Protest Decisions

            Patrick Nichols, member and vice president of Local Union 50, 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 Local Union 50 used union resources to assist the campaigns of candidates for International office on the Gegare slate, in violation of the Rules.[1]  Hoffa-Hall 2011 filed a protest alleging the same Rules violation.

            The protests were consolidated for investigation and decision.  Election Supervisor representative Jeffrey Ellison investigated them.

Findings of Fact

            Each protest alleged that Local Union 50 supported the Gegare campaign in two ways.  Thus, each alleged that Marc Archer, hired as a local union business agent in March 2011, built a website for certain Gegare slate candidates for vice president while on union-paid time.  Each protest further alleged that Gegare vice president candidate Jerry Conner was permitted to campaign at the local union’s regular monthly meeting and that the local union supplied refreshments during this appearance.  We discuss these allegations one by one.

The website.

            The Gegare campaign maintains a website at www.fredgegare2011.com.  In March 2011, Jerry Conner, a candidate for IBT Central region vice president on the Gegare slate, engaged Marc Archer to build a website to be linked to the Gegare campaign website that focused on the four candidates on the Gegare slate who are standing for IBT Central region vice president. 

            Conner is principal officer of Local Union 279 in Decatur, Illinois.  Conner and Scott Alexander, principal officer of Local Union 50 in Belleville, Illinois, have known each other for several years.  After he announced his candidacy, Conner said that he and Alexander discussed things that Conner and the Gegare slate needed in order to advance their campaign for IBT office.  Conner said Alexander told him of Archer’s experience building websites.  Conner requested that Alexander set up a meeting with Archer to discuss building a website for the Central region candidates on the Gegare slate.

            Archer was appointed to the position of trustee on Local Union 50’s executive board in January 2011.  At the time of his appointment, he did not have full-time work under the local union’s jurisdiction.[2]  However, in late March 2011, Archer was hired from the local union referral list by Bechtel, driving a forklift on a 5-day, 50-hour weekly schedule at the Prairie States Energy Campus.  The Bechtel job was one of the highest paid positions under the local union’s jurisdiction, with a straight-time hourly wage of $30.03, health & welfare of $9.05 per hour, pension at $36 per day, and other benefits.

            According to candidate Conner, he arranged a meeting with Alexander and Archer on Saturday, March 26 in Litchfield, Illinois, which he said was about half-way between Decatur and Belleville.  Conner said the purpose of the meeting was to discuss the website, Conner’s ideas for what the site should contain, and Archer’s experience and ability building sites.  Conner said Archer agreed at that meeting to produce a website highlighting the Gegare slate candidates for Central region vice president.

            Alexander corroborated Conner’s evidence that he and Archer met Conner in Litchfield on March 26.  However, Alexander said that the purpose of the meeting was to discuss a Gegare campaign event to take place on April 2 in St. Louis.  Alexander denied that the website was discussed in his presence.[3]

            In contrast to Conner and Alexander, Archer denied traveling to Litchfield with Alexander and denied meeting with Conner and Alexander there.  Instead, he told our investigator that the first time he met or even spoke with Conner was a week later, on Saturday, April 2, 2011 at a Gegare campaign “meet and greet” at the Crowne Plaza hotel near the St. Louis airport.[4]  Archer stated that he spoke with Alexander on occasion prior to the April 2 campaign event and asked Alexander how he (Archer) could assist the Gegare campaign.  According to Archer, Alexander suggested that he offer his website services.  Acting on this suggestion, Archer told our investigator that he prepared the outline of a website to show to Conner at the April 2 event, even though he had never met or spoken with Conner and did not know that the website was anything Conner might need.  He said he brought his laptop computer to the Crowne Plaza and, after being introduced to Conner, showed the outline to him.

            Conner agreed that Archer showed him the website outline at the Crowne Plaza meet and greet, but said it was the follow-up from the meeting he, Alexander and Archer had in Litchfield the previous Saturday.  Conner was enthusiastic about what Archer showed him and asked when the website incorporating the outline’s ideas could be completed.  Archer, who had just started work with Bechtel at the Prairie States campus the previous week, was working 10-hour days, leaving little time in the evenings to spend on the website.

