Local 80 Zoom Hybrid Protocols

Below is an outline of the protocols Local 80 has developed and gotten approval from President Loeb for to ensure equal rights for all attending members in person and online.

  • All hybrid meetings must be conducted in a manner that provides equity of participation and member rights for all in-person and digitally attending members, including compliance with the IA constitution, Local 80 constitution and the most current version of Robert’s Rules of Order.
  • Meeting attendance for general membership meetings will be vetted through pre-registration and manual approval conducted by the Sergeant at Arms or their designee, to ensure that only members in good standing are able to attend. The Sergeant at Arms will be notified by the Local to manually approve registration of any Local-approved guests per Standing Rule XI.
  • The in-person meeting setup will include camera coverage of the dais, in addition to complete coverage of the attending members. If there is a ballot box, such as in the case of a hybrid election, there will be an additional camera dedicated to the ballot box to demonstrate no tampering of in-person votes for the remote attendees.
  • If action must be taken via a secret ballot vote, such votes cannot be conducted using the remote meetings platform. Thus, elections for officers, matters regarding dues and assessments, or anything financial that will constitute an increase in a member’s financial obligations must be conducted by secret ballot in person, by mail or some electronic means that satisfies the U.S. Department of Labor requirements for secret ballot votes using remote electronic voting systems. Whatever means is utilized it must ensure that the sanctity of the secret ballot is protected.
  • The chair will call on attendees in the order they raise their hand (online) or approach the microphone to be recognized (in person), alternating between online and in person attendees.
  • Members may not record or screenshot meetings in any way.
  • Any documents discussed during the meeting should be screen shared and/or distributed to remote attendees ahead of time via email or the Local 80 website behind the member-only login portal.
  •  Chat will be disabled for attendees. Except on an as-needed basis for limited purposes such as ensuring that motions have been captured properly and other such similar reasons. The chat is to be disabled as soon as the stated purpose has been met.
  • Members must digitally raise their hand to be recognized to speak. Members present in the room must line up at the microphone to be recognized.
  • Members will functionally be able to unmute at will. Decorum is expected, and breach of decorum or refusal to comply with policies will result in being removed from the meeting.
  • Member cameras must be on at all times, or members will be removed from the meeting. They may rejoin, only if their camera remains on. Walking off camera briefly for bathroom breaks, etc. is allowed within reason, at the discretion of the Sergeant at Arms.
  • Members may not attend meetings while they are on the clock. All union business must be accomplished while outside employer control.
  • Attendees of all remote platform meetings must completely isolate themselves from any non-members during the entire meeting. If complete auditory/visual isolation is not possible, (such as being alone in a hotel room) members must use headphones at all times to ensure the meeting is not overheard by non-members. Attendees will be removed from the meeting for non-compliance.
  • Such instances that require secret ballot votes will be conducted via remote electronic voting systems, or through mailed or electronically distributed ballots.
  • Votes that are not required to be administered by secret ballot will be done via an aggregation of in-person votes (as traditionally counted per RRO), and an online poll or tally of digital attendee votes. Polls conducted online will generally be done in a manner that anonymizes votes.
  • A registration link will be emailed from a Local 80 email address. It is important that when members register, they register as their name on our member rolls instead of a nickname, so the Local is able to verify and admit them to the meeting. If you have registered with a nickname already you can re-register with your name from the member rolls to fix this.
  • Once your registration is manually approved by our Sergeant At Arms, you will receive an email with your personalized attendance link from [email protected] Remember to check your spam folder! The link from this address is what you use to JOIN the meeting. 
  • Dial-in users will not be allowed
  • Members must use the Zoom application. Attendance will not be possible from the browser interface
  • It is crucial for users to update their Zoom application PRIOR TO the meeting, to make sure there are not IT compatibility problems that would prohibit voting.
  • Members will be able to unmute at will. Decorum is expected, and will be enforced. Unmuting is only allowed once recognized by the chair, or for Robert’s Rules enforcement such as a “point of order”.
  • Chat will be disabled, except to capture wording of motions from members.
  • Cameras must be on at all times. Turning off your camera or walking away from your computer for more than a brief period will result in you being kicked from the meeting
  • If a member has the chat pane open on their device during voting, the poll WILL NOT appear on their screen. 
  • The poll, if it does not automatically appear, will be available under an ellipsis in the zoom interface or “more” menu, where a “polls” option will be available to choose and display the poll.

Please view this helpful instructional video in how to participate in the hybrid experience!