OFFICE OF THE ELECTION SUPERVISOR
for the
INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS
IN RE: ELIGIBILITY OF CHARLES ) Protest Decision 2015 ESD 17
SNOWDEN, JR., ) Issued: August 7, 2015
) OES Case No. E-028-080615-ME
Local Union 250. )
____________________________________)
Dave Nash, member and principal officer of Local Union 250, filed an eligibility protest pursuant to Article XIII, Section 2(b) of the Rules for the 2015-2016 IBT International Union Delegate and Officer Election (“Rules”). The protest alleged that Charles Snowden, Jr. is ineligible for nomination as alternate delegate to the 2016 IBT convention.
Election Supervisor representative Kate Marvin 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.
Local Union 250, a seasonal local union in Pittsburgh, PA, held its nominations meeting on August 4, 2015. Accordingly, the 24 month period during which candidates must be in continuous good standing in order to be eligible for nomination ran from August 2013 through July 2015.
Review of Snowden’s TITAN dues-payment record shows that he was a check-off employee at all relevant times. In February 2014 and again in February 2015, the record shows no dues remitted to the local union by Snowden’s employer. Snowden confirmed to our investigator that he was laid off for the entirety of each month and had no earnings in either month, whether from wages, sick leave benefits, or holiday pay. Well-settled precedent establishes that a member on dues check-off retains his good standing even if his dues were remitted late or not at all by the employer provided he 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); Eligibility of Montes, 2011 ESD 114 (February 16, 2011). However, as Snowden had no such compensation from which dues could be deducted in either month, his remedy if he wished to establish and retain continuous good standing was to pay cash dues to the local union on or before the last business day of each month. Snowden did not do so. As a result, his continuous good standing was interrupted, rendering him ineligible for nomination.
Accordingly, we GRANT the protest and find Snowden INELIGIBLE for nomination as alternate delegate.
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:
Kathleen A. Roberts
Election Appeals Master
JAMS
620 Eighth Avenue, 34th floor
New York, NY 10018
kroberts@jamsadr.com
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: Kathleen A. Roberts
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
Fred Zuckerman
P.O. Box 9493
Louisville, KY 40209
fredzuckerman@aol.com
Dave Nash
3700 S. Waters Street, #160
Pittsburgh, PA 15203
dnash@teamsters250.org
Charles Snowden, Jr.
csnowdenjr@gmail.com
Kate Marvin
1050 17th Street NW, Suite 375
Washington DC 20036
kmarvin@ibtvote.org
John Pegula
1434 Greendale Dr.
Pittsburgh, PA 15239
jpegula@ibtvote.org
Jeffrey Ellison
214 S. Main Street, Suite 210
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
EllisonEsq@aol.com