IN RE: LEEDHAM SLATE, Protestor.
Protest Decision 2006 ESD 387
Issued: October 31, 2006
OESCase No. P-06-353-101306-HQ
The Tom Leedham Strong Contracts Good Pensions slate 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 Local Union 97 unlawfully endorsed the Hoffa 2006 slate in a local union shop steward letter issued to members employed by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority and the Garden State Parkway Commission, in violation of Article VII, Section 12 (b) of the Rules.
In Leedham Slate, 2006 ESD 380 (October 26, 2006), we found a violation, viz.
Local Union 97 admitted that it violated the Rules by endorsing the Hoffa 2006 slate for IBT International office in the October 2006 Turnpike Newsletter. The local union immediately agreed to send campaign literature to all members employed by the Turnpike Authority and Parkway Commission, via email. The local union also agreed to email the attached letter to all members. Both the email and the campaign literature were issued on October 19, 2006. Based on the foregoing facts, the protest is RESOLVED.
The campaign literature distributed pursuant to this agreed remedy was that of the Leedham slate. On October 27, 2006, the Virtue-DiLeo slate requested that the remedy include its literature as well:
By endorsing the "entire slate" for Hoffa in their newsletter, which obviously includes Hoffa's Eastern Region Vice President candidates, Local 97 placed the Virtue-DiLeo Slate at a disadvantage. When the OES became aware of the violation the Virtue-DiLeo Slate should have been included in the remedy.
Accordingly, the Virtue-DiLeo Slate seeks to have the same remedy applied in this protest. Local 97 should send the attached campaign literature provided by the Virtue-DiLeo Slate to all members employed by the Turnpike Authority and Parkway Commission, via email. Local 97 should also email an edited letter from the OES that reflects the violation's impact on the Virtue-DiLeo Slate, as was done in the Leedham protest.
Local Union 97 has agreed to email Virtue-DiLeo literature to the same list of members who received the improper endorsement and the remedial Leedham slate literature. The local union agreed to complete the supplemental remedial emailing by October 30, 2006. Based on this commitment, we deem this supplementary matter RESOLVED.
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. 20006-1416, 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 387
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
David J. Hoffa
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 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
Sheri Czajkowski, Shop Steward
IBT Local Union 97
485 Chestnut Street
Union City, NJ 07083
John J. Gerow, President
IBT Local Union 97
485 Chestnut Street
Union City, NJ 07083
Maureen Geraghty
The Geraghty Law Firm
426 Old Salem Road
Winston-Salem, NC 27101
mg@geraghtylawfirm.com
Jeffrey Ellison
510 Highland Avenue, #325
Milford, MI 48381
EllisonEsq@aol.com
Dan Virtue
Virtue-DiLeo Slate
Virtue-DiLeo@hotmail.com