            Hearing this, Conner spoke with Bob Triplett, at the time the principal officer of Local Union 50.[5]  According to Triplett, Conner asked whether Triplett could get Archer off the Bechtel job so that he could work on the website.  Triplett told Conner that the job Archer had was a good one and that he was making a high wage after having been out of work for awhile.   Triplett did not see it in Archer’s interests to get him an unpaid leave of absence from Bechtel to work on a website.  According to Triplett, Conner then asked if Triplett could bring Archer on as a business agent for the local union so that he would have time during the day to work on the website.  Triplett demurred, telling Conner that he would not hire Archer as a business agent.[6]  Asked about Triplett’s evidence on this point, Conner denied that he spoke with Triplett about hiring Archer. 

            Archer worked another week for Bechtel, until on or about April 8, 2011, and then took an unpaid leave of absence.  Darrell Koderhandt and Aaron Reynolds, local union members who also worked at Bechtel, said that Archer told them and others employed there that he had been asked to construct a website for candidates running for vice president in the International election.  They also said that he put in for a leave of absence from Bechtel in early April to work on the website and never returned to the job.

            On April 11, President Triplett resigned his union office and retired from the local union, and Alexander was elevated by executive board action from secretary-treasurer to president and principal officer during a specially called meeting that evening.[7]  On April 18, 2011, Archer began working for the local union as a full-time business agent.  He had no previous experience as a business agent.

            When Archer arrived for his first day of work, office manager Mary Ferguson asked Alexander which contracts Archer would be handling so that she and office clerical Dani Barnett could refer callers to him.  According to Ferguson, Alexander replied that Archer would “not be taking calls right now.”  In the three weeks that followed, Ferguson and Barnett said that they did not refer callers to Archer because they were given no instructions as to which contracts he was responsible for.  Ferguson told our investigator that she heard Archer discuss the website on several occasions in the union hall during office hours.  On one such occasion, she heard Alexander ask him how work on the website was progressing; according to Ferguson, Archer replied that it was coming along well.  Barnett told our investigator that she asked Archer on April 26 if he was available to attend a pre-job meeting[8] on April 28.  According to Barnett, Archer said he could not attend the meeting because he had to finish the website that week.

            Archer denied that he worked on the website in the union hall during work hours.  He said that he spent his first two weeks on the job becoming familiar with the union contracts he would be responsible for administering.  The first week of work for the union was April 18 through 21;[9] Alexander was the only other business agent in the office that week.  During Archer’s second week, Archer was the only business agent present at the union hall, as Triplett had retired, Pat Nichols was on medical leave, and Alexander was on vacation.  During that week, Ferguson and Barnett said that Archer remained in his upstairs office at the hall and took no phone calls from members. 

            Nichols returned from medical leave on Tuesday, May 3, and began sorting through and dealing with the work that had accumulated since February 28, when his leave commenced.[10] Alexander told him on his return to work to take Archer with him to any meeting he attended.  Nichols did so.  During that week, Nichols went into Archer’s office many times to discuss issues with him, including the meetings Nichols had to attend and the business to be handled at those meetings.  Nichols reported that he witnessed Archer working on the website on most occasions when he entered Archer’s office.  According to Nichols, Archer did not attempt to hide the work he was doing by turning his computer away from Nichols or minimizing the screen he was working on.

            During their many discussions that week, Nichols told Archer that Conner had called Nichols the previous week to inquire about the status of the website.  According to Nichols, Conner told him that he wanted to report on the status of the website project during an upcoming conference call scheduled with Gegare and other candidates.  Nichols said he told Conner that he knew nothing about the status of the site, that he was off work on medical leave, and that Conner should contact Archer or Alexander about it.  According to Nichols, Archer was surprised that Conner contacted Nichols about the website, as Archer said that Conner had Archer’s contact information.  Conner denied to our investigator that he had the phone call about the website that Nichols described.

