IN RE: TOM LEEDHAM RANK AND FILE POWER SLATE,
Protest Decision 2001 EAD 438
Issued: September 5, 2001
OEA Case No. PR082312NA
The Leedham Rank and File slate (the "Leedham slate") 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"). It alleges that United Parcel Service published an issue of LinkUPS, a company newsletter distributed at the UPS Louisville air hub, a major UPS facility, that publicizes and appears to endorse the candidacy of James P. Hoffa for International General President, without mentioning the Leedham candidacy.
Election Administrator representative Lois Tuttle investigated the protest.
LinkUPS is an official publication of UPS at its Louisville air hub, one of UPS' largest facilities. It is available throughout the facility for UPS workers to pick up. It contains news deemed by management to be of interest to UPS workers.
Volume 7, Number 12 of the publication, dated July 16, 2000, contained an article entitled "Hoffa nominated for another term as IBT president." The article states in full:
President James P. Hoffa was nominated for a second term in the International Brotherhood of Teamsters election to be held in October.
Hoffa recently said the start of contract negotiations with UPS is the union's top priority over the next year. These talks will not officially begin until 2002, but Hoffa said that the union will be better prepared.
UPS is the largest employer of Teamsters, with 200,000 members who work for the company. The Teamsters current five-year contract with UPS will expire July 31, 2002.
"We are certainly not dreading or fearing negotiations, or anything like that," UPS spokesman Norman Black said in a recent Press-Enterprise article. "The Teamsters under its current leadership has shown a willingness to work with us. They were key allies in our effort to get the flights to China."
UPS distributed this issue of the newsletter in the normal manner to its employee-audience.
Article XI, Section 1(b)(2) prohibits any employer contribution of anything of value to an International officer campaign. The Rules define campaign contributions to include "[a]n endorsement or counter-endorsement by an individual, group of individuals or entity…" Definitions, 5(f). Therefore, when an employer endorses the candidacy of a contender for International office, it makes a campaign contribution to that candidate and in doing so violates Article XI, Section 1(b)(2) of the Rules. See, e.g., Committee to Elect Ron Carey, P651 (August 14, 1991), aff'd, 91 EAM 183 (September 17, 1991).
UPS does not acknowledge that the challenged article in LinkUPS violates the Rules' prohibition against employer campaign contributions, and states that it does not endorse any candidate for IBT International office, including James P. Hoffa. However, in what it states is an effort to make this non-endorsement clear, and to expeditiously resolve this controversy, UPS has agreed to publish in its next issue of LinkUPS, which will go to press on September 10, 2001, the following, to be entitled "CORRECTION":
President James Hoffa and challenger Tom Leedham have been nominated to run for President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters in an election to be held in October. UPS is the largest employer of Teamsters, with 200,000 members who work for the company. The Teamsters current five-year contract with UPS will expire July 31, 2002. Hoffa and Leedham were nominated at the IBT Convention held in June.
NOTE: In a prior report on the convention, there was no mention of Mr. Leedham's nomination. That report should not be construed to suggest that UPS favors one candidate for the IBT presidency over another. UPS does not endorse either candidate.
Based on UPS' agreement to publish the foregoing, and to promptly circulate the issue of LinkUPS in the same manner, and in the same number as Volume 7, Number 12 of the publication was distributed, we deem this protest RESOLVED.
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 438
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
James L. Hicks, Jr., P.C.
Suite 1100
2777 N. Stemmons Freeway
Dallas, TX 75207
Matt Ginsburg
30 Third Ave.
Brooklyn, NY 11217
Lindsay Marshall
UPS, Inc. Legal Department
55 Glenlake Pkwy. NE
Atlanta, GA 30328
Gary Tocci
Kim Kaplan
Schnader, Harrison, Segal & Lewis
Suite 3600
1600 Market St.
Philadelphia, PA 19103