IN RE: TED BUNSTINE, Protestor.
Protest Decision 2006 ESD 46
Issued: January 14, 2006
OES Case No. P-05-051-121605-FW
Ted Bunstine, a member of Local Union 174, filed a pre-election protest pursuant to Article XIII, Section 2(b) of the Rules for the 2005-2006 IBT International Union Delegate and Officer Election ("Rules"). He alleged that the local union violated the Rules by granting local president Dianne Bolton paid time off and travel expenses to attend the TDU convention.
Election Supervisor representative Christine Mrak investigated this protest.
Findings of Fact
TDU held its annual convention November 3 through 6. Dianne Bolton attended. The protestor contends that the local union paid Bolton's lost time and travel expenses to attend.
Investigation showed that the local union did not request that Bolton's employer, UPS, grant her union leave on the dates in question. Rather, Bolton requested and received personal time off from her employer. Further, the only payments the local union made to Bolton in November and December 2005 were for lost time associated with a November 7 benefits meeting and a November 10 executive board meeting, and monthly stipends. Bolton did not request reimbursement for, and the local union did not pay, her expenses associated with her attendance at the TDU convention.
The protestor offered no evidence to contradict these facts or otherwise substantiate his allegation. Rather, he states that he filed the protest because Dan Scott, the local union's principal officer, stated in December 2005 that he could not recall whether he had requested that UPS grant Bolton time off.
Analysis
Article VII, Section 11(c) of the Rules prohibits use of union funds to assist in campaigning. Further, Article XI, Section 1(b)(3) bars a union from contributing to a candidate, "directly or indirectly, anything of value, where the purpose, object or foreseeable effect of the contribution is to influence, positively or negatively, the election of a candidate …"
To establish a violation of these provisions in this case, the evidence must demonstrate that the local union paid some or all of the lost time or travel expenses Bolton incurred in attending the TDU convention and that such expenditure(s) constitute a campaign contribution under the Rules. The evidence proves neither required element, and we therefore DENY the protest.
On the first element, the protestor has presented no evidence, and we have found none, that establishes that the local union requested that Bolton be excused from work for any of the dates in question or reimbursed any of the wages she lost as the result of such absence or the travel expenses she incurred in attending the convention. To the contrary, the local union has established that it did not seek to have Bolton excused from work and made no payment to her to reimburse for lost time or expenses.
The utter lack of evidence on the first element is sufficient to dispose of this protest. We note, however, that past decisions have held that local unions did not violate the Rules by paying the lost time and travel expenses associated with their members' attendance at annual TDU conventions. In Taylor, 2000 EAD 75 (December 29, 2000), aff'd 01 EAM 16 (February 8, 2001), Election Administrator Wertheimer found that a local union properly paid lost time and travel expenses for its members who attended the TDU convention, observing that "[u]nion funds may be utilized to pay the expenses of a trip undertaken for union business even if incidental campaign activity occurs during the period of travel. See, e.g., Del Pizzo, P727 (July 18, 1991)." Election Officer Cherkasky reached a similar result in Hoffa, PR 39 (March 10, 1998), aff'd, 98 EAM 341 (April 9, 1998). Each of these decisions rested on the factual finding "that a substantial part of the events held at the convention were nonpolitical and educational in nature." 01 EAM 16, p. 4. Thus, weighing the campaign-related activity against that determined to be non-campaign-related, the 1997 TDU convention was found to be only 14.5% campaign-related, the 1998 convention 21%, and the 2000 convention 20.5%. On these facts, "such campaigning as did occur … was incidental to the legitimate union business conducted there concerning the non-electoral affairs of the union and activists involved in it." Taylor, supra. We have not quantified the portion of the 2005 TDU convention that was campaign-related because the disposition of this protest makes it unnecessary to do so. However, the protest's contention - that union funding of lost time and travel expenses for attendance at the TDU convention a fortiori constitutes an impermissible campaign contribution by that union - has consistently been rejected.
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 Supervisor 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 the parties, as well as upon the Election Supervisor for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, 1725 K Street, N.W., Suite 1400, Washington, D.C. 20007-5135, all within the time prescribed above. A copy of the protest must accompany the request for hearing.
Richard W. Mark
Election Supervisor
cc: Kenneth Conboy
2006 ESD 46
DISTRIBUTION LIST (BY EMAIL UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED):
Bradley T. Raymond, General Counsel
International Brotherhood of Teamsters
25 Louisiana Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20001-2198
Email: braymond@teamster.org
Sarah Riger, Staff Attorney
International Brotherhood of Teamsters
25 Louisiana Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20001-2198
Email: sriger@teamster.org
David J. Hoffa
Hoffa 2006
30300 Northwestern Highway, Suite 324
Farmington Hills, MI 48834
David@hoffapllc.com
Barbara Harvey
645 Griswold Street
Suite 3060
Detroit, MI 48226
barbaraharvey@comcast.net
Ken Paff
Teamsters for a Democratic Union
P.O. Box 10128
Detroit, MI 48210
ken@tdu.org
Judith Brown Chomsky
P.O. Box 29726
Elkins Park, PA 19027
jchomsky@igc.org
Stefan Ostrach
1863 Pioneer Parkway East, #217
Springfield, OR 97477-3907
saostrach@gmail.com
Ted Bunstine
15557 Ashworth Ave. N
Shoreline, WA 98133
Dan Scott, Secretary-Treasurer
IBT Local Union 174
14675 Interurban Ave South, Suite 303
Seattle, WA 98168
Christine Mrak
2357 Hobart Avenue, SW
Seattle, WA 98116
cmm@wmblaw.net
Jeffrey Ellison
510 Highland Avenue, #325
Milford, MI 48381
EllisonEsq@aol.com