OFFICE OF THE ELECTION SUPERVISOR
for the
INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS
IN RE: MICHAEL DAILEY, ) Protest Decision 2011 ESD 271
) Issued: June 1, 2011
Protestor. ) OES Case No. P-273-052311-AT
____________________________________)
Michael Dailey, member and IBT convention alternate delegate from Local Union 71, 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 delegate strength recalculation that resulted in a reduction of delegates for Local Union 71 was untimely rendered and therefore invalid.
Article II, Section 3(c) of the Rules provides the following:
On or about May 5, 2010, the Election Supervisor shall notify each seasonal Local Union which he/she has determined shall hold nominations and elections of delegates in Summer 2010 of the number of delegates to be elected by the membership of such Local Union. On or about June 1, 2010, the Election Supervisor shall notify each other Local Union of the number of delegates to be elected by the membership of such Local Union.
The preliminary calculation of delegate strength is made pursuant to Article VII, Section 5(a) of the IBT constitution, which requires the General Secretary-Treasurer to calculate the average monthly membership for each local union for the “two-year period ending eighteen (18) months prior to the first day of the month in which the Convention is convened.”[1] Once that number is determined, a local union is entitled to one delegate for the first 1,000 members and one additional delegate for each additional 750 members or major fraction thereof. IBT constitution, Article III, Section 2.
In accordance with this calculation, the Election Supervisor notified Local Union 71 on or about June 1, 2010 that its average monthly membership for the relevant period was 2,939 members and its preliminary delegate strength was therefore four delegates.[2] The Preliminary 2011 IBT Convention Delegate Strength for all local unions was posted to the OES website, www.ibtvote.org, on June 17, 2010.
Local Union 71 conducted its delegates election pursuant to an approved local union election plan calling for the election of four delegates. Its nominations meeting occurred March 10, 2011, and ballots were mailed April 11 and counted May 2.
While Local Union 71’s delegates election was pending, the Election Supervisor calculated final delegate strength pursuant to Article III, Section 2 of the Rules, which provides the following:
On or before May 2, 2011, the Election Supervisor shall determine whether the membership of each Local Union has increased or decreased such that the Local Union is entitled to representation by a greater or lesser number of delegates at the Convention than the number of delegates elected in such Local Union's delegate election. If the Local Union is entitled to a greater number of delegates, the additional delegates shall be selected from the alternate delegates by rank. If the Local Union is entitled to a lesser number of delegates, the lowest ranked delegate(s) shall become the first ranked alternate delegate(s).
The final calculation of delegate strength is determined according to Article VII, Section 5(b) of the IBT constitution, which requires the General Secretary-Treasurer to calculate the average monthly membership for each local union for the “two-year period ending three (3) months prior to the first day of the month in which the Convention is convened.”[3] The average monthly membership for Local Union 71 for this period was 2,765. This membership figure, 110 members below the threshold for a four-delegate entitlement, qualified Local Union 71 to have three convention delegates. Thus Local Union 71’s final delegate strength is one less than the preliminary delegate strength calculation. The Election Supervisor determined the final delegate strength for each local union in March 2011 and posted a table showing the delegate strengths of all local unions on www.ibtvote.org on April 1, 2011.
When ballots were counted in Local Union 71’s delegates election, the protestor’s slate (consisting of four delegate and two alternate delegate candidates) won all positions. When no protests were filed, the Election Supervisor issued certification of the election on May 12 in accord with the final delegate strength determination, certifying the three delegate candidates with the highest vote totals as delegates, the fourth winning delegate candidate as the ranking alternate delegate[4], and the remaining winning alternate delegate candidates as alternate delegates.
The protest, filed May 23, contested the reduction in delegate strength from four to three. It cited Article III, Section 2 of the Rules and stated the following:
As the date of mailing from your office to that of IBT Local 71 was made on May 12, 2011 I feel the change is untimely. I am asking for the original plan number of 4 Delegates to be reinstated.
We DENY the protest. The Rules provision the protestor cites requires that the determination of final delegate strength be completed on or before May 2, 2011. The OES carried out those requirements. The final strength calculation was completed in March 2011 and was posted to the OES website on April 1, 2011. Protestor does not contest the calculation that produced a final strength for Local Union 71 of three delegates.
Had the OES delayed in either performing or publishing the final delegate strength calculation beyond the Rules’ dates (which it did not), the remedy would not have been to freeze the delegate strength calculations at preliminary levels. Instead, the appropriate response would have been to produce forthwith the final delegate strength calculation the IBT constitution requires. The IBT constitution requires the convention delegate body to be determined and allocated among local unions based on actual membership figures averaged over a defined period. A delay as alleged by the protest would not bar the OES from issuing credentials based on those actual membership figures.
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, NY 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.[1] As the IBT convention will occur in June 2011, the months used for calculating the preliminary delegate strength of each local union were January 2008 through December 2009.
[2] The threshold membership figure for four delegates is 2,875 members. The preliminary delegate strength calculation showed that Local Union 71 was 64 members over the threshold.
[3] The months used for calculating final delegate strength of each local union were March 2009 through February 2011.
[4] Article III, Section 2 provides that if a local union’s delegate strength decreases in the final calculation, “the lowest ranked delegate(s) shall become the first ranked alternate delegate(s).”
Richard W. Mark
Election Supervisor
cc: Kenneth Conboy
2011 ESD 271DISTRIBUTION 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
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 Dailey
724 Brookwood Street
Mooresville, NC 28115
mjdailey@windstream.net
Ted Russell, President
Teamsters Local Union 71
P.O. Box 669006
Charlotte, NC 28266
regina@teamsterslocal71.org
J. Griffin Morgan
426 Old Salem Road
Winston-Salem, NC 27101
jgmorgan@epmlaw.com
Maria S. Ho
Office of the Election Supervisor
1801 K Street, N.W., Suite 421 L
Washington, D.C. 20006
mho@ibtvote.org
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