            On Monday, May 9, Nichols, Archer and newly hired business agent Mark Beil[11] returned to the office after a meeting at an employer Nichols was responsible for servicing.  Archer and Beil went into Archer’s office and had a phone conversation with Conner on Archer’s speakerphone.  Nichols entered Archer’s office and listened to the conversation.  He told our investigator that Conner told Archer and Beil that he and the other candidates were very pleased with the website.  When the phone call ended, Archer told Beil and Nichols that he was happy that Conner and the other candidates were pleased with the website.  He said he believed that building the site put a “feather” in Local Union 50’s “cap.”  At this statement, Nichols said that Beil jokingly chided Archer that “you’re going to have Hoffa down here on your ass.”  According to Nichols, Archer replied with bravado, “Fuck Hoffa.  Let his ass come down here, that lawyer son of a bitch.  He’s just living on his daddy’s name.”  Nichols said he got up and left Archer’s office at this statement, saying nothing.  Archer denied to our investigator that he had the phone conversation with Conner, that he said that building the website put a feather in the local union’s cap, and that he said anything disparaging about Hoffa. 

            On Tuesday, May 10, Nichols took Archer to several construction sites in East St. Louis.  They rode together in Nichols’ truck for several hours, during which Archer repeated that he was pleased that Conner was happy with the website and that building it was a feather in the local union’s cap.  Nichols said he did not reply to these comments.  Archer denied making them.

            The website Archer built is sited at http://freds2011team.com, and is listed on the main Gegare website under “Important Links” as “FRED2011 Central Region Vice President Candidates.”    The site Archer constructed is a multi-page, static brochure using a standard three-column layout with header and footer and built from a template using off-the-shelf creation software.[12]  Artwork and graphics are stock and not custom.  The site contains no dynamic content (i.e., content generated at the time a page loads), except for a flash calendar function that is used for only one event.  The style sheets used for setting colors and fonts are the defaults supplied by the creation software. 

            The website consists of eight pages: a home page; separate candidate pages for Brad Slawson, Sr., Fred Zuckerman, Jerry Conner, and Tony Jones; a “volunteer to help” page that has no content; a “contact us” page listing Gegare and the four Central region candidates, their photos, and their email addresses; and a “resources” page that includes a pdf of a Gegare campaign flyer, a pdf of the Election Supervisor’s Notice to Employers concerning members’ right to campaign in employer parking lots,[13] and a summary of members’ rights to campaign.[14]  The footer on each page contains the following disclaimer: “This site is ran,[15] owned, maintained and operated solely by the domain holder during said holder’s personal, free time.  Any problems, trouble or comments regarding this site should be made to: webmaster@freds2011team.com.” Nearly all of the content and photos are copied from the Gegare site.

            Our survey of the commercial market for website construction showed a price range of $150 to $250 per page for a static brochure of the type at issue here.  If hired on an hourly basis, construction of the site would be expected to consume 30 to 40 hours, including customer meetings and revisions based on feedback, at an hourly rate ranging from $50 to $75.  Using these metrics, the site Archer constructed would likely have cost Conner between $1,200 and $2,000 if charged by the page and between $1,500 and $3,000 if charged by the hour.

The membership meeting.

            Local Union 50 conducts a membership meeting on the third Wednesday of each month from September through May.  The protests alleged that Conner made a campaign address to the regular monthly meeting held May 18, 2011 and presented a video about the Gegare campaign.

            Investigation showed that the local union executive board met at 6 p.m. on May 18.  President Alexander opened the meeting with a request for a motion to approve an expenditure for pizza and beverage for that night’s membership meeting.  According to protestor Nichols, Alexander said that Jerry Conner would be making a presentation at the meeting and he wanted to have refreshments for the presentation.  Local union trustee Steven Bradley, Jr., also present at the executive board meeting, corroborated Nichols’ evidence on this point.  The motion was made and approved. 

            Alexander disputed that he requested the refreshments because of Conner’s attendance at the meeting.  Alexander told our investigator that he asked that the cost of refreshments be approved because the May meeting was the last before the summer break, when no meetings are held, and that the local union had often served refreshments at the May meeting.  The minutes of the May 18, 2011 executive board meeting corroborated the reason Alexander identified for the purchase.[16]  The local union also produced minutes showing that refreshments had been provided at general membership meetings in the past.  Alexander produced these minutes to show a historic pattern of providing refreshments at certain membership meetings and that the May 2011 meeting fit that pattern.  The minutes showed that refreshments were supplied at September[17] and December[18] meetings in past years.  However, no evidence was presented that food and refreshments had ever been served at a general membership meeting held in May, prior to the one at issue here.

