IN RE: JOHNNY GABRIEL, Protestor.
Protest Decision 2006 ESD 162
Issued: March 27, 2006
OES Case Nos. P-06-175-022406-SO
Johnny Gabriel, a member of Local Union 728, 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"). The protest alleged that there is a discrepancy between the number of ballots mailed and the number of Local Union 728 members on the roster.
Election Supervisor representative Dolores C. Hall investigated this protest.
Findings of Fact
In his complaint, the protestor alleged that 6,309 ballots had been mailed to Local Union 728 members on February 21, 2006. The protestor claims that on February 11, 2006, the president of the local union announced during a general membership meeting that there were 6,038 members on the roster. The protestor questioned the accuracy of the ballot mailing count and how the local union gained 271 members over the ten day period.
Our investigation confirmed that 6,309 ballots were mailed to Local Union 728 members on February 21, 2006. The local union TITAN clerk, Becky Boso, explained that the roster of members in good standing, as well as the number of active members, changes daily. According to Local Union 728 election administrator Matt Fitch, the roster pulled up by the TITAN clerk, which was the basis for the president's announcement at the local union meeting, indicated the number of members in good standing, whereas the ballots are sent to all active members, including members not in good standing. These members can pay their dues before the ballot count and be in good standing at that time and eligible to vote.
Analysis
Article V, Section 1 of the Rules states that "to be eligible to vote in the election for delegate, alternate delegate or International Officers, a member must have his/her dues paid up through the month prior to the month in which the election is held."
We find that it is clear that those members entitled to receive ballots were, in fact, mailed ballots. The discrepancy between the figures cited by the protestor has been satisfactorily explained. Ballots were mailed to members who would not be considered in good standing at the time the ballots were mailed; however, members who are in arrears in dues payments, members who are on leave, and the like, are permitted to pay their dues at any time before the ballot count and thereby become eligible to vote and have their ballots counted. The delegate election procedure requires the eligibility of each member who returns a ballot to be checked at the time of the ballot count, before any ballot envelopes are opened.
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 162
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
Daniel Clifton
Lewis, Clifton & Nikolaidis, P.C.
275 Seventh Avenue, #2300
New York, NY 10001
dclifton@lcnlaw.com
Stephen Ostrach
1863 Pioneer Parkway East, #217
Springfield, OR 97477-3907
saostrach@gmail.com
Johnny Gabriel
7441 Paul Court
Riverdale, GA 30274
Larry McDonald, Secretary-Treasurer
IBT Local Union 728
2540 Lakewood Ave. SW
Atlanta, GA 30315
Matt Fitch, Election Administrator
Local Union 728
2540 Lakewood Avenue, SW
Atlanta, GA 30315
Dolores C. Hall
1000 Belmont Place
Metairie, LA 70001
hall1000@cox.net
Jeffrey Ellison
510 Highland Avenue, #325
Milford, MI 48381
EllisonEsq@aol.com