IN RE: FRED ZUCKERMAN, Protestor
Protest Decision 2010 ESD 57
Issued: December 14, 2010
OES Case No. P-062-121310-MW
Fred Zuckerman, member of Local Union 89 and candidate for International office, filed a pre-election protest pursuant to Article XIII, Section 2(b) of the Rules for the 2010-2011 IBT International Union Delegate and Officer Election ("Rules"). The protest alleged that the Hoffa-Hall 2011 campaign acquired an IBT membership list in violation of the Rules.
Findings of Fact and Analysis
Under Article X, a candidate for International office "may be certified by the Election Supervisor as an accredited candidate, and thereby obtain access to membership lists pursuant to Article VII, Sections 2 and 3 of the Rules," among other benefits. To achieve accredited status, a candidate for union-wide office must obtain signatures on petitions of at least 2.5% of union-wide membership, while a candidate for regional office must obtain petition signatures of at least 2.5% of the membership of that region. On September 10, 2010, the Election Supervisor certified 21 candidates on the Hoffa-Hall 2011 slate as accredited, based on petition signatures submitted on their behalf.
The benefit of accreditation at issue in this protest is access to the IBT membership list. Under Article VII, Section 3(a), the IBT is required to prepare a full membership list, current as of August 31, 2010, and transfer it to the Election Supervisor on or before September 10, 2010. The provision continues: "The Election Supervisor is authorized to release a copy of the … membership list to an accredited … candidate for International office forty-five (45) days before the date for mailing of ballots for an election for Convention delegates …"
Zuckerman's protest alleged that Hoffa-Hall 2011 obtained the membership list for Local Union 89 improperly under the Rules. The protest alleged that members of Local Union 89 received a Hoffa-Hall 2011 mailing on December 11, 2010, more than 45 days before the date ballots in the local union's delegates and alternate delegates election is to occur. From these facts, Zuckerman argues that Hoffa-Hall 2011 either obtained the local union mailing list from the IBT, impermissible under any circumstances, or received it from our office, which Zuckerman says is premature.
Zuckerman's argument misconstrues Article VII, Section 3(a). While he implicitly contends that the provision permits release of a membership list only on a local-by-local basis, with the release of each local union's list timed to mailing of ballots in that local union's delegates and alternate delegates election, that contention is not supported by the rule. Article VII, Section 3(a) speaks of one list - the membership list prepared by the International Union that is to be delivered to the Election Supervisor by September 10 - and the Election Supervisor is authorized to release that list - the entire list, not segments of it - to accredited candidates.
As to timing, three events must occur before the list can be released. First, the list must be prepared and transmitted by the IBT to the Election Supervisor; the deadline for doing so is stated in the rule as September 10, 2010. Second, a candidate must be certified by the Election Supervisor as accredited; in the present case, the 21 candidates on the Hoffa-Hall 2011 slate were certified as accredited on September 10. Third, assuming the first two events have occurred, the list cannot be released more than 45 days before the mailing of ballots in "an election for Convention delegates …" In the current cycle, this last requirement was rendered irrelevant, as the first local union to conduct an election for convention delegates (Local Union 948, an agricultural seasonal local union) mailed ballots on August 23, before the membership list was received by the Election Supervisor and before any candidate for International office was accredited. Accordingly, by the time we received the IBT membership list and the candidates on the Hoffa-Hall 2011 slate had achieved accreditation, "an election for Convention delegates" had already occurred.
We released the full membership list to Hoffa-Hall 2011's authorized representatives on October 18, after we received the required affidavit from the slate's representative promising to use the list "solely to advance the accredited … candidate's campaign for nomination and/or election" as required by the rule.
Investigation showed that the mailing to Local Union 89 members that prompted this protest was done by Hoffa-Hall 2011 using the membership list we released to the slate. As our release of that membership list was expressly authorized by the Rules, we find no violation.
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
Suite 1000
885 Third Avenue
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, 1801 K Street, N.W., Suite421 L, Washington, D.C. 20006, 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
2010 ESD 57
DISTRIBUTION LIST (BY EMAIL UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED):
Bradley T. Raymond, General Counsel
International Brotherhood of Teamsters
25 Louisiana Avenue, N.W.
Washington,D.C. 20001
braymond@teamster.org
David J. Hoffa
Hoffa Keegel 2011
1100 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Ste. 730
Washington D.C. 20036
hoffadav@hotmail.com
Ken Paff
Teamsters for a Democratic Union
P.O. Box 10128
Detroit, MI 48210-0128
ken@tdu.org
Barbara Harvey
1394 E. Jefferson Avenue
Detroit, MI 48207
blmharvey@sbcglobal.net
Fred Gegare
P.O. Box 9663
Green Bay, WI 54308-9663
kirchmanb@yahoo.com
Scott D. Soldon
Previant Goldberg
155 North River Center Drive, Ste. 202
P.O. Box 12993
Milwaukee, WI 53212
sds@previant.com
Fred Zuckerman, President
Teamsters Local Union 89
3813 Taylor Blvd.
Louisville, KY 40215
fredzuckerman@aol.com
Robert M. Colone, Esq.
P.O. Box 272
Sellersburg, IN 47172-0272
rmcolone@hotmail.com
Carl Biers
Box 424, 315 Flatbush Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11217
info@SandyPope2011.org
Julian Gonzalez
Lewis, Clifton & Nikolaidis, P.C.
350 Seventh Avenue, Suite 1800
New York, NY 10001-5013
jgonzalez@lcnlaw.com
Joe F. Childers
Getty & Childers, PLLC
250 West Main Street, Suite 1900
Lexington, KY 40507
childerslaw@yahoo.com
William C. Broberg
1108 Fincastle Road
Lexington, KY 40502-1838
wcbroberg@aol.com
Kathryn Naylor
Office of the Election Supervisor
1801 K Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20006
knaylor@ibtvote.org
Jeffrey Ellison
214 S. Main Street, Ste. 210
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
EllisonEsq@aol.com