IN RE: ELIGIBILITY OF ARTURO FERRUSQUIA, JR., Local 705
Protest Decision 2006 ESD 58
Issued: February 7, 2006
OES Case No. E-06-013-012006-HQ
Arturo Ferrusquia, Jr., a member of Local 705, filed an eligibility 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, contrary to the Election Supervisor's determination, he is eligible for election as delegate to the 2006 IBT Convention under the Rules.
Election Supervisor representative Steven R. Newmark investigated this protest.
Findings of Fact:
Local 705's dues records show that Ferrusquia has paid dues pursuant to check-off authorizations for the entire 24-month eligibility period. However, dues were not timely received by the local union and posted to Ferrusquia's dues record for the months of April, May, and June 2005. Instead, dues for those months and July 2005 were all posted to his dues record on July 26, 2005.
Ferrusquia told our investigator that he has been on dues check-off with Roadway Express since November 1994. In November 2004, Ferrusquia took leave from Roadway to work for Joint Council 25 where he remained until early March 2005; during that period, he paid dues pursuant to check-off authorization with the joint council. After his joint council job concluded, Ferrusquia resumed full-time work with Roadway on March 21, 2005 and has been employed there continuously since that time. When he returned to work with Roadway, Ferrusquia relied on his existing check-off authorization to have his dues deducted. The local union also relied on that existing authorization, billing Roadway monthly for Ferrusquia's dues. When Ferrusquia discovered that his dues were not being deducted, he executed a new check-off authorization with the local union, and Roadway then deducted his dues, effective April 2005.
Ferrusquia had sufficient earnings in each of the months of April, May and June, 2005 to fund his monthly dues obligation. Further, the local union did not provide written notice to Ferrusquia that his dues had not been paid during that period.
Analysis
Article VI, Section 1 of the Rules, provides that "to be eligible to run for any Convention delegate, alternate delegate or International Officer position, one must: (1) be a member in continuous good standing of the Local Union, with one's dues paid to the Local union for a period of twenty-four (24) consecutive months prior to the month of nomination for said position with no interruptions in active membership due to suspensions, expulsions, withdrawals, transfers or failure to pay fines or assessments; [and] (2) be employed at the craft within the jurisdiction of the Local Union for a period of twenty-four (24) consecutive months prior to the month of nomination."
A member will retain good standing under this provision even though his dues are remitted late or not at all in a given month, provided that he signed a check-off and had sufficient earnings in that month from which the employer could have deducted dues. IBT Constitution Article X, Section 5; Dunn EAD 9 (October 31, 1995). When a member has sufficient earnings but the employer fails to deduct and remit dues, the local's remedy is to notify the member of his employer's failure and require payment within thirty days. IBT Constitution Article X, Section 5. The notice must be in writing. Justus, E86 (February 20, 1996), aff'd, 96 EAM 107 (February 28, 1996).
Based on these findings, we hold that Ferrusquia did not suffer a break in his continuous good standing during the period April through June 2005 because he had a valid check-off authorization in place and had sufficient earnings in each of those months to fund his dues obligations. He reasonably concluded that the check-off authorization he had previously executed was still in effect and that Roadway would deduct dues pursuant to that authorization. Accordingly, we find him ELIGIBLE to run for delegate to the 2006 IBT Convention.
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 58
DISTRIBUTION LIST (BY EMAIL UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED):
Bradley T. Raymond, General Counsel
International Brotherhood of Teamsters
25 Louisiana Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20001-2198
braymond@teamster.org
Sarah Riger, Staff Attorney
International Brotherhood of Teamsters
25 Louisiana Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20001-2198
sriger@teamster.org
David J. Hoffa, Esq.
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
Stephen Ostrach
1863 Pioneer Parkway East, #217
Springfield, OR 97477-3907
saostrach@gmail.com
Arturo Ferrusquia, Jr.
508 Kent Road
Riverside, IL 60546
artferr@hotmail.com
Stephen Pocztowski, Secretary-Treasurer
IBT Local Union 705
1645 W. Jackson Blvd.
Chicago, IL 60612
William Broberg
1108 Fincastle Road
Lexington, KY 40502
wcbroberg@aol.com
Steven R. Newmark
1725 K Street, NW Suite 1400
Washington, DC 20005
snewmark@ibtvote.org
Jeffrey Ellison
510 Highland Avenue, #325
Milford, MI 48381
EllisonEsq@aol.com