Protest Decisions

OFFICE OF THE ELECTION SUPERVISOR

for the

INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS

IN RE: SAM BUCALO,                               )           Protest Decision 2016 ESD 185

                                                                        )           Issued: May 4, 2016

            Protestor.                                            )           OES Case No. P-132-013116-ME    

____________________________________)                                                                  

Sam Bucalo, member and secretary-treasurer of Local Union 100, 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 opposition candidates campaigned on time paid for by the local union, in violation of the Rules.

            Election Supervisor representative Dan Walsh investigated this protest.

Findings of Fact

Local Union 100 is entitled to election five delegates and two alternate delegates.  Three full slates and one unaffiliated delegate candidate competed for these positions.  The Teamsters United slate was led by protestor Bucalo; the Local 100 Teamsters First slate was comprised of the local union principal officer Dave Webster and was comprised of other officers and business agents; the No More Hoffa slate was a rank-and-file slate.

Bucalo alleged that president Webster and business agents Dave Couch and Brian Sizemore campaigned for delegate on union-paid time on January 29, 2016, at the UPS Sharonville facility, where they were present to count ballots in a steward election.  Bucalo asserted there was no reason other than campaigning for three people from the union to spend more than two hours at UPS counting approximately forty ballots in a steward election.  As further support for his protest, Bucalo alleged these three individuals made derogatory statements to members about him while passing out copies of the union newsletter. 

In addition to the allegations concerning the Sharonville facility, Bucalo alleged that vice president Ron Butts and business agents Gary Abraham and Dave Hibbard campaigned at another UPS facility the same day.  He based this allegation solely on the sign out log maintained by the office manager at the local union, which showed all three individuals at an unspecified UPS location.  Bucalo produced no evidence that these individuals campaigned at UPS, but he asserted they were on paid union time and had no legitimate union business that day at UPS, inferring that they must have been campaigning while there.

The steward election at Sharonville.  Investigation showed with respect to the Sharonville allegations that Webster, Couch and Sizemore were present to count ballots in the steward election.  At the time, Couch was the newly installed business agent for the members employed there, and Sizemore was training him in business agent functions.  Webster was present as the local union president.  Webster told our investigator they counted ballots from 3:30 to about 4:00 p.m.  All three of them were on union time.  Webster said when they first arrived they spoke with member Pat Heiert, who complained about a safety committee requirement that they attend a safety meeting.  Webster said they discussed this matter with a manager for about ten minutes and then proceeded to the steward count.  Webster denied campaigning at UPS and denied passing out copies of the union’s newsletter.  Webster further denied making any negative statements about Bucalo while at UPS for the count.  He admitted placing a stack of about ten copies of the newsletter on a table in the break room where they counted ballots.

Couch started his new business agent job on January 4, 2016.  He told our investigator this was his first steward election, and he asked Webster and Sizemore to go with him.  Sizemore has been his training mentor, and he asked Sizemore to attend and guide him through the counting procedure.  Couch said he asked Webster to attend as well because Webster had taken a call about a week prior to the election in which it was claimed that one of the candidates had his hand in the ballot box.  Couch said he and Sizemore arrived at UPS between 2:30 and 3:00 p.m., and the ballot count was at 3:30 p.m.  When they first arrived, they walked around the building to assess whether supervisors were working union jobs in violation of the contract, a common problem at UPS.  After this walk-around, Couch said they went to the break room for the count.  Couch denied campaigning at UPS or passing out copies of the union newsletter.  Couch admitted having a conversation with steward candidate Brian Farmer about cleaning up some old grievances left by Bucalo, but he did not think he mentioned Bucalo’s name.  Couch heard a discussion between Sizemore and member Kyle Bramlege about something Bramlege posted on Facebook about union officials.

Sizemore told our investigator he was at UPS Sharonville to count steward ballots with Couch and Webster.  He arrived about 3:00 p.m. and the count started at 3:30 p.m.  Before the count he and Couch walked around the building to stop supervisors from working union jobs.  He did not campaign while at the building and did not pass out the union newsletter.  He did not hear anyone say anything about Bucalo.  Sizemore stated he spoke with a union member named Bramlege about a Facebook post Bramlege made criticizing persons at the union hall.  He told Bramlege the people at the union hall were doing their jobs and he described their accomplishments. 

