I. Name
The name of the association shall be the John Abbott College Faculty Association [J.A.C.F.A.].
II. Jurisdiction
The area or group served by this Association shall be all teachers salaried under the terms of the Labour Code and under the jurisdiction of John Abbott College.
III. Aim
The aims of the Association shall be:
- to advance and to protect the syndical, professional, social and economic welfare of its members;
- to promote research and work in the field of education;
- to co-operate with other organisations having similar aims.
IV. Membership
Membership in the Association shall be open to any person engaged by John Abbott College to teach at the collegial level.
A member who engages in actions seriously detrimental to the association (such as crossing a JACFA picket line during strike action) can be suspended or expelled from the Union by a simple majority decision of the General Assembly. [Amendment of General Assembly of December 18, 2024]
V. Dues
Association dues shall be set by the General Assembly. The said dues, however, shall not be less than the minimum specified by the Labour Code.
VI. The Executive and its Election
Composition:
The Executive of the Association shall consist of six (6) members: President, Vice President Internal, Vice President External, Secretary, Treasurer and a member at large.
[Amendment of General Assembly of May 17, 2017]
Elections:
- The Executive shall be elected for a one-year term by the General Assembly in May of each Year. The term begins at the end of the availability period in June (approximately June 15th). [Amendment of General Assembly of December 18, 2024]
- Vacancies in the Executive due to unforeseen circumstances shall be filled through by-elections, at a time determined by the remaining members of the Executive.
- One month before the date of elections, the Executive shall appoint an Elections Officer.
- The office of the President shall be filled by direct election in a secret ballot vote of the members present, unless acclaimed.
- The other five positions on the Executive will be filled in one election by secret ballot of the members present, unless five are acclaimed.
- In the event that nominations are closed and positions are left vacant (either for the President or the Executive), nominations will be re-opened after the General Assembly where the initial elections/acclamations take place and a by-election will be held at the following General Assembly. [Amendment of General Assembly of December 18, 2024]
- After the election, the elected Executive members shall meet and assign roles and duties. All outgoing members of the executive must transmit to the people who succeed them all Association documents and other effects belonging to the Association. [Amendment of General Assembly of December 18, 2024]
VII. Responsibilities of the Executive
The responsibilities of the Executive are:
- to prepare the agenda of business for all meetings;
- to exercise general supervision of the affairs of the Association;
- to ensure that all Association money is used to further the aims of the Association as set out in the Constitution;
- to hire, to determine qualifications and tasks, and to decide upon the salary and benefits of any employees of the Association.
VIII. Duties of the Executive Members
1. The President shall:
a) assign any necessary duties to the other members of the Executive
2. The Vice President Internal shall:
a) assume the duties of President in his/her absence if so delegated;
b) be responsible for all matters of an internal nature, designated as such by the Executive.
3. The Vice President External shall:
a) be responsible for maintaining contacts with and attending meetings of union federations with which the Association is affiliated where s/he will represent JACFA’s position or the General Assembly’s decisions to the best of her/his ability;
b) be responsible for other matters of an external nature, designated as such by the Executive.
4. The Secretary shall:
a) be responsible for taking minutes of Executive meetings and General Assemblies;
b) be responsible for preparing and seeing to the distribution of minutes, notices and other correspondence to the membership.
5. The Treasurer shall:
a) keep accurate records of income and expenditures and take charge of same;
b) make the necessary disbursements of funds of the Association as authorized;
c) present an annual financial report for the approval of the membership at an appropriate General Assembly.
6. Among other duties which may be assigned to them, members of the Executive shall:
a) participate in any of the duties of the above listed members of the Executive;
b) organize the Association’s publications;
c) be responsible for the membership’s insurance policies;
d) coordinate Labour Relations matters;
e) be responsible for liaison with the women’s committee(s) of other union structures, keep the General Assembly informed of women’s dossiers and act as liaison with any local women’s committee(s) established by the General Assembly. [Amendment of General Assembly of May 14, 1991]
f) perform other tasks as they arise.
IX. The General Assembly
The General Assembly, a meeting open to all members of the Association, shall be the ultimate decision-making body of the Association. The General Assembly shall be chaired by a member of the Executive.
[Amendment of General Assembly of August 22, 2018]
X. Meetings – Standing Orders
1. Of the Executive
a) The Executive shall meet when called by the President or by the written request of two Executive members.
b) The Executive shall meet at least every four weeks except during
vacation periods.
c) Quorum for an Executive meeting is four (4) members.
2. Of the General Assembly
a) The General Assembly shall meet at the call of the Executive at least once in each fall and winter semester.
b) The presence of 30 members will constitute a quorum for General Assemblies. If a General Assembly fails to achieve the quorum of 30, the quorum at the first and only the first subsequent General Assembly convened on the same agenda is those present.
c) At least one week’s written notice with agenda shall be sent to the membership announcing each General Assembly, except in an emergency when the Executive may call a special General Assembly with as little as 24 hours notice.
d) The Executive will give at least forty-eight hours’ notice of ballots dealing with withdrawal of services or involving monetary implications.
[Amendment of General Assembly of May 18, 2016]
e) A special General Assembly must be called within 15 days by the Executive if twenty percent (20%) of the membership so petition.
3. All meetings of the Association shall be conducted in accordance with Robert’s Rules.
XI. Committees
The General Assembly by simple majority may create and define the mandate of either Standing Committees or Ad–hoc Committees of the Association.
1. Creation of Standing or Ad-hoc Committees
One week prior to the General Assembly where the vote for a new committee takes place, a draft set of bylaws that includes (but not limited to) the following items must be sent to the membership:
- number of official committee members
- how the membership will be appointed (ex: election, selection committee, etc)
- minimum number of meetings per year.
- mandate of the committee
2. List of Committees and Members
A list of committees, its elected members, and related bylaws must be kept up to date and published in a public forum (ex: website). The list must be updated whenever an election takes place or a new committee is created [Amendment of General Assembly of December 18, 2024]
XII. Amendments
To amend this constitution, the following procedure must be followed:
- a notice of motion must be presented at a general assembly with the suggested changes. This notice of motion, along with the exact wording of the proposed amendments to the constitution, must be sent to the membership with the agenda that is sent a week prior to the meeting.
- The motion with the changes to the constitution will then be voted on at the following general assembly. This assembly must take place at a minimum of four weeks after the assembly where the notice of motion is presented, unless there is an exceptional need for a general assembly within the four-week minimum time frame. In that situation, the constitutional change must be voted on at the general assembly following the meeting that was held within the four-week minimum period.
- In the event that, after receiving feedback from the assembly when presenting their notice of motion, the mover of the constitutional amendment wishes to change their initial proposition, they have one week following the assembly where the notice of motion was presented to send out a modified version to the membership. This modified version will be the motion voted on and can be amended by members (see next paragraph).
- Should any member wish to make amendments to the proposed constitution change, the changes must be submitted in writing to JACFA no later than eight working days prior to the assembly where the motion will be voted on. These proposed amendments must be sent along with the agenda of the general assembly one week prior to the meeting. No amendments to the proposed motion for a constitution amendment will be permitted from the floor, unless they are to fix typographical or grammar errors and can be adopted via unanimous consent.
- A two-thirds (2/3) majority of members present at the general assembly is necessary for constitutional amendments to pass.
[Amendment of General Assembly of May 29, 2024]