Constitution Referendum Approved

Posted: 
Monday, March 6, 2023
On Tuesday, January 31, the Levittown United Teachers (LUT) voted in decisive fashion in favor of a Referendum to amend our union Constitution. The Referendum included changes to Articles II, III and IV of our Constitution. These articles pertain to the overall purpose of the union, rules for membership and procedures for union officer elections.
 
 
The updated LUT Constitution can be viewed, downloaded, and printed from our LUT website: www.levittownteachers.org. Go to the Members section under Helpful Links. You can also access our updated Constitution by clicking here.
 
For a Referendum to pass in the LUT, 60% or more of the union membership must return valid ballots in the vote. In this Referendum, 65.4% of the union membership returned valid ballots. Each member was asked to vote yes or no to the changes to each of the three articles of the union Constitution. For the Referendum to be approved, at least 2/3 of the members casting valid ballots must vote yes. Of the members casting votes in this Referendum, 78.5% voted in favor of the changes to Article II, 73.9% voted in favor of the changes to Article III and 78.6% voted in favor of the changes to Article IV.
 
The Referendum proposed to the LUT membership was the result of over 18 months of work by our LUT Constitution Review Committee. The members of the committee are Stephen Austin, Bernadette Bissoondial, Donna Bonomo, LUT President, John Caulfield, Nicole Dawson, LUT Vice President - Elementary Schools, Donna DiPalo, LUT Treasurer, Nancy Livolsi, LUT Corresponding Secretary, Joe Romano and LUT Health and Safety Committee Chairperson, Joe Sparaco. Joe Romano serves as the Chairperson of the committee.
 
The committee has reviewed our entire LUT Constitution. The committee proposed this Referendum as an important first step in revising and amending the document. Many of the changes in this Referendum adjusted and updated language that had been written in the early 1970’s when the LUT Constitution was enacted. Some of the other changes focused on rules for union membership that have been brought on because of the 2018 Supreme Court ruling in the Janus v. AFSCME case. 
 
The Constitution Review Committee will be meeting soon to discuss additional changes to the LUT Constitution that might be needed, moving forward. These discussions will include feedback members of the committee have received from those who voted no on this latest Referendum. Some of these union members have suggested adjustments to the language that was approved in the hope of adding more clarity as well as ensuring completely the individual rights of all members of the union. The Referendum approved on January 31 is likely to be just the first step in making sure the entire LUT Constitution reflects the current goals of the union in 2023 and beyond.
 
The members of the committee welcome any input our members might have regarding our union Constitution. Please send any comments to the committee chairperson, Joe Romano at josephromano@mac.com.

 

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