Updated constitution of LFIU
CONSTITUTION FOR LABOUR FOR IRISH UNITY
1. Name
The name of the organisation governed by this Constitution shall be Labour for Irish Unity.
2. Purpose
Labour for Irish Unity is an organisation which seeks to campaign within, and in co-operation with, the British labour movement and the Irish community in Britain, for the re-unification of the island of Ireland on the principles contained in the Good Friday Agreement or any other similar future agreement.
3. Statement of Principles
The attached Statement of Principles shall form part of this Constitution and will guide the work of the organisation.
4. Membership
Membership of the organisation is open to members of the Labour Party and/or trade unionists and members of the Irish community in Britain who accept the organisation’s Statement of Principles, agree to act within the spirit of these principles and to pay any membership fees that may be set by the organisation.
Trade unions at a local, regional or national level and local trades councils are welcome to affiliate to LFIU, if they agree with its statement of principles. Affiliation will not entitle them to voting rights, but they will have the right to join and participate in LFIU’s Trade Union Advisory Committee.
5. Participation at meetings
Members shall be entitled to attend and speak at all General Meetings, as long as they have been a member for at least 35 days prior to such a meeting. Members shall be entitled to propose motions for discussion and to vote for any motions and for the election of members of the Executive Committee when they have been a member for at least 35 days prior to doing so.
6. Annual General Meetings
An Annual General Meeting shall be held within 12 months of the inaugural meeting of Labour for Irish Unity.
Subsequent Annual General Meetings shall be held at intervals of not less than ten, and not more than fourteen, months.
Written notice of an Annual General Meeting shall be sent to all members 28 days in advance of the Meeting.
Notice shall include a request for nominations from members for positions on the Executive Committee.
Such nominations should be proposed and seconded by other members of LFIU and should be sent to the Secretary no less than 14 days before the date of the AGM with a short statement explaining why the individual wishes to stand
The nominations and statements will then be sent to members no less than 7 days before the AGM.
Motions must be submitted by members no less than 21 days before the date of the AGM and sent to members by the Secretary at least 14 days before the AGM. Any amendment to a motion must be submitted by a member to the Secretary at least 7 days before the date of the AGM and proposed amendments will then be sent to members by the Secretary no less than 2 days before the date of the AGM.
The Annual General Meeting shall:
(1) receive a report, approved by the Executive Committee, of the activities of Labour for Irish Unity over the previous year.
(2) approve the organisation’s accounts for the previous financial year.
(3) elect members of the Executive Committee by a secret ballot of the members present at the meeting.
(4) debate and vote on any motions and amendments.
(5) debate any emergency motions with the consent of two-thirds of the members present.
7. Executive Committee
An Executive Committee shall be elected at each Annual General Meeting as provided for above.
The term of office for members of the Executive Committee shall be from one Annual General Meeting to the next one but members will be eligible to stand for re-election, save that a Chair or Co-Chair shall not serve more than three consecutive terms of office and shall not be eligible for re-election for two terms after leaving office.
8. Members of the Executive Committee
The Executive Committee may consist of a Chair and Vice-Chair or two Co-Chairs, a Treasurer; a Secretary, a Minutes Secretary, a Membership Secretary, an Editorial and Press Group, an Irish Community Liaison Officer, a Women’s Officer, a Disability Officer, a LGBTQ officer, a youth officer, a political education officer, a Trade Union Liaison Officer, a Labour Party Liaison Officer and such other officers as it may decide are necessary.
The Executive Committee is responsible for the conduct of Labour for Irish Unity between Annual General Meetings and will meet on a bi-monthly basis.
The Secretary shall give at least 7 days notice of any such meeting.
The quorum for meetings of the Committee shall be 5 and proxy voting will not be allowed.
The Executive Committee may also co-opt up to 3 additional members, if this becomes necessary for the efficient running of the organisation.
The Executive Committee may also appoint sub-committees for any specific purpose and provide any sub-committee with its terms of reference.
Any sub-committee will provide the Executive Committee with regular reports and any decision, which it wishes to take, must be ratified by the Executive Committee.
9. Roles of Particular Officers of the Executive Committee
The Chair or one of the Co-Chairs or the Vice-Chair shall chair any executive committee meetings and any General Meeting.
In the event of any tied vote on any decision, motion or election, the person chairing the meeting in question shall have an additional casting vote.
