IN RE: RICHARD BERG,
Protest Decision 2001 EAD 494
Issued: October 4, 2001
OEA Case No. PR100211MW
Richard Berg, a member of Local 743, 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 743. The protest alleges the local's literature table was improperly used only to support the Hoffa Unity slate.
Election Administrator representative Jeffrey Ellison investigated the protest.
Findings of Fact and Analysis
Berg visited the local's offices on October 1 and found no literature supporting the Tom Leedham Rank & File Power slate ("Leedham slate") on the literature table. He "told the local to remedy the situation, [but t]hey refused to answer my suggestion." He therefore protested the "one sided use of union resources to support one slate or campaign over another."
Pursuant to our advisory on literature tables[1], the local has established such a table in the lobby of its offices. Diane McDermott, switchboard operator and receptionist, maintains the table. She agrees that no Leedham slate literature was on the table on October 1. Her log showing receipt of literature table flyers documents that a Leedham slate flyer was last received before October 1 on September 4. She made the 50 copies required by the advisory and placed them on the literature table that date. In the ensuing four weeks, the supply was exhausted. Hoffa literature remained on the table on October 1 because it was last received September 18.
McDermott denies seeing, hearing of, or suspecting that any person removed more than one copy of Leedham slate material in an effort to deny interested persons access to it.
The Leedham slate faxed additional literature table material on October 2 and it is on the table now.
We find no violation of the Rules and DENY this 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 (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 494
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
Todd Thompson
209 Pennsylvania Ave., SE
Washington, DC 20003
Matt Ginsburg
30 Third Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11271
James L. Hicks, Jr., P.C.
Suite 1100
2777 N. Stemmons Freeway
Dallas, TX 75207
Richard Berg
1336 W. Argyle
Chicago, IL 60640
IBT Local 743
300 S. Ashland Avenue
Chicago, IL 60607
Jeffrey Ellison
65 Cadillac Square
Suite 3727
Detroit, MI 48226
[1] Advisory on the Use of Literature Tables or Bulletin Boards for the Distribution of Campaign Literature Inside Union Halls (March 29, 2001).