Elections FAQ

A new and improved Chicago News Guild election season is upon us!

Local officers AND unit officers all are up for election this year, and that means there are a LOT of opportunities to do more to build our union and your shop! Under our newly revised bylaws, elections occur in even numbered years. Everybody, local officers, delegates, and unit officers will be serving two-year terms starting in 2026! There still is a need to fill 2025 officer positions for one year, one last time, which is allowed by E-Board election rules.

What jobs can I run for in our LOCAL, and what do they do?

There are four officer positions in our local (though sometimes we have co-officers, two folks sharing one role). Those jobs are:

President: Presides at meetings of the membership and Executive Board, appoints members of local committees, and supervises staff and other officers.

Vice President: Presides over meetings when the president cannot, and usually takes the lead on some aspects of our local’s operations to help out the president.

Treasurer: Financial steward of the Local; monitors CNG accounts and finances, provides monthly reports to Exec Board and membership on local finances; prepares and presents annual CNG budget; member of Finance Committee; signs checks for duly approved expenses of CNG; monitors with Secretary dues revenues and per-capita payments to TNG and CWA.

Secretary: Keeps the minutes of membership and Executive Board meetings and other local records, including records of member rosters and the addition of new members, and, with the Election Committee, supervises elections for unit and local office.

What jobs can I run for in my UNIT, and what do they do?

Our local bylaws only require units to have three positions, but many units elect other positions. The required positions are:

Unit Chair: Presides over unit meetings and represents the unit on the local Executive Board.

Delegate: Represents the unit on the local Executive Board.

Alternate Delegate: Represents the unit on the local Executive Board when the delegate cannot.

What’s the Executive Board? It sets policy for our local and advises our local officers on local matters like the budget, and approves members appointed to committees by our local president.

A lot of units have positions like unit vice-chair or secretary, which is a great way to get more people involved in the day-to-day stuff our units have to do. Our local bylaws say you can elect any position necessary for the effective function of the unit!

How do I even run for a LOCAL officer position?

Put up your hand! If you want to run for a local officer position, you can fill out this form or send an email to the Local Secretary at secretary@chicagonewsguild.org (include your name, unit, contact info and the position you want to run for).
The local secretary will contact all nominees to confirm they are willing to serve if elected.
The formal nominations will take place at the membership meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 8 at 7 p.m.
- You will need to have someone at the meeting second your nomination.
- If only one person is nominated for any position, that person takes the job.
- If more than one person runs for any position, we will mail ballots to every member in the local and count the votes!
- The election has to take place no less 20 days from Jan. 8.
- Our local’s elections committee will administer the election and explain the rules.

How do I run for a UNIT officer position?

If you want to run for unit office, watch your email for an announcement of the date for your unit’s nomination meeting– the meeting should take place in January.
You’ll need someone to second your nomination at the meeting.
If only one person is nominated for a position, they take office.
If more than one person is nominated, the local secretary will mail ballots to every member of your unit and we will count the votes!
- The mail-in ballot election has to take place no fewer than 20 days from the nominations meeting.
- Our local’s Election Committee will administer the election and explain the rules.

Do I have enough experience to run for office?

C’mon! How are you going to get experienced if you don’t step up and learn how to do new things? How do you think those crusty veteran officers got all their experience?

Also, our local will hold an officer summit for all unit officers, stewards and staff in February, where all our new teams can build their skills and plan for the next two years! It will be awesome!

You don’t have the contract memorized to be an officer! If you want to do something, or for your unit (or our local) to do something, that’s the best reason to run! And, chances are, those experienced officers would be thrilled if you wanted to step up and help!

I hear there are committees? What do they do? How do I get on one?

We have committees for lots of stuff! Below are the titles of all the committees mentioned in our local bylaws, and (if you were on the committee) you could add specific issues or projects you’d like our local to address to the duties of any committee, and we can create other committees as needed!

Finance Committee: drafts the annual budget for the local– want to know how money is spent, or want funds for a special project for our members? Run for delegate and get on the Finance Committee! Also approves large expenditures and consults on employee raises and benefits. Do we set aside budget money for T-shirts? Do we create a pool of money for unit solidarity functions? Hire a new staff person? Budget money for a new office? The Finance Committee members will field suggestions, look at the books and set priorities!
Personnel Committee: Recommends personnel policies for the local, leads the way when we are hiring staff, deals with staff complaints and discipline.
Bylaws, Legal Affairs and Professional Concerns: deals with changes and updates to our bylaws, which were just revised in 2024. That should mean that we don’t have a ton of work to do, but we may be making needed tweaks even after the 2024 overhaul. Also, we need to deal with professional concerns, like AI taking over jobs our members do, so there is room for the committee to be more active in new areas.
Elections and Special Events Committee: conducts elections– if there is a contested race in your unit or our local, the Elections Committee handles the rules and monitors the voting process. They also come up with the slate of delegates we send to our international convention (but there is no convention this year).
Office & Technology Committee: oversees our local’s office needs, which are kind of in flux lately. Our current offices are in a co-working space in the Loop, and we have discussed relocating to space inside another union hall or just to a more convenient location for members, as historically, our office space is seldom visited by members.
Human Rights, Health & Safety Committee: is generally supposed to monitor and research human rights abuses, but we have used this committee in the past to coordinate volunteer opportunities for our members and to aid local members in distress.
Organizing Committee: plans our outreach to potential new units and training our members to new shops organize in fields like newspapers, non-profits, union staffers, public sector and publishing.
Solidarity Committee: builds our union by developing programs to teach our members the skills they need to protect their rights in the workplace and getting them engaged in their units, our local and the labor movement. Think steward training workshops, our leadership summit and even social events.
Special and ad hoc committees: Got an issue you think our local needs to address, and want a team of members from across the local to help? We can create any committees we want! Make a suggestion!

I’m already an officer– what do I need to do to get ready for election?

Set a date for your nominating meeting and send an email announcement to all your members. Here is some sample language– but you should feel free to make the message not boring! We’re trying to get people fired up to run for office! Democracy is awesome! Here is sample language to use for your unit’s nomination notice.
Maybe this should be Step 1, but start updating your member rosters ASAP– in the event of a run-off, you will need to mail ballots to members’ homes, so you need mailing addresses and will need current phone and email contacts to keep them informed. You can send a request for information to your Human Resources contact at your shop and request the information, or have your stewards start reaching out to members.
You should also start reaching out to members in your unit whom you think have leadership potential and get them to run for office!

I’m a unit officer already, how do I get people to run for unit office?

You probably already know the people you wish would step up and help out as officers: the folks who have great ideas in unit meetings, the folks who people in your unit respect and listen to, the folks who have connections and trust with members all over the shop.

Talk to folks who seem interested and engaged one-on-one! Be positive!
Recruit folks who aren’t engaged, but who should be!
Hold a meeting to talk about nominations and the work that we need to do! Be positive!
Elections are a great way to get your unit members engaged around issues facing the unit and goals for the next year!

The Chicago News Guild