ELECTION FOR GENERAL SECRETARY AND EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 2023
ELECTION RULES AND PROCEDURES
These rules apply to the election of the Executive Committee members and the General Secretary of United Voices of the World (UVW) in 2023.
The elections will be conducted by postal ballot, in accordance with the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 as updated.
The Executive Committee has appointed Popularis Ltd, Nutsey Lane, Totton, Southampton SO40 3RL as the Independent Scrutineer for the purposes of the elections for General Secretary and Executive Committee.
Members are entitled to vote in secret, and without interference or intimidation.
No person shall take any part in the conduct of the election, other than to vote, or unless they have been instructed by Popularis.
Positions
The General Secretary will be elected by all members of UVW eligible to vote.
The following seats on the Executive Committee will be elected by members in the corresponding voting group.
Voting group
% of membership
Seats
Notes
SECTOR VOTING GROUPS
Facilities workers
39%
4
Includes cleaners, concierge, porters, security, maintenance and caterers
Legal sector workers (LSWU)
18%
2
Architectural workers (SAW)
9%
1
Design and Cultural workers (DCW)
6%
1
General*
29%
4
Incorporates several smaller non-formal sector groups (e.g. charity, VAWG, hospitality, childcare), as well as general workers (retail, construction, carers and other workers). *No single sector group should hold more that 1 of these seats.
LANGUAGE VOTING GROUPS
Voces hispanas Unidas (VHU)
38%
2
TOTAL SEATS
14
The voting groups have been agreed by the Executive Committee. The committee has allocated the number of representatives for each voting group according to the following criteria:
a) Sector groups that have 10% or more of overall UVW membership are eligible for a seat on the committee. Seats are allocated on the following basis:
10-15%
1 seat
16% – 20%
2 seats
21% – 28%
3 seats
29% – 39%
4 seats
40% +
5 seats
b) Sector groups that have less than 10% of overall membership can also be allocated a seat on the committee, provided there is evidence of a formalised and functioning sector, namely:
Elected representatives
Regular meetings (at least one per quarter)
c) Language groups that reach 25% of overall UVW membership may also be given seats on the committee on the following basis:
25% – 30%
1 seat
30% +
2 seats
Every member will be able to vote in ONE sectoral voting group. Any member that is not part of one of the named sectoral voting groups will be able to vote in the “General” voting group. In addition, Spanish speaking members will be able to vote for the Voces Hispanas Unidas seats.
Timetable
The elections will be conducted according to the following timetable:
Monday 17 July 2023
Nominations open
Monday 31 July 2023
Final date for payment of owed membership fees and change of address for ballot papers
Monday 7 August 2023
Nominations close at 1200 hrs
Friday 8 September 2023
Candidates announced – list to be published online
Monday 18 September 2023
Voting opens – ballot papers sent out to members
Friday 13 October 2023
Voting ends – ballot papers must be received by this date
Monday 23 October 2023
Results announced
Wednesday 1 November 2023
Newly elected Executive Committee and General Secretary in post
Postal ballot
Current statutes do not permit ballot papers to be emailed to members, or for completed ballot papers to be emailed to the Independent Scrutineer. Ballot papers must be sent by post and returned by post.
Ballot papers will be sent to each member’s home address. Only Popularis will issue a ballot paper to each member.
In accordance with the current statutes, members must provide an accurate and up to date address to the UVW. Members are asked to ensure their address is accurate and up to date for the purposes of the elections no later than 31 July 2023.
Where members wish to receive ballot papers at an alternative address, they must notify the union in writing by 31 July 2023.
Members are required to indicate if they wish to receive their ballot paper and statements in English OR Spanish. If no language is indicated by the member, the presumed language will be English.
The opening day of the election when ballot papers, election statements and a reply paid envelope will be distributed in the post to all members will be Monday 18 September 2023.
