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DRAFT OF CONSTITUTION FOR THE PROPOSED ARTICLE I 1. The name of this organisation shall be the Geprodis Association 2. The Geprodis Association shall be in the form of a membership cooperation, not organised for profit. 3. The purpose of the Geprodis Association shall be: (a) To produce and distribute any and all goods or services which the Association may at any time be able to produce or distribute; not for profit, but for the accommodation of the membership, and, incidentally, of the general public; (b) To supply such further benefit services to the membership of the Association as the form and development of the Association may permit. ARTICLE II 1. Membership in the Association shall be divided into regular membership, auxiliary membership, and corporate membership. 2. The privilege of a vote in the Association belongs exclusively to regular and auxiliary members 3. Only employees of the Geprodis Association (including employees of corporate members) shall be regular members of the Association. 4. Applications for membership shall be an integral part of applications for employment for employment under the Geprodis Association; and no efforts at recruiting membership shall be said except by the recognised channels for filling vacancies in Geprodis employment. 5. Applications for employment shall be submitted to the Admissions department, the department working under the Membership Recorder. If the applicant receives employment under the Geprodis Association or a corporate number thereof, the thereby automatically becomes a regular member and shall be assigned to a membership group; if such employment is not received, the applicant, in the absence of charges pending against him, becomes a novice, and is assigned to a novitiate group, pending admission to employment and regular membership (which must take place at the same time). 6. Regular members ceasing to be employed in Geprodis employment, but not resigning from membership nor suspended nor expelled, shall become auxiliary members, and shall be restored to regular membership on resuming Geprodis employment. Auxiliary members shall have the same voting privileges as regular members, except in cross-groupings directly concerned with activities under Geprodis employment; but the membership of an auxiliary member shall be purchasable by the Association under conditions to be provided for by regulations of the Executive Committee and managing board. 7. Corporations, or other production or distribution organisations, whose employees are all members of the Geprodis Association, and in which the main control rests with the Geprodis Association, shall be rated as corporate members of the Geprodis Association, and shall be entitled to a delegate, with voice but no vote, to the unit of the Geprodis Association under whose jurisdiction they come. The employees of a corporate member, being regular members, shall individually be entitled to a vote in the Association. 8. No dues, contributions, assessments, or fees shall be required or expected from any member of the Geprodis Association; the employment requirement taking the place of such money contributions. ARTICLE III 1. All regular and auxiliary members of the Geprodis Association shall be organised into groups of not over 25 members, the membership of each group to be kept at an average of about 10 by suitable realignment of members in groups. They shall be grouped as far as possible according to variety of employment, location of employment, or other community of interest related as closely as may be to Geprodis employment. 2. The secretary of each group shall be elected by the group, and may be recalled by the group at any meeting. He shall act as chairman of the group meetings, and shall be the intermediary between the groups and the higher units of the Association through the Delegates' Committee. 3. Group secretaries shall be organised into Delegates' Committees, upon the same basis of grouping and with the same provisions in regard to membership as provided for groups in Section 1 of this Article. These committees shall be known as Delegates' Committees of the fifth rank. Secretaries of these committees shall be similarly organised, under similar arrangements as to grouping and membership, into Delegates' Committees of the fourth rank. 4. The Geprodis Association shall divide the United Sates, or whatever further limitation of territory it undertakes to cover, into Divisions, these Divisions into Regions, and these Regions into Districts. The secretaries of all Delegates' Committees of the fourth rank in one District shall be organised into a Delegates' Committee of the third rank (District Committee); secretaries of all District Committees in one Region shall be organised into a Delegates' Committee of the second rank (Regional Committee); and the secretaries of all Regional Committees in one Division shall be organised into a Delegates' Committee of the first rank (Division Committee). Groupings shall, in so far as possible, be aligned so that none of these Committees have over 25 voting members. 5. Each membership group and each Delegates' Committee shall be subject to instructions from higher Delegates' Committees in which they are represented, as well as from the Executive Committee and the Managing Board; in addition, each member of a Delegates' Committee shall be subject to instructions from the group or committee of which he is secretary. 