IN RE: JAMES LYONS, Protestor.
Protest Decision 2006 ESD 101
Issued: February 27, 2006
OES Case No. P-06-098-0130-MW
James Lyons, a member of Local Union 200, 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 Teamsters4Teamsters slate ("T4T") violated the Rules by improperly altering the official IBT logo for use in its campaign materials.
Election Supervisor representatives Joe Childers investigated this protest.
Findings of Fact
In late January, the T4T slate conducted a campaign mailing that included an altered version of the official IBT horses-and-wheel logo. Where the official logo contains spokes on the wheel, the T4T version substituted the words "Teamsters 4 Teamsters."
Investigation showed that Tom Millonzi, a T4T supporter, wrote General Secretary Treasurer C. Thomas Keegel on August 2, 2005 requesting permission to "use a semblance of our great union logo, the horse heads." The letter included a depiction of the altered form the slate sought to use and concluded, "We hold this logo in its highest regard and you can be assured that we would never defame it or use it in any disrespectful manner."
Keegel replied by letter dated August 25, 2005 and stated the following, in relevant part:
Use of the International Union's name and insignia is permissible by candidates in local union election material such as flyers, leaflets, and other election documents and material; however, the official insignia must be used in an unaltered manner and use of the IBT name and insignia cannot imply endorsement by the International Union. The sample insignia submitted with your communication depicted the official IBT insignia in an altered manner.
Despite Keegel's direction that the IBT logo be used only in its unaltered form, the T4T slate used the altered version on its campaign material.
The protest alleged that this alteration of the official logo violated the Rules.
Analysis
Article VII, Sections 12(b) and (c) prohibit use of union funds and resources to support or oppose a candidate. However, Article XI, Section 1(b)(6) states that "use of the Union's name, insignia or mark by Union members, in connection with the exercise of rights under these Rules, is permitted." In Brazeau, 2001 EAD 316 (April 18, 2001), the Election Administrator held use of the official IBT horses-and-wheel logo permissible under the Rules.
In Leedham Slate, 2001 EAD 343 (May 4, 2001), use of an altered IBT logo was held not to violate the Rules. There, the phrase "313 Unity Slate" was superimposed over the logo. Similarly, in Kosuth, 2001 EAD 503 (October 12, 2001), use of an altered IBT logo did not violate the Rules.
Under this precedent, we hold that use of an altered IBT logo by the T4T slate does not violate the Rules.
Accordingly, we DENY this 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 101
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
Jim Lyons
Local Union 200
6200 Bluemound Road
Milwaukee, WI 53213
local200_jlyons@execpc.com
Thomas Bennett
337 Rubicon
Neosho, WI 53059
Tom Millonzi
24408 Sandy Point Drive
Wind Lake, WI 53185
Tim Buban, Secretary-Treasurer
Local Union 200
6200 Bluemound Road
Milwaukee, WI 53213
Joe F. Childers
201 West Short Street, Suite 310
Lexington, KY 40507
childerslaw@yahoo.com
William Broberg
1108 Fincastle Road
Lexington, KY 40502
wcbroberg@aol.com
Jeffrey Ellison
510 Highland Avenue, #325
Milford, MI 48381
EllisonEsq@aol.com