The Association shall be the successor and shall provide continuity to the juridical person of the Government of Puerto Rico Employees Association created by virtue of Act No. 133-1966, as amended. As such, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico Employee Association shall assume full responsibility for all the obligations incurred as a result of contracts and collective bargaining agreements executed by the juridical person of which it is a successor. Any obligation issued in favor of the Government of Puerto Rico Employee Association shall be deemed to be property of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico Employee Association. Likewise, it shall hold ownership rights of every fund, as well as real, personal or mixed, tangible or intangible property, of any kind whatsoever and regardless of their location, which are held, exploited, or controlled by the Government of Puerto Rico Employees Association. Any real property or right registered in favor of the Government of Puerto Rico Employees Association shall be conclusively deemed by the Registrars of the Property Registry of Puerto Rico to be property of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico Employee Association, without the need to submit any document whatsoever to the Property Registry of Puerto Rico to attest to such fact. Any reference to the Government of Puerto Rico Employees Association made in any law or resolution shall be deemed to be applicable to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico Employee Association, inasmuch as it is consistent with the provisions of this chapter.
Provided, That in order to ensure that the purposes of this Act are achieved, which is, that all directive bodies and officers of the Association honor the will of the members, as expressed in the delegates election process, the following transitory provisions are hereby established:
(a) The members of the Assembly of Delegates of 2011-2015 elected by their respective sectors shall continue to hold said office until the next elections are held in 2015. Likewise, the fourteen (14) members of the Board of Directors of the former Government of Puerto Rico Employees Association, which was eliminated by virtue of this chapter, who were elected by their respective sectors in the Assembly of Delegates of 2011-2015, shall become part of the Executive Committee created by this chapter. The remaining five (5) offices in said Committee shall remain vacant until the individuals who shall fill the same are elected by the sector of covered former employees, by the whole membership of the Association, and the municipalities, as provided below.
(b) The two (2) members of the Executive Committee that must be elected by the whole membership of the Assembly of Delegates, as provided in subsection (6) of § 9006 of this title, shall be elected in a special session as soon as the delegates of the municipalities and of the sector of covered former employees are sworn in and are part of the Assembly.
(c) Regarding the sector of covered former employees, it shall be addressed as provided in a final and binding judgment issued by the court for a case under its consideration.
(d) Within ten (10) days following the approval of this act, the President of the Assembly of Delegates shall call the candidates elected by the municipalities so that they select the delegates for said sector. Once the delegates are elected they shall select their representative to the Executive Committee.
(e) With the approval of this act, the nine (9) directors appointed by the Governor and the Presiding Officers of the Legislative Assembly by virtue of Act No. 144-2011 shall be rendered ineffective.
(f) Once the representatives of the municipalities, the sector of covered former employees, and the whole membership of the Association are elected to the Executive Committee, the President of the Assembly of Delegates shall call the members of said Committee within the next five (5) days to elect a President, a Vice President, and a Secretary.
(g) The Executive Director appointed by the Board of Directors eliminated by virtue of this chapter, shall cease its duties immediately upon the approval of this act. The leadership of the Assembly of Delegates shall be responsible for discharging the administrative duties of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico Employee Association until the Assembly elects an Acting Director. Within five (5) days after the effective date of this act, a special meeting shall be called to appoint by a majority vote the Acting Executive Director of the Association. Said appointment shall be effective until the Executive Committee submits for consideration, and the Assembly of Delegates ratifies, the appointment of the official Executive Director, in accordance with the provisions of § 9004(g) of this title. The Acting Executive Director, once the acting period elapses, shall file a report with the Assembly of Delegates on the operations and finances of the Association.
(h) On the effective date of this act, the extended appointments to the Assembly of Delegates are hereby rendered ineffective, by virtue of Act No. 188- 2012, for any person who was not elected by the members of their respective entities.
(i) The Assembly of Delegates shall have sixty (60) days as of the effective date of this act to amend and approve the regulations of the Association in order to adjust them to the provisions of this chapter, and approve the regulations for referrals to the Independent Arbitration Panel of the Department of Labor and Human Resources in the event of challenges to the election of delegates to the Assembly of Delegates.
(j) In the event that vacancies arise before April 2015 and the holding of elections is necessary, said election shall be held in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.
History —Apr. 25, 2013, No. 9, § 53.