The IBEW's 39th International Convention will be Sept. 19-23, 2016, in St. Louis. Local unions will receive the initial convention notice in January. In the meantime, here is some important information regarding eligibility to participate in the Convention.

Qualification of Delegates

According to Article II, Section 10, of the IBEW Constitution, no one may be nominated to be a delegate or alternate unless he or she has been a member "in continuous good standing in his [local] at least 24 months immediately prior to nomination, provided his [local] has been in existence that long." Exceptions are provided for members whose previous local was merged into the current local union, as long as the member has 24 continuous months of service in good standing.

Locals must inform their membership of the election to choose delegates at least 15 days in advance. The election must be held by secret ballot of the membership and "delegates and alternates shall be decided for those receiving the most votes and ballots, and records of the election shall be retained for one year." Please review all of Article II, Section 10, for complete qualification requirements.

Deadlines for Dues, Election Results

According to Article II, Section 7, a local union is not entitled to voting representation unless its per capita to the International is paid in full six months prior to the convention. The deadline for this year's Convention is March 1.

According to Article II, Section 11, credential requests for delegates and alternates must be received by the International Secretary-Treasurer or be in the mail at least 60 days before the convention. Locals that fail to meet that requirement will have their delegates lose mileage or any other reimbursement payments. A final decision on seating will be made by the credentials committee.

Delegate Allotment

The number of delegates each local union will send to the convention is calculated by its number of members, based on the May 2016 Per Capita report. See Article II, Section 8, for guidelines. The International Office will send additional information to local unions in May.

Candidates for International Office

The offices of International President, International Secretary-Treasurer, International Vice Presidents, International Executive Council Chairman and International Executive Council members will be elected by the delegates at the convention. Candidates must have five years of continuous good standing in the IBEW immediately prior to nomination, according to Article III, Section 2. In addition, please refer to Article III, Section 12, regarding prohibitions on soliciting or accepting financial or other support from non-members of the IBEW.