Rules USF

Article 1er :

A UNION SYNDICALE FEDERALE of the European and International Public Services (USFSPEI), hereinafter referred to as the UNION, shall be set up between the trade union organisations of the European and international bodies established in Europe which adhere to these Rules.

The UNION shall have its seat in Brussels. It shall be affiliated to the Public Services International (PSI) and to the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU) of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), and shall adhere to the principles and objectives of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).

Article 2 :

The UNION shall be independent of all national and international institutions, governments, administrations, political parties and denominational or philosophical movements.

Article 3 :

Membership of the UNION may be taken out on a regional basis (according to place of employment) or an institutional basis (according to institution or body) but not both. Any new application for membership in the same place of employment must have the prior approval of the member organisation concerned.

Article 4 :

The role and objectives of the UNION shall be in particular to:

1. establish the major common principles governing the action and fundamental demands of the UNION (internal and external solidarity, social rights, right to employment, trade union rights, equality between men and women, stability of employment and human rights);
2. maintain a constant two-way flow of information on these fundamental principles between the member organisations and their members;
3. administer the common means for action and consultation, including those of a legal or political nature etc.;
4. represent the member organisations before the relevant bodies in the defence of common fundamental interests (staff regulations, remuneration, right of negotiation, etc.);
5. use suitable means to communicate with and bring matters to the attention of member organisations and their members;
6. coordinate and harmonise the action of member organisations concerning all Community and/or international matters of common interest;
7. deal with inter.trade union and international relations.

Article 5 :

The UNION shall establish links and coordinate its work with any non.member trade union organisation pursuing similar aims and in particular those whose members are staff of European and/or international bodies.
The Federal Committee shall appoint the members and alternate members representing the USF in international organisations, in particular the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU), on the basis of proposals from the Federal Bureau.

Article 6 :

The bodies of the UNION shall be:

1. Congress
2. the Federal Committee
3. the Federal Bureau
4. the Disputes Board
5. the Audit Board.

Article 7 :

Congress shall be the supreme body of the UNION. Its decisions shall be binding on all the member organisations and their members. It shall be composed, on a proposal from the Federal Committee, of a number of delegates for each member organisation, fixed by itself, at each ordinary meeting for the period up to the end of the following ordinary meeting. It shall be responsible, in particular, for:

1. drawing up the general guidelines for action by the UNION and its members;
hearing the report on the situation in member organisations;
2. approving the Rules of the UNION and any amendments thereto;
3. approving, if necessary, the number of members of the Federal Committee and their breakdown by member organisation (in the event of a change in the number of members);
4. electing the Disputes Board and the Audit Board in accordance with Articles 19, 20 and 21, or delegating the power to do so to the Federal Committee;
5. approving the written activity and financial management reports for the preceding period.

Article 8 :

Congress shall meet if possible at least every four years. Congress shall be convened in special session on a decision of the Federal Committee taken by an absolute majority of the members thereof or at the request of the majority of paid-up member organisations.

Article 9 :

Congress shall be convened by the Federal Committee, which shall determine the venue, date and draft agenda. The draft agenda and the working documents shall be communicated to the member organisations two months in advance and not later than 30 days before the date of the meeting. This time limit shall be reduced by the Federal Committee for special sessions, but may not be less than 10 days.

Article 10 :

Congress shall comprise delegations from each member organisation of the UNION.
Each delegation shall have a number of mandates (votes), to be determined by applying a factor of three to the scale applicable to the outgoing Federal Committee. The names of delegates must be notified to the Federal Bureau at least 20 days prior to Congress. The Federal Committee may invite as observers any persons whose presence is deemed useful.

Article 11 :

At the beginning of its proceedings Congress shall elect:

1. its presidency bureau;
2. a committee of 5 members responsible for verifying mandates and voting operations.

No vote or election may take place before Congress has taken a decision on the report and recommendations of the committee responsible for verifying mandates.

