IN RE: GEORGE TURNER,
Protest Decision 2001 EAD 275
Issued: March 28, 2001
OEA Case No. PR030311WE
George Turner, Paul Ochoa, Larry Berru, Luis Anaya, and Percy Martinez, members of Local 396 and delegate candidates on the Restore the Power through Unity slate (the "RP slate"), filed a pre-election protest filed pursuant to Article XIII, Section 2(b) of the Rules for the 2000-2001 IBT International Union Delegate and Officer Election ("Rules").[1] They allege that several Danny Bruno 396 Unity slate (the "DB slate") members and supporters campaigned during working hours and used union vehicles to do so, in violation of Article VII, Section 11 of the Rules. (Bruno is Local 396 secretary-treasurer.) They also allege that on four occasions the DB slate and Local 396's executive board and election committee failed to provide the RP slate with complete and current worksite lists in violation of Article VII, Section 1(b) of the Rules.
Election Administrator representative Michael Four investigated the protest.
The first protest allegation was filed fifteen working days after the lead protestor allegedly witnessed the challenged conduct. In the absence of any justification for the untimely filing, and in the absence of any countervailing prudential considerations, we DENY the allegation as untimely filed. See Article XIII, Section 2(b). We address the second protest allegation in what follows.
Findings of Fact
Between November 30, 2000 and January 17, 2001, Turner, Anaya, and International officer candidate Tom Leedham filed four separate requests for work site lists with Local 396.[2] Bruno had designated Dominique Coe, an election committee member and the local's office manager, to handle these requests. Coe responded to each request in the same manner: by supplying a copy of the work site list prepared for the local's election plan in September 2000. In response to Turner's and Leedham's January 17 requests, she provided and sent copies that same day.
As of November 30 and December 27, the list contained all sites where Local 396 members then worked.[3] As of January 17, the list did not identify the worksite at VIP Airborne Express ("VIP"), where a new collective bargaining agreement ("CBA") was signed on January 11. Pursuant to the CBA, fifteen VIP workers ultimately applied for membership in the local, but not until January 30, 2001. Another now-current employer of Local 396 members -- Waste Management Irvine (Dewey's) -- was also omitted from the worksite list provided in response to the January 17 requests. The first applications for membership at that facility were signed before January 17, but the applicants did not become IBT members under Article XIV, Section 1(b) of the IBT Constitution until at least February 2001, when Waste Management membership applicants first paid dues and initiation fees.[4] Thus, on January 17, 2001, there were no IBT members employed at either of these two locations.
Candidates are entitled to updated worksite lists on request. Adamo, P638 (March 27, 1996). Here, however, no updated list was sought after the submission of the January 17 requests. And while local unions are obligated to provide updated lists on their own initiative where the nature of the industry in which members work is such that worksites often change, see, Bianchi, P307 (February 12, 1996), that is not the case here.[5] Local 396 did not violate the worksite list provision of the Rules by its failure to include the two employers in question on the list provided candidates in response to their January 17 request.
For the foregoing reasons, we DENY the protest.
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 (fax: 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 275
DISTRIBUTION LIST VIA UPS NEXT DAY AIR:
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Patrick J. Szymanski Bradley T. Raymond J. Douglas Korney Barbara Harvey |
Betty Grdina Tom Leedham IBT Local 396 Christine Mrak George Turner |
[1] We mistakenly docketed this protest as a post-election protest. The case number captioned above properly reflects its status.
[2] Anaya and Turner requested work site lists on November 30 and December 27, 2000. Leedham and Turner made additional requests on January 17, 2001.
[3] The protest alleges that the list improperly failed to identify South Coast Refuse as a Local 396 worksite. That is incorrect, as South Coast was included.
[4] Article XIV, Section 1(b) of the IBT Constitution provides that "[m]embership for new members shall date from the first month for which dues are paid once full payment of the initiation fee is completed."
[5] Bruno argues that the worksite list allegation is also untimely because two of the members of the RP slate helped organize VIP and Waste Management Irvine before the allegedly untimely worksite lists were provided, and thus should be charged with knowledge of their alleged deficiency. We need not resolve that claim here.