Our Union will be holding nominations and elections for our Local Executive Board for the 2024-26 term beginning with a Nomination Meeting on Thursday, October 17th, 2024, at 5:30 PM in the Dogwood Room at Lake Oswego City Hall, 380 A Ave. Lake Oswego, OR 97034.

The Union’s Executive Board (“E-Board”) is made up of members elected from across the City workforce who manage the business of the union, which is:

• working for fairness in our workplace
• responsibly advocating for our members and the value of our work
• seeking to maintain and improve benefits for our members and their families

Because our Union represents so many different types of jobs – from Water Treatment Plant Operators to Librarians; from Accountants to Utility Workers – it’s essential for our Union’s leadership to have all those voices at the table. The Board is only able to deal with problems that they know about, and even trying as hard as they can, nobody from outside can understand a workplace’s issues better than the people who actually work there.

THE OFFICES UP FOR ELECTION:

EXECUTIVE BOARD (“E-BOARD”)

The E-board is the local union’s “board of directors”, who have the responsibility of managing the business of the union. Officers serve two-year terms, which begin as soon as they are elected.

According to our local constitution, there are 11 E-board positions:

Four Officers:

President
Vice-President
Treasurer
Secretary

Seven Area Representatives:

City Hall
Library
Maintenance
Parks & Recreation
Water Treatment Plant
At-large
Part-time

DUTIES: All E-board members are expected to:

• Attend all Executive Board meetings (monthly, as determined by the President and Board)
• Attend all Membership meetings (several times per year, as determined by the President and Board)
• Participate in relevant training opportunities, such as Shop Steward training, Financial Standards Workshop, or Leadership Conferences
• Exercise joint oversight over the Union’s finances
• Commit to doing the work of the local, such as doing orientations for new employees, making arrangements for meetings, or serving on committees
• Be vigilant in enforcing the contract at their work site, and be an information and problem-solving resource for members

SECRETARY DUTIES:

• The Secretary is required to keep & maintain notes from all E-board and membership meetings. (Keep in mind, meeting notes are not transcripts, they simply record the business discussed and votes taken (if any) at a given meeting.)
• The Secretary also has an increasingly important role in maintaining membership lists, email, and other member information
• The Secretary may also be responsible for maintaining supplies of materials used in new employee orientations

TREASURER DUTIES:

The Treasurer is responsible for the Local’s bookkeeping:

• Maintaining the official ledger of all of the union’s financial transactions
• Keeping track of expenditures according to established budget categories
• Preparing Monthly Financial Reports for the E-Board and for membership meetings
• Timely filing of all required reports and tax filings
• Providing Trustees with all records necessary for their audit of union finances
• With the President or Vice-President, co-signs all union checks
• Reimburses approved expenditures
• Assists the President & E-Board in the creation of an annual budget
• Required to attend the AFSCME Financial Standards Workshop (repeated annually)

VICE-PRESIDENT DUTIES:

• May serve as Grievance Chair: ensures that Shop Stewards are assigned to grievances as they arise; works with Shop Stewards to keep track of all grievance timelines, reviews and assists in the writing of grievances & responses
• May co-sign Union checks
• Assists President in the work of the President’s office
• Carries out President’s duties in the absence of the President

PRESIDENT DUTIES:

• See to it that all officers carry out assigned duties
• Act as spokesperson for the Local & E-board
• With the Treasurer, co-sign all union checks
• Chair & create agendas for all E-board & membership meetings
• Serve on all committees (except the Elections Committee)

NON-E-BOARD POSITION: TRUSTEES

Trustees are elected members who perform an annual audit of the Local’s finances. They have an ‘arms-length’ relationship with the E-board and do not participate in E-board votes.

Trustees audit the Local’s finances following the AFSCME Financial Standards Code and make a report to the E-board and membership. It is recommended that they attend the AFSCME Financial Standards Workshop at the earliest opportunity.

NOMINATIONS & ELECTIONS:

Officer nominations & elections are conducted as set forth in the AFSCME Local Union Election Manual, which you can read in its entirety here.

HOW DO NOMINATIONS WORK? Nominations are made from the floor of the nomination meeting by any member of the Union. There is no second needed for a nomination. The nominee doesn’t have to be present at the meeting to be nominated, but they will be contacted and given opportunity to decline the nomination. If only one eligible member is nominated to a position, that person is declared elected at the Nomination Meeting and no vote for that position needs to be held.

WHO IS ELIGIBLE TO HOLD OFFICE? Any member of the Union (meaning anyone who has turned in a signed membership card) is eligible to be nominated to any Executive Board position or to a Trustee position, provided that they’ve been a member of the Local for two years. (However: if there is only one nominee for an office and if that nominee would be ineligible only because of the length-of-membership requirement, that nominee may be declared elected. If there is more than one nominee, and all of them are ineligible only because of the length-of-membership requirement, they should all be considered eligible and their names placed on the ballot.)

WHO IS ELIGIBLE TO VOTE OR MAKE A NOMINATION? If you’ve turned in a signed membership card, then you are a member of the Union and you are entitled to make a nomination and vote in the officer election. If you haven’t signed a card and you want to, (or you don’t remember whether you have), please see your area rep or an officer.

HOW DOES THE ELECTION WORK? If there is more than one nominee for any office, an election will be held in the Conference Room of the Lake Oswego Public Library, 706 4th St., from 4:30 to 5:45 PM on Thursday, October 24th. Additional voting will be scheduled and announced as necessary. Again, no election needs to be held for an office if there is only one nominee for that office.