Article 12 :

The Federal Committee shall be responsible for implementation of decisions and policies adopted by Congress and of the tasks conferred on it by these Rules. It shall ensure that these Rules are observed.
It shall be answerable to Congress. It shall draw up the budget and monitor the implementation thereof. It shall elect from its members the Federal Bureau as provided for in Article 17.

Article 13 :

Each member organisation shall be represented on the Federal Committee. For this purpose each member organisation shall designate as many members and alternate members as it has seats to fill, in accordance with a weighting approved at each Congress and forming an integral part of these Rules in Annex 1. The President, Vice-Presidents and Secretary-General of each member organisation who are not appointed as delegation members may attend the meetings of the Federal Committee without voting rights and at the expense of their organisation.

Article 14 :

Within 30 days of the ordinary Congress, member organisations shall notify the outgoing Federal Bureau of nominations for the renewal of the Federal Committee.
The outgoing Bureau shall convene the inaugural meeting of the new Federal Committee within 2 months of Congress.
On that occasion the Federal Committee shall elect from its members the new Federal Bureau.
A qualified majority of two thirds of the members of the Committee shall be required for the vote to be valid.

Article 15 :

Special meetings may be held at any time either at the request of at least one third of its members or on the initiative of the Federal Bureau. Notice of meetings shall be given at least 10 days prior to the date of the meeting.
The Federal Committee may take decisions only if the majority of its members are represented.
It shall adopt its decisions by a simple majority of the members present. However, important decisions binding on all the member organisations shall in principle be taken only if two thirds of the members are represented.
By a majority of two thirds of its members it may suspend relations with a member organisation until the following meeting of Congress on the grounds of activities contrary to the UNION's interests.
Before any such decision on suspension is taken, the organisation in question shall be informed of the reasons for the suspension and must be given a hearing.
Each organisation may invoke the right to defend its particular interests, inasmuch as they are not contrary to trade union policy or the Rules of the UNION. In that case the decision shall be suspended and submitted for arbitration to the Bureau which will propose a compromise to the Federal Committee.
If the dispute continues, the Bureau may submit it to the Disputes Board (Article 20).

This part has been changed and we don't have the translation yet! Sorry!

Article 16 :

Le Bureau fédéral est l’organe exécutif de l’ UNION.

Article 17 :

La composition du Bureau fédéral doit assurer, autant que possible, une représentation équilibrée entre les différentes composantes de l’USF, en particulier entre les organisations membres communautaires et non communautaires.

 Le Bureau fédéral est composé au moins:

• Du/de la Président/e fédéral/e,
• Du/de la  Secrétaire général/e,
• Du/de la Secrétaire général/e adjoint/e,
• des Vice-présidents fédéraux,
• du/de la Trésorier/Trésorière.

Le nombre de membres du Bureau Fédéral ne peut dépasser 11 membres issus du Comité Fédéral.

Article 18 :

Le Bureau fédéral assure la représentation de l’UNION vers l’extérieur et pour toutes affaires de droit. La représentation valide en justice est assurée par les signatures conjointes du président et d’un membre. En cas d’empêchement du président, la validité en justice peut être assurée par les signatures conjointes de trois membres du Bureau fédéral.

Le Bureau fédéral délègue la gestion des relations avec la Commission européenne à un groupe restreint. Les membres de ce groupe restreint sont collégialement responsables vis-à-vis du Bureau fédéral et lui rendent compte, lors des réunions de celui-ci.

Article 19 :

A Disputes Board comprising at least 5 members of different member organisations shall be set up. The chairman shall be elected within the Disputes Board during its first meeting. Membership of the Disputes Board shall be incompatible with membership of the Federal Committee or the Audit Board.
The functioning of the Disputes Board shall be determined by rules of procedure which shall define in particular the rules governing litigation. These rules of procedure shall be adopted by the Disputes Board within three months of its election.

Article 20 :

Any dispute which has arisen at federal UNION level may be referred to the Disputes Board by any member of a member organisation or by one of the executive bodies of the UNION. Its decisions, which shall be preceded by an attempt at conciliation, may give rise to an appeal to the Federal Congress.

