IN RE: DOUGLAS HENDERSON
Protest Decision 2001 EAD 548
Issued: November 8, 2001
OEA Case No. PR101914WE
Douglas Henderson, a member of Local 760, 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 the Tom Leedham Rank and File Power slate ("Leedham slate"), Leedham slate members Maria Martinez and Robert Hasegawa, and the Evergreen chapter of Teamsters for a Democratic Union. He alleges improper campaigning inside several employer facilities, in violation of the Rules.
Election Administrator representative Jeffrey Ellison investigated the protest.
Findings of Fact and Analysis
The protestor claims that debate videotapes and flyers promoting the Leedham slate were found inside employer facilities at CSX/Sea-Land, USF Reddaway, two City of Bremerton facilities, a UPS facility in Bremerton, and Gai's Bakery. The protestor alleges the respondents "engaged in blatant and massive violations of election rules by campaigning inside employer premises."
Each of the respondents denies campaigning inside the employer facilities identified here.
Investigation shows that Leedham slate and TDU volunteers wrapped videotapes in partisan flyers and distributed them in boxes to activists, together with an advisory concerning access to employee parking lots permitted under Article VII, Section 11(e) of the Rules. At the employers identified in the protest, tapes were observed inside the facilities, in lunchrooms or break rooms where IBT members might encounter them. However, except for one location, the protestor could not identify and the investigation did not otherwise reveal whether the tapes were brought into an identified facility by an employee or non-employee.
The exception occurred at the City of Bremerton Public Works. Steward Mary Ellen Babbitt told our investigator that the tapes were delivered to the facility by a non-employee she believed was named Tom McArthur. She said McArthur entered the lobby of her building, otherwise open to and frequented by the public, carrying a box of the tapes. He spoke with a member of management, who called her to the scene. McArthur told her he was delivering debate videotapes for Teamsters employed there. He handed to her and she accepted a box of some 45 to 50 tapes, each wrapped in a Leedham slate flyer. She returned to her desk and examined the contents of the box. Soon thereafter, she received a telephone call from the lobby receptionist at the nearby City of Bremerton Parks office, who told her a man had just left there after dropping off about 15 tapes. Babbitt decided to place the tapes where Teamsters could obtain them, so she took them to the lunchroom of her facility and left them there. Before doing so, however, she removed the partisan flyer from each tape. She instructed the Parks secretary to do likewise.
The Rules protect employee members' rights to campaign in non-work areas on non-work time in their own facilities. The Rules also protect non-employee members' pre-existing rights to campaign inside employer facilities.
We DENY this protest. For all the employers but one, there is insufficient evidence to establish that the person(s) who brought the tapes into the identified facilities were non-employees with no preexisting right to campaign there.
The delivery of tapes to the City of Bremerton facilities also complies with the Rules. In each instance, the non-employee campaigner met with a person who controlled or secured the entryway, stated that his purpose was to deliver campaign material, and was allowed to do so. For the reasons we stated in Zimmerman, 2001 EAD 542 (November 6, 2001), such conduct is permitted by the Rules.
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 548
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
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
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
Douglas Henderson
8639 11th Avenue SW
Seattle, WA 98106
IBT Local 760
1211 West Lincoln Avenue
Yakima, WA 98902
IBT Local 741
552 Denny Way
Seattle, WA 98109
CSZ/Sea-Land
Lori Rearick
Human Resource Manager
1675 Lincoln Avenue
Suite 300
Tacoma, WA 98421
IBT Local 174
553 John Street
Seattle, WA 98109
USF Reddaway
Human Resource Manager
16277 SE 130th Avenue
Clakamas, OR 97015
IBT Local 227
552 Denny Way
Seattle, WA 98109
Gai's Bakery
Ellis Johnson
Human Resource Manager
2006 South Weller Street
Seattle, WA 98144
City of Bremerton Public Works
Engineering Department
Human Resource Manager
239 4th Street
Bremerton, WA 98337
Bob Hasegawa
3121 16th Avenue South
Seattle, WA 98144
Maria Martinez
IBT Local 556
1750 Portland Street
Walla Walla, WA 99363
Teamsters for a Democratic Union
7437 Michigan Avenue
Detroit, MI 48210
Teamsters for a Democratic Union
Evergreen Chapter
P.O. Box 1837
Woodinville, WA 98072
Lindsay Marshall
UPS, Inc. Legal Department
55 Glenlake Parkway NE
Atlanta, GA 30328
Gary Tocci
Kim Kaplan
Jon Nadler
Schnader, Harrison, Segal & Lewis
Suite 3600
1600 Market Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103
Jeffrey Ellison
65 Cadillac Square
Suite 3727
Detroit, MI 48226