IN RE: SAMUEL BUCALO, Protestor.
Protest Decision 2006 ESD 171
Issued: April 6, 2006
OES Case Nos. P-06-173-022406-ME
Samuel Bucalo, a member, steward alternate, and delegate candidate of Local Union 100, 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 the local union timed the mailing of flyers and a newsletter to impact the delegate election process, in violation of the Rules.
Election Supervisor representatives William B. Kane and Frank Sheridan investigated this protest.
Findings of Fact
Local Union 100 is entitled to elect 5 delegates and 2 alternate delegates. The nomination meeting, held on February 7, resulted in 15 nominations for delegate and 6 for alternate delegate. Two full slates and 7 independent candidates competed in the election. The slates are the Local 100 Unity slate, comprised of the local union's officers and business agents, and the Teamsters United slate. The protestor is an independent delegate candidate.
According to the protest, the local union mailed 2 union-produced and funded flyers and 1 newsletter in calendar 2005. In contrast, during the January and February 2006, the local union mailed 3 such flyers and 1 newsletter. The protest alleged that the increased frequency and timing of the mailings was intended to coincide with the delegate election and portray the members of the Local 100 Unity slate favorably.
The flyers at issue were printed on local union letterhead. The protest asserts that because the letterhead lists the names of the local union's officers and business agents, the union-produced flyers therefore promote the Unity slate to which they belong. The newsletter at issue, which the protestor received on February 22, 2006, contained articles and photographs featuring the officers and business agents who are Unity slate members. The most recent activity the newsletter reported on was a November 5, 2005 union meeting; the most dated event reported was a summer 2005 golf outing.
The protestor told our investigator that he did not object to the content of the flyers. His contention was that their frequency increased during the delegate election period and, most importantly, the use of the letterhead gave unwarranted additional exposure to the incumbents. The protestor argues that the articles published in the newsletter were not timely or newsworthy. Further, he claimed that the newsletter was originally scheduled to be distributed in October 2005 but was delayed until February 2006, during the delegate election process.
The local union published 3 newsletters in the last six years: February 2006, June 2005, and 2000, with none published between January 2001 and June 2005. The format of the February 2006 newsletter was consistent with the past editions. None of the published material supported or attacked any candidate.
The first page of the 8-page newsletter displays a photo of the officers and executive board of the local union; the sole caption is "Have a safe and prosperous 2006." The identical photo was used in the same position in the June 2005 newsletter over a caption that read "Troy Stapleton & the New Team." The February 2006 newsletter does not identify any person depicted in the photo. The balance of the first page and most of second page of the newsletter is devoted to legislation concerning commercial drivers' licenses enacted in fall 2005. The secretary-treasurer's report, on page 2, discusses the local union's improved financial condition, and urges members to assist in organizing the unorganized. Business agents' reports fill pages 3 and 6 of the newsletter. The subjects of these reports include urging rank-and-file members to assist stewards in monitoring the employer's actions in the workplace; protecting jobs, wages and pensions through concerted action; maintaining solidarity; urging political action with members of Congress to protect pensions; and buying American-made products. One business agent's report reprints a poem.1 Pages 4 and 5 of the newsletter display a collage of photos from the summer 2005 golf outing; page 7 presents a similar collage of photos from a joint council picnic. These photos are presented without caption identifying local union officers or business agents. The final page of the newsletter publishes a telephone directory of the local union officers and business agents.
The newsletter does not support or attack any candidate in the delegate and alternate delegate election, nor does it refer to that election, the IBT convention, or the upcoming election of International officers.
Local union president Troy Stapleton denied a deliberate effort to time publication of the flyers and newsletter to coincide with the delegate election. Local officers and business agents were encouraged to submit articles for publication. Stapleton, who acts as editor, reviewed the newsletter prior to publication and found it non-political. No publication schedule was fixed for production of the newsletter; rather, it was assembled as time and other priorities allowed.
Stapleton also noted that the flyers at issue were not mailed to the general membership. They were sent to approximately 120 stewards and alternate stewards. According to Stapleton, the flyers concerned matters of general interest and were printed on Local Union 100 letterhead for posting on union bulletin boards.
Analysis
Article VII, Sections 8(a)(4) and (6) of the Rules provides:
No publication or communication financed, directly or indirectly, by a Union may be used to support or attack any candidate or the candidacy of any person ... A Union-financed newspaper or other publication or communication shall not:
(4) print features and accompanying photographs about insignificant or unnewsworthy events in which the accomplishments or qualities of any candidate are heralded;
***
(6) carry a substantial number of articles and/or multiple pictures featuring a particular candidate, unless all candidates for the same position are given equal treatment, equal space and equal prominence.
The format of the February 2006 newsletter is consistent with past editions. More importantly, none of the material included constitutes campaigning because it does not support or attack any candidate. Instead, it addresses issues of general concern to the membership.
The union's explanation for the timing of the publication appears reasonable. While some of the material may be "old" as in the case of the July 2005 Golf outing, it has not previously been published and does not identify any candidate as such.
The protestor stated no objection to the content of the flyers, but complains that the use of union letterhead in their distribution gave unwarranted additional exposure to the incumbents.
Where the tone and content of union-financed publications are politically neutral, as here, a Rules violation will generally not be found based solely on the timing of the publications. As the Election Appeals Master explained in Hicks, 06 EAM 22 (Marcy 15, 2006), affirming 2006 ESD 110 (March 2, 2006), "elected local officers should not, and cannot, be constrained by the Rules from discharging their responsibilities to the membership in reporting on matters of vital interest, as long as the reportage is politically neutral."
We so find. 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 171
1 The poem, entitled "The Parasites," is a song lyric by John E. Nordquist first published in a collection of IWW songs assembled to inspire supporters of William "Big Bill" Haywood during his 1907 trial for the murder of former Idaho governor Frank Steunenberg. The song, to the tune "Annie Laurie," denigrates the wealthy who live off the sweat of labor.
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
Daniel E. Clifton
Lewis, Clifton & Nikolaidis, P.C.
275 Seventh Avenue, Suite 2300
New York, NY 10001
dclifton@lcnlaw.com
Stefan Ostrach
1863 Pioneer Parkway East, #217
Springfield, OR 97477-3907
saostrach@gmail.com
Samuel J. Bucalo
6158 King Oak Drive
Cincinnati, OH 45248
Troy H. Stapleton, President
Local 100
2100 Oak Road
Cincinnati, OH 45241
William B. Kane
242 Old Haymaker Road
Monroeville, PA 15146
Jeffrey Ellison
510 Highland Avenue, #325
Milford, MI 48381
EllisonEsq@aol.com