IN RE: RICHARD DEVRIES,
Protest Decision 2001 EAD 535
Issued: October 31, 2001
OEA Case No. PR102913MW
Richard deVries, a member of Local 705, 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 Local 710 intentionally failed to provide to the IBT and the Election Administrator the names and addresses of approximately 3000 IBT members who became such effective with the merger of the former Chicago Truck Drivers Union ("CTDU") with IBT Local 710 through a merger agreement approved by the IBT's General Executive Board in January 2001. He alleges that, as a result, these IBT members did not receive ballots through the Election Administrator's October 9, 2001 ballot mailing.
Election Administrator representative Jason Weidenfeld investigated the protest.
Findings of Fact and Analysis
The above-referenced merger agreement was approved by the GEB on January 18, 2001. It provides that CTDU is merged into Local 710 effective with the certification by CTDU's Board of Governors that the merger has been approved by a secret ballot election majority and upon the approval of the GEB. That certification was issued on February 1, 2001. According to the merger agreement, on that effective date "all eligible CTDU members [became] members of Local 710" and the IBT "without initiation fee or further requirement." The IBT General Counsel has provided the Election Administrator with a legal opinion that the merger became effective February 1, 2001 and that on that date the CTDU members became members of the IBT and Local 710. Subsequent to the merger, the former CTDU members began paying dues to Local 710 at the rates set by the merger agreement.
The protestor alleges that "Local 710 has deliberately excluded the former CTDU members in their entirety from receiving ballots in the International election" for political reasons. He further alleges that Local 710 did not post election notices at CTDU work sites.
Local 710 does not participate in the IBT's Titan system.
Consistent with the protestor's allegations, our investigation has confirmed that Local 710 has not certified the posting of election notices at various workplaces of the former CTDU members. Further, we have interviewed a number of the employee witnesses named in the protest, and they confirm that they have not received ballots through the October 9 mailing, and that they are unaware of their right to contact the Election Administrator to request that they be sent a ballot.
We have had insufficient time to obtain evidence allowing us to pass on the protestor's claim of political motivation. We can conclude, however, that most, if not all, former CTDU members were not included in the data supplied by Local 710 to the IBT and the Election Administrator for use in mailing ballots on October 9. This failure occurred despite the fact that the former CTDU members have been members of the IBT and Local 710 since February 2001.
In these circumstances, we GRANT the protest. Here, unlike the situation in Leedham Slate, 2001 EAD 527 (October 26, 2001), there has been a lengthy and unacceptable exclusion of IBT members from the rolls of Local 710, members who should have received ballots in the October 9 mailing. Moreover, unlike the situation in Leedham Slate, supra, here the failure to post International officer election notices at CTDU work places means that these IBT members at those locations would not know of their right to request a ballot from the Election Administrator.
Accordingly, we order that Local 710 and its secretary-treasurer Frank Wsol shall provide the Election Administrator by 1:00 p.m. EST on November 1, 2001 with the names, mailing addresses and such other information as is necessary to mail ballots to all Local 710 members formerly within CTDU's jurisdiction.[1] We shall mail such ballots to these members by the close of business on November 2, 2001.
Local 710 shall also post a copy of this decision as well as International officer election notices on all bulletin boards at worksites formerly within CTDU's jurisdiction by 5:00 p.m. on November 2, 2001. Given that ballots must be received by the Election Administrator by 9:00 a.m. on November 13, 2001, such notices shall remain posted until the end of that day. An affidavit of compliance shall also be filed by Wsol with the Election Administrator no later than November 5, 2001.
We will defer for the present any determination of the question of whether the matters addressed here may have affected the ongoing International officer election so as to warrant relief under Article XIII, Section 4(t) or (u), either by itself or in combination with any other Rules violations.
An order of the Election Administrator, unless otherwise stayed, takes immediate effect against a party found to be in violation of the Rules. Lopez, 96 EAM 73 (February 13, 1996).
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 535
DISTRIBUTION LIST VIA FAX AND 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
3060 Penobscot Building
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
Hoffa Unity Slate
Todd Thompson
209 Pennsylvania Ave. SE
Washington, DC 20003
Matt Ginsburg
Tom Leedham Campaign
P.O. Box 6678
Arlington, VA 22206
James L. Hicks, Jr., P.C.
Suite 1100
2777 N. Stemmons Freeway
Dallas, TX 75207
IBT Local 710
Attn: Frank Wsol
4217 S. Halstead St.
Chicago, IL 60609
Richard deVries
1858 South Allport Street
Chicago, IL 60608
Dennis Sarsany & Matt Fitch
IBT Election Administrator
Count Site
119 East Reed Ave.
Alexandria, VA 22314
[1] Such information shall be provided to Matt Fitch of the Election Administrator's count site staff. Fitch may be reached at 703-837-0071.