If a member has not received their ballot paper by Monday 25 September 2023 they may apply to Popularis Ltd by emailing help@popularis.org to be sent a replacement. The last day to request a replacement ballot paper will be Monday 2 October 2023.
Ballot papers must be returned by post to Popularis by first post on Friday 13 October 2023.
Eligibility to vote
Only members on the list of those eligible to vote may vote at the election.
The list of members eligible to vote will be compiled by the UVW. Those that are UVW members on 31 July 2023 and meet the criteria below will be eligible to vote in these elections.
UVW’s constitution states that to be considered a full member of the union, a member must be no more than 2 months in arrears with their membership fees.
To be eligible to vote in these elections, members must have no more than 2 months of membership fees owing by 31 July 2023. Any owed fees paid after this date will not be considered.
Any member joining UVW after 31 July 2023 may be eligible for membership but will not be eligible to vote in these elections.
Term of office
Once elected, the General Secretary and the Executive Committee members will begin their role by 1 November 2023 at the latest. Their term of office will be between 2 and 3 years.
Nominations
Nominations for the Executive Committee and General Secretary will open on Monday 17 July 2023 and close at 1200hrs on Monday 7 August 2023.
The list of candidates will be displayed on the UVW website no later than Friday 8 September 2023.
No joint nominations will be accepted.
In accordance with current statutes, if the number of valid nominations received for any election is equal to the number to be elected, the seat will be considered uncontested, no election will be required and the candidate(s) will be declared elected unopposed.
If the number of valid nominations received for any election exceeds the number to be elected, an election will be required.
Members wishing to nominate themselves must complete the nomination form online or email elections@uvwunion.org.uk with the following information:
The position that the nominee is running for
Full name (first name and surname)
Contact details (tel, email, home address and postcode)
Language
Gender
Occupation, Workplace and Sector
Length of UVW membership / Join date
Names and sectors of the members supporting their nomination (at least 20 for General Secretary nominations and at least 5 for Executive Committee nominations)
All the members listed as supporters for a particular candidate’s nomination must:
have a minimum of 6 months of continuous membership; and
have no more than 2 months of membership fees owing on 31 July 2023.
Nominations must be received no later than 1200hrs on Monday 7 August 2023.
All nominations will be checked by the elections sub-group to ensure they meet the criteria set out below.
Nominations for Executive Committee
To be eligible to stand as a candidate for the Executive Committee, members must:
a) have been a member of UVW for a minimum of 12 months continuously; and
b) have no more than 2 months of membership fees owing on 31 July 2023.
For a member to stand as a candidate for an Executive Committee seat their nomination must have the support of at least 5 UVW members, from the sector or voting group they wish to represent.
All nominees must confirm that they agree to the following declaration:
By submitting this nomination, I confirm that:
I fully support UVW’s mission, vision and values as laid out in the union’s constitution;
I understand what is expected of a UVW executive committee member; and
if elected, I commit to carrying out the role of UVW executive committee member and to upholding the UVW’s constitution.
Nominations for General Secretary
To be eligible to stand as a candidate for General Secretary, members must:
have been a member of UVW for a minimum of 3 years continuously;
have no more than 2 months of membership fees owing on 31 July 2023;
have held an elected or appointed position within UVW;
be able to demonstrate significant trade union strike or campaign experience (e.g. having played a lead role in a strike or having led a group of workers in a campaign).
For a member to stand as a candidate for General Secretary their nomination must have the support of at least 20 UVW members, from a minimum of two sectors or voting groups.
All nominees must confirm that they agree to the following declaration:
By submitting this nomination, I confirm that:
I fully support UVW’s mission, vision and values as laid out in the union’s constitution;
I understand what is expected of the UVW General Secretary; and
if elected, I commit to carrying out the role of UVW General Secretary and to upholding the UVW’s constitution.
Candidate statements
All nominees are asked to submit a candidate statement. This can be submitted in writing or as an audio or video message. Candidate statements can be submitted in English or in Spanish, and must be submitted no later than Monday 7 August 2023, when nominations close.
