Protest Decisions

OFFICE OF THE ELECTION SUPERVISOR

for the

INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS

IN RE: ELIGIBILITY OF                          )           Protest Decision 2016 ESD 69

            JEROMY McCOY,                          )           Issued: January 15, 2016

                                                                        )           OES Case No. E-079-010616-FW

            Local Union 70.                                 )                      

____________________________________)

            Marty Frates, member and principal officer of Local Union 70, filed a pre-election 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 Jeromy McCoy is ineligible for nomination as delegate to the IBT convention for alleged failure to maintain 24 consecutive months of good standing.  Specifically, the protest alleged that McCoy was not a member in good standing during the month of March 2014.

            Election Supervisor representative Deborah Schaaf 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.”

The nominations meeting for Local Union 70’s delegates and alternate delegates election was held January 4, 2016.  Therefore, the 24-month period during which candidates must be in continuous good standing in order to be eligible for nomination ran from January 2014 through December 2015.  To verify McCoy’s eligibility during this period, we reviewed TITAN records for dues remitted on his behalf. 

            McCoy is employed by UPS and is on dues check-off.  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 signed a check-off authorization and 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).  Applying this principle, we look to whether the member had net earnings on any day during the month sufficient to fund his total monthly dues obligation.  This examination has led us to find a member eligible where his only earnings for a given month was from holiday pay on a single day.  Eligibility of Hicks, 2005 ESD 30 (December 5, 2005).

            McCoy was disabled and off work commencing December 2013; he returned to work in April 2014.  Although he earned no wages during his disability period, McCoy received some compensation from UPS in the form of sick pay, holiday pay, and vacation pay.  Thus, UPS deducted and remitted dues from compensation it paid him in January 2014.  McCoy had insufficient earnings to fund his dues obligation in February 2014, a fact he remedied by making a timely cash payment of his full dues to the local union on February 28, 2014.  In March 2014, while still off work, McCoy earned no wages from which dues could be deducted.  However, he produced a UPS paycheck stub showing that he was paid vacation pay for a portion of that month.  The stub covered the period commencing March 30, 2014 and showed that McCoy was paid 45 hours of vacation pay.  McCoy’s normal weekly schedule was Monday through Friday, and March 31, 2014 was a Monday.  Therefore, we find that McCoy was paid eight hours of vacation pay for March 31, 2014, a payment that exceeded his monthly dues obligation and would have been sufficient to fund his dues had UPS made the deduction.  Relying on the check-off rule, McCoy did not lose continuous good standing in March 2014.  His dues payment record shows timely deduction and remittance of full monthly dues for the remainder of the eligibility period.

            For these reasons, we find McCoy has maintained continuous good standing for the 24-month eligibility period and is therefore ELIGIBLE to stand for delegate in Local Union 70’s delegates and alternate delegates election.

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, 34^th 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 17^th 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

            2016 ESD 69 

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