Rules Working Group Who? Why? - National Executive work group established - Our rules are very long and complex. by the President They currently run to 68 pages - Representative Group made up of: - As they have been amended over the last 129 years, they have become very - Ian Leckie – Past President disjointed and difficult to follow - Frances Guy – Vice President - The language is very old fashioned - Manu Pohatu - The current rules are not written for the - Dave Kennedy way we operate in 2013 - Liam Rutherford - We want everyone to be able to navigate, - Rikki Sheterline apply and understand them - (Staff Facilitator) - Andrew Casidy - Some parts of the rules are stopping efficient operation - Recognising we are now a much more diverse organisation
What are We Proposing & Principles to Apply Firstly, we rewrite the rules into language which is simple, clear and easily applied. The principles adopted when doing this would be: Remove duplications Broaden where appropriate to avoid the need for future rule changes prompted by legislation Group rules together so that all provisions relevant to each other are in the same place Shorten the document where possible Aim for clarity and consistency Not remove any of the ‘intent’ from the current rules
A Sample of ‘Simple, Clear and Easily Applied’ Rules Revision - Objects Objects Purposes The main object of the Institute shall be to The overarching purpose of the Institute is to advance the cause of education generally while advocate for Quality Public Education while upholding and maintaining the just claims of its advancing the just claims of members members individually and collectively. individually and collectively. The Institute shall represent its members’ The Institute is a union and will represent Current Possible The main object of the Institute shall be to advance the cause of The overarching purpose of the Institute is to advocate for Quality Public interests in accordance with Section 18 of the members interests with regard to any applicable education generally while upholding and maintaining the just claims of its Education while advancing the just claims of members individually and members individually and collectively collectively The Institute shall promote its members’ collective employment interests The Institute will promote and advocate for members collective Employment Relations Act. legislation. employment interests The Institute shall represent its members’ interests in accordance with The Institute is a union and will represent members interests with regard to Section 18 of the Employment Relations Act any applicable legislation The Institute shall at all times respect and uphold the professional status The Institute will at all times respect and uphold the profession, its status and the individual rights of members and the individual rights of members The Institute shall promote and protect the The Institute will promote and seek to improve professional, economic, social and educational members’ interests both nationally and globally interests of its members. This maybe done by and in doing so, may work with other the institute alone or in co-operation with other organisations. organisations.
What are We Proposing (2)? Secondly, we address some key areas of the rules that members feel need to be changed. These could be a number of areas but some examples already known of include: a) The issue of representation at annual meeting b) Standing orders for annual meeting that are extremely complex and absorb unnecessary time at annual meeting c) The ability for some of the operations of elected structures to be done electronically rather than face-to-face d) Some rules which are too prescriptive and limiting – e.g. the rules around Honours which this meeting is considering
The Process A rules review will only work with strong membership voice and this starts here. We propose a parallel two stage process whereby firstly, a revised simple language version of the rules is suggested and widely consulted about through membership structures. Secondly, based on your feedback today and that of National Executive, a number of key areas of the rules be considered for change with proposals to be developed and once again, fully consulted on through membership structures. This consultation can take many various forms but could include, written proposals sent out to elected structures for feedback, National Executive and senior staff visits to meetings to lead discussion sessions, online forums for comment, providing a workshop resource to assist elected structures to work through the issues and so on. A reminder that no rule changes could happen without agreement at Annual Meeting . Members own and control both the process and decision making.
Indicative Timeline Commission a specialist to develop a first draft September 2013 to of a new simple language version of the rules February 2014 Areas for possible rule changes identified February 2014 – June Draft simple language rules version out to 2014 membership for consultation and input Notify proposed simple language rule change July 2014 proposals for Annual Meeting Annual meeting to consider and vote on September 2014 simple language version of the rules October 2014 – July Work and membership consultation on key 2015 areas of rule changes Any proposed rule changes notified for Annual July 2015 Meeting Annual Meeting to vote on any rule changes September 2015 proposed
Questions for Round Tables - Do you support revising the rules into ‘simple, clear and more easily applied language’? If so, why? If not, why not? - Are you comfortable with the principles suggested around this piece of work? - What are the five key areas of the rules that you think may be beneficial to change? Why? - What are the things that most worry you about the proposed rules review? - Do you have any suggestions regarding the ways in which the quality of consultation around this work could be maximised?
Current Rules Section Headings Page Number General 8 Membership & Subscriptions 10 Management of the Union 17 Election and Removal of National Officers 31 Meetings of the Institute 36 Administrative Requirements 41 Election of NZEI Te Riu Roa Nominee to the New Zealand Teachers Council and Method of Election 50 Other Matters 51
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