1861 Hall v. UAW Local Union 892

Appellant claims that the Local President violated Article 38, §1 of the UAW Constitution when she failed to appoint a temporary President while she attended a UAW conference for three days.  Article 38, §1 lists the Executive Officers which each UAW local union is required to have.  This provision also states: “Should one or more of these officers be absent, the absent officer(s) shall be temporarily replaced by the next officer present, following the above hierarchy.”  The Constitution does not provide any definition of the term “absent.”  The PRB agrees with the International Union that the term “absent” should be construed in light of the circumstances of each local and the specific duties of each officer, including the availability of modern technology enabling the performance of certain functions remotely.  There is not a one-size-fits-all approach to determining whether a local officer is “absent.”  Here, the Local membership voted against the appeal of the Local President’s decision not to appoint a replacement while she was away.  The Board believes that the membership is in the best position to evaluate whether or not an officer is “absent” from the duties of his or her office.