Farmer, the UPS employee who won the steward election, told our investigator he had a discussion with president Webster during the count where he asked if Webster was running in the delegates election and, if so, with whom.  Farmer said that Webster replied that he was running for delegate and that Bucalo and Mike Simonds were not on his slate.  According to Farmer, Webster told him that “Bucalo doesn’t do anything anyway and gives us all a bad name.”  Webster denied this discussion with Farmer at the count.  Both Couch and Sizemore stated they did not hear a conversation between Webster and Farmer about the delegate election.  Webster told our investigator that he had a phone conversation with Farmer about his plans for the delegate election approximately at the time he appointed Couch as business agent.

Patrick Heiert, another UPS employee, told our investigator he overhead a discussion between Sizemore that Kyle Bramlege about a Facebook posting Bramlege made that stated words to the effect that “our elected officials need to go.”  According to Heiert, Sizemore asked Bramlege why he was putting out stuff like that, saying that the “only guy who has to go is Sam [Bucalo].”  Sizemore told our investigator he had heard that Bramlege made the Facebook post; when he by chance met Bramlege at the count, he told him that the people working at the union hall were doing their jobs, spelling out in particular all the things he had done.  Sizemore said he did not mention Bucalo’s name in this conversation, and was not aware that anyone said anything about Bucalo when they were at Sharonville.  Bramlege did not return our investigator’s phone calls.

The activity of Butts, Abraham, and Hibbard.  The log maintained at the local union hall showed that Ron Butts, Gary Abraham, and Dave Hibbard were signed out to UPS on January 29; the signout did not specify at which of the four UPS locations under the local union’s jurisdiction the men were said to be.  Bucalo contends they were at a UPS location to campaign on union-paid time; he produced no other evidence and identified no witnesses to substantiate this allegation. 

Butts told our investigator he went to Sharonville at about 4:00 p.m. on January 29 to speak with a supervisor in the feeder department.  When he arrived, the supervisor was not present, so Butts said he left.  Butts said he was at the facility ten minutes or less and denied campaigning, distributing union newsletters, or seeing anyone else campaign while he was there.

Abraham and Hibbard left the hall together, intending to go to Sharonville to watch the count.  Once they left, however, they decided to get something to eat instead; they never went to UPS that day.

Analysis

Under Article VII, Section 12(b), all union officials “retain the right to participate in campaign activities.”  However, “officers and employees (and other members) of the Union may not campaign on time that is paid for by the Union.  Campaigning incidental to regular Union business is not, however, a violation of this section.”

We find no credible evidence that Webster, Sizemore, Couch, or Butts engaged in any campaign activity governed by the Rules while at the UPS Sharonville facility on January 29, 2016. 

With respect to Webster, we hold that laying a stack of local union newsletters on a table in the break room is not campaign activity.  Further, we credit Webster’s denial of the allegation that he discussed his delegate candidacy and the delegate election with Farmer at the count.  Even were we to credit Farmer’s assertion, however, we would find that the discussion, initiated by Farmer, was brief in duration did not distract any person, Webster included, from his assigned duties.  As such, if we were to credit Farmer’s allegation, which we do not, the conduct of Webster would be incidental and therefore permissible under the Rules.  Finally, we reject the protestor’s claim that Webster’s mere presence at Sharonville constituted prohibited campaign activity.  Webster is the principal officer of the local union and may attend any location he sees fit.  Moreover, he had fielded an allegation of ballot tampering in the steward’s election, and for this reason he acceded to Couch’s request that he attend the count.

With respect to Sizemore, we decline to hold that his discussion with Bramlege concerning Bramlege’s Facebook post constituted campaign activity under the Rules, as the post apparently concerned the performance of local union officers in their elected positions and the need to replace them, which can be accomplished only by an election the Rules do not regulate.  Were Sizemore’s discussion with Bramlege deemed covered by the Rules, we would hold it incidental to his tasks concerning the steward election count, as it was brief in duration and did not distract any person, Sizemore included, from their duties.

No evidence was presented that Couch engaged in any activity that might be construed or misconstrued as campaign activity.

Although Butts was present at Sharonville for approximately ten minutes following the conclusion of the steward election ballot count, he denied engaging in or observing any campaign activity, and there is no evidence to the contrary.

Abraham and Hibbard did not go to a UPS location on January 29, and there is no evidence that they campaigned on union-paid time.

For these reasons, we DENY this protest.

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 185

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