Governance

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Section 1

NAME: The name of the organization shall be Movement for Peoples’ Democracy (MPD)

Section 2

OFFICE: The principal office of the MPD is located at 1808 Hylan Boulevard, Suite 1009, Staten Island, New York 10305.

Section 3

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE:

The demands of the MPD would be the basis for an electoral platform as well as a mass movement seeking to put into state and local government, as well as Congress and ultimately the White House, elected officials accountable to our program—a people’s government elected by broad democratic strata led by the working class.

Section 4

PROGRAMME:

• We support the right of all workers to organize into trade unions.
• We support the struggles for a living wage, indexed to inflation.
  
• We support the struggle for a 30-hour work week with NO cut in pay.
  
• We fight for an end to corporate welfare and the demand to tax the rich and corporations.
  
• We support amnesty for all undocumented workers, including of access to education and health services. End the militarization of the U.S.-Mexican border.
  
• We support and fight for a national health service that covers all people in the United States and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. We support Medicare for all from cradle to grave.
  
• We call for an end to foreclosures, and the cancellation of debts, both mortgages and credit cards.
  
• We oppose private education and the corporate running of schools. Education should be in the hands of the people, not Wall Street and Big Business. We demand an end to all student debt. Cancel all private and public student loan debts. Make all college and technical education tuition free.
  
• We demand an end to police brutality and racial and religious profiling. Abolish the racist stop-and-frisk practices in our communities.
  
• We demand the restoration of political and economic rights for ex-prisoners.
  
• We support the concept of affirmative action.
  
• We stand firmly for the rights of women, and call for an end to the intimidation of women and abortion clinics by so-called “pro-life” groups.
  
• We demand a cap on interest rates at 5% on all non-mortgage interest.
  
• We demand an immediate and unconditional end to the occupation wars against Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Yemen, and Somalia, and we call for the closure of all foreign military bases operated by the United States.
  
• We demand and support the struggles to end the inhuman blockade of Cuba and for the restoration of fair trade and unrestricted right to travel by U.S. Citizens.
  
• We call for an end to all military and economic aid to Israel and for the recognition of Palestine, inclusive of the Right of Return by Palestinians to their stolen lands and homes.
  
• We support the normalization of relations with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Iran, Cuba, and Venezuela, for the sake of world peace and prosperity.
  
• We support independence for Puerto Rico.
  
• We oppose NAFTA and CAFTA and we demand that the USA pull out of these “free trade” agreements. We demand that the U.S. congress reject the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) and the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).  
  
• We demand an end to the export of U.S. jobs overseas and demand full employment for the American people.
  
• We demand an end to U.S. involvement in the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, and the World Trade Organization (WTO).
  
• We call for the creation of a national high-speed rail network, light rails, and subways funded by the Federal government throughout the country.
  
• We demand the nationalization of the oil companies and major utilities.
  
• We call for the abolition of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). We demand the dismantling of the war industry, with guaranteed re-employment of laid-off workers.
  
• We demand the nationalization of the banks.
  
• We demand an end to the “debt ceiling” committee in congress that will only hurt working people.
  
• We support the struggle of public sector workers in their fight for no takebacks and for collective bargaining rights, and we call for a massive public works jobs program to repair our infrastructure and a massive Federal housing construction program. No American should be without a roof over their head.
  
• We support the movement to reverse global warming and to clean up our environment.
  

Section 5

ORGANIZATION AND STRUCTURE

Titled officers

Coordinator
Organizer
Treasurer
Communications Director
Outreach Coordinator

Board of Directors

The Board of Directors shall consist of the five (5) titled officers and four (4) at-large representatives.

The duties of the Coordinator are to maintain the overall structure of the organization, to be sure that all aspects of the MPD are functioning properly; to plan the activities of the organization, to call all meetings of the Board of Directors and interested individuals, to facilitate the national phone conferences, to communicate on a regular basis with all of the leaders of the MPD, and to oversee all daily functions such as phone calls, mail, electronic communications, and to oversee relations with all affiliated organizations.

The duties of the Organizer are to seek out new opportunities to recruit new organizations and individuals to join MPD. This includes, correspondence, phone calls, follow up to inquiries from interested persons, maintaining of a membership roster and a list of affiliated groups.

