OFFICES BEING FILLED:

ELIGIBILITY OF MEMBERS/NOMINEES (Elections Manual)

To be eligible for office, a member must be in good standing for one year immediately preceding the election, except in the initial election held in this local.  Delegates must be a member in good standing for 6 months prior to the date of the convention.

This is the rule in most locals. Local unions can extend this length of membership, in cases where officers are elected for terms longer than one year, up to a maximum period equal to the length of the term of office. Even where such language exists, however, the International President has ruled that (1) if there is only one nominee and (2) if that nominee would be ineligible only because of the length-of-membership requirement, that nominee may be declared elected and may serve the full term of that office. If there is more than one nominee and all of them are ineligible only because of the length-of-membership requirement, they should all be considered eligible and their names placed on the ballot.

New members are encouraged to participate.  There are other volunteer opportunities on committees that do not have minimum membership requirements.