination and election period such as by publishing articles complimentary of current officers or letters to the editor which are critical of any candidate.

IAPE will offer each candidate an opportunity to have a statement posted on the IAPE website and printed in an IAPE newsletter before the election.

The following procedure, as outlined in the CWA Constitution, Article XV, Section 4, paragraphs b and c, will be used in any and all election appeals and challenges.

Any challenge to the conduct of an election must be filed in writing with the election committee by November 13, 2008 (within 10 days of the tentative certification of the results.)

The election committee shall rule on any such challenges and shall make a final determination or certification by November 23, 2008 (within 20 days of the tentative certification of the results.) Such determination or certification shall be subject to the right of appeal to the governing body and to the membership of the Local.

Any appellant must exhaust the remedies available within this section. If the appellant has attempted to exhaust such remedies without obtaining a final decision by January 3, 2009 (within 60 days of the tentative certification of the results), the appellant shall have the right to file an appeal in writing with the appropriate geographical Vice President. Such an appeal shall be filed by January 13, 2009 (within 70 days of the tentative certification of the results.)

While a challenge to an election is pending, the officers certified by the election committee in its final determination shall be the elected officers of the Local. Those officers shall remain in office unless the CWA Executive Board reverses the election committee's determination or a new determination is made pursuant to the results of a properly ordered rerun election.

The Election Committee will investigate any and all allegations made in a challenge to the election, interviewing those involved and taking statements in writing.

After all allegations have been reviewed and the facts determined, election officials must decide what action is appropriate. If an allegation has no merit, no corrective action is necessary and election officials should deny the protest. Any allegation which has merit should be closely analyzed to determine the number of votes affected and the possible impact on the election results.

Department of Labor guidelines stress "proportionality" in dealing with the election challenges, advising, ".. that some allegations, while perhaps "technical" violations of federal law, may have had no effect on the outcome of the election." And, ".. since it is unfair to force winning candidates to undergo a rerun election without a substantial reason, the impact of any irregularity on the election results must be carefully considered before a decision is made to rerun the election."

The Newspaper Guild sets a similar standard, advising election committees conducting Guild elections that, "These rules shall be interpreted and applied liberally to ascertain the actual intent of the voter and the true result of any election, and shall not be interpreted or applied so as to unnecessarily disqualify eligible voters for immaterial irregularity."

The IAPE Election Committee will follow the same standard in determining any corrective action in response to election challenges.