Article 21 :

The Audit Board shall be composed of three members from different member organisations. Its task shall be to examine and audit at any time and at least once a year the accounts and cash position of the UNION and to report thereon to Congress or, where appropriate, to the Federal Committee. Membership of the Audit Board shall be incompatible with membership of the Federal Committee or the Disputes Board.

Article 22 :

The financial year shall run from 1 January to 31 December.

Article 23 :

Organisations which intend to join the UNION must submit an application to the Federal Bureau, accompanied by their Rules, the minute of their adoption at a General Meeting of Members, the number of members and the names of their elected officers.
The Federal Bureau shall submit the application to join, together with an opinion, to the Federal Committee, who shall decide what action to take.
The decision of the Federal Committee must be ratified by the following UNION Congress.

Article 24 :

Organisations which join the UNION shall pay a basic annual contribution, the amount of which shall depend on the respective number of members. The nominal amount per member shall be determined by the Federal Committee.
An additional contribution to expenditure actually incurred and pre-determined in the draft annual budget by the Federal Committee may be required of the member organisations.
The detailed rules for payment shall be established by the Federal Bureau, which shall draw up its Financial Regulation.

Article 25 :

1. A member organisation which, of its own fault, has not paid its subscription by the due date, may have the exercise of its rights within the UNION suspended by the Federal Committee until the following Congress meeting.
   The organisation shall be informed of the reason for the decision.
   The Federal Committee may temporarily exempt from payment of its subscription a member organisation which has cash-flow difficulties; such exemption may not exceed one year.
2. An organisation shall cease to be a member of the UNION:
   1. by resignation notified to the Federal Bureau by recorded delivery;
   2. by expulsion proposed by the UNION Congress at the instigation of the Federal Committee, for actions contrary to the UNION's interests. In that case the procedure referred to in the fifth paragraph of Article 15 and in (a) above must be followed and, if it has already been applied for the purposes of suspension, must be repeated for the purposes of Congress's decision.

Article 26 :

Member organisations shall be obliged to notify the Federal Bureau of any changes to their Rules and to the composition of their official bodies within 15 days of the adoption of such changes.
They shall also be obliged to notify the Federal Bureau of the number of their members at least once a year.

Article 27 :

Each member organisation shall remain responsible for its internal management and shall retain full autonomy in its action in defence of specific interests of its members in the framework of the UNION's policies and Rules.
Any general problem affecting all or some of its member organisations shall fall within the sphere of competence of the UNION and must be submitted to the Federal Committee for purposes of coordination. The Federal Committee shall determine in the Federal Bureau appropriate general guidelines for such coordination.
Agreements may, however, be made between member organisations in fields which specifically concern them.

This part has been changed and we don't have the translation yet! Sorry!

Article 28 :

Les votes concernant la désignation de personnes ont lieu à bulletin secret à la demande d’un membre de l’organe intéressé.

Article 29 :

Toute modification aux présents statuts doit être approuvée par le Congrès à la majorité des deux tiers des mandats exprimés.

Article 30 :

L’UNION peut être dissoute sur proposition de la majorité des trois quarts des voix du Comité fédéral et par décision du Congrès de l’UNION prise à la majorité des trois quarts des mandats représentés.

La décision de dissolution du Congrès doit comporter la nomination d’un ou plusieurs liquidateurs, déterminer leurs pouvoirs et fixer la destination du patrimoine social existant.

Article 31 :

La responsabilité civile de l’UNION ou de ses organes est, dans tous les cas, limitée à l’actif appartenant en propre à l’UNION, à l’exclusion de ceux des organisations membres.

Article 32 :

Les présents statuts de l’UNION SYNDICALE FEDERALE des Services publics européens et internationaux ont été approuvés par le Congrès réuni à Nivelles les 24,25 et 26 septembre 2011. Ils entrent en vigueur ce jour et modifient les statuts précédents approuvés lors du Congrès de Crotone les 9 et 10 mai 2008.

Distribution of seats in the Federal Comitee