THE MEMBERS’ PROPERTY
Dues, cash, real estate, shares, investments, interest and anything acquired from member contributions are shared member assets.
Dues, cash, real estate, shares, investments, interest and anything acquired from member contributions are shared member assets.
The union acts as operator and manager of those assets. It is not their beneficial owner and cannot treat them as money belonging to the organization itself.
Members contribute resources to defend rights, improve work and build security. The money is not collected primarily to maintain offices, titles or someone else’s livelihood.
Calling the assets “union money” must never hide the fact that the union exists only because members created and financed it.
Convention approves the budget and the purposes for which resources may be used. The Provincial Executive may spend only what has been allocated to its work.
Major strategic spending and any use outside that authority go to Locals. Each Local has one vote, and the majority decision binds the union.
The rule covers more than cheques. It includes property, investment income, borrowing, guarantees, sale or purchase of real estate, shares, long commitments and anything funded or created through dues.
Changing the form of an asset does not remove it from member control.
The Executive cannot label a strategic decision as ordinary administration in order to avoid a member mandate. It cannot spend beyond its approved budget or commit future members without authority.
Urgency may require quick action within the budget, but it does not create ownership or unlimited discretion.
The secure portal publishes the budget, actual payments, contracts, investment information, decisions and results in a form members can understand.
Members should be able to follow the path from approval to payment to outcome and ask who authorized each step.