IN RE: ELIGIBILITY OF NORMA EBLE and SAM COOK, Local Union 377.
Protest Decision 2011 ESD 83
Issued: January 24, 2011
OES Case No. E-022-011811-ME
John Lesicko, member of Local Union 377, 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 delegate candidate Norma Eble is ineligible for nomination because she lacked the continuous good standing required for that position; the protest further alleged that Sam Cook's nomination as delegate was invalid because the person who seconded his nomination was ineligible to do so.
Election Supervisor representative Maria Ho investigated this protest.
Findings of Fact and Analysis
Under Article VI, Section 1(a) of the Rules for the 2011 IBT Election, "[t]o be eligible to run for any Convention delegate, alternate delegate or International Officer position, one must: (1) Be a member in continuous good standing of the Local Union, with one's dues paid to the Local Union for a period of twenty-four (24) consecutive months prior to the month of nomination for said position with no interruptions in active membership due to suspensions, expulsions, withdrawals, transfers or failure to pay fines or assessments; (2) Be employed at the craft within the jurisdiction of the Local Union for a period of twenty-four (24) consecutive months prior the month of nomination; and (3) Be eligible to hold office if elected."
The nominations meeting for Local Union 377's delegates and alternate delegates election was held January 11, 2011. Accordingly, the 24 month period during which candidates must be in continuous good standing in order to be eligible for nomination ran from January 2009 through December 2010. To verify Eble's eligibility during this period, we reviewed her TITAN record for dues remittances received from her or remitted on her behalf.
Eble paid dues by check-off authorization with her employer, Continental Structural Plastics, for the entire 24-month period. Her TITAN record showed that her dues were remitted to the local union late for several months during the eligibility period. However, investigation showed that she had sufficient earnings in each of the 24 months to fund her dues obligation for that month. It is well-settled that a member on dues check-off retains her good standing even if her dues were remitted late or not at all by the employer, provided she had signed a check-off authorization and had sufficient earnings or paid leave in the month from which dues could have been deducted. IBT Constitution, Article X, Section 5(c); Eligibility of John Gerow, et al., 2006 ESD 121 (March 2, 2006); Eligibility of Thiel, 2010 ESD 16 (July 26, 2010), appeal withdrawn, 10 EAM 4 (August 6, 2010). This rule operates to preserve Eble's continuous good standing for the eligibility period.
We note that Eble suffered a dues arrearage in September 2005, well before the start of the eligibility period with which we are concerned. Local Union 377 uses a "collapsible" accounting system by which dues are applied to the last month for which dues have not been paid, regardless of the month in which they are received. As a result, Eble's TITAN record showed an arrearage for every month after September 2005. The arrearage attributed to her existed solely because of the local union's accounting system and not because she failed to pay dues for any month in the eligibility period at issue in this case. The past arrearage will not serve to render a member ineligible where that member has actually paid or authorized deduction of dues for each of the 24 months we must examine. Eligibility of Hart, 2006 ESD 93 (February 27, 2006). Accordingly, we DENY the protest with respect to Eble and find her ELIGIBLE for nomination as delegate to the 2006 IBT convention.
The protest further alleged that Cook's nomination for delegate was invalid because the person who seconded his nomination, Eble, was ineligible to do so. To be eligible to nominate or second a nomination, a member must be "in good standing, with his/her dues paid through the month prior to the nominations meeting." Article II, Section 5(h). Investigation showed that Eble made a cash payment of dues in December 2010, resolving the dues arrearage she suffered in September 2005. Because of that cash payment, Eble's dues were paid through December 2010 at the time of the January 2011 nominations meeting, making her eligible to second Cook's nomination. Accordingly, we DENY the protest challenging the validity of Cook's nomination.
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 83
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
John Lesicko
4900 Kirk Road
Youngstown, OH 44515
ibtlocal377@aol.com
Norma Eble
701 Lakeview Avenue
Conneaut, OH 44030
Sam Cook
803 Presidential Drive
Boardman, OH 44512
samcook618@hotmail.com
Denise Ventura
949 Old Hickory Road
Pittsburgh,PA 15243
dmventura@verizon.net
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