WIFOL Members reminded of special General Meeting this Thursday

GREAT BAY--Members of the Workers Institute for Organized Labour Association (WIFOL) are being reminded that the Special General Meeting of Members will take place this Thursday, September 17, at 10:00am at the WIFOL Building, Walter J.A. Nisbeth Road 89 in Philipsburg.

The meeting has been convened by WIFOL members following several months of efforts to have the association’s leadership call a meeting to address its governance, finances and leadership. On May 7, at least ten ordinary members formally requested that the WIFOL Board convene a Special General Meeting within two weeks. The meeting was not called within that period.

Members maintain that Article 10(6) of WIFOL’s Articles of Incorporation gives them the authority to convene the meeting themselves when the Board fails to honour such a request within the prescribed two-week period. The same provision formed the basis of the membership’s decision to move ahead independently with Thursday’s meeting.

WIFOL Board President Theophilus Emanuel Thompson was formally notified of the meeting in an August 21 letter, which states that the gathering was convened “pursuant to Article 10, paragraph 6” following the Board’s failure to honour the May 7 request. The letter confirms the date, time and venue of Thursday’s meeting.

The letter also calls on Thompson to present a report on the affairs and management of WIFOL, financial statements, the Audit Committee’s report, an accounting concerning vacancies on the Board and the appointment of a new Audit Committee. Members state that these are matters required to come before the membership under WIFOL’s Articles of Incorporation.

Addressing Thompson directly, the letter states: “Your attendance at this Meeting is therefore not discretionary.” Members contend that the required general meetings and accompanying financial accountability have not taken place for more than a decade.

Thompson has disputed allegations concerning his leadership and told The Daily Herald last month that WIFOL was undergoing restructuring and that a Congress was being planned for October. He said that Congress would determine the organisation’s executive leadership.

The members organizing Thursday’s meeting maintain, however, that the planned October Congress does not require them to postpone the September 17 meeting. Their position is that the right to convene the meeting arose once the Board failed to act on the May 7 request within the period provided under Article 10(6).

Thursday’s gathering is expected to give WIFOL members an opportunity to address the association’s governance, financial accountability and future leadership directly. Members are therefore being encouraged to attend and participate in the meeting beginning at 10:00am at the WIFOL Building in Philipsburg.

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