OFFICE OF THE ELECTION SUPERVISOR
for the
INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS
IN RE: FRANK HALSTEAD, ) Protest Decision 2016 ESD 211
) Issued: May 11, 2016
Protestor. ) OES Case Nos. P-275-050116-FW
____________________________________)
Frank Halstead, member and delegate candidate in Local Union 572, 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 the worksite list prepared by the local union was incomplete, in violation of the Rules.
Election Supervisor representative Deborah Schaaf investigated this protest.
Findings of Fact and Analysis
Local Union 572 is entitled to elect twelve delegates and seven alternate delegates. In Halstead, 2016 ESD 166 (April 8, 2016), aff’d, 16 EAM 16 (April 21, 2016), we ordered Local Union 572 to rerun its delegates and alternate delegates election because of serious Rules violations committed by employers and the local union in the original election. Ballots were mailed on May 3, 2016 and are to be counted on May 27, 2016. The Teamsters United 572 slate and the Members with Middleton slate are competing in this election.
Article VII, Section 1(b) grants each delegate candidate, among others, “the right to a current list of all sites, with corresponding addresses, where any and all Union members work.” As we said in Viehland, 2006 ESD 271 (May 23, 2006), aff'd, 06 EAM 47 (June 21, 2006) –
The purpose of the Rules provision granting candidates access to listings of current worksites in a delegate election is to level the playing field between incumbent local union officer candidates and candidates who are rank-and-file members. Where the former group, because of their duties as union