Local Elections
Local elections give you and your fellow union members the opportunity to choose your own local officers. Local elections must follow several rules established in labor law.
A few basics:
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Local unions must hold elections for local officers at least once every three years.
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These local officer elections must take place by secret ballot.
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Union funds can be used to conduct an election, but they can’t be used to promote any particular candidate.
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Union members in good standing can nominate candidates, run for local office (subject to reasonable qualifications uniformly imposed), hold office, and vote for the candidate(s) of their choice.
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Union elections require several actions that must adhere to strict timelines. (For example, the union must mail a notice of election to the last-known address of each member 15 days before the election.)
Some resources:
The U.S. Department of Labor has a great resource section with lots of information on specific topics to help guide you:
This is the best guide for conducting elections, from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Labor-Management Standards. Read this first—it’s the best resource for everything you need to know to plan and carry out your local election.
This is the home for the U.S. DOL resources on union elections and record keeping requirements. It has links to a wide variety of topics helpful to union officers.
This election planner has all steps and timeline requirements in one chart. A quick look will give you an idea of the timeline you need to establish for every action necessary to conduct a local election.
