54 - INDUSTRIAL OFFICERS AND TEMPORARY ORGANISERS
(a) Branch Committees of Management shall, with the approval of Divisional Conference where the cost is directly borne by Divisional Conference, have power to employ Industrial Officers. Any person shall be eligible for employment as Industrial Officer. The method of selection shall be determined by the Branch Committee of Management. The duties of the Industrial Officer shall be determined by the Branch Secretary.
(b) Any Branch may appoint a member of the Division as a Temporary Organiser for any period not exceeding twelve (12) months at such rate of payment as determined under Rule 7. No Branch shall employ any staff other than clerical staff or Temporary Organiser - unless and until the approval of the Divisional Conference has been obtained where the cost is directly borne by Divisional Conference.
55 - POWER TO ENTER AND INSPECT PREMISES
An honorary Branch Officer who holds a permit to enter and inspect premises in accordance with the provisions of the Workplace Relations Act 1996 and the Regulations made thereunder shall exercise his/her rights under such a permit with the authority of the Branch Secretary or Branch Committee of Management.
Branches shall have power to make by-laws for the conduct of the management of the Branch and of any of the Committees thereof; provided that any by-law so made does not conflict with these Rules and has been submitted to the Divisional Executive which may disallow any by-law dealing with a matter other than a matter affecting members of the Branch only; provided further that any disallowance of any by-law submitted in accordance with this Rule shall be decided by the Divisional Executive within 28 days.
57 - AFFILIATION WITH ANY ORGANISATION
A Branch may affiliate with any organisation in the State subject to endorsement by the Divisional Conference.
58 - BRANCH FUNDS AND PROPERTY
(a) The funds of the Branch ("the Branch funds") shall consist of:
(i) any real or personal property of which a Branch by the Rules or by any established practice not inconsistent with the Rules has or, in the absence of any limited term lease, bailment, or arrangement would have the right of custody, control or management;
(ii) the amount of subscriptions received by a Branch less so much as is payable to the Divisional Conference, the amount of any levy imposed and received by the Branch and the amount of any fines received by the Branch;
(iii) any interest, rents or dividends derived from investment of the Branch fund;
(iv) any superannuation or long service leave fund operated or controlled by a Branch for the benefit of its Officers or employees;
(v) any property acquired wholly or mainly by expenditure of the monies of the Branch fund or derived from other assets of the fund; and
(vi) the proceeds of any disposal of parts of the fund.
(b) All monies received by the Branch shall be banked in the name of the Union in one or more of the following ways:
(i) by way of account, whether at call or otherwise with a duly registered credit union that offers services to members; or
(ii) by way of current account and/or fixed deposit with any Government owned State Bank or other financial institution approved by the Branch Committee of Management.
(c) There shall be a separate account for the deposit of monies representing the proportion of member's contributions payable for the maintenance of Divisional Office.
(d) The Branch Committee of Management may on behalf of the Branch expend Branch funds in the purchase of land and buildings including the redevelopment of land and buildings and may invest Branch funds in securities issued by a Government or local Government body or statutory authority or any company to promote the welfare of members.
(e) Where monies are held in more than one account the Branch Secretary shall maintain a register of such accounts or other investments as part of the Branch books for audit purposes.
(f) No monies shall be withdrawn from the account or accounts except by cheques signed by the Branch Secretary together with the Branch President, or in his or her absence an Officer or Branch Committee of Management member nominated by him or her as the authorised signatory for the duration of his or her absence.
(g) The Branch Committee of Management may, on receipt of the report and recommendation of the Branch Secretary, discharge from the records of the Branch a debt which, in the opinion of the Branch Secretary and Branch Auditor is irrecoverable. Provided that:
(i) this provision shall not apply to debtors who are members of the Union or persons who ceased to be members less than twelve months prior to the date of the Branch Committee of Management Decision;
(ii) the report of the Branch Secretary to the Branch Committee of Management shall detail the recovery action undertaken.
59 - ACCOUNTS, BALANCE SHEET AND AUDIT
The financial year of Branches shall terminate on 31st March in each year. A certified balance sheet in respect of each year, with the auditor's report thereon, shall be published, distributed and presented to members in accordance with the provisions of the Workplace Relations Act 1996 or its successor and Regulations. Each Branch shall, subject to any directions that may be given from time to time by the Divisional Conference, follow a system of bookkeeping acceptable to its public auditor.
