IN RE: SUE YOCUM,
Protest Decision 2000 EAD 18
Issued: September 6, 2000
OEA Case No. PR080902AT
See also Election Appeals Master decision 00 EAM 5 (KC)
Sue Yocum, a member of Local Union 79, filed a pre-election protest pursuant to Article XIII, Section 2(b) of the Rules for the 2000-2001 IBT International Union Delegate and Officer Election ("Rules")against Local 79 and its steward agent Jerry Stack. The protester alleges that on August 8, 2000, Stack interfered with her collection of accreditation petition signatures for the Tom Leedham slate in the employee parking lot at a United Parcel Service ("UPS") facility in Tampa, Florida, in violation of the Rules. Yocum's protest also alleged a Rules violation by UPS. That allegation was severed for decision and was resolved in our decision in 2000 EAD 16.
Election Administrator representative J. Griffin Morgan investigated the protest.
Findings of Facts
Ms. Yocum and fellow union member Colleen Whitney went to the parking lot of the UPS facility in Tampa, Florida on August 8, 2000 at approximately 5:30 p.m. to gather signature for the Tom Leedham slate petition. They collected approximately 70 signatures in 45 minutes. Local 79 represents the employees at that facility, and Jerry Stack is a union steward there.
At approximately 6:15 p.m. that day, Stack entered the parking lot at the end of his workday. Stack was asked to sign the Leedham slate petition but refused. He then stayed in the parking lot near Yocum and Whitney for approximately 45 minutes, discouraging his co-employees from signing the slate petition. During this 45-minute period, Yocum and Whitney obtained only 3 to 4 signatures.
According to Yocum, Stack said that she was promoting a thief, that Ron Carey had stolen millions and that Tom Leedham was the Vice President on the Carey staff and involved in the theft. Whitney claims that Stack scared her, that people would not come and listen to her and Yocum while he was present, and that Stack was yelling at people not to talk to them and not to sign their petition. She also claims that Stack would tell people "don't sign that, you are a Hoffa vote," or words to that effect.
Stack admits that he was asked to sign the slate petition and that he declined, saying no thank you, I would never support that guy. Stack states that when asked why, he stated that Ron Carey stole money from the union and almost bankrupted the union. He says he stayed to make sure his co-employees understood what they were being asked to sign. He said that he would speak to the members after Yocum and Whitney spoke to them. He accused Yocum of calling him stupid, liar, piece of shit, asshole, jerk and idiot.
After about 45 minutes, Yocum asked Whitney to call the police on Stack for harassing them. Stack then left and located Dan Simmons, UPS Safety Manager, and the highest-ranking management official at the facility at that time. Stack informed Simmons that Yocum and Whitney were campaigning in the parking lot and that they had called the police on him.
Simmons went to investigate. He approached Yocum in the parking lot and asked to speak with her. Yocum responded by saying she would speak with him after she talked to three UPS drivers who were entering the parking lot. Simmons then engaged Yocum in conversation. Stack had returned and was present. Yocum and Stack had a verbal altercation regarding whether Yocum had hit Stack with her clipboard. Yocum explained to Simmons that she had a right to be in the parking lot and gather signatures. Simmons reported that throughout his conversation with her, Stack and Yocum continued to verbally joust. Yocum complained to Simmons that Stack was harassing them and was interfering with her obtaining signatures on her petition. Stack responded that he had his rights also, and that he could talk to the drivers at the same time. Simmons asked the two of them to calm down and get along and to clear their differences off the property. He explained that he did not need disruption or violence on UPS property. Simmons then left to go into the facility to call the UPS Labor Relations Manager.
The Tampa police then arrived. The police talked to Yocum and she explained to them that she had a right to be on the property pursuant to the Rules. The police then talked to Simmons. Simmons identified himself to the police as probably the highest-ranking manager currently on the property. When asked by the police, Simmons stated that he did not want the two women arrested for trespassing. Simmons, however, told the police that he would like all parties, Yocum, Whitney and Stack, to leave because they were being disruptive and causing problems. Simmons then asked Jerry Stack to leave and the police asked Yocum and Whitney to leave.
Analysis and Conclusion
The facts here do not establish a violation of the Rules. First, there is no evidence that Stack insisted that Yocum and Whitney leave UPS property, as alleged in the protest. The Tampa police, who were called to the scene by the petition solicitors, asked them to leave the facility only after they continued to argue with Stack over the alleged impropriety of each other's behavior, and UPS manager Simmons properly concluded that such this disputation was disruptive. Moreover, Yocum and Whitney were not denied further access to the parking lot at the Tampa facility.
Nor does Stack's behavior otherwise violate the Rules. As we noted in Wasilewski, 2000 EAD 14, union stewards such as Stack have a right to openly support or oppose any candidate. Thus, while Stack's statements upset the protestors here, there is no evidence that Stack actually prevented Yocum and Whitney from requesting drivers to sign their petitions. Union steward Stack's behavior may have been loud, rude and obnoxious, and it may have succeeded in convincing union members not to sign the Leedham slate petitions, but his conduct in the UPS parking lot, during non-work hours, constitutes an exercise of free speech that cannot be censored.
Based upon the foregoing, the protest is DENIED.
Any interested party not satisfied with this determination may request a hearing before the Election Appeals Master within two (2) working days of receipt of this decision. The parties are reminded that, absent extraordinary circumstances, no party may rely upon evidence that was not presented to the Office of the Election Administrator in any such appeal. Requests for a hearing shall be made in writing, shall specify the basis for the appeal, and shall be served upon:
Kenneth Conboy
Election Appeals Master
Latham & Watkins
Suite 1000
885 Third Avenue
New York, New York 10022
Fax: 212-751-4864
Copies of the request for hearing must be served upon all other parties, as well as upon the Election Administrator for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, c/o International Brotherhood of Teamsters, 25 Louisiana Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20001, all within the time period prescribed above. A copy of the protest must accompany the request for hearing.
William A. Wertheimer, Jr.
William A. Wertheimer, Jr.
Election Administrator
cc: Kenneth Conboy
J Griffin Morgan
2000EAD18
DISTRIBUTION LIST VIA UPS NEXT DAY AIR:
Patrick Szymanski
IBT General Counsel
25 Louisiana Ave. NW
Washington DC 20001
Bradley T. Raymond
Finkel, Whitefield, Selik, Raymond,
Ferrara & Feldman
32300 Northwestern Highway
Suite 200
Farmington Hills, MI 48334
J. Douglas Korney
Korney & Heldt
30700 Telegraph Rd.
Suite 1551
Bingham Farms, MI 48025
Tom Leedham
18763 South Highway 211
Molalla OR 97038
Barbara Harvey
Penobscot Building
Suite 1800
645 Griswold
Detroit, MI 48226
Sue Yocum
17800 Chorvat Avenue
Brooksville, FL 34610
IBT Local 79
5818 E. MLK Blvd.
Tampa, FL 33619
Lindsay Marshall
UPS Legal Department
55 Glenlake Parkway NE
Atlanta, GA 30328