12.20.15 – (LAA/LUS) – APFA National Officer Election/Candidates’ Right to Have Campaign Literature Distributed

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Sunday, December 20, 2015

APFA National Officer Election
Candidates’ Right to Have Campaign Literature Distributed

APFA National Officer Election

Ballots for the APFA National Officer Election were mailed on Thursday, December 10, 2015, to all APFA members. If you have not received your ballot, please contact the National Ballot Committee (NBC) at [email protected] or 817-540-0108, ext. 8311 to receive your access code.

The ballot packet you received contains a Candidate Information booklet along with the Voting Instructions and Ballot. You can also find a copy of the ballot, instructions and candidate booklet on the APFA website under Elections at www.www.apfa.org.

The Candidate Information booklet contains information on the candidates as provided by the candidate or the person nominating the candidate. We ask that you read the information carefully before voting as YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO CHANGE YOUR VOTE ONCE IT IS CAST.

Flight Attendants may cast their vote by phone 1-800-698-3789 or by internet https://BallotPoint.com/APFA.

In order to cast a vote, you must be a member in good standing (no more than 60 days in dues arrears) by 5:00pm CT, January 4, 2016. If you have any question about your dues status, please contact the Dues Department at [email protected] or at 817-540-0108, ext. 8151.

Although the NBC has mailed ballot packets, including access codes, to all APFA members, the balloting system will not allow members in bad standing to log in. Instead, a message will appear (or in a recording if you are voting by telephone) instructing you to contact the Election Administrator/NBC. You can reach the NBC at [email protected] or 817-540-0108 ext. 8311.

If you are ineligible because you are in dues arrears, you can become a member in good standing by contacting the APFA Dues Department at [email protected] or 817-540-0108 ext. 8151. You can pay over the telephone by credit card, send in a check or pay in person at APFA Headquarters. Payment must be received by APFA no later than January 4, 2016.

Please be sure you have correctly entered the candidates of your choice. Again, YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO CHANGE YOUR VOTE ONCE IT IS CAST.

All votes must be cast by 10:00am CT, January 9, 2016.

Candidates’ Right to Have Campaign Literature Distributed by the Union or a Union-Designated Mailing Service

Federal law establishes certain campaign rights for candidates in union officer elections, including the right to have campaign literature distributed to the membership by the union at the candidate’s expense. The U.S. Department of Labor, which enforces the union election law, has clear rules that unions must follow during officer elections. (Consistent with those rules, Section 14 of the APFA Policy Manual speaks to APFA’s policies and procedures in APFA officer elections.)

In some unions the officers or employees may be involved in the campaign literature distribution process; in other unions, election officials or a professional mailer may handle requests from candidates. No matter what the practice, a union has a duty to comply with all reasonable requests to distribute literature and to treat all candidates equally. Any refusal to comply with a reasonable request is improper and could result in the election being successfully challenged.

When a union distributes a candidate’s literature to members’ email or mailing addresses, itself or through a union-designated mailing service, the union does not sell those addresses to the candidate or disclose them to the candidate. The only “third party” who may receive the addresses is the union-designated mailing service, which is strictly prohibited from providing those addresses to the candidate or using them for any other purpose. The only fees or costs are those the mailing service charges. The union does this to meet its legal obligation to comply with candidates’ reasonable requests to distribute campaign materials.

Here are the basic requirements:

A union must comply with all reasonable requests by a candidate for distribution of campaign literature at the candidate’s expense. Federal law does not define “reasonable request” but election officials should try to comply with all requests to the extent possible, since any refusal might later be determined to have been unreasonable.
Each candidate must be treated equally with respect to the cost of distributing campaign literature. There is no requirement that the union distribute literature free of charge. However, if a union distributes any candidate’s literature without charge, all other candidates should be notified that they are also entitled to have their literature distributed without charge. (The only campaign literature APFA distributes free of charge is every candidate’s Personal Statement.)
A union should inform all candidates of the procedures for distributing literature in advance of the campaign period. (APFA has done that.)
A union may not regulate the contents of campaign literature it is asked to distribute and may not require that it be permitted to read the literature before distribution. The union may not censor campaign literature in any way, even if the literature includes derogatory remarks about other candidates. A union’s contention that mailing certain campaign literature may constitute libel does not justify a refusal to distribute the literature since the union is under a legal duty to distribute the material.
A union must honor requests for distribution of literature to all members in good standing and must also honor requests for distribution to only a portion of the membership if such distribution is feasible.
A union may not limit the number of mailings which a candidate is permitted to make.
A union may require candidates to pay in advance for campaign literature distributions, if such a requirement is applied uniformly to all candidates.