ARTICLE 32

Public Review Board

  1.     Section 1.For the purpose of ensuring a con-
  2. tinuation of high moral and ethical standards in the
  3. administration and operative practices of the In-
  4. ternational Union and its subordinate bodies, and
  5. appeal procedures within the democratic processes and
  6. appeal procedures within the Union as they affect
  7. the rights and privileges of individual members or
  8. subordinate bodies, there shall be established a
  9. Public Review Board consisting of impartial per-
  10. sons of good public repute not working under the
  11. jurisdiction of the UAW or employed by the Inter-
  12. national Union or any of its subordinate bodies.

  13.     Section 2. The Public Review Board shall con-
  14. sist of seven (7) members, including the Chairper-
  15. son. Their terms shall be for the period between
  16. International Constitutional Conventions. At the
  17. Sixteenth (16th) International Constitutional Con-
  18. vention, and at the subsequent International Con-
  19. stitutional Conventions, the International President
  20. shall, subject to the approval of the International
  21. Executive Board, propose the names of the Chair-
  22. person and members of the Public Review Board
  23. for ratification by said International Constitutional
  24. Convention. Should any vacancy on the Public
  25. Review Board occur between International Con-
  26. stitutional Conventions, the vacancy shall be filled
  27. by appointment by the International President, sub-
  28. ject to the approval of the International Executive
  29. Board, from a list of manes submitted by the re-
  30. maining members of the Public Review Board.

  31.     Section 3. (a) The Public Review Board shall
  32. have the authority and duty to make final bind-
  33. ing decisions on all cases appealed to it in accor-
  34. dance with Article 33 of hte International Consti-
  35. tution, and to deal with matters related to alleged
  36. violation of any UAW Ethical Practices Codes that
  37. may be adopted by the International Union.

  38.     (b) The Public Review Board shall have the
  39. authority and duty to make final and binding deci-
  40. sions on all cases appealed to it in accordance with
  41. Article 16, Section 7 of the International Constitu-
  42. tion.

  43.     Section 4. Any complaint filed under Section
  44. 5(a) or (b) of this Article alleging violation of any
  45. UAW Ethical Practices Codes that may be adopted
  46. by the International Union, must be filed within

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  1. sixty (60) days of the time the charging member
  2. first becomes aware or reasonably should have
  3. become aware of the alleged violation.

  4.     Section 5. To facilitate the orderly handling of
  5. complaints related to alleged violations of any
  6. UAW Ethical Practices Codes, the following pro-
  7. cedures shall apply:

  8.   (a)If a complaint is against the operation of a
  9.       subordinate body or any officer or representa-
  10.       tive thereof, the complaint must be initiated
  11.       by a member of that subordinate body who
  12.       shall be obligated to first attempt to seek re-
  13.       dress and correction of the matter complained
  14.       of through appeal to the membership of the
  15.       Local Union. Failing to get redress from the
  16.       Local Union, the member shall submit her/his
  17.       complaint to the International Executive Board
  18.       through the International President who shall
  19.       forward a copy of the complaint directly to
  20.       the Chairperson of the Public Review Board.
  21.       The International Executive Board shall have
  22.       the initial responsibility for investigating the
  23.       complaint. The Chairperson of the Public Re-
  24.       view Board will be kept advised of the case
  25.       by the International Executive Board. Upon
  26.       completion of the International Executive
  27.       Board's investigation and action, the Chair-
  28.       person of the Public Review Board and the
  29.       complaining member will be informed as to
  30.       the disposition made of the case by the Inter-
  31.       national Executive Board. In the event the
  32.       complaining member is dissatisfied with the
  33.       decision and action of the International Ex-
  34.       ecutive Board, s/he may, within thirty (30)
  35.       days, appeal such decision to the Public Re-
  36.       view Board.

  37.     In the absence of such an appeal, the Public
  38. Review Board may act on the matter if it concludes
  39. that there is substance to the original complaint and
  40. that the action of the International Executive Board
  41. does not satisfactorily meet the problem.

  42.   (b)If a complaint is against the operation of the
  43.       International Union or any officer or repre-
  44.       sentative thereof, the complaint must be made
  45.       by a member of a Local Union and approved
  46.       by membership action of that Local Union.
  47.       The complaint and a certification of the ap-
  48.       proval shall be submitted to the International

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  1.       President who shall forward a copy of the com-
  2.       plaint directly to the Chairperson of the Pub-
  3.       lic Review Board. The complaint shall be pro-
  4.       cessed by the International Executive Board
  5.       and the Public Review Board in the same man-
  6.       ner as a complaint under (a) above.

