Convention Information
1. No EOL (Employee Organization Leave) will be provided for delegates attending the AFT Conventions.

2. Travel and lodging will be arranged and provided by PEF.

3. A per-diem allowance for meals will be provided by PEF.

4. AFT Convention
Site: Seattle, Washington
Dates: July 7-11, 2010

PEF title groups eligible to attend the AFT convention: A, B, C, D, F, Q and S.

5. Dates To Remember
A. Nominating petitions will be available at all PEF offices for potential candidates to pick up during regular office hours starting 9 a.m. – February 22, 2010, and are due back by 5 p.m. – March 15, 2010.

B. Elections (if needed) will begin with ballots being mailed by March 29, 2010, with a return date of 5 p.m. April 19, 2010.

AFT PEF job-title groupings
A. Nurses and related nursing titles.

B. Engineers, right-of-way agents, designers, architects, drafting and related engineering technicians, pilots and conservation titles.

C. Teachers, librarians, trainers and related educational titles.

D. Doctors, dentists, psychiatrists, psychologists, dieticians, veterinarians, pharmacists, health-care, home-economist and related medical researchers.

F,Q,S. Chaplains, scientists, cultural affairs specialists, related artists and sciences professionals, management personnel and related administration specialists, planners and supervisors.

Official AFT Call and Rules AFT Convention
For the AFT convention, the following rules apply:
1. In order to be nominated, a dues-paying member must obtain the signatures of fifty (50) other members from within the designated title groupings for this convention (see listings).

2. A nominee may not sign his/her own petition.

3. A member may sign only one (1) nominating petition.

4. The accuracy of the information contained in the petition is the responsibility of the person filing the petition.

5. Nominating forms will be available at all Local PEF Offices on February 22, 2010, at 9:00 AM. Petitions can be mailed to you or picked up and will be posted by 12:00 noon on PEF's Web site. Faxing is not allowed. All petitions must be returned either by hand delivery or United States mail as follows:

Hand delivered – to the Local PEF Office or PEF Headquarters during regular business hours 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM Monday through Friday, petitions will be accepted. The deliverer will receive a receipt that is signed, date and time stamped.

— OR —

Mailed – Original petitions must be returned to PEF-Albany Headquarters c/o Divisions Department at PO Box 12414. Albany, NY 12212-2414 no later than 5:00 PM on March 15, 2010.

Received means "in hand" not mailed or postmarked.
 
6. Petitions may be returned by certified mail (return receipt requested), although this is not required. Certified mail sometimes takes longer than regular mail. Postal failures or inadequacies are a matter between the mailer and the post office, not the Elections Committee. Allow five (5) days or more for mailing to be safe. PEF sends each nominee a notice of receipt.

7. Per PEF Constitution and Executive Board policy, the five (5) statewide officers are automatic delegates to the AFT Conventions.

8. In addition to the statewide officers, a minimum of ten (10) elected delegates will comprise the PEF delegation to the convention for AFT.

9. (a) If ten (10) or fewer valid nominating petitions are received, those individuals who submitted a valid petition will be deemed duly elected for AFT.

10. The Secretary-Treasurer will provide the Delegate Election Committee with the estimated cost of sending one delegate to the forthcoming AFT Convention. In addition, the Secretary-Treasurer will provide the committee with a cost estimate for holding an election. The committee will determine the breakdown of the total number of delegates that could attend the convention, compared with the cost of holding an election. This will be determined by dividing the cost of holding an election by the cost of sending one delegate to the convention. If the total number of valid petitions received is equal to or fewer than the break-even number, all individuals who submitted valid petitions will be deemed duly elected delegates and no election will be held. The maximum number of delegates cannot exceed our authorized number of seats.

11. If the number of valid petitions received is greater than the break-even total (see #10), an election will be held (see Convention Information). Alternates will fill the delegate openings by rank order or the number of votes received in case of an election. Ties will be broken by lot.