The highest governing body of SEIU Local 503 is our General Council. Any member can run for election to be one of the more than 400 delegates to this body. The General Council usually holds a convention biennially in even-numbered years. At our biennial convention we adopt our budget and, through the submission of resolutions, discuss and adopt policies and goals that affect our union. In between conventions, the group may also vote on important issues as recommended by the Board of Directors.
General Council delegates include all Statewide Officers, Board Members, Assistant Directors, and delegates elected from sub-locals numbering one delegate for each one hundred members or majority fraction thereof. The proceedings of General Council are described in the Union’s Bylaws under Article IX.
Sub-local elections include the appropriate number of General Council delegates based on the sub-local’s membership. One alternate for every two delegates shall be elected from the next highest vote-getters running for General Council delegate. If an elected delegate is unable to serve, the alternate with the highest number of votes will be the replacement delegate. If an alternate delegate is unable to serve, the candidate with the next highest number of votes shall become the delegate to General Council, and remains the delegate for the two-year period between Councils. (Bylaws, Article XV, Section 7).
The 2024 General Council will be held August 1-4, 2024, at the Hilton Portland Downtown in Portland, Oregon. Lodging will be provided for elected delegates who meet distance requirements. Any member may author a resolution proposing amendments to the Union’s Bylaws, Administrative Policies and Procedures (AP&Ps), or otherwise adopting policy for the Union. The object of the resolution process is to seek a plan for solving problems for which no satisfactory plan of solution exists; to express a view not previously expressed to date; or revise the Union’s position on a particular economic or social concern which directly or indirectly affects members of the Union. Resolutions may address only one subject per resolution. (Bylaws, Article IX, Section 6(a)).
A sub-local may endorse a resolution if a proposed resolution is presented at a meeting that is sub-local-wide (meaning all members of the sub-local had the right to attend) and have a quorum of sub-local representatives. If a resolution is presented at a sub-local meeting and the sub-local does not vote to sponsor the resolution, the author may present the resolution by petition with the signatures of fifty active members. Signature sponsorship is only permitted after the proposed resolution is submitted to a sub-local which declines to sponsor the resolution. Whether sponsored by a sublocal or by fifty signatures, the proposed resolution must be mailed or personally delivered to SEIU Local 503 Salem Headquarters to the attention of the Resolutions Review Committee (c/o Legal Department) and must be received no later than May 3, 2024. The Board of Directors may also sponsor resolutions, which must be submitted to the Resolutions Review Committee no later than July 2, 2024. (Bylaws, Article IX, Section 6(a)).
For information about General Council 2024, click here.