Union Structure

Union Structure

Sector President: The NABET-CWA Sector President is the Chief Executive Officer for NABET, and is the representative on the CWA Executive Council. He is responsible for the entire union structure and operations. He, along with the local Presidents and the Staff Representatives, administer and negotiate the Collective Bargaining Agreements.

 Sector Vice President: Assumes the duties of the President in the event of illness or inability to serve.

Regional Vice President: The Regional Vice President, as the principal elected officer within the Region and a representative of the Sector Executive Council, is charged with the responsibility of administering the authority and policies of the Sector Executive Council in the Region.

Local President: The Local President is the Executive Officer of the Local and should supervise and control all of the affairs of the Local which include calling membership and Executive Board meetings and appointing committees.

Executive Board (E-Board): The President should be assisted by the E-Board in carrying out the duties of the union. The E-Board, composed of the officers and other elected members have a broad range of powers which include legislative, judicial and administrative.

Local Treasurer: The Treasurer has a number of responsibilities which include the duty to collect dues and to insure that the contract is complied with when there is non-payment of dues, to insure that the Local has joined the local AFL-CIO labor council; to file audit reports yearly, both with the Sector/CWA and the Federal Government; to be bonded for liability.

Secretary: The Secretary sees that the Sector administration receives the minutes of all meetings as well as all proposed By-Law changes; minutes are published to the membership when approved by the officers and Executive Board. The Secretary is responsible for the maintenance of the By-Laws, Amendments, and the administration of Article X for discipline cases. The Secretary is responsible for official communications.

Finance Committee: This Committee, usually two members, are appointed by the Local President and may conduct the fiscal year audit. Their responsibility is simply to make an account of all funds that are currently on hand and that have been spent over the last fiscal year as well as review budgets and spending priorities for the union. This Committee recommends financial strategy to the Local President and Executive Board.

The Stewards: The Stewards should have a good working knowledge of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. It is important that they have grievance forms and know how to fill them out and process them. They should also be responsible to see that their area of the contract be policed for compliance both by the Union employees and the Company.

The Union Members: Members are the foundation of the Union and are the source of its strength. Without the active participation of the members, there is no Union. Each Union member should have a copy of the contract, a copy of the International Constitution and the local by-laws. New members should also receive a membership form and a dues check-off form. Members should participate in union affairs and keep well informed on the activities of the union. It is the member's responsibility to ensure that all officers are performing in a matter that is beneficial to the membership. It is also the duty of members to attend all general meetings and to conduct themselves in a manner as not to discredit themselves or their fellow Union members.

The Rights of a Member
As an active member in good standing of NABET-CWA, you have the right to attend all Union meetings, vote on all motions and in all referendums, vote in all elections, and participate equally with all other members in Union affairs. You have the right to petition for any changes you may desire, under the terms of your Local By-Laws and the NABET-CWA By-Laws and Rules. You have the right to seek redress of any grievance through the grievance procedure. You may seek Local or National office on equal terms with any other member. You may, if you so desire, seek the office of delegate to Conferences of the Union. As a member, you, together with your fellow members, are the Union. It is and will be what you make it.

The Steps of a Grievance

Before just about any workplace complaint is put into writing as a formal grievance, an attempt should be made to work through the problem at the lowest level.  Even if your contracts grievance procedure doesnt specifically call for an informal oral step to start out with, you and/or your union steward should talk to a supervisor in an attempt to clear up any misunderstandings, or to resolve any disagreement.  This is almost always a good idea, in part because once a complaint is committed to writing, parties positions tend to harden.  And even if an informal attempt to address a problem does not in fact resolve it, it generally has the beneficial effect of clarifying what the problem is and how the parties may see it differently.  But if informal attempts dont work, the next step consists of formally putting the grievance in writing.  Generally the idea is simply to lay out, at least in general terms, that an identified action taken by the employer is being challenged, and that certain relief is sought.  Your contract booklet itself may contain a sample form to be used to initiate a grievance.  One or more face-to-face meetings take place following the filing of a formal written grievance.  At these meetings, the union and the employer representatives try to hash out whether they agree on what the facts are, whether the contract has in fact been violated, and if so, what it will take to resolve the grievance.

Adapted from The Union Members Complete Guide, by Michael Mauer

Educate Yourself

If youre going to participate in the union decisions that affect your workplace life, you should do so intelligently. This means taking the time to learn about the union and the issues it is dealing with on behalf of the members. If you dont have a copy of the union contract, get one and look through it, at least enough to get a good idea about what topics are covered and what the specifics are. Make a mental note not only of what rights the union is already in a position to protect but also what improvements youd like to see in the next round of bargaining.

Adapted from The Union Members Complete Guide, by Michael Mauer

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