Win New Rights by Changing Your Local's Bylaws
December 16, 2008: Teamster members can win new rights and protections by changing your local’s bylaws.
Over the years, members have won many new rights by changing their bylaws, including:
- The right to elect stewards
- Rank-and-file members on contract negotiating committees
- Salary caps for local union officers
- Mail-in ballots for local union elections
- Access to benefit information from their local union trustees
The bylaws are constitution of your local union. They define the rights and responsibilities of members, they say how elections will be run, and they set the powers for your officers.
Local 804 Members Win New Pension Rights
In New York Local 804, members were blindsided with 30 percent pension cuts in 2006. They got organized and restored their pension the next year—but they wanted to make sure they never got left in the dark about their benefits again.
“We wanted to get to the root of the problem, one of which is the lack of information members were getting from our union,” said Jim Reynolds, an alternate steward in Local 804.
Volunteers circulated petitions to change the Local 804 bylaws to require officers to keep members informed during bargaining and to report on the pension and welfare funds at every membership meeting. Two thousand members signed each petition.
Local 804 members approved the bylaws changes by more than 90 percent.
January: The Time to Act
In many locals, members can only introduce new bylaws proposals in January.
Members must present the proposed changes at a union meeting. After members present a proposed change, it must be read at three consecutive union meetings.
At the third meeting, members will get a chance to vote on the changes. To win your changes, you’ll need to turn out your supporters to the third meeting. Some bylaws require a two-thirds majority to amend.
What It Takes to Win
When you’re trying to change your bylaws, there’s a good chance you’ll face opposition. What can you do to overcome the opposition and win these changes?
Pick an issue and focus on it. It can be hard to get members excited about changing a legalistic document. Your job is to tell people why the bylaws matter. You have to focus on the issues.
What’s the issue that matters most to members in your local? In some locals, members may be getting bad representation from appointed stewards. Or members may be mad about givebacks in a new contract.
Explain your case. Use the three months before the vote to build support for the new bylaws. Put together a flyer that explains the issue, and get it out to members in all of the major sections of your local.
Don’t get too technical in your flyer—explain the change in simple terms and keep the focus on the issue. Contact TDU for help in making a leaflet.
Build support. Most bylaws require you at least seven signatures to be submitted. But don’t stop at seven. Asking people to sign your bylaws petition is a good test to see if you have enough support to get them passed.
In Local 804, the bylaws require 200 signatures to submit changes. Members there got 2,000 signatures in support of their changes.
Contact TDU for help making a bylaws petition. Click here to send a message to a TDU organizer and get help.
Turn out your supporters for the vote. Even if you have many supporters, you can still lose if they don’t show up at the meeting.
The week before the meeting, call and remind the people who signed your petition about the meeting and ask them to be there. In some locals, members organized carpools to the meeting to boost turnout.
Get the Wording Right
Since bylaws are legally binding documents, it’s important to get the language in your proposal right. In some cases, Hoffa has vetoed reforms approved by local union members because of language technicalities.
TDU can help. We have copies of language that has been approved by the IBT and lawyers who can review your proposals before you run into a challenge.
Do you want to change your bylaws? Click here to send a message to a TDU organizer about what you’d like to change, or call (313) 842-2600.