The Secretary shall be responsible for replying to any correspondence received by the organisation and for convening all meetings.
The Minutes Secretary shall be responsible for taking minutes at Executive Committee and General Meetings or delegating the responsibility for doing so to another member of the Executive Committee.
The Treasurer shall open a bank account, account for the organisation’s income and expenditure and present annual accounts to the Annual General Meeting.
The Membership Secretary, with the assistance of the Co-chairs or Chair and Vice-chair and Secretary, if necessary, will respond to any application for membership of the organisation. He or she will also maintain up-to-date membership records and verify any person’s membership at any meeting, if necessary.
When appropriate, he or she shall also make proposals for the level of membership fees, so that such fees can be ratified by the next Annual General Meeting.
10. Local Groups
Local Labour for Irish Unity groups may be formally recognised by the Executive Committee, as long as they agree to adhere to Labour for Irish Unity’s constitution, statement of principles and code of conduct. Local groups shall be entitled and encouraged to send a representative and/or written report to Executive Committee meetings. All members of local groups should also be members of the national organisation.
Local groups may appoint their own officers as appropriate for their planned activities. An additional local membership fee may be levied, not to exceed the amount set for national membership, to support local activities. If local membership fees are to be raised, a treasurer must be appointed, who will submit figures to the national treasurer for inclusion in the annual accounts.
11. Ordinary General Meetings
Ordinary General Meetings may be held between Annual General Meetings, if it is necessary for the Executive Committee to seek guidance on any matter from the Full Membership.
Notice of any such meeting shall be sent to members at least 28 days before the meeting.
12. Special General Meetings
A Special General Meeting shall be held, if requested by the Executive Committee or one-quarter of the members of Labour for Irish Unity on a specific issue or issues, and all members will be given 28 days notice of this meeting.
Motions for decision at a Special General Meeting must be submitted to the Secretary by either the Executive Committee or by 4 or more members no later than 21 days before the meeting. Motions will be sent to all members by the Secretary at least 14 days before the Special General Meeting. Any amendments of such a motion must be submitted to the Secretary at least 7 days before the meeting and these will be sent to all members at least 2 days before the Special General Meeting.
Proxy voting is not allowed.
The Special General Meeting shall only consider the business specified in the notice.
13. Quorum
The quorum for all General Meetings shall be 20% of the membership or 30 members, whichever is the smaller.
14. Amendments to the Constitution
Amendments to this Constitution and its Statement of Principles or rule changes may be made at an Annual General Meeting or a Special General Meeting.
Such proposed amendments must have been submitted at least 21 days before the meeting and circulated to all members at least 14 days before the meeting and must be ratified by a two thirds majority of those voting.
Proxy voting is not allowed.
15. Bank Accounts
The Treasurer, with the assistance of other members of the Executive Committee, shall be empowered to open and operate bank accounts on behalf of Labour for Irish Unity.
Four members of the Executive Committee shall be empowered to counter-sign transactions for any such accounts, with two of the four being required to sign on each occasion.
Officers shall have no power to borrow money from or on behalf of the organisation.
16. Auditors
Auditors must be appointed by a resolution at a General Meeting of Labour for Irish Unity.
Executive Committee members are not eligible for appointment as auditors.
17. Inappropriate Conduct
If the Executive Committee considers that there are grounds for believing that a Labour for Irish Unity member has engaged in conduct that is disruptive of the work of Labour for Irish Unity or has expressed opinions that conflict fundamentally with Labour for Irish Unity’s statement of principles or has behaved in such a way as to bring Labour for Irish Unity into disrepute, it may suspend the individual from membership.
Any such member shall have a right of appeal to a Disputes Committee established for that purpose by the Executive Committee, who will be responsible for reporting any decision to the next Annual General Meeting.
18. Dissolution
The organisation may be dissolved by a two-thirds majority vote at a properly convened Special General Meeting, at which dissolution is the only item on the agenda.
If, after three attempts, it remains impossible to call a quorate meeting, those remaining active members may dissolve the organisation by a majority vote.
In the event of dissolution, any remaining assets shall be transferred to another group or body whose purposes and activities are broadly congruent with those of Labour for Irish Unity.
A decision on the recipient shall be made by simple majority vote of members present at the meeting which decides on dissolution.