  7.   (c)However, if any member files a complaint
  8.       under either subsection (a) or (b) above but
  9.       does not seek approval, redress or action from
  10.       the member's Local Union, s/he shall set forth
  11.       the reasons for such failure to seek or obtain
  12.       such approval, redress or action from the Lo-
  13.       cal Union at the time s/he files the complaint
  14.       with either the International Executive Board
  15.       or the Public Review Board. When, in the
  16.       judgment of the International Executive Board
  17.       and/or the Public Rebiew Board, there are
  18.       valid and substantial reasons for the request
  19.       to bypass the Local step, the matter may be
  20.       processed without compliance with the Local
  21.       step.

  22.   (d)Any matter within the coverage of this Aec-
  23.       tion may be submitted to the Public Review
  24.       Board by majority action of the International
  25.       Executive Board.

  26.     When a cpmplaint is properly before the Pub-
  27. lic Review Board, the Public Review Board shall
  28. assume jurisdiction over the matter complained of
  29. and process the matter in accordance with the pro-
  30. visions of subsequent Sections of this Article.

  31.     Section 6. The Public Review Board shall for-
  32. mulate such rules of procedure and establish such
  33. practices as are necessary to facilitate its proper
  34. functioning. In order to minimize the time require-
  35. ments and to expedite the disposition of cases, the
  36. Chairperson shall be authorized to create panels
  37. of not less than three (3) members of the Public
  38. Review Board to act for and in behalf of the Pub
  39. lic Review Borad. When, as a result of prelimi-
  40. nary invsetigation, the Public Review Board or the
  41. panel thereof, concludes that the complaint fails to
  42. state allegations sufficiently serious and sunstan-
  43. tial to justify a hearing, or when it appears that there
  44. is no reasonable possibility that any substantial
  45. evidence in support of the allegations can be pro-
  46. duced, the Board or the panel in its discretion may
  47. dismiss such matter without and hearing. The Pub-
  48. lic Review Board or the panel thereof shall advise
  49. the complaining member, the International Union,

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  1. and any subordinate body or bodies concerned of
  2. its decision or findings.

  3.     Section 7. In case the Public Review Board or
  4. the panel thereof finds that the accused is obvi-
  5. ously innocent of any violation of the Ethical
  6. Codes, the Board or the panel thereof, may make
  7. judgment with respect to the lack of good faith of
  8. the accuser, and if the facts indicate that the ac-
  9. cuser acted in bad faith or with malicious intent
  10. and willful effort to divide and disrupt the
  11. Union, the Public Review Board may assess a non-
  12. monetary penalty against the accuser; provided,
  13. however, that such penalty shall be limited to sus-
  14. pension from membership for a period of not less
  15. than three (3) months.

  16.     Section 8. The Public Review Board shall pre-
  17. pare and submit to the membership an Annual Re-
  18. port of its activities, in which report shall draw
  19. the attention of the membership to any situation or
  20. action which it has investigated upon complaint
  21. and found to be improper, and shall comment upon
  22. the steps that have been taken by the Union to cor-
  23. rect such a situation. The Public Review Board shall
  24. further include a summary of all appeals it has
  25. handles during the year. Copies of all Public Re-
  26. view Board's Annual Report shall be mailed to all
  27. Loacl Unions and notice of this fact shall be pub-
  28. lished in the next edition of "Solidarity." Copies
  29. shall be available to members upon request and
  30. during convention years copies shall be distributed
  31. to all delegates. The Annual Report shall be made
  32. available to the public press and all other media of
  33. public communication. The Public Review Board
  34. may, in its discretion, submit an Interim Report.
  35. Such an INterim Report shall also be made avail-
  36. able to all members and the public in the same
  37. manner as the Annual Report.

  38.     Section 9. The International Executive Board
  39. is instructed and authorized to provide for an an-
  40. nual operating budget to insure the proper func-
  41. tioning of the Public Review Board. The Interna-
  42. tional Secretary-Treasurer is instructed and autho-
  43. rized to deposit quarterly, in a depository desig-
  44. nated by the Public Review Board, to the account
  45. of the Public Review Board the necessary funds
  46. required by the budget submitted by them. Such a
  47. budget shall cover all necessary expenses, includ
  48. ing office, staff, travel and operating expenses and
  49. shall provide for reasonable compensation to the

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  1. members of the Public Review Board. The Public
  2. Review Board shall establish an office separate and
  3. apart from any Union building. The staff and of-
  4. fice personnel essential to the proper functioning
  5. of the Public Review Board shall be selected by
  6. the members thereof and shall be compensated out
  7. of its operating budget. The Chairperson of the
  8. Public Review Board shall be required to have its
  9. books and financial records audited annually; such
  10. audits and the summary of the financial transac-
  11. tions shall be submitted to the International Secre-
  12. tary-Treasurer, who in turn shall make such infor-
  13. mation available to the delegates at each Constitu-
  14. tional Convention.