29 U.S.C. § 481 — Terms of office and election procedures
submitted 67 years ago by Pub. L. 86-257 to r/title-29-LABOR · 1,085 words · no verdicts yet
This law tells labor unions how often to elect officers and how to hold fair elections. National unions must vote every five years, and local unions every three years. It also protects candidates' campaign rights and lets the Secretary of Labor remove officers for serious misconduct.
(a) National or international unions — except federations of unions — must elect officers every five years. They elect officers by secret ballot, either directly among members or at a convention of delegates chosen by secret ballot.
(b) Local unions must elect officers every three years, by secret ballot among members in good standing.
(c) National, international, and local unions and their officers must let any real candidate distribute campaign literature to all members in good standing, at the candidate's own expense, by mail or otherwise. They cannot play favorites with membership lists. If the union distributes campaign material for one candidate or for itself, it must do the same for other candidates on equal terms, including equal treatment on the expense of distribution. Any real candidate can inspect, once within the 30 days before an election, a list of the names and last known addresses of members who must belong to the union under a union-shop contract; the union must keep this list at its main office. The union must take steps to keep the election fair, including letting any candidate have an observer at the polls and at the counting of ballots.
(d) Officers of "intermediate bodies" (such as general committees, system boards, joint boards, or joint councils) must be elected every four years. Members in good standing can vote directly by secret ballot, or the vote can be cast by union officers who were themselves elected by secret ballot.
(e) Whenever this section requires a secret-ballot election: the union must give a reasonable chance for people to be nominated. Every member in good standing can run for and hold office, subject to section 504 of this title and to reasonable rules applied evenly, and can vote for or otherwise support any candidate without being punished, disciplined, or improperly interfered with. The union must mail notice of the election to each member's last known home address at least 15 days before the election. Each member in good standing gets one vote. A member cannot be ruled ineligible to vote or run for office just because dues withheld by the employer under a voluntary payroll deduction were allegedly late or unpaid. Each local union's votes must be counted, and the results published, separately. The election officials named in the union's constitution and bylaws — or the secretary, if none is named — must keep the ballots and all other election records for one year. The election must follow the union's own constitution and bylaws, except where those rules conflict with this subchapter.
(f) When officers are chosen at a convention of delegates elected by secret ballot, the convention must follow the union's constitution and bylaws, except where they conflict with this subchapter. The officials named in the constitution and bylaws — or the secretary, if none is named — must keep the delegates' credentials and all convention minutes and records about the officer election for one year.
(g) No union dues, assessment, or similar money — and no employer money — can be contributed or applied to help any person's candidacy in an election covered by this subchapter. Union money may still be used for notices, factual statements of issues that don't involve candidates, and other expenses necessary to hold the election.
(h) If a member of a local union applies, and the Secretary of Labor holds a hearing under subchapter II of chapter 5 of title 5 and finds that the union's constitution and bylaws don't provide an adequate way to remove an elected officer guilty of serious misconduct, that officer can be removed. Removal requires cause shown, notice, and a hearing, and a secret-ballot vote of members in good standing, conducted by the union's own officers under its constitution and bylaws, as far as those rules don't conflict with this subchapter.
(i) The Secretary of Labor must issue rules and regulations setting minimum standards and procedures for judging whether a union's removal procedures, referred to in subsection (h), are adequate.
Every national or international labor organization, except a federation of national or international labor organizations, shall elect its officers not less often than once every five years either by secret ballot among the members in good standing or at a convention of delegates chosen by secret ballot.
Every local labor organization shall elect its officers not less often than once every three years by secret ballot among the members in good standing.
Every national or international labor organization, except a federation of national or international labor organizations, and every local labor organization, and its officers, shall be under a duty, enforceable at the suit of any bona fide candidate for office in such labor organization in the district court of the United States in which such labor organization maintains its principal office, to comply with all reasonable requests of any candidate to distribute by mail or otherwise at the candidate’s expense campaign literature in aid of such person’s candidacy to all members in good standing of such labor organization and to refrain from discrimination in favor of or against any candidate with respect to the use of lists of members, and whenever such labor organizations or its officers authorize the distribution by mail or otherwise to members of campaign literature on behalf of any candidate or of the labor organization itself with reference to such election, similar distribution at the request of any other bona fide candidate shall be made by such labor organization and its officers, with equal treatment as to the expense of such distribution. Every bona fide candidate shall have the right, once within 30 days prior to an election of a labor organization in which he is a candidate, to inspect a list containing the names and last known addresses of all members of the labor organization who are subject to a collective bargaining agreement requiring membership therein as a condition of employment, which list shall be maintained and kept at the principal office of such labor organization by a designated official thereof. Adequate safeguards to insure a fair election shall be provided, including the right of any candidate to have an observer at the polls and at the counting of the ballots.
Officers of intermediate bodies, such as general committees, system boards, joint boards, or joint councils, shall be elected not less often than once every four years by secret ballot among the members in good standing or by labor organization officers representative of such members who have been elected by secret ballot.
In any election required by this section which is to be held by secret ballot a reasonable opportunity shall be given for the nomination of candidates and every member in good standing shall be eligible to be a candidate and to hold office (subject to section 504 of this title and to reasonable qualifications uniformly imposed) and shall have the right to vote for or otherwise support the candidate or candidates of his choice, without being subject to penalty, discipline, or improper interference or reprisal of any kind by such organization or any member thereof. Not less than fifteen days prior to the election notice thereof shall be mailed to each member at his last known home address. Each member in good standing shall be entitled to one vote. No member whose dues have been withheld by his employer for payment to such organization pursuant to his voluntary authorization provided for in a collective bargaining agreement shall be declared ineligible to vote or be a candidate for office in such organization by reason of alleged delay or default in the payment of dues. The votes cast by members of each local labor organization shall be counted, and the results published, separately. The election officials designated in the constitution and bylaws or the secretary, if no other official is designated, shall preserve for one year the ballots and all other records pertaining to the election. The election shall be conducted in accordance with the constitution and bylaws of such organization insofar as they are not inconsistent with the provisions of this subchapter.
When officers are chosen by a convention of delegates elected by secret ballot, the convention shall be conducted in accordance with the constitution and bylaws of the labor organization insofar as they are not inconsistent with the provisions of this subchapter. The officials designated in the constitution and bylaws or the secretary, if no other is designated, shall preserve for one year the credentials of the delegates and all minutes and other records of the convention pertaining to the election of officers.
No moneys received by any labor organization by way of dues, assessment, or similar levy, and no moneys of an employer shall be contributed or applied to promote the candidacy of any person in any election subject to the provisions of this subchapter. Such moneys of a labor organization may be utilized for notices, factual statements of issues not involving candidates, and other expenses necessary for the holding of an election.
If the Secretary, upon application of any member of a local labor organization, finds after hearing in accordance with subchapter II of chapter 5 of title 5 that the constitution and bylaws of such labor organization do not provide an adequate procedure for the removal of an elected officer guilty of serious misconduct, such officer may be removed, for cause shown and after notice and hearing, by the members in good standing voting in a secret ballot, conducted by the officers of such labor organization in accordance with its constitution and bylaws insofar as they are not inconsistent with the provisions of this subchapter.
The Secretary shall promulgate rules and regulations prescribing minimum standards and procedures for determining the adequacy of the removal procedures to which reference is made in subsection (h).
Source credit: (Pub. L. 86–257, title IV, § 401, Sept. 14, 1959, 73 Stat. 532.)
- 1959Enacted · Pub. L. 86-257 · 73 Stat. 532
A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by Pub. L. 86-257 on 1959-09-14.
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