
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 2, 2001]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 2, 2001 and January 28, 2002]
[CITE: 29USC481]

 
                             TITLE 29--LABOR
 
     CHAPTER 11--LABOR-MANAGEMENT REPORTING AND DISCLOSURE PROCEDURE
 
                         SUBCHAPTER V--ELECTIONS
 
Sec. 481. Terms of office and election procedures


(a) Officers of national or international labor organizations; manner of 
        election

    Every national or international labor organization, except a 
federation of national or international labor organizations, shall elect 
its officers not less often than once every five years either by secret 
ballot among the members in good standing or at a convention of 
delegates chosen by secret ballot.

(b) Officers of local labor organizations; manner of election

    Every local labor organization shall elect its officers not less 
often than once every three years by secret ballot among the members in 
good standing.

(c) Requests for distribution of campaign literature; civil action for 
        enforcement; jurisdiction; inspection of membership lists; 
        adequate safeguards to insure fair election

    Every national or international labor organization, except a 
federation of national or international labor organizations, and every 
local labor organization, and its officers, shall be under a duty, 
enforceable at the suit of any bona fide candidate for office in such 
labor organization in the district court of the United States in which 
such labor organization maintains its principal office, to comply with 
all reasonable requests of any candidate to distribute by mail or 
otherwise at the candidate's expense campaign literature in aid of such 
person's candidacy to all members in good standing of such labor 
organization and to refrain from discrimination in favor of or against 
any candidate with respect to the use of lists of members, and whenever 
such labor organizations or its officers authorize the distribution by 
mail or otherwise to members of campaign literature on behalf of any 
candidate or of the labor organization itself with reference to such 
election, similar distribution at the request of any other bona fide 
candidate shall be made by such labor organization and its officers, 
with equal treatment as to the expense of such distribution. Every bona 
fide candidate shall have the right, once within 30 days prior to an 
election of a labor organization in which he is a candidate, to inspect 
a list containing the names and last known addresses of all members of 
the labor organization who are subject to a collective bargaining 
agreement requiring membership therein as a condition of employment, 
which list shall be maintained and kept at the principal office of such 
labor organization by a designated official thereof. Adequate safeguards 
to insure a fair election shall be provided, including the right of any 
candidate to have an observer at the polls and at the counting of the 
ballots.

(d) Officers of intermediate bodies; manner of election

    Officers of intermediate bodies, such as general committees, system 
boards, joint boards, or joint councils, shall be elected not less often 
than once every four years by secret ballot among the members in good 
standing or by labor organization officers representative of such 
members who have been elected by secret ballot.

(e) Nomination of candidates; eligibility; notice of election; voting 
        rights; counting and publication of results; preservation of 
        ballots and records

    In any election required by this section which is to be held by 
secret ballot a reasonable opportunity shall be given for the nomination 
of candidates and every member in good standing shall be eligible to be 
a candidate and to hold office (subject to section 504 of this title and 
to reasonable qualifications uniformly imposed) and shall have the right 
to vote for or otherwise support the candidate or candidates of his 
choice, without being subject to penalty, discipline, or improper 
interference or reprisal of any kind by such organization or any member 
thereof. Not less than fifteen days prior to the election notice thereof 
shall be mailed to each member at his last known home address. Each 
member in good standing shall be entitled to one vote. No member whose 
dues have been withheld by his employer for payment to such organization 
pursuant to his voluntary authorization provided for in a collective 
bargaining agreement shall be declared ineligible to vote or be a 
candidate for office in such organization by reason of alleged delay or 
default in the payment of dues. The votes cast by members of each local 
labor organization shall be counted, and the results published, 
separately. The election officials designated in the constitution and 
bylaws or the secretary, if no other official is designated, shall 
preserve for one year the ballots and all other records pertaining to 
the election. The election shall be conducted in accordance with the 
constitution and bylaws of such organization insofar as they are not 
inconsistent with the provisions of this subchapter.

(f) Election of officers by convention of delegates; manner of 
        conducting convention; preservation of records

    When officers are chosen by a convention of delegates elected by 
secret ballot, the convention shall be conducted in accordance with the 
constitution and bylaws of the labor organization insofar as they are 
not inconsistent with the provisions of this subchapter. The officials 
designated in the constitution and bylaws or the secretary, if no other 
is designated, shall preserve for one year the credentials of the 
delegates and all minutes and other records of the convention pertaining 
to the election of officers.

(g) Use of dues, assessments or similar levies, and funds of employer 
        for promotion of candidacy of person

    No moneys received by any labor organization by way of dues, 
assessment, or similar levy, and no moneys of an employer shall be 
contributed or applied to promote the candidacy of any person in any 
election subject to the provisions of this subchapter. Such moneys of a 
labor organization may be utilized for notices, factual statements of 
issues not involving candidates, and other expenses necessary for the 
holding of an election.

(h) Removal of officers guilty of serious misconduct

    If the Secretary, upon application of any member of a local labor 
organization, finds after hearing in accordance with subchapter II of 
chapter 5 of title 5 that the constitution and bylaws of such labor 
organization do not provide an adequate procedure for the removal of an 
elected officer guilty of serious misconduct, such officer may be 
removed, for cause shown and after notice and hearing, by the members in 
good standing voting in a secret ballot, conducted by the officers of 
such labor organization in accordance with its constitution and bylaws 
insofar as they are not inconsistent with the provisions of this 
subchapter.

(i) Rules and regulations for determining adequacy of removal procedures

    The Secretary shall promulgate rules and regulations prescribing 
minimum standards and procedures for determining the adequacy of the 
removal procedures to which reference is made in subsection (h) of this 
section.

(Pub. L. 86-257, title IV, Sec. 401, Sept. 14, 1959, 73 Stat. 532.)

                          Codification

    In subsec. (h), ``subchapter II of chapter 5 of title 5'' 
substituted for ``the Administrative Procedure Act'' on authority of 
Pub. L. 89-554, Sec. 7(b), Sept. 6, 1966, 80 Stat. 631, the first 
section of which enacted Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.


                             Effective Date

    Section 404 of Pub. L. 86-257 provided that: ``The provisions of 
this title [enacting this subchapter] shall become applicable--
        ``(1) ninety days after the date of enactment of this Act [Sept. 
    14, 1959] in the case of a labor organization whose constitution and 
    bylaws can lawfully be modified or amended by action of its 
    constitutional officers or governing body, or
        ``(2) where such modification can only be made by a 
    constitutional convention of the labor organization, not later than 
    the next constitutional convention of such labor organization after 
    the date of enactment of this Act [Sept. 14, 1959], or one year 
    after such date, whichever is sooner. If no such convention is held 
    within such one-year period, the executive board or similar 
    governing body empowered to act for such labor organization between 
    conventions is empowered to make such interim constitutional changes 
    as are necessary to carry out the provisions of this title [enacting 
    this subchapter].''

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in section 482 of this title.