            The May 18 membership meeting began at 7:30 that evening.  Some 45 to 55 members attended.  According to protestor Nichols, Alexander introduced Conner at the start of the meeting and then turned to the meeting’s regular business.  As that business was winding up, pizza, beer and soda were delivered from Fortel’s Pizza Den, a local chain.  At about this point, Alexander addressed the membership about Conner.  He stated he had known Conner for some time, that Conner was a candidate for IBT Central region vice president, and that his election to that position would be good for Local Union 50 because Conner would act in the local union’s best interests.  Alexander then announced that Conner would give a presentation that would last twenty to thirty minutes.  He told the members present that they needed to hold off on the pizza and beverages until Conner had completed his presentation.  A motion was then made and approved to adjourn the meeting.

            Nichols stated further that immediately following adjournment, Conner and Archer inserted a DVD into a laptop computer wired to a projector, and a Gegare campaign video was projected onto the assembly room wall for those present to view.  The video lasted about 30 minutes, during which the pizza remained uneaten.  At the conclusion of the video, Conner conducted a brief question and answer session.  Members were then permitted to enjoy the pizza and beverages.  Available for distribution as the members ate were DVDs, stickers, buttons and other Gegare slate campaign material.

            Mary Ferguson, a member employed as the local union office manager, was present at the general membership meeting.  She corroborated Nichols’ account.  Dani Barnett, a member employed as an office clerical by the local union, also was present; she too corroborated Nichols’s account.  Trustee Steve Bradley, Jr., stated that Alexander introduced Conner during the meeting, stated that he knew Conner well and that Conner would serve Local Union 50’s interests if he was elected as IBT vice president on the Gegare slate, and that Conner would make a twenty to thirty minute presentation on the campaign.  According to Bradley, Alexander announced that “everyone needs to hold off on the refreshments (pizza and beer) until after the presentation about Fred Gegare was over.”  Member Rick Wann, also present, said that Alexander told the members to wait until Conner’s presentation was finished before having the pizza and beer.  Member Dale Koderhandt said that Alexander announced that there was pizza and beer for everyone “but we had to wait until after the presentation by Jerry Conner before anyone could have any.”  Member Aaron Reynolds said that Alexander told the membership that the pizza and beer was for after Conner’s presentation.  Member Earl Quirin said that the pizza and beer was served after Conner’s presentation.

            Jerry Conner acknowledged that he was present for the entire membership meeting and that the pizza was delivered during his video presentation, which was shown after the meeting adjourned.  He said he did not recall that Alexander said anything about waiting until after Conner’s presentation before eating the pizza or drinking the beer.  Conner acknowledged during the interview with our investigator that campaigning at a membership meeting violated the Rules but stated he was unaware of that prohibition at the time he attended the Local Union 50 meeting.

            Alexander denied that he introduced Conner during the membership meeting.  He also denied that the pizza was delivered during the meeting, stating that it arrived after the meeting adjourned.  Finally, he denied that he told the members that they could not have the pizza and beer until after Conner had finished.  Although Alexander acknowledged that no one had any of the refreshments during Conner’s presentation, he attributed this fact to his membership’s general polite nature rather than any instruction he gave them. 

            Investigation found that no advance written notice was given to any candidate – Conner included – that campaigning would be permitted during the May 18 membership meeting of Local Union 50.

Analysis

            Article VII, Section 12(c) prohibits use of union facilities and personnel “to assist in campaigning unless the union is reimbursed at fair market value for such assistance and unless all candidates are provided equal access to such assistance and are notified in advance, in writing, of the availability of such assistance.”  Article XI, Section 1(b)(3) prohibits a union from contributing “anything of value” to a candidate, “where the purpose, object or foreseeable effect of the contribution is to influence, positively or negatively, the election of a candidate.”  The same provision prohibits a candidate from accepting or using any such contribution, which the provision defines as extending “beyond strictly monetary contributions made by a labor organization and include[s] contributions and use of the organization’s … facilities and personnel.” 