6. Each membership group or delegates' committee shall have a certain degree of control over Geprodis activities not extending outside the membership of its own constituency, but always subject to supervision and instruction by higher units. For the conduct of such activities, each such group or committee shall have a Manager, appointed in such manner as the Executive Committee or Managing Board may direct, and, wherever feasible, elected by the group or committees. 7. No group or Delegates' Committee shall own any money or other property. Funds and property shall belong entirely to the Association or corporate members, and shall be under control of the Executive Committee and Managing Board. 8. Where a Delegates' Committee, under the preceding provisions of this Article, would consist of only one member, then the entire membership of the group or committee represented by such single delegate, shall act instead as the Delegates' Committee, and the two units shall be merged together. 9. No group or Delegates' Committee shall be authorised to admit members into the Geprodis Association; such admission being done exclusively by the Admissions Department under Article II, Section 5. ARTICLE IV 1. The officers of the Geprodis Association shall be the president, the Organiser, the Secretary, the Treasurer, and the Membership Recorder. In addition, a Resident Agent shall be appointed in accordance with State corporation laws, but such Agent shall not be entitled to any of the privileges of an officer under this Constitution or under the rules of the Association, and shall not be entitled to membership in the Association unless employed by the Association in some other capacity. 2. The five officers named above (excluding the Resident Agent) shall be elected by the Managing Board at each meeting, and shall hold office until next meeting is over. Any meeting failing to take action on the election of officers shall be considered to have re-elected these previously in office. 3. The president, Organiser, Secretary, Treasurer, and Membership Recorder, shall together form the Executive Committee of the Geprodis Association, which shall act on behalf of the Managing Board between Managing Board meetings subject to instructions by the Managing Board, and subject to final approval by subsequent Managing Board meetings. 4. The managing Board shall consist of all Executive Committee members and all Division Committee secretaries. It shall hold regular annual meetings, and special meetings may be called by vote of the Executive Committee or on a call signed by three of its members. 5. The managing Board shall hold the highest control over the Geprodis Association, and may instruct all bodies within the Association, and may make all standing rules it deems fit for the conduct of the Association's activities. The managing Board shall have the exclusive power to amend this constitution. ARTICLE V 1. It shall be the duty of the President to exercise general supervision over all activities of the Geprodis Association and its subdivisions and subsidiaries and committees, and to preside at meetings of the Executive Committee and Managing, Board, and to supervise the activity of other officers of the Geprodis Association. 2. It shall be the duty of the Organisation to supervise and regulate general conditions of employment under the Geprodis Association and its corporate members, and to act as President in the event of absence or disability of the President. 3. It shall be the duty of the Secretary to keep minutes of the meetings of the Executive Committee and Managing Board, and to take charge of all general records and correspondence of the Association not specifically delegated to some other person or body. 4. It shall be the duty of the Treasurer to take charge of all money of the Association, and to keep account of the paid money, and to organise, maintain, and supervise credit systems as the Association may require. 5. It shall be the duty of the Membership Recorder to take charge of the admission of members to the Association and of the organisation membership groups and Delegates' Committees, to assign members and applicants for membership to Geprodis employment, and to organise and supervise the Admissions Department for the purpose of carrying out these duties. ARTICLE VI 1. Where members of the Geprodis Association allied by common interests otherwise then according to the lines of main grouping as provided for in Article III, they may, at the discretion of higher units of such main grouping, be organised into cross-grouping groups and Delegates' Committees, for the purpose of supervising such common interests only, and subject to instructions from the units of the main grouping under which such members may come. Such cross-grouping units shall be entitled to send the Delegates' Committees of the main grouping a delegate with a voice but no vote. 2. For purposes similar to the cross-grouping plan outlined in the preceding section, but where it is desired to make non-members of the Association admissible, an organisation outside the Geprodis Association may be formed, but affiliated with the Association for purposes of mutual aid and operation; also, outside organisation already existing may similarly affiliate with Geprodis Association under special agreements for mutual aid and co-operation. The reception by Geprodis Association of delegates from such outside organisation, with a voice but no vote, may be provided for in such agreements of affiliation, or by standing rules adopted by the Executive Committee or the Managing Board. 