[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 29, Volume 2]
[Revised as of July 1, 2005]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 29CFR452.37]

[Page 179-180]
 
                             TITLE 29--LABOR
 
  CHAPTER IV--OFFICE OF LABOR-MANAGEMENT STANDARDS, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
 
PART 452_GENERAL STATEMENT CONCERNING THE ELECTION PROVISIONS OF THE 
LABOR-MANAGEMENT REPORTING AND DISCLOSURE ACT OF 1959--Table of Contents
 
        Subpart E_Candidacy for Office; Reasonable Qualifications
 
Sec. 452.37  Types of qualifications.

    Ordinarily the following types of requirements may be considered 
reasonable, depending on the circumstances in which they are applied and 
the effect of their application:
    (a) Period of prior membership. It would ordinarily be reasonable 
for a local union to require a candidate to have been a member of the 
organization for a reasonable period of time, not exceeding two years, 
before the election. However, if a member is involuntarily compelled to 
transfer from

[[Page 180]]

one local to another, such a requirement would not be reasonable if he 
is not given credit for his prior period of membership.
    (b) Continuity of good standing. A requirement of continuous good 
standing based on punctual payment of dues will be considered a 
reasonable qualification only if (1) it provides a reasonable grace 
period during which members may make up missed payments without loss of 
eligibility for office, \24\ and (2) the period of time involved is 
reasonable. What are reasonable periods of time for these purposes will 
depend upon the circumstances. Section 401(e) of the Act provides that a 
member whose dues have been withheld by the employer for payment to the 
labor organization pursuant to his voluntary authorization provided for 
in a collective bargaining agreement may not be declared ineligible to 
vote or be a candidate for office by reason of alleged delay or default 
in the payment of dues. If during the period allowed for payment of dues 
in order to remain in good standing, a member on a dues checkoff system 
has no earnings from which dues can be withheld, section 401(e) does not 
relieve the member of the responsibility of paying his dues in order to 
remain in good standing.
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    \24\ In Goldberg v. Amarillo General Drivers, Teamsters Local 577, 
214 F. Supp. 74 (N.D. Tex. 1963), the disqualification of five nominees 
for union office for failure to satisfy a constitutional provision 
requiring candidates for office to have maintained continuous good 
standing for two years by paying their dues on or before the first 
business day of the current month, in advance, was held to be 
unreasonable. See also Wirtz v. Local Unions No. 9, 9-A and 9-B, 
International Union of Operating Engineers, 254 F. Supp. 980 (D. Colo. 
1965), aff'd. 366 F. 2d 911 (CA 10 1966), vacated as moot 387 U.S. 96 
(1967).
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