Rules 2002
Rule 3
Election, transfer and termination of membership
(a) Every
application for membership shall be made on the forms provided
by the NEC and shall be signed by two members of the union
as proposer and seconder. The applicant shall register,
on the membership form, the industrial sector in which s/he
considers him/herself to work.
(i) The application shall be sent to Head Office (the Irish
office for branches within the Republic of Ireland), which
must inform the appropriate branch within 14 days.
(ii) Election shall be by vote of a branch meeting at which
the applicant for membership and the proposer and seconder
of the applicant are present. The branch has a duty to satisfy
itself that the candidate is qualified for membership.
(iii) In the event of a branch failing to meet or failing
to inform Head Office or the Irish office of a member’s
election, an applicant for membership who meets the requirements
set out in these rules shall be deemed elected to membership
40 days after the receipt of the application at head office
or the Irish office If an objection to an applicant being
admitted is raised by any branch or member in writing to
the General Secretary then election shall be delayed until
the objection has been considered by the NEC whose decision
will be final.
(b) The NEC
shall have power to elect any suitable candidate. A person
deemed by the NEC or IEC not to be a fit and proper person
for membership shall not be elected by any branch. Such
a person shall have the right to appeal to the Appeals Tribunal
within 28 days.
(c) The nominator
of any candidate whose application for election or re-election
is rejected by a branch may appeal to the NEC, or the IEC
within the island of Ireland. The appeal must reach the
General Secretary within 28 days of the candidate or his/her
nominator being informed in writing of the decision by the
branch. The NEC, or the IEC within the island of Ireland,
shall have the power to elect such a candidate. The decision
of the NEC/IEC shall be final.
(d) The NEC
shall have the power to re-elect any member who has resigned
or been removed from membership for any reason provided
he/she agrees to pay contributions by direct debit. The
NEC may impose the payment of a readmission fee of up to
£1,000.
(e) The NEC
shall have power to revoke and declare void any election
if it is found that the information given by the candidate
is incorrect, or that the candidate was not qualified according
to rule at the time of election.
(f) A member
changing employment, address or industrial sector, shall
immediately notify the union’s head office in London
or the union’s Irish office, which will notify the
relevant branch secretaries.
(f) A member
changing employment or address shall immediately notify
the union’s head office in London or the union’s
Irish office, which will notify the relevant branch secretaries.
(g) The NEC
shall have power to make agreements with other unions to
transfer members from one union to the other when they change
the nature of their work.
(h) Membership
may be terminated by the NEC in accordance with Rule 24
or by Head Office as detailed elsewhere in these rules for
one of the following reasons:
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(i)
When membership has been in suspense for longer than
five years.
(ii) When a member has been lapsed for failing to pay
contributions due.
(iii) When a member who has been excused payment of
contributions because of unemployment has failed to
inform his/her branch of continuing unemployment.
(iv) When a temporary member does not qualify for full
membership at the end of the final period of temporary
membership. |
(j) Membership
may be terminated by the NEC/IEC when it is decided that
the member no longer meets the criteria for election to
membership. The member shall have the right to appeal to
the Appeals Tribunal.
(k) Notwithstanding
anything in these rules, the NEC may, by giving six weeks’
notice in writing, terminate the membership of any member
in order to comply with a decision of the Disputes Committee
of the Trades Union Congress or of the Irish Congress of
Trade Unions.
(l) A member
may terminate his/her membership by writing to his/her branch
secretary or, if the branch is not functioning, to Head
Office (the Irish Office in the Republic of Ireland). Members
shall not be permitted to resign while they are subject
to an instruction by the NEC/IEC to withdraw from their
employment under the terms of Rule 21(a), or while their
chapel is in dispute with management and has declared such
dispute at a properly convened chapel meeting.
(m) Membership
shall be suspended when a member:
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(i)
ceases to be employed as defined in Rule 2(d)(i), except
in the case of a member who is wholly unemployed or
who has retired.
(ii) is attending a full-time course in education and
intends to cease working as a journalist. The NEC may
extend the period of suspense to take account of the
duration of the course.
Membership may be suspended for a period not exceeding
five calendar years. A member in suspense shall not
pay contributions or levies and shall not be entitled
to any union benefit. |
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