An auditor who is a person competent within the meaning of the Workplace Relations Act 1996 or its successor, shall be appointed, who at least once a year, and at other times when instructed, shall take the books of the Branch, and balance sheets with all receipts and other documents, compare them, and draw up a correct report on same. Auditors finding any deficiencies shall state the particulars in the report and lay the same before the next meeting of the Branch Committee of Management.
61 - STATEMENT OF BRANCH MEMBERSHIP
The Secretary of each Branch shall, within 28 days of the 31st March, in each year notify the Divisional Secretary in writing of the number of members in each Divisional Section within the Branch books as at that date.
62 - RANKING OF POSITIONS IN ELECTIONS
(a) No person shall hold more than one of the positions of Divisional President, Divisional Secretary, Divisional Assistant Secretary, Branch Secretary, Branch Assistant Secretary, Organiser, Branch President, Branch Vice-President or member of Branch Committee of Management.
(b) No person shall hold more than one of the positions of National Councillor and Alternate National Councillor.
(c) No person shall hold more than one of the positions of Divisional Conference Member and Alternate Divisional Conference Member.
(d) No person shall hold more than one of the positions of Divisional Executive Member or Alternate Divisional Executive Member.
(e) In determining the vote for Divisional Officer the votes shall be counted in the following order.
(i) Divisional President;
(ii) Divisional Secretary;
(iii) Divisional Assistant Secretary;
(iv) Divisional Vice-President - Affirmative Action;
(v) Divisional Vice-Presidents;
(vi) National Councillor
(vii) Alternate National Councillor
(viii) Divisional Conference Member;
(ix) Alternate Divisional Conference Member;
(x) Divisional Executive Member;
(xi) Alternate Divisional Executive Member.
(f) In determining the vote for Branch Officer the votes shall be counted in the following order:
(i) Branch Secretary;
(ii) Branch Assistant Secretary;
(iii) Branch Organiser;
(iv) Branch President;
(v) Branch Vice President;
(vi) Committee of Management Member;
(vii) Alternate National Councillor.
(g) Any person elected to a position shall be eliminated from a subsequent count for a position to be counted later provided that a person elected solely as a Divisional Conference Member or Alternate Divisional Conference Member shall not be eliminated from a count for Divisional Executive Member or Alternate Divisional Executive Member, provided that any person elected to any of the positions in sub-rules (d) or (e) above shall not be eliminated from a count for Alternate National Councillor, subject to the provisions of sub-rule (b) above.
(a) Subject to these Rules, each Branch at its Annual General Meeting shall fix for the ensuing twelve months the honoraria, fees and allowances to be paid to its Honorary Branch Officers, Members of Committee of Management, members of Branch Executive, other Committees of Branches and the Returning Officer provided that where a member of the Branch shall lose salary including shift penalties or higher duties whilst transacting business for the Division, which is authorised by the Branch Secretary or Branch Committee of Management, he or she shall be reimbursed in full for all such losses sustained from the funds of the Branch.
(b) Any member of the Union, when deputed to transact business on behalf of the Division, or any Branch or Divisional Section thereof, shall receive such sum per day including the time legitimately taken up in journeying from and returning to his or her place of residence, as may be determined by the General Meeting of the Branch, together with economy class fare to and from the place where his or her services are required.
(a) At every Special General Meeting or Extraordinary General Meeting of a Branch, the circumstances under which it has been convened shall be explained by the Presiding Officer, and the business for consideration shall be proceeded with. No business except that expressly stated in calling the meeting shall be discussed at such meeting.
(b) At every ordinary meeting of a Branch the first business shall be the reading and confirmation of the minutes of the preceding meeting, and no discussion shall be permitted thereupon except as to their accuracy as to the record of proceedings. After the reading of the minutes the order of business shall be as follows, or nearly thereto as may be practicable, but the order of business may (wherever it is considered advisable) be altered by direction of the meeting:
(i) business arising out of minutes;
(ii) roll call;
(iii) new members;
(iv) presentation of reports;
(v) finance;
(vi) correspondence, considering and ordering thereon;
(vii) questions;
(viii) business of which notice has been given;
(ix) notice of motion;
(x) fixation of allowances and honoraria;
(xi) nomination of officers;
(xii) general business.