The duties of the Treasurer are to maintain the MPD bank account, and to account for all monies received, and to keep a record of all expenditures. It shall be the duty of the Treasurer to make quarterly written financial reports to the Board of Directors.

It shall be the duty of the Communications Director to handle all press relations, to respond to all external inquiries, and to issue public statements on behalf of MPD.

The duties of the Outreach Coordinator shall be similar in scope to those of the Organizer; to follow up on new member inquiries, to make public appearances on behalf of MPD at community events and to participate in all activities organized by MPD affiliate organizations.

Section 6A

MEETINGS OF THE EXECUTIVE BOARD: All meetings of the Executive Board will be conducted using the text Roberts Rules of Order, the standard text for conduct of organizational meetings.

Section 7

REMOVAL FOR CAUSE: Each member of the Board of Directors can be removed for cause, up to and including, excessive absence without explanation, refusal to carry out organizational responsibilities, theft of MPD resources, money, or property, ideological differences with policies agreed upon by the majority of the organization, double dealing, working as an agent of the police, or strikebreaking. It is understood that officers of MPD are held to a higher standard of discipline than the membership because of the trust that has been vested in them by MPD.

Section 8

GROUP AFFILIATION AND INDIVIDUAL MEMBERSHIP:

Groups involved in the united front effort to restore democracy in the United States may affiliate with MPD to further their particular group objectives. Membership dues are calculated at the rate of one dollar per member, per year. Following this hypothetical example, if an organization has 100 members, their dues to MPD would be $100 for the year.

Individuals may join MPD. Dues for individuals are set at $10 dollars a year for full membership, and $5 per year for disabled, unemployed, and students (28-under).

Section 9

TERMS OF OFFICE: All terms of office will be for a term of two (2) years. Election of titled officers will take place in even numbered years. Election of at-large board members will take place in odd numbered years.

Section 10

ELECTIONS: All elections will be conducted by mail ballot. Each affiliated organization will be required to provide the Coordinator of MPD with the names and mailing addresses of their members so that ballots can be sent to each member. Each ballot will be prepared by the MPD Board of Directors and mailed with a request that the ballot be returned within fifteen (15) days from the date of mailing. Once all of the ballots have been returned via postal mail to the business office of MPD, the count will be conducted by the Board of Directors and the results announced via e-mail and on the MPD website.

Again, using the hypothetical example in Section 8, if an organization has 100 members, 100 ballots will be mailed to that organization’s membership. Those ballots must be returned to the business office of MPD by postal mail within 15 days.

Section 11

MPD MEMBERSHIP VOTES ON PROCEDURAL AND POLICY QUESTIONS:

The same voting procedure will be used as outlined in Section 10 when deciding procedural and policy questions within MPD. It is understood that the Executive Board cannot take unilateral positions on policy without a membership vote. Votes will be decided by a simple majority of the membership, which is 50% plus one vote.

Section 12

TYPES OF MPD AFFILIATED ORGANIZATIONS:

MPD organizational membership is open to all united front organizations, seeking to build a return to democracy in our country. This list includes, but is not limited to, labor organizations such as Labor United in Class Struggle, peace organizations such as United for Peace and Justice, anti-repression and anti-racist organizations such as Black Lives Matter, Anti-racist Action, economic fairness organizations such as Citizens for Tax Justice, constitutional rights organizations such as Public Citizen and Global Trade Watch, environmental organizations such as Friends of the Earth and the Sierra Club.

By-laws

ORDER OF SUCCESSION:

In case of the Removal of the Coordinator from office, or of his or her Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of said Office, the Same shall devolve on the Treasurer, declaring what Officer shall then act as Coordinator, and such Officer shall act accordingly, until the Disability be removed, or a Coordinator shall be elected. In the case of the removal of the Treasurer from office, or of his or her death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of said office, the same shall devolve on the Organizer, declaring what officer shall then act as Coordinator-Treasurer, and such officer shall act accordingly, until the disability be removed, or a Coordinator and Treasurer shall be elected.

RATIFICATION AND AMENDMENTS:

It shall be required that two-thirds (2/3) or 66% of the membership of MPA shall be required to ratify or to amend this constitution and by-laws.