Constitution

1. Name

The name of the organization shall be "International Association of Labour History Institutions", with the acronym IALHI.

2. Membership

IALHI is a network of institutions but accepts individual membership on an honorary basis.

Membership shall consist of:
(a) libraries and archives established by organizations of labour and social movements;
(b) documentation and research institutions specializing in the history and theory of labour and social movements.

Applications for membership shall be made to the President of the Association who submits them for endorsement to the Board. Applications are ratified (or not) by the succeeding annual General Assembly.

Each institution has one vote at the General Assembly. Individual membership shall not carry a vote at the General Assembly.

3. Objectives

The objectives of the Association shall be to connect member institutions and to facilitate the exchange of expertise in order to preserve, and promote the access to, and the use of, their respective collections.

4. General Assembly

There shall be an annual General Assembly of the Association at a date and place agreed upon at the previous General Assembly.

5. Decisions of the General Assembly

Decisions shall be made by a simple majority.

Election of President and Board and changes of the constitution shall require a simple majority. Voting for the election of the President shall be by a ballot, distributed and received by the most efficacious method(s) possible. The results are to be counted and announced at the General Assembly.

Proposals to change the constitution of the Association as well as the names of candidates proposed for election as members of the Board, and as President, have to be submitted to the President and circulated to the members by the President at the latest twelve clear weeks before the General Assembly.

6. Agenda of the General Assembly

The agenda of the General Assembly, to be drawn up by the President, shall include:
(a) reports on membership, finance, activities of the Association during the previous year;
(b) endorsements of membership applications received;
(c) any other matter concerning the Association which a member wants to report or comment on; these matters have to be notified to the President at the latest twelve clear weeks before the General Assembly;
(d) any further matter which the General Assembly itself decides to put on the agenda by a simple majority immediately after the formal opening of the General Assembly.

7. Presidency and Board

(a) The president presides over the Board and represents the organization externally. The President shall be elected and the results counted and confirmed at the General Assembly for a period of five years with the possibility of renewal for one more period. He/she ensures that the General Assembly minutes are recorded. These are sent to all members and ratified at the following General Assembly.
The President is responsible for the conservation of the archives of the Association. After the mandate period, he/she shall deposit the archival material of the Association from the period in the International Institute of Social History (IISH).
(b) A Board of five to ten members shall together with the President conduct the business of the Association.
This Board shall be elected at the General Assembly for a period of five years.
Decisions of the Board shall be made by a simple majority. Every member of the Board has a vote. The President decides if the vote is tied.

8. Finance

Membership fee shall be fixed by the General Assembly.

The administration of the finances for the Association can be entrusted to an institution chosen by the annual General Assembly.

The legal body of the Association is the IALHI Foundation, the object of which is to support and facilitate the realization of the objectives of the International Association of Labour History Institutions


Adopted, Barcelona, 15 September 1981 -- Revised, Zürich, 12 September 1988 -- Revised, Copenhagen, 24 September 1993 -- Revised, Oslo, 8 September 2000 -- Revised, Ghent, 8 September 2005 -- Revised, Helsinki, 8 September 2016.