(c) At Special Branch General Meetings or adjourned meetings of the Branch the special or adjourned business only shall be dealt with.
(d) At every Annual General Meeting of a Branch the order of business shall be as follows:
(i) Reading and confirmation of Minutes.
(ii) Correspondence read and dealt with.
(iii) Appointment of Returning Officer and Auditor.
(iv) Presentation of the Secretary's Annual Report.
(v) Motions of which Notice has been given.
(vi) General Business.
(a) Full time Branch Officers shall be elected for a term of 4 years and shall take up office from 1 August in the year of election following the declaration of the office in question.
(b) Honorary Branch Officers shall be elected for a term of 2 years and shall take up office from 1 August in the year of election following the declaration of the office on question.
(c) In the event the Returning Officer is unable to declare a person elected to an office on or before 1 August in the year of election the person holding office shall remain in that office until the office is declared elected.
(a) Candidates for office on the Branch Committee of Management except where otherwise provided, must be financial members of the Branch and be nominated in writing by at least two other financial members of the Branch. All nomination papers must be signed by and contain the addresses of those making the nomination and be countersigned by the person nominated. The provisions of this sub-rule shall also apply to candidates for office as Returning Officer, Assistant Returning Officer, Divisional Conference Delegate and Alternate Divisional Conference Delegate, Divisional Executive Member and Alternate Divisional Executive Member of the Division and any other office within the jurisdiction of the Branch. No person shall be eligible to be nominated for or elected to any office or position unless such person shall have been a continuously financial member of the Branch for a period of not less than 12 months immediately prior to the closing date of nominations.
(b) Candidates for Office of: Branch Vice President, Technical Divisional Section, Branch Vice President, Operator Divisional Section, and Divisional Section Committee of Management Members must be financial members of the relevant Divisional Section and be nominated in writing by at least two (2) other financial members of the same Divisional Section.
(c) Candidates for the office of: Branch Assistant Secretary (Technical Divisional Section), Branch Assistant Secretary (Operator Divisional Section), Branch Organiser (Technical Divisional Section) and Branch Organiser (Operator Divisional Section) must be financial members of the Branch and be nominated in writing by at least two other financial members of the Branch.
(d) Candidates for the office of National Councillor and Alternate National Councillor representing the TOA members shall be financial members of the TOA Branch and be nominated in writing by at least two (2) other financial members of the TOA Branch.
(e) Candidates for Alternate National Councillor positions for the Divisional Executive Member and Divisional Branch Secretary National Councillors in accordance with Rule 22 sub-rule (i) and (iii) shall be elected by a secret ballot of the financial members of the Divisional Section or Divisional Group as the case may be.
(f) Nominations for any office which has been declared a full-time office, or which has been declared a full-time position of Organiser, shall, except in the case of a vacancy provided for in Rule 68 or 69, be called for by notice published in a Divisional Executive journal or Branch Circular.
(g) All nominations for office, including full-time offices, or full-time position of Organiser, shall be called for by the Branch Returning Officer, on the first day of April in the year of election or should that day be a Saturday, Sunday or holiday, on the first day thereafter which is not a Saturday, Sunday or holiday, and shall close at 12 noon on the last day of April in the year of election or, should that day be a Saturday, Sunday or a holiday on the first day thereafter which is not a Saturday, Sunday or a holiday. Nominations shall be addressed to the Branch Returning Officer.
(h) If the Branch Returning Officer finds a nomination to be defective he/she shall, before rejecting the nomination notify the person concerned of the defect, and where it is practicable to do so, give him/her the opportunity of remedying the defect within seven days after his/her being notified.
(i) If there be no more valid nominations than there are vacancies for a position, the Branch Returning Officer shall declare the nominated person or persons elected to the position.
(j) If more valid nominations are received than there are vacancies for a position, the Branch Returning Officer shall have ballot papers printed and delivered to him/her containing the names of the candidates for each position arranged in the order they are drawn, indicating the number to be elected for each position, the manner in which votes shall be recorded and the date and the time of the closing of the ballot, such date and time being not later than 12 Noon on the thirtieth day of June in the year of the election or on the first working weekday following should the thirtieth day of June fall on a holiday or weekend and indicating the ballot shall commence on the first day of June or the first working weekday following that date in the year of the election.
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