General note about these sections

The buttons on the left will give the text of the Union's Constitution, its Bye-Laws and Standing Orders for Meetings of the Union.

Each of these documents will inform you as an Office Bearer, or as a member, on how the Union should be run, the requiremnts of the Labour Relations Act No 66 (1995), how a Branch should be constituted and operate, how to conduct meetings and many other aspects of activity in a National organisation of the nature of the NTESU.

In the usual way the Union's Constitution governs the activity of the Union, the National Office Bearers and the day-to-day operation of the finances and decision-making.  Control structure for both the national and branch levels of the organisation are found in the text.

This Constitution was approved by the Department of Labour on the 15th January 1998.

Bye-Laws of the Union

Also provided here are the text of the Bye-Laws of the Union.  These were given final approval by the first Congress of the Union in March 1998.

The Bye-Laws govern the structure of Branches and the relationship between members and the Union as well as the discipline of members.  Mecanisms are required which protect both the Office Bearers and the members from power plays within the Union which could give rise to unfair or unruly dealings within Branches or amongst members themselves.

The Bye-Laws are intended to act as a structural and dispute resolving tool and not as a punitive device.

Standing Orders for the Conduct of Meetings

The Standing Orders for the Conduct of Meetings of the Union are, similarly, a tool for orderly conduct of meetings at national and local levels of the Union.  It is often useful to have such rules for the conduct of meetings especially where there may not be much experience at a Branch of how meeting should be conducted.