            We find that Marc Archer constructed the website sited at http://freds2011team.com on union-paid time at Local Union 50’s hall during the period April 18 through May 10, 2011 and that he did so with the knowledge and support of Scott Alexander, the local union’s principal officer.  We further find that Jerry Conner knew and in fact intended that Archer would provide the service to his campaign and the campaigns of other candidates on the Gegare slate on union-paid time.  Accordingly, Archer and Alexander violated the Rules by using union resources to benefit a candidate, and Conner violated the Rules by soliciting and accepting that benefit.  Accordingly, we GRANT this aspect of the protests.

            In reaching these conclusions, we credit Ferguson and Barnett, who stated that Archer was given no contracts to administer during the first two weeks of his hire as business agent, and who overheard discussion in the union hall of Archer’s ongoing work on the website.  We credit Barnett, who said that Archer said he was unavailable to attend a pre-job meeting because he needed to complete the website.  We credit Nichols, who observed Archer working on the website in his office during regular office hours and who heard Archer discuss the site with Conner in his office on the union-provided speakerphone.  We credit Triplett, who stated that Conner approached him at the April 2 Gegare meet and greet and requested that Triplett hire Archer as a business agent so that he would have time to devote to the website project.  We conclude that, with Triplett’s resignation on April 11 and the elevation of Alexander to the position of principal officer that same date, the door was open to hire Archer as business agent, which occurred effective the following Monday.  We further conclude that Alexander’s decision not to assign any contracts to Archer was to permit him unencumbered opportunity to work on the website project during his initial period as a business agent.

            We also conclude that Archer’s job with Bechtel left him too little time on evenings and weekends to devote to the website project, causing him to take unpaid leave from Bechtel so that he could work on it.  We do not credit Archer’s disclaimer in the footer on each page of the website that the site was run by him on his “personal, free time.”  We find that Archer would not have taken unpaid leave from a job that paid him a gross weekly wage in excess of $1,650 unless he needed that time to build the website.

            Archer’s claims generally do not withstand even cursory scrutiny.  Thus, we do not credit his claim that he did not attend the Litchfield meeting that both Conner and Alexander stated he attended.  Similarly, we do not credit his assertion that he prepared a website outline on his own for presentation at the April 2 meet and greet, without request from Conner, on the potential that Conner, a man he claimed never to have met, might be interested in the project.  Finally, we do not credit his claim that he constructed the website on personal time following his hiring as local union business agent, when the hours of that job were similar to the hours of the Bechtel job he said were too much to permit him to complete the project promptly.

            For these reasons, we also do not credit Alexander’s claims that Archer did not work on the website project during regular office hours. 

            Finally, we do not credit Conner’s claim that he was ignorant of what hours during the day Archer was devoting to the project.  We find that Conner knew that Archer would be permitted to work on the project during regular office hours following his hiring as a business agent and indeed that Conner solicited such an arrangement from then-president Triplett.

            Under these circumstances, we find that Archer’s work on the website during union-paid time violated the Rules, that Alexander’s encouragement of that work also violated the Rules, that Conner’s solicitation and acceptance of the work violated the Rules, and that all of these violations were willful.

            Turning to Conner’s campaigning at the membership meeting, Article VII, Section 5(a)(3) requires local unions that permit campaigning during membership meetings to give advance written notice of the campaigning opportunity.  See also, Article VII, Section 12(c).  Otherwise, campaigning at union meetings is prohibited.  Local Union 50 violated these provisions by permitting Conner to make a campaign presentation during the May 18, 2011 membership meeting.  Alexander also violated the Rules by making a statement supporting Conner’s candidacy and that of Gegare during the same meeting.  Smith, 2006 ESD 395 (November 12, 2006), appeal dismissed, 06 EAM 78 (December 7, 2006).

