Accomplishments in union goverNance

22-01: Lowered the quorum count for Membership Meetings from 5% of active members in good standing to a flat number of 35. This fixed a huge problem that we were having as a Union. In 2019 that quorum averaged 73. Out of the 12 months in 2019 we were able to start 5 meetings, but 4 of the 5 meetings lost quorum before we were able to finish. In the 28 months since 22-01 passed we have had 28 Membership Meetings and have only lost quorum once. Over that same period we have had an average attendance of 71 Members per meeting. Another positive by-product of being able to complete our meetings is that our average meeting time compared to 2019 has dropped from 1:53 to 1:21. We are now more efficient and more respectful of our member’s time.

23-01: Codified and made clear the process of how to change our Constitution and Bylaws. It also added notification requirements so that the Membership is made aware of when a resolution is to be voted on.

23-02: Since 22-01 lowered the quorum to 35, this resolution was written as a safeguard against rampant spending by a small group of members. Now any motion that would result in an expenditure greater than $10,000 must be noticed on the agenda no later than 7 days prior to the meeting.

24-02: Prior to this resolution the 1st Vice President was the Chair of the Internal Affairs Committee, and the 2nd Vice President was the Chair of the Rules and Resolutions Committee. In the past this arrangement had presented a perceived conflict of interest when the 1st President would Chair the Internal Affairs Committee during a trial against the President. To remedy that situation this resolution swapped the assignments of the two Vice Presidents.

Article III Section 4 of our Constitution and Bylaws gives the President the power to determine the time and place for our General Membership Meetings, with the approval of the Executive Board. Early in the year a member stood up at a meeting and asked why we have our meetings at noon on the third Thursday of the month. President Jaynes stated that we had tried different times through the years but did not know why we had the meeting on the third Thursday. After researching our dispatches over the last 12 months, President Jaynes found that Tuesday was our least busy day of the week. President Jaynes convinced the Executive Board that not only should we move the Membership Meetings to the third Tuesday, but we should also start them at 1pm giving anyone that starts a          4-hour mini at 8am ample time to make the meeting. The Committees also stepped up to sponsor lunch from noon to 1pm. Since the new day and time went into effect in June we have seen an 25% increase in attendance.

Article VIII Section 1(K) gives the President the power to create committees. There are 2 committees that President Jaynes is very proud of, and they are both Chaired by our Sergeant at Arms, Nancy Hibbert.

In Memoriam Committe: The committee is made up of Chairperson Nancy Hibbert, Maria Morris and President Jaynes. The purpose of this committee is to honor our fallen members. We do that in three ways. When we are notified of a member’s passing, we get as much information as possible to write up a brief obituary that is read by Chair Hibbert at the next General Membership Meeting. We also post their name, picture and pertinent information on our In Memoriam page on the Local 720 website. Then at the end of the year we honor everyone that we lost that year in our newsletter. 

Newsletter Committee: Committee members include Chairperson Nancy Hibbert, Tracy Lightel, David Weigant and President Jaynes. This committee was created in the 1st Quarter of 2023 and every issue keeps getting better. The first thing we did was to bring the newsletter in-house and do all the design and layout ourselves. This saves us money and also gives us more control so that we can hit our deadline of having it emailed to all our members on the first day of the quarter. In 2024 we held a contest to rename our newsletter. The membership spoke and the newsletter was renamed the “Backstage Buzz”.

Prior to 2020 when new members took their Obligation of Membership, they did it standing in the Hall facing the President at the dais with their backs to the membership. Instead of administering the Obligation from behind the dais, President Jaynes has moved onto the floor amongst the membership and has the new members facing the membership. He also has the membership stand and repeat their Obligation at the same time as the new members. This creates a more powerful and lasting memory for our new members. To mark the occasion for the new members President Jaynes takes their "class picture" and posts it on our Facebook page and in our quarterly newsletter for all to see.