OFFICE OF THE ELECTION SUPERVISOR
for the
INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS
IN RE: CERTAIN ACCREDITATION ) Protest Decision 2015 ESD 2
PETITIONS OF HOFFA-HALL ) Issued: June 23, 2015
2016 )
__________________________________________)
Pursuant to authority granted under Article I and Article XIII, Section 4, the Election Supervisor conducted an investigation of certain accreditation petitions of Hoffa-Hall 2016.
Election Supervisor representatives Bill Broberg and Jeffrey Ellison investigated this matter.
Findings of Fact
Evidence was presented that Bill Black, Joint Council 43 DRIVE director and supporter of Hoffa-Hall 2016, mailed slate accreditation petitions for union-wide and Central region candidates on the Hoffa-Hall slate to the principal officers of Local Unions 7, 332, and 406 at their local union addresses (Kalamazoo, Flint, and Grand Rapids, respectively). Black mailed the petitions on Monday, June 15, and they were received at each of the identified addresses on Tuesday, June 16. We learned of the mailing on Wednesday, June 17, and commenced our investigation.
Further investigation showed that Black ordered printing of the petitions on June 2, 2015 from a commercial printer and was billed personally for that printing, that the price charged for the printing was commercially reasonable, that Black placed the printing order on personal time, that he used his personal email address to forward to the printer the link for the petitions that appear on the Hoffa-Hall 2016 website, that he mailed the petitions at the US post office on personal time, that he used his personal residence as the return address on the mailing, and that he paid cash for the postal service. Investigation also showed that the recipients at Local Unions 7, 332, and 406 did not request the mailings and did not know they were en route until they arrived.
Black acknowledged to our investigator that he reviewed the instructions that appear on the Hoffa-Hall website about circulating accreditation petitions, the first being “NO UNION RESOURCES MAY BE USED TO PRINT, COPY, CIRCULATE OR RETURN THIS PETITION TO THE HOFFA-HALL CAMPAIGN.” He further acknowledged that it was a mistake to send the petitions to individual addressees at local union halls.
Analysis
Article VII, Section 12(c) prohibits use of union resources to assist in campaigning. Mailing campaign material such as accreditation petitions to individual addressees who work at local union halls makes improper use of those local union addresses to assist in campaigning, where the material transmitted is intended for the addressees’ personal use in advancing the campaign.
In Reyes, 2010 ESD 59 (December 22, 2010), aff’d, 11 EAM 9 (January 11, 2011), we addressed fund-raising appeals made by mail to local union officials at their local union workplaces, holding:
It is firmly established under these provisions that a campaign may not mail, fax, or email campaign materials to a local union except where the campaign expressly requests that the material be placed on the local union's literature table for general distribution and then only if the transmission complies with the requirements of our Advisory on the Use of Literature Tables. As the Election Administrator spelled out in Ostrach & Mandaro, 2000 ESD 29 (October 2, 2000), aff'd, 00 EAM 7 (October 10, 2000):
while a local union's or joint council's officers may have a real interest in campaign materials for candidates, the Rules require that such campaign materials intended for them, rather than the membership as a whole through campaign literature tables, be sent to the officers at their homes or to campaign addresses.
This point is no longer disputable. We note that in this and in previous elections, the Hoffa campaign has itself filed protests against candidates who have sent general campaign communications to local unions without complying with the Literature Table Advisory, and resulting rulings have reaffirmed that campaign materials cannot be addressed for receipt by an individual at the local union address. See Hoffa-Keegel 2011, 2010 ESD 3 (June 9, 2010), aff'd, 10 EAM 2 (July 7, 2010); Hoffa 2006, 2005 ESD 12 (September 30, 2005).
Black’s use of local union addresses to distribute campaign accreditation petitions to known supporters for their use in advancing the campaign made improper use of union resources – the local union addresses – for a campaign purpose. Black’s action on behalf of Hoffa-Hall 2016 violated the Rules.
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. “The Election Supervisor’s discretion in fashioning an appropriate remedy is broad and is entitled to deference.” Hailstone & Martinez, 10 EAM 7 (September 14, 2010).
We order the following remedy:
(1) Black and Hoffa-Hall 2016 shall cease and desist from using union resources, including local union addresses, for campaign purposes (except for the purposes expressly permitted by the Rules, e.g., Article VII, Section 7 related to literature sent to local union halls for distribution on literature tables or bulletin boards or for distribution to the union membership using the local union’s mailing list or email list).
(2) Hoffa-Hall 2016 shall recover from Local Unions 7, 332, and 406 the accreditation petitions Black mailed there and turn them into the Office of the Election Supervisor within seven (7) days of issuance of this decision. Should any such petitions contain signatures, those signatures will not be counted toward accreditation of candidates.
We exercise our discretion to order no further relief, concluding on the facts presented that the violation was curtailed before further harm could result.
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:
Election Appeals Master
c/o Richard W. Mark, Election Supervisor
1050 17th Street, N.W., Suite 375
Washington, D.C. 20036
electionsupervisor@ibtvote.org
(202) 774-5526 fax
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, 1050 17th Street, N.W., Suite 375, Washington, D.C. 20036, all within the time prescribed above. A copy of the protest must accompany the request for hearing.
Richard W. Mark
Election Supervisor
cc: [EAM]
2015 ESD 2
DISTRIBUTION LIST (BY EMAIL UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED):
Bradley T. Raymond, General Counsel
International Brotherhood of Teamsters
25 Louisiana Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20001
braymond@teamster.org
David J. Hoffa
1701 K Street NW, Ste 350
Washington DC 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
Teamsters United
315 Flatbush Avenue, #501
Brooklyn, NY 11217
info@teamstersunited.org
Louie Nikolaidis
350 West 31st Street, Suite 40
New York, NY 10001
lnikolaidis@lcnlaw.com
Julian Gonzalez
350 West 31st Street, Suite 40
New York, NY 10001
jgonzalez@lcnlaw.com
David O’Brien Suetholz
515 Park Avenue
Louisville, KY 45202
dave@unionsidelawyers.com
Bill Black
Teamsters Joint Council 43
2741 Trumbull Ave
Detroit MI 48216
billblackjc43@yahoo.com
Andy Meulman
Teamsters Local Union 7
3330 Miller Road
Kalamazoo, MI49001
ameulman@teamsterslocal7.org
Nina Bugbee
Teamsters Local Union 332
1502 South Dort Hwy
Flint, MI 48503
nina@teamsters332.com
Ron Holzgen
Teamsters Local Union 406
3315 Eastern Ave., SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49508
ronh@teamsters406.com
Bill Broberg
1108 Fincastle Rd
Lexington, KY 40502
wbroberg@ibtvote.org
Jeffrey Ellison
214 S. Main Street, Suite 210
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
EllisonEsq@aol.com