ARTICLE I - GENERAL

Section 1. General and Financial Union Information.

(a) Between November 1 and December 1 of each year the President and Secretary-Treasurer of the Union shall sign and file at Headquarters a statement showing:

(1) The name of the Union.

(2) The mailing address and street address of the Union's principal office.

(3) The address where the Union maintains its official records.

(4) The name and title of each Statewide Officer, Director, Assistant Director, and Local Officer.

(5) The amount of dues and any other periodic payments required to maintain membership in the Union.

(6) A statement showing (to the extent not otherwise set forth in the Union's Constitution and Bylaws):

a. Qualifications for and restrictions on membership.

b. Procedure for levying any assessment.

c. Insurance and other benefit plans available to members.

d. Authorization for disbursement of funds of the Union.

e. The person or firms which have audited any financial transactions of the Union in the last five (5) years and where the audit report can be inspected.

f. Procedures for the calling of regular and special meetings.

g. Procedures for the selection of officers at all levels of the Union and Union Stewards, and a specific statement indicating how each such person was elected, appointed, or otherwise selected.

h. Procedures for discipline or removal of officeholders, employees, or agents of the Union for breaches of their trust.

i. Procedures for imposition of fines, suspensions, and expulsion of members, including the grounds for such action and provisions for notice, hearing, judgment on the evidence, and appeal.

j. Procedures for obtaining authorization for bargaining demands.

k. Procedures for ratification of contract terms.

l. Procedures for obtaining authorization for strikes.

(b) The President and Secretary-Treasurer of the Union shall annually sign and file at Headquarters a financial report containing the following information in such detail as may be necessary accurately to disclose the Union's financial condition and operations for the preceding fiscal year:

(1) Assets and liabilities at the beginning and end of the fiscal year.

(2) Receipts of any kind and the sources thereof.

(3) Salary, allowances, and other direct or indirect disbursements (including reimbursed expenses) to each officeholder and each employee.

(4) Direct and indirect loans to any business enterprise, together with a statement of the purpose, authorization, security if any, and arrangements for repayment.

(5) Other disbursements made by the Union and the purpose of such disbursements.

(c) The Union shall make the statement and report described in subsections (a) and (b) of this Section available at headquarters for inspection at any time during normal business hours by any active or retired member of the Union. The Union shall also, subject to reasonable limitations as to notice and specific time of inspection as may be necessary to prevent interference with regular staff duties and subject to limitations necessary for the protection of its books, records, and accounts, permit any such member for just cause to examine any books, records, or accounts necessary to verify the statement described in paragraph (a) or the report described in paragraph (b).

Section 2. Every Local President, Local Secretary, and Local Treasurer, the Union President, the Union Secretary-Treasurer, and the Executive Director of the Union shall maintain records on the matters required to be reported under Section 1, General and Financial Union Information, of this Article which will provide in sufficient detail the necessary basic information and data from which the statement and report described in subsections (a) and (b) of Section 1, General and Financial Union Information, of this Article may be verified, explained, or clarified, and checked for accuracy and completeness, and shall include vouchers, work sheets, receipts, and applicable resolutions, and shall keep such records available for examination for a period of not less than five (5) years after the filing of the documents described in subsections (a) and (b) of Section 1, General and Financial Union Information, of this Article.

Section 3. Nothing contained in the Constitution and Bylaws of the Union shall be construed to require an attorney who is a member in good standing of the Oregon State Bar to include in any report or statement required to be filed pursuant to the Constitution or Bylaws, or to disclose to any officeholder, agent, or employee of the Union, any information which was lawfully communicated to such attorney by any client of the attorney in the course of a legitimate attorney-client relationship.

Section 4. It shall be the duty of the Executive Director of the Union to forward a copy of each collective bargaining agreement made by the Union with any governmental agency to any employee of such agency who requests such a copy and whose rights as such employee are directly affected by such agreement. The Executive Director shall maintain, at Headquarters, copies of any such agreement made or received by the Union which shall be available for inspection by any employee whose rights are affected by such agreement.

Section 5. Fiduciary responsibility of officeholders, employees, agents, Union Stewards, and other Union representatives:

(a) The officeholders, employees, agents, Union Stewards, and other representatives of the Union occupy positions of trust in relation to the Union and its members as a group. Accordingly, it is the duty of each such person, taking into account the special problems and functions of the Union as a labor organization, to hold its money and property solely for the benefit of the Union and its members and to manage, invest, and expend the same in accordance with its Constitution and Bylaws, any applicable resolutions of the Board adopted pursuant to powers granted by the Constitution and Bylaws, any applicable and authorized resolutions of the locals; to refrain from dealing with the Union as an adverse party or in behalf of an adverse party in any manner connected with such person's duties, and from holding or acquiring any pecuniary or personal interest which conflicts with the interests of the Union; and to account to the Union for any profit received by such person in whatever capacity in connection with transactions conducted by such person or under his or her direction on behalf of the Union.