            Finally, we find that Local Union 50 provided pizza and beverage for this meeting because of Conner’s campaign appearance at it.  No history was established of providing food and refreshments at May meetings; the only history proven was that such refreshments were provided at September meetings (after a summer break in meetings or to honor retiring members) and December meetings (to celebrate year-end holidays).  Although the May 18 executive board minutes at which the food expenditure was approved for that night’s general membership meeting showed that the purpose for the refreshments was because of the impending summer break in meetings, the minutes were contradicted by Nichols and Bradley, who said that Alexander asked for the expenditure because of Conner’s appearance at the meeting that night.  We credit Nichols and Bradley; further, we find that the minutes were prepared by recording secretary Archer, whom we do not credit on this or any other contested point in this case.  We also find that Alexander announced that members could not consume the refreshments until after Conner completed his presentation.  The purpose of this announcement, we find, was to keep members in the meeting with the promise of free albeit cold pizza in order to expose them to Conner’s campaign message. 

            Accordingly, we GRANT this aspect of the protests as well.

Remedy

When the Election Supervisor determines that the Rules have been violated, he “may take whatever remedial action is deemed appropriate.” Article XIII, Section 4. In fashioning the appropriate remedy, the Election Supervisor views the nature and seriousness of the violation as well as its potential for interfering with the election process.

We order Archer, Alexander and Local Union 50 to cease and desist from using union resources to support or oppose the candidacy of any member or slate seeking IBT office.  We also order Conner to cease and desist from soliciting and accepting union resources to support his candidacy and those of other candidates with whom he is aligned. 

In particular, we order Archer not to provide any website services to Conner or any other candidates on the Gegare slate during union-paid time. 

We order Alexander not to permit or encourage any employee of Local Union 50 to provide any campaign assistance to any candidate for International office on union-paid time.  In addition, except as ordered below, we order Alexander not to make any campaign-related statement during any meeting of the local union through the date that the counting of ballots in the International officers election is completed.  Finally, except as ordered below, we order Alexander not to permit any campaign activity at any meeting of the local union, unless all candidates are given advance written notice of the opportunity to campaign at such meeting(s).

We order Conner not to solicit or accept support for his candidacy or those of other candidates with whom he is aligned where that support is provided through use of union resources.  We further order Conner not to make any campaign statement or engage in any campaign activity during a meeting of any union body, unless all candidates have been given advance written notice of the opportunity to campaign at that meeting.

We further order Archer and Alexander to pay fines of $500 each, and Connor to pay a fine of $1,000 to the Office of the Election Supervisor (“OES”) as a consequence of their willful violations of the Rules.  Such payments shall be made within two days of receipt of this decision, and shall be paid solely from each person’s personal funds.  Each person shall submit an affidavit to OES stating that the fine to OES is paid solely from personal funds, that no other person, IBT member, candidate, slate, or campaign has transferred or contributed any funds to him for the purpose of paying all or part of the fine, and that he will refuse any such offer, transfer, or contribution. 

We further order Local Union 50 to post the notice attached to this decision on all worksite bulletin boards under the local union’s jurisdiction.  The notice shall remain posted through November 30, 2011.  The purpose of the notice is to educate the members of the local union of the Rules’ requirements, to notify them that certain of their local union’s officers and business agents willfully violated the Rules, and to inform them that their local union cannot and does not support any candidate or slate of candidates for International office.  A widely posted notice will provide a deterrent to further misuse of union-provided resources to campaign.  This notice must be posted within two working days of the date this decision issues.  Within three working days thereafter, Alexander must file an affidavit of compliance with our office attesting that the notice was posted as required.  Once posted, no notice may be defaced or covered up and must be maintained for the posting period.  Notices that are defaced or removed must be replaced promptly.

The notice does not, however, undo the benefit Conner (and the Gegare slate) obtained from the union-financed construction of the website.  Such support requires two additional remedies, one remedy addressed to the value of the services, the other addressed to the campaign message itself.  We find that the commercially reasonable value of the services that Archer provided in constructing the website is $2,500.  We direct the Gegare campaign to pay that sum to Local Union 50 within two working days of this decision. 