The candidate statements will be circulated (in English and Spanish) with the ballot papers as required by current statutes, Candidate statements will also be displayed on the UVW website, and may be circulated by the Executive Committee to members on other media as deemed appropriate.
Candidate statements should include:
A summary of who they are
Why they want the role
What they would hope to achieve, if elected
Details of skills or experience relevant to the role
Candidates are responsible for the content of their own statements. In accordance with current statutes, no one other than the candidate him/herself shall incur any civil or criminal liability in respect of the publication of a candidate’s election statement.
Candidates are reminded that their statement should NOT include offensive or discriminatory language, defamatory comments or false accusations against any UVW members, staff, other candidates or any other persons.
Candidate statements are subject to a word limit: 200 words for Executive Committee nominees and 400 words for General Secretary nominees.
Where statements transcribed from audio/video, or translated from Spanish, the written version in English must not exceed the above word limits. If the statement submitted is more than above word limits, only the first 200 or 400 words will be printed in the candidate booklet.
Candidates that submit their statement in Spanish or in audio/video format will be given the opportunity to approve the translated or transcribed versions of their statement before it is published.
If they wish, candidates may submit a photo of themselves (head and shoulders) to accompany their nomination. Any candidate photos submitted will be included in the candidate booklet and on the website.
Campaigning
Candidates are allowed to campaign and canvass support from members within the relevant voting group.
UVW will support candidates’ campaigning with the following:
One video message (to be provided by the candidate, maximum 1 minute long) will be shared with members in the relevant voting group via UVW WhatsApp and email channels
All candidate statements and photos (where supplied) will be published on UVW’s website for the duration of the election period and circulated to the relevant voting group by email and WhatsApp
Candidates may not use any UVW resources to campaign for votes during the ballot period. UVW resources include any membership information on any media, official UVW social media channels (WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook, etc), UVW equipment and UVW staff.
Hustings
If there are multiple candidates nominated for the position of General Secretary, the union will hold at least one hustings event, where each candidate presents themselves to the members and members can ask questions.
Where there are multiple candidates for Executive Committee seats, sector groups are free to hold hustings events for members in that sector or voting group to hear from the candidates.
Candidates are expected to attend any relevant hustings event(s).
Voting method
For each voting group, the candidate(s) with the highest number of votes shall be elected to the seat(s) allocated for that group.
There will be one ballot paper showing each candidate’s name for the election of General Secretary. A member may cast a vote by placing an X in the box next to one candidate’s name.
A separate ballot paper will show each candidate’s name for the Executive Committee position(s) to be elected for their voting group(s). A member may cast a vote by placing an X in the box next to the candidate(s)’s name(s).
For the election of the Executive Committee, members will be allocated to a voting group as listed above. Members may only vote for representatives in the voting group to which they have been allocated.
Members may cast their votes for no more than the number of representatives to be elected in their voting group. If more votes are cast than the number to be elected, or the ballot paper has been defaced – for example the ballot number has been removed – all votes on the ballot paper will be spoilt. A member may cast their votes by placing an X in the box next to the name of the candidate(s).
Results
Popularis will issue a Scrutineer’s Report in accordance with current statutes, giving the number of votes cast for each candidate in each election, the number of spoilt votes, the total number of ballot papers received, and the total number of ballot papers distributed.
The Scrutineer’s Report will be issued no later than Friday 20 October 2023.
If a candidate, or any person acting on behalf of a candidate or the union, is thought to have breached these election rules, a complaint should be directed to the Independent Scrutineer, Popularis Ltd, at the earliest opportunity and prior to the date the elections close. Popularis will investigate any such complaint and report to UVW’s Executive Committee.
Anyone found to have breached these election rules may be subject to disciplinary action by the Executive Committee and any candidate found in breach of the rules will be excluded from the election by the Independent Scrutineer, and/or have any votes cast disregarded.
