IN RE: MICHAEL BENNETT, Protestor.
Protest Decision 2011 ESD 76
Issued: January 20, 2011
OES Case No. P-080-011811-MW
Michael Bennett, member of Local 705, 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 objected to the local union's decision to hire Maralin Falik of Election Services Solutions to administer its delegates and alternate delegates election.
Findings of Fact and Analysis
Each local union is required to submit to OES a proposed plan by which it will conduct its delegates and alternate delegates election. Each proposed local union election plan must list the information set forth in Article II, Section 4(b) of the Rules. Once the plan is submitted, the local union must post on all worksite bulletin boards a notice that the plan has been submitted and that any interested member may inspect the proposed plan and request a copy of it free of charge. Article II, Section 4(d) of the Rules grants any interested member "the right to submit written comments to the Election Supervisor, with a copy to the Local Union, concerning a proposed Local Union Plan, within fifteen (15) days of the submission of the Plan to the Election Supervisor."
Local Union 705 submitted its proposed plan on September 15, 2010 and promptly posted the required notice of plan submission. The proposed plan stated that the local union sought to employ an outside election agency to conduct the nominations meeting, among other duties. The outside election agency the local union identified was Election Services Solutions (ESS), an agency the local union has used in the past. We received no comments concerning the proposal to use ESS; we approved the local union's plan.
Local Union 705's nominations meeting took place on Sunday, January 16, 2011. Protestor Bennett emailed his protest concerning the use of ESS to us on Saturday, January 15, at 5:51 p.m. The protest objected to the local union's use of Maralin Falik of ESS because of problems the protestor claimed arose with her during a previous election.
Bennett's protest, filed literally on the eve of the nominations meeting over which ESS's Falik was to preside, is untimely. He waived his right to object when he did not comment on the proposed plan that listed ESS as the outside agency the local union sought to employ to run the election. Further, Bennett has presented no evidence that Falik has done anything in the current delegates and alternate delegates election that would warrant her replacement.
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, 1801 K Street, N.W., Suite 421 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
2011 ESD 76
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 Hall 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
1555 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
Michael Bennett
1058 Douglas
Joliet, IL 60435
nos4ra2@msn.com
Stephen Pocztowski, Secretary-Treasurer
Teamsters Local Union 705
1645 West Jackson
Chicago, IL 60612
kmeyer@1705ibt.org
William C. Broberg
1108 Fincastle Road
Lexington, KY 40502-1838
wcbroberg@aol.com
Maralin Falik, President
Election Services Solutions
New York City Office
708 Third Avenue, 11th Floor
New York, NY 10017
maralin@voteess.com
Kathryn Naylor
Office of the Election Supervisor
1801 K Street, N.W., Suite 421 L
Washington, D.C. 20006
knaylor@ibtvote.org
Jeffrey Ellison
214 S. Main Street, Ste. 210
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
EllisonEsq@aol.com