IN RE: RICHARD BLACK,
Protest Decision 2001 EAD 338
Issued: May 1, 2001
OEA Case No. PR041112AT
Richard Black, secretary-treasurer of 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 the Rules were violated when stickers promoting the Hoffa Unity slate were affixed to the exterior of the Local 728 hall and fencing.
Election Administrator representative Maureen Geraghty investigated the protest.
Findings of Fact and Analysis
In the overnight period of April 9-10, 2001, stickers promoting the Hoffa Unity slate were affixed to a variety of objects on and near Local 728 property. The stickers, printed in international orange and black colors, read variously "HOFFA 2001" and "My President Is Jimmy Hoffa!" They were posted on the local's building and on yard signs and fence posts on the local's property. Further, the stickers were affixed to public utility posts and road signs adjacent to but off the property. The identity of the person(s) responsible for the postings was not determined.
The Rules prohibit posting of campaign stickers on union property. Article VII, Section 11(a) protects the right of members "to support or oppose any candidate" of their choice. It also protects the right of members not to be involved in union politics if that is their decision. Use of the local hall or other union-owned fixtures to display one side's campaign materials interferes with the Section 11(a) rights of all members of that local union who disagree or wish to remain uninvolved. Use of the hall for a campaign display also violates the provision of Article VII, Section 11(c) barring use of "Union ... facilities ... to assist in campaigning ..." Further, display of the stickers on local property violates Article XI, Section 1(a)(3), which prohibits a candidate from receiving campaign assistance from a union. Finally, affixing difficult-to-remove adhesive stickers to smooth surfaces such as metal fence posts constitutes vandalism. Willett, P863 (August 16, 1996).
The Rules neither protect nor prohibit posting campaign materials on public utility poles or public signs alongside public streets or sidewalks. Meadows, P877 (August 27,1996), citing Braga, P795 (June 19, 1996). As such, individuals do not have a right under the Rules to affix campaign stickers to such objects. Equally, individuals who remove or deface campaign stickers posted on such objects do not violate the Rules.
For these reasons, the display of Hoffa Unity slate campaign stickers on Local 728 property violated the Rules.
Remedy
When the Rules have been violated, the Election Administrator "may take whatever remedial action is appropriate." Article XIII, Section 4. In fashioning the appropriate remedy, the Election Administrator considers the nature and seriousness of the violation, as well as its potential for interfering with the election process.
The Election Administrator has now confronted the use of campaign stickers to deface union, member and employer property in several parts of the country. See, e.g., Speak, 2001 EAD 331 (April 30, 2001). Such activity interferes with important rights of members and invites undeserved public criticism of the electoral process.
In order to warn International officer campaigns that defacing property with campaign material will not be tolerated, and to request their cooperation in discouraging further incidents, the Election Administrator will serve a copy of this decision on all International officer slate representatives. The Election Administrator also will separately send the attached letter to all International officer candidates. Candidates are directed to make appropriate efforts to communicate the substance of this notice to members who campaign for them.
In addition, Local 728 is ordered to remove from its building and posts and other objects on its property all campaign stickers and to maintain its property free of such stickers for the duration of the International officer campaign. Further, it is ordered to post on the bulletin board in its hall the notice attached to this decision.
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 338
Official Notice of the IBT Election Administrator
To: All International Officer Candidates
The Rules for the 2000-2001 IBT International Union Delegate and Officer Election ("Rules") protect the appropriate distribution and posting of campaign stickers and other materials. Article VII, Section 11(a) protects the right of union members to distribute literature outside a meeting hall. Article VII, Section 11(d) protects pre-existing rights of members to use employer or union bulletin boards for campaigning and to distribute campaign literature on employer or union premises. Article VII, Section 11(e) authorizes members to distribute campaign literature at employee parking lots, within certain limitations.
Several incidents have come to my attention in which campaign stickers and other material have been pasted on local union, member and employer property. This is vandalism, not protected activity. Such behavior interferes with the rights of members to campaign or not as they choose, and it is potentially harassing and retaliatory. When such behavior takes place in the public eye, it invites criticism of the International electoral process.
The Election Administrator will take appropriate action against persons who engage in such activity if their identities are known. However, it is in the interests of all participants in the International electoral process to discourage such activity from occurring.
Accordingly, you are directed to take appropriate measures to discourage persons who campaign in your behalf from defacing property with campaign material. Your example is important in ensuring that the International election is conducted properly under the Rules.
William A. Wertheimer, Jr.
William A. Wertheimer, Jr.
Election Administrator
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
IBT Local 728
2540 Lakewood Avenue SW
Atlanta, GA 30315
IBT Local 728
Attn: Richard Black
2540 Lakewood Avenue SW
Atlanta, GA 30315
J. Griffin Morgan
Elliott, Pishko, Gelbin & Morgan
500 West Fourth Street
Winston-Salem, NC 27120
Maureen Geraghty
300 S. Main Street
Winston-Salem, NC 27101