With respect to the campaign message that Conner and the Gegare slate received through improper use of union resources and improper campaigning at the May general membership meeting, we find that the best tool to level the playing field between the campaign of Conner and the Gegare slate and other candidates for International office is to require Local Union 50 and the Gegare slate to pay the expenses of one mailing to all members of Local Union 50 from the Hoffa-Hall 2011 slate and one mailing to all members of Local Union 50 from the Pope campaign.  We so order. 

            The remedial mailing we order here is available to the campaigns identified.  It is not available to Conner or any other candidate on the Gegare slate or the Gegare slate itself.  Notice of intention to access the remedy ordered here may be given at any time but no later than September 1, 2011 by email to Local Union 50 with copy to our office.  The mailing may be completed at any time but no later than October 10, 2011. 

The expense for which Local Union 50 and the Gegare slate is liable under this remedy is the cost of #10 envelopes, mailing labels or address-labeling process, paper and printing (including plate-making) for a one-sheet, two-sided flyer printed on white paper in black ink, and first class pre-sort postage.  Neither Local Union 50 nor the Gegare slate is responsible for artwork or layout expense associated with the mailing.  If the candidate or slate accessing the remedy seeks to use other than white paper and/or ink in addition to or instead of black, the incremental cost, if any, of such enhancements is the responsibility of that candidate or slate and not Local Union 50 or the Gegare slate.  Local Union 50 shall supply the address list of its full membership (current within 30 days of the date the mailing is to take place) to the mail house designated by the candidate or slate accessing this remedy.  Local Union 50 shall provide such guarantee of payment as the designated mail house shall reasonably require and shall do so in a time that will not delay the mailing.  The cost of this remedy shall be divided equally between Local Union 50 and the Gegare slate.

We extend the remedial mailing to the campaigns identified above because Conner, although a candidate for Central region vice president, expressly promoted the candidacy of Gegare for IBT General President.  Accordingly, Hoffa-Hall 2011 and Pope were adversely affected by Conner’s improper campaigning, and by Alexander’s endorsement of Conner and Gegare from the podium during the meeting. 

Finally, we order Local Union 50 to permit the Hoffa-Hall 2011 campaign and the Pope campaign each to address the local union membership meeting to be held on Wednesday, September 21, 2011 for a period not to exceed 30 minutes.  The purpose of this remedy is to level the playing field between the Gegare campaign and the other campaigns.  Accordingly, this remedy is not available to the Gegare campaign or any candidate aligned with it.  Either of the campaigns entitled to this remedy may access it by giving email notice to Local Union 50, the other campaign, and our office no later than Friday, September 16, 2011.  The notice shall indicate the campaign’s intention to be present at the September 21 meeting and shall identify the IBT member who will appear on its behalf.  If both campaigns entitled to this remedy access it, a lottery will be conducted to determine which campaign will present first.  Any presentation may include video.  Local Union 50 shall provide projection and audio equipment substantially the same as it provided to Conner on May 18 and shall cooperate with requests for information from any campaign concerning the capabilities of that equipment.  Each campaign shall be entitled to distribute campaign literature and materials during the meeting.  The local union meeting shall commence promptly at the scheduled starting time and shall conclude the regular business of its meeting within twenty minutes thereafter, at which point the campaign presentation of each campaign accessing the remedy shall begin.  Alexander shall introduce the campaign portion of the meeting with the following statement:

Under the Election Rules, campaigning at local union meetings is not allowed unless all candidates are given advance written notice that campaigning will be permitted.  At the May 18, 2011 general membership meeting, without advance written notice to all candidates, I permitted a candidate for International office on the Gegare slate to make a campaign presentation.  My action violated the Election Rules because local unions cannot under the Rules endorse any candidate.  Local Union 50 does not endorse the Gegare slate.  To remedy the violation that I committed, the Election Supervisor has ordered Local Union 50 to permit the other candidates to make a campaign presentation. 

            Finally, Local Union 50 shall at its expense provide pizza and beverage from Fortel’s Pizza Den in the same quantity as was provided at the May 18, 2011 meeting and shall arrange for it to be delivered fifteen minutes before the meeting is scheduled to commence.  Members shall not be prohibited from consuming the refreshments during the meeting.

            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.