July 25, 2022
ATTENTION PLEASE
CALL FOR SPECIAL SESSION OF THE MSEA GENERAL ASSEMBLY
TO: Members of the Michigan State Employees Association (MSEA)
Dear MSEA Family:
A Special Session of the MSEA General Assembly will convene at the Sheraton Hotel, 5700 28th Street, Grand Rapids MI 49546 on Friday, September 9, 2022 and will continue until all business has been transacted on Saturday, September 10, 2022. Delegate representation at the Special Session will be by region. Please contact the MSEA Central Office or your regional director for details about your next regional meeting to be held for the purpose of electing delegates.
The business coming before the Special Session shall consist of (1) the consideration of constitutional amendments, and (2) the election of the state officers and state board of directors provided for in such constitution. The Special Session will also, of course, act on such matters as the seating of delegates and the adoption of rules and any other business that may be necessary to bring about an orderly consideration of these two matters. No other business will be in order at this convention.
Nominations of state officers will take place immediately following the adoption of the constitution on Saturday, September 10, 2022. Following nominations for the state officers, the Regional Caucuses will convene for the purpose of nominating Regional Officers. Any elections will be conducted on Saturday, September 10, 2022, with run-off elections, if necessary, to be held immediately following the announcements of the initial election results.
Pursuant to the provisions of Appendix D, Section 2(D) of the AFSCME International Union Constitution and Article VIII, Section 9 and 10 of MSEA Constitution, this Special Session Call shall also serve as MSEA’s official notice of nominations and elections for the offices noted in this Call letter.
Please note the following in connection with the upcoming Special Session:
DELEGATE REPRESENTATION BY REGION
In compliance with Article VIII, Section 2 of the MSEA Constitution, representation at the Special Session shall be determined on the following basis:
Representation shall be based on each region’s enrollment of dues-paying members as reflected in the Central Office on the first day of the fourth month immediately preceding the convening of this Special Session of the General Assembly.
Regions shall be entitled to delegates on the basis of membership as follows:
MEMBERS | DELEGATES |
0 to 74 | one delegate, one alternate |
75 to 124 | two delegates, two alternates |
125 to 174 | three delegates, three alternates |
175 to 224 | four delegates, four alternates |
225 to 274 | five delegates, five alternates |
275 to 324 | six delegates, six alternates |
325 to 374 | seven delegates, seven alternates |
375 to 424 | eight delegates, eight alternates |
425 to 474 | nine delegates, nine alternates |
475 to 524 | ten delegates, ten alternates |
525 and greater | one additional delegate per additional 75 members |
All regional directors, and one representative from groups of non-state civil service employees exclusively represented by MSEA shall be accredited delegates-at-large to the Special Session. Delegates-at-large shall not be elected as regional delegates, but shall be allowed to vote in their region’s elections.
DELEGATE ENTITLEMENT AND VOTING STRENGTH
Your region will receive information setting forth the number of delegates that your region is entitled to send to the Special Session, as well as the Special Session voting strength of your region. These figures are based upon Article VIII of the MSEA Constitution, which are quoted above.
Regardless of the number of delegates elected, regions shall be entitled to vote on the basis of one vote for each member or fraction thereof. Regions entitled to more than one delegate may send fewer than their quota of delegates and the delegates present may cast the entire vote of the Region on all recorded votes and elections coming before the Special Session. The number of votes shall be divided equally among the delegates with any remaining votes to be cast by the chairperson of the delegation as designated by the Region. No fractional votes and no proxies shall be permitted. Each delegate must be a member in good standing as of the first day of the second month preceding the convening of the Special Session.
ELECTION OF DELEGATES
You must elect your delegates to this Special Session in strict conformity with the provisions of Appendix D of the International Constitution. Note that Section 2(D) of Appendix D states that “Not less than fifteen days prior to the holding of nominations for local union officers, a notice of nominations and elections shall be mailed to each member at the member’s last known address.
In order to assist in complying with the election rules, please contact the MSEA Central Office if your region would like MSEA staff to prepare and mail regional nomination and election notices for delegates and alternates to this Special Session.
ELECTION OF STATE OFFICERS AND TRUSTEES
Nominations and elections will take place under the current constitutional governance structure for the following:
State Offices
President
Vice-President
Treasurer
Secretary
Regional Offices
Regional Director
Regional Alternate Director
Regional Secretary
Regional Treasurer
Regional Secretary-Treasurer*
(*If applicable when a region decides to combine those two offices)
All officers shall be elected for three-year terms except as noted below.
The Special Session will consider amendments to the constitution that will be mailed separately prior to the Special Session. One of such proposed amendments seeks to realign regional boundaries. If the amendments are adopted, the composition of the regional caucuses to elect regional offices will reflect those changes.
The proposed constitutional amendments also provide for the creation of three trustees and two unit-specific state board of director seats from each of the two bargaining units represented by MSEA (Safety and Regulatory unit and Labor and Trades unit). Trustees shall be responsible for seeing that audits are done in a complete, accurate, and timely manner in accordance with the constitution and for causing the results of such audit to be reported to the State Board of Directors and the general membership. The trustees shall be elected to 3-year terms of office except that in the initial election, one shall be elected for a one-year term, one for a two-year term, and one for a three-year term.
DELEGATE CREDENTIALS PRE-REGISTRATION DEADLINE:
August 22, 2022
One credential form is enclosed. If you are interested in attending this special assembly as a delegate, please attend your regional meeting that will be held for the purpose of electing delegates. If elected, have the credential form signed by your Regional Director and make a copy to keep before submitting the form to the MSEA Central Office no later than August 22, 2022.
Any delegate whose credential is not received or postmarked by August 22, 2022, shall be considered irregular. Irregular delegates shall be seated as guests until the Special Session votes to seat irregular delegates following the initial Report of the Credentials Committee.
Questions concerning credentials forms should be directed to the MSEA Central Office via phone at: (517) 394-5900 or via e-mail at: [email protected]
If you wish to register someone as a guest, please contact Tammy Voigt in the MSEA Central Office at (517) 394-5900 ext. 113 or at [email protected].
Special Session registration times are as follows, please advise your delegates, alternates and guests accordingly:
Friday, September 9, 2022 6:00pm to 9:00pm
Saturday, September 10, 2022 7:00am to Noon
Please call the MSEA central office if you have any questions or concerns. We look forward to seeing you.
In Solidarity,
David Cox
Administrator, MSEA
cc: Mike Sukal, Director of Organizing and Field Services, AFSCME International
Erin Young, Central Region Director, AFSCME International