IN RE: WAYMON STROUD,
Protest Decision 2001 EAD 237
Issued: March 14, 2001
OEA Case No. PR021611AT
See also Election Appeals Master decision 01 EAM 52 (KC)
Waymon Stroud, business agent, vice president and candidate for delegate in Local 728, 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"). He alleges that Jimi Richards improperly posted campaign literature on a union bulletin board.
Election Administrator representative J. Griffin Morgan investigated the protest.
Findings of Fact and Analysis
The UPS Pleasantdale hub has a locked, glass-enclosed union bulletin board and several open, general purpose boards. When Richards, a steward there, observed that campaign literature posted on the general purpose boards was repeatedly torn down or defaced, he posted one campaign flier from each of the three competing slates on the union board. One day later, business agent Jimmy Walker instructed Robert Mercer, another steward, to remove Richards' postings from the union board; Mercer complied.
The protestor asserts that campaigning has not been permitted on union boards. Campaigning on general purpose boards has been allowed.
Article VII, Section 11(d) grants candidates and members the preexisting rights they enjoyed to campaign on union and employer bulletin boards. Article VII, Section 11(c) prohibits use of union facilities and equipment for campaigning "unless all candidates are provided equal access to such assistance."
We DENY the protest. The removal and defacement of campaign literature on the general purpose boards impermissibly interfered with members' preexisting rights to post materials there. Richards' postings of campaign fliers on the locked, glass-enclosed union board provided an immediate and practical remedy for that interference. Because he posted the material in a non-discriminatory manner, Article VII, Section 11(c), protected Richards' action.[1]
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, 727 15th Street NW, Tenth Floor, Washington, DC 20005 (facsimile: 202-454-1501), all within the time 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
2001 EAD 237
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 Road
Suite 1551
Bingham Farms, MI 48025
Barbara Harvey
Penobscot Building
Suite 1800
645 Griswold
Detroit, MI 48226
Betty Grdina
Yablonski, Both & Edelman
Suite 800
1140 Connecticut Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20036
Tom Leedham c/o Stefan Ostrach
110 Mayfair
Eugene, OR 97404
Waymon Stroud, Sr.
3766 Occidental Way
Decatur, GA 30034
Jimi Richards
2875 Acworth Due West
Kennesaw, GA 30144
IBT Local 728
Attn: Don Scott
2540 Lakewood Avenue SW
Atlanta, GA 30315
J. Griffin Morgan
Elliott, Pishko, Gelbin & Morgan
426 Old Salem Road
Winston-Salem, NC 27101
[1] Given our holding, we find it unnecessary to determine whether Article VII, Section 11(d), also protected Richards' conduct.