Protest Decisions

IN RE: ELIGIBILITY OF JAMES P.HOFFA, Local Union 614.
Protest Decision 2011 ESD 181
Issued: March 23, 2011
OES Case No: E-045-031411-MW

Joel Dunn, a member of Local Union 299, filed an eligibility 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 General President James P. Hoffa is ineligible to run for International Office since he has not paid his dues at two and one-half times his hourly wage rate as required under the IBT Constitution.

Election Supervisor representative Kathryn A. Naylor investigated this protest.

Findings of Fact and Analysis

Article VI, Section 1(a) of the Rules provides that "to 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 to the month of nomination; and (3) be eligible to hold office if elected."

Under Article III, Section 4 of the Rules, the candidates for International office will be nominated by delegates at the 2011 IBT Convention in June 2011. Accordingly, the 24-month period during which candidates for International office must be in continuous good standing in order to be eligible for nomination runs from June 2009 through May 2011. 

James P. Hoffa is an accredited candidate for re-election to the office of IBT General President. He is also a member of Local Union 614 and has been for several years. His TITAN record shows timely payment of monthly dues in the amount of $73 by check-off authorization with the IBT for each month of the 24-month eligibility period through April 2011.

During the 2006 IBT International officer election, the identical issue was raised with respect to Hoffa's eligibility to run for re-election as IBT General President. In Eligibility of Hoffa, 2006 ESD 85 (March 26, 2006), we found a long-standing practice that dues for International officers were uniformly assessed in line with the constitutional provision under Article X, Section 3(d), which states that "the monthly dues of salaried officers, Business Agents, and organizers employed by the Local Union on a full-time basis, shall be equal to the highest rate of dues paid by any member of the Local Union." Specifically, we found that International officers in 2006, as well as former General President Ron Carey, paid monthly dues equal to the highest monthly dues obligation of any member in the local union to which he/she belonged, regardless of whether the International officer also held office in the local union. In this respect, we found that no past or current International officer was found to pay dues at a rate higher than the rate that prevailed in his/her local union. Also, no past or current International officer was found to pay dues calculated using the general constitutional formula of two and one-half times the hourly rate that is applied for most members. As a result, we held Hoffa eligible to run for International office as Hoffa paid the rate of dues billed by Local Union 614 and that this rate was calculated by the local union in accordance with the uniform practice that had developed over many years.

Investigation showed that the long-standing and established practice discussed in Eligibility of Hoffa still prevails. The TITAN operator for Local Union 614 confirmed that $73 is currently the highest monthly dues rate paid by any member of the local union, namely the local union officers, and that Hoffa's dues are billed at that rate. Hoffa's TITAN records indicate, and the IBT's Office of the General Secretary-Treasurer confirmed, that the dues increased from $63 to $73 effective in July 2006, and that the local union notified the IBT of the increase in dues to be deducted from Hoffa's compensation. Consistent with our ruling in Eligibility of Hoffa, we find Hoffa is presently eligible to run for International office as he paid the rate of dues billed by Local Union 614 and that this rate was determined in accordance with the long-standing uniform practice.

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, 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 181

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
3541 N. Summit Avenue
Shorewood, WI 53211
scottsoldon@gmail.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

Joel Dunn
1584 West 13 Mile Road
Madison Heights, MI 48071
teammac1@yahoo.com

Earl W. Walker
President
IBT Local Union 614
250 North Perry Street
Pontiac, MI 48342
Teamsterlocal614@sbcglobal.net

William C. "Bill"Broberg
1108 Fincastle Road
Lexington, KY 40502-1838
wcbroberg@aol.com

Maria S. Ho
Office of the Election Supervisor
1801 K Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20006
mho@ibtvote.org

Jeffrey Ellison
214 S. Main Street, Ste. 210
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
EllisonEsq@aol.com