IN RE: ELIGIBILITY OF JAMES P. HOFFA, Local Union 614.
Protest Decision 2006 ESD 85
Issued: March 28, 2006
OES Case No. E-06-030-021306-HQ
Jeffrey Duncan, member and alternate delegate candidate of Local Union 614, 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 James P. Hoffa is ineligible for election as General President under the Rules.
Election Supervisor representative Jeffrey Ellison investigated this protest.
Findings of Fact and Analysis
James P. Hoffa is an accredited candidate for re-election to the office of IBT General President. He is also a member of Local Union 614 and has been for several years. His TITAN record shows timely payment of monthly dues in the amount of $63 by check-off authorization for each month of the 24-month eligibility period.
Hoffa's check-off authorization directs his employer, the IBT, "to deduct from my wages and to pay to Local No. 614 and/or its authorized representative, initiation fees and membership dues, in such amounts as may be established from time to time, and in accordance with the agreement between such Local Union and my employer." The local union has periodically notified the IBT of the proper amount of dues to be deducted from Hoffa's compensation. The last such notice was submitted to the IBT by the local union on August 9, 2002 over the signature of Cecil Powell, the local union's president. It stated: "Please be advised that effective August 2002 Mr. Hoffa's dues have been increased to $63.00 dollars per month. Please take appropriate procedures to remit $63.00 monthly on behalf of Mr. Hoffa."
The protest alleges that the amount of dues deducted from Hoffa's compensation and remitted on his behalf is improperly low, viz.
It is my understanding that Brother Hoffa has not paid the correct amount of dues for the 24-months preceding the convention scheduled for June, 2006. Specifically, I believe that Brother Hoffa pays approximately $63 per month to Teamsters Local 614. Brother Hoffa earns approximately $252,000 annually which breaks down to approximately $120 per hour based upon a forty-hour work week. Based on the dues formula in our Constitution, Brother Hoffa should be paying approximately $300 per month. As General President, Brother Hoffa must know what his actual dues obligation is and should be held responsible for any error.
The protest urges a finding that Hoffa has lost continuous good standing and therefore is ineligible to run for International office.
Article X, Section 3(d) of the IBT constitution establishes the dues rate for most members of the IBT at two and one-half times the hourly wage rate.1 However, "[t]he monthly dues of salaried officers, Business Agents, and organizers employed by the Local Union on a full-time basis, shall be equal to the highest rate of dues paid by any member of the Local Union."
The TITAN operator for Local Union 614 confirmed that $63 is the highest monthly dues rate paid by any member of that local union.
Hoffa holds no position with Local Union 614. As such, the constitutional provision by which dues are calculated for officers and employees of local unions does not expressly apply to him. The constitution contains no similar provision for International officers.
However, investigation showed that dues for current International officers are uniformly calculated by reference to this provision, regardless of whether those International officers also hold local union office or employment. Five current International officers hold no office in a local union, while the remaining International officers do. Regardless of whether a current International officer holds local union office, each pays monthly dues equal to the highest monthly dues obligation of any member in the local union to which he/she belongs.
This practice apparently has prevailed for considerable time. Thus, the dues obligation of General President Ron Carey was calculated by reference to the highest dues rate that prevailed in the local to which he belonged, even though he was not a "salaried officer" of that local.2 Similarly, the monthly dues of five members who held International office but no local union office while Carey was General President paid dues at a rate equal to the highest rate paid by any member of his local union. Three additional members who held International office but no local union office while Carey was General President paid dues at a rate less than the highest rates that prevailed in their local unions.
No past or current International officer was found to pay dues at a rate higher than the rate that prevailed in his/her local union. Moreover, no past or present International officer was found to pay dues calculated according to the general constitutional formula of two-and-one-half times the hourly rate.
Based on this investigation, we find that the dues rate Hoffa pays is calculated in accordance with the uniform practice that has developed over many years. If the rate is improperly low, as the protestor contends, it is nonetheless the rate established by the local union in accordance with that practice. As we said in Allen, 2006 ESD 63 (January 31, 2006), "a member on check-off whose dues remittance is less than the constitutionally required amount nonetheless retains his good standing, provided he had sufficient earnings to fund the properly calculated dues amount. The member's check-off authorization directs the employer to remit to the local union the full amount of his dues; if the local union miscalculates that amount, the member is not to suffer the prejudice of that miscalculation in the form of a declaration of ineligibility because the member has done all that is necessary to authorize remittance of the correct dues amount." See also Mallet, E53 (February 13, 1996), aff'd, 96 EAM 104 (February 22, 1996) (payment of a dues amount less than that required by the constitution or local bylaws will not impair eligibility provided the member pays the amount he is told to pay).
Because we find that Hoffa has paid the rate of dues billed by the local union, we hold that he is eligible to run for International office.
In reaching this conclusion, we reject the protestor's argument that the local union should have deviated from the uniform practice and assessed Hoffa's dues at the rate of two-and-one-half times his hourly wage, and that Hoffa, as the International officer responsible for interpreting the IBT constitution3, should be held responsible for the local union's failure to do so.4 The uniform and longstanding practice for determining dues of International officers has not been questioned, challenged, or made the subject of a request for constitutional interpretation. Under these circumstances, we cannot conclude that Hoffa should have raised the matter on his own motion.
Accordingly, we DENY the 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 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
885 Third Avenue, Suite 1000
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 85
1 Different rates are provided for employees in industries where no legal right to strike exists and for flight attendants and airline pilots.
2 Carey remained principal officer of his local union while he served as General President of the IBT. However, he was not a "salaried officer" of that local union within the meaning of the quoted sentence of Article X, Section 3(d) because he was barred by Article VI, Section 1(c) from drawing compensation from that body. Article VI, Section 1(c) provides the following: "The General President and the other general officers may hold office in subordinate bodies and render services thereto. However, neither the General President nor General Secretary-Treasurer shall receive any compensation, allowances or fringe benefits from any such subordinate bodies."
3 Article VI, Section 2(a) grants to the General President the "authority to interpret the Constitution and the laws of the International Union … subject to appeal to the General Executive Board and, thereafter, to the next Convention …"
4 The IBT constitution sets out the General President's annual salary. The General President is not an hourly employee of the IBT with an hourly wage. Given our holding, it is unnecessary to determine the hourly wage equivalent to the General President's annual salary.
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
blmharvey@sbcglobal.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
Jeff Duncan
1583 Giddings Road
Pontiac, MI 48340
Earl Walker, Secretary-Treasurer
IBT Local Union 614
131 University Drive
Pontiac, MI 48342
Bill 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