3. Novices, on admission according to Article II, Section 5, shall be assigned by the Admissions Department to a novitiate group, presided over and supervised by a chairman appointed by the Admissions Department, and having a voice but no vote in a Delegates' Committee of the fifth rank. Such groups shall also be organised in an organisation called the Novitiate, parallel to and similar to that of the Geprodis Association membership itself, each Delegates' Committee of the Novitiate being similarly provided over by a chairman appointed by the Admissions Department who shall have a voice but no vote in a suitable Delegates' Committee of the Geprodis Association. Such appointed chairman delegates shall be regular members of the Geprodis Association, and shall have a full vote in the membership group to which they belong, but not in the novitiate group or committee which they are assigned to supervise. 4. The purpose of the Novitiate shall be to serve as a waiting list for Association membership and employment, to aid to be Association in benefit services and in any other possible way, and for mutual aid in securing employment. The entire Novitiate shall be under supervision and instruction of the Geprodis Association Delegates' Committee in which its chairman has a voice. 5. The Geprodis Association may, in the discretion of the Executive Committee or the Managing Board, extend to novices such benefit services or other membership privileges (except that of a vote in that Association) as may be deemed advisable. ARTICLE VII 1. Neither the Geprodis Association nor the Novitiate shall require as a qualification for admission or for remaining the adherence to any political, religious, or other controversial beliefs or opinions whatsoever; and no propaganda on such beliefs shall be issued by the Geprodis Association or the Novitiate or by any subsidiary units or subdivisions of either of them. 2. No membership privileges or share in the control of the Association shall be granted to anyone on account of the contribution or loan of capital, or for any other reason than admission to Geprodis employment. This shall not, however, be interpreted to prevent contributors or lenders of capital to the Geprodis Association from organising in an organisation affiliated with the Geprodis Association. 3. Initial financing, or additional emergency financing, for the Geprodis Association, shall not come from any dues or contributions levied by loans from sympathisers independently of the question of membership; and, as provided in the preceding Section, such loans shall carry no membership privileges. 4. The Geprodis Association is not organised for profit, but shall use its business activities to support the Association; and any surplus obtained from such source shall be used to expand the scope of the activities of the Association. 5. The Executive Committee and the Managing Board shall determine the standards by which compensation for Geprodis employment and prices for goods or services sold by the Association are to be determined; the basic principle of such standards being the maintenance of a reasonable standard of living among members, and the reduction of surplus and profit to a minimum. ARTICLE VIII 1. A system of Arbitration Tribunals shall be provided within the Geprodis Association for the purpose of settling disputes and complaints among members, units, and subdivisions of the Association. 2. Until otherwise provided by the Managing Board, each group and Delegates' Committee, and the Executive Committee or the Managing Board, shall act as Arbitration Tribunal for disputes within its constituency; an Arbitrator appointed by such body normally acting on behalf of the Tribunal. 3. The Admissions Department shall organise its own Arbitration Tribunals to decide disputes and complaints regarding admission to membership and employment and, in general, in regard to services rendered by the Admissions Department; also, to hear appeals from Arbitration Tribunals within the Novitiate. 4. Suspension and expulsion of Geprodis Association members, or other curtailment of membership privileges, shall only be through hearings and decisions of the Arbitrations Tribunal having jurisdiction of members involved. 5. Complaints may be made against non-members in advance of membership application, such non-members to have the opportunity to answer the complaint whenever they may apply membership, and no final decision being made till them. In case of such complaint being pending, the application shall not be admitted to the Novitiate, or to regular membership or Geprodis employment, until the complaint is settled by an Arbitration Tribunal of the Admissions Department. ARTICLE IX Procedure in all meetings of all groups, committees, and other bodies within the Geprodis Association or the Novitiate shall, until otherwise provided by the respective bodies and the rules of the Association, be governed by the Geprodis Code of Group Procedure. ARTICLE X The initial incorporators of the Geprodis Association shall consist of a committee of five to be appointed by the Geprodis Organising Committee, this committee of five to serve as both Executive Committee and Managing Board until members can be admitted and the Association organised according to this Constitution.
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