(b) Whenever any officeholder, employee, agent, Union Steward, or other representative of the Union violates the obligations declared in subsection (a) of this Section, the Board shall bring action or suit, or recover damages, or secure an accounting or other appropriate relief, within a reasonable time, for the benefit of the Union to obtain redress for the violation of such obligations.

(c) Embezzlement from the Union, stealing of money or property from the Union, or unlawful and willful conversion of any money or property of the Union, shall be cause for expulsion from the Union.

Section 6. No loan, directly or indirectly, of money or property of the Union shall be made to any officeholder, employee, agent, Union Steward, or other representative of the Union. However, this Section shall not prevent use by an employee of an automobile, leased by the Union, for the employee's reasonable private use where the automobile is used primarily for Union business and the lease-use arrangement results in a net benefit to the Union.

Section 7. Willful violation of any provision of the Union Constitution and Bylaws shall be cause for removal from any office held and the member will be restricted from running for any steward or officer position for two years, subject to the provisions of Article XVII of the SEIU International Constitution and Bylaws.

Section 8. Any person who makes a false statement or representation of a material fact, knowing it to be false, or who knowingly fails to disclose a material fact, in any document, report, or other information required under the provisions of the Union's Constitution or Bylaws, or who willfully makes a false entry in or willfully conceals, withholds, or destroys any books, records, reports, or statements required to be kept by any provision of the Constitution or Bylaws, shall be expelled from the Union.

Section 9. The following shall apply to officers elected after September 2008.

(a) Holders of office in locals may be removed from office, as provided for in the involved local's constitution and bylaws. If no provisions or procedures exist in the involved local's constitution and bylaws, such officers may be removed from office as provided for under the procedure established in subsection (b) for the removal of other office holders.

(b) Statewide Officers, and holders of all other offices at any level of the Union, may be removed from office by a simple majority vote of the membership eligible to vote for that office and voting. Balloting will occur when called for by initiative petitions bearing signatures of 10 percent 10% of the membership eligible to vote for the office in question as described herein.

(1) To initiate the office holder recall process, the proponent(s) of a proposed recall shall submit a written notice of intent to the chairperson of the Member Representation Committee. The date of this submission shall be the recall initiation date.

(2) To be counted toward satisfaction of the ten percent recall election threshold, recall petition signatures must be gathered within the one hundred eighty (180) days immediately following the recall initiation date; each signature must be dated by the signer at the time of signing; and the signer must have been a member of the Union eligible to vote for the office in question on the date of signing.

(3) Petitions may be delivered to the chairperson of the Member Representation Committee at any time within the one hundred eighty (180) days immediately following the recall initiation date, but no more than seven (7) days after the expiration of that one hundred eighty (180) days.

(4) Upon receipt of such petitions, the chairperson of the Member Representation Committee, together with the members of the Committee, shall determine the validity of membership within fifteen (15) days of their presentation.

(5) For the purpose of determining whether the number of valid signatures satisfies the ten percent recall election threshold, the number of members eligible to vote for the office in question shall be the number of members who were eligible to vote for the office in question on the recall initiation date.

(c) For a local officer recall, results of the petitions shall be sent to the local involved. For all other recalls, the results will be sent to the Board. If the threshold has been met, the appropriate governing body shall order an election to be held, within thirty (30) days after the Member Representation Committee determines that the requirements of subsection (b) have been fulfilled. Elections shall be conducted in accordance with Bylaws Article III, GENERAL ELECTION REQUIREMENTS; and/or Article IV, LOCAL ELECTIONS; and/or Article V, DIRECTOR AND ASSISTANT DIRECTOR ELECTIONS; and/or Article VI, STATEWIDE OFFICER ELECTIONS. After validation, the chairperson of the Member Representation Committee will transmit ballots to the membership for a vote. Ballots will be returned to the Member Representation Committee for tabulation. Results by local will be published in the next issue of the 503 VOICE. Where the majority vote is for removal, it shall be effective upon completion of tabulation and the officeholder shall be formally notified by the Board or its designee.

(d) Recall petition campaigns and election campaigns shall be conducted in accordance with Article III GENERAL ELECTION REQUIREMENTS Section 7 (a), 7 (b), and 7 (c), such that no union or employer funds shall be used to promote such campaigns, and all members shall have the right to support and or participate in such campaigns without being subject to any penalty, discipline or other improper interference or reprisal.

Section 10. A person whose membership has been revoked may be reinstated by a three-fourths (3/4) vote of the Board after six (6) months from the date of revocation.

Section 11. In the representation of represented employees on grievances, disciplinary actions, or any other claims, or complaints, the Union retains the right to refuse to file or pursue any such matter at the Employment Relations Board, at arbitration, or in the courts if, in the judgment of the Union, the merits of the case justify such a decision.