Delegates will renew constitution, elect officers
WHEN DELEGATES TO the 33rd Consolidated Convention meet at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas July 18-23, they will shoulder the heavy responsibility of renewing the Boilermakers Constitution and electing International Officers. The convention is by far the largest and most important gathering of Boilermakers, drawing participants from across North America and Hawaii to set the course for our Brotherhood for the next five years.
Preparations for such a critical event begin long before the convention is called to order. The venue is selected years in advance. Meeting rooms and hotel accommodations are negotiated, speakers invited, entertainment arranged, and vendors registered.
The program itself must be planned and prepared, including room layouts, signage, video presentations and reports covering the operations of the Brotherhood since the last Consolidated Convention.
Local lodges do their part by nominating and electing delegates to represent the interests of members in their respective jurisdictions and offering resolutions to amend the Boilermakers Constitution. The International Executive Council also submits its resolutions, and resolutions are also permitted from the floor during the event.
Much of the work falls to committees which are organized to carry out the many distinct convention functions, from establishing the convention rules to ensuring delegates have the proper credentials to planning the distribution of materials each day to collecting and processing resolutions. Other committees focus on the various operational aspects of the Brotherhood, such as Construction Sector Operations, Industrial Sector Operations, Finance and Communications.
The Committee on the Constitution and Law (commonly called the “Law Committee”) has an especially big challenge. It will consider all appropriately filed resolutions that require amending the constitution, make recommendations as to whether changes should be made, and produce a detailed report for the delegates to consider. During the convention, the delegates will have the opportunity to examine every article of the constitution and to vote on whether or not properly proposed amendments are approved.
As the event nears, the Communications Department will activate a special website (https://convention.boilermakers.org/) that will provide schedules and speaker information along with daily summaries of convention business and activities. Members can also follow the convention on Twitter: Twitter.com/boilermakernews.
Full reports of the convention will be included in the July-September 2016 issue of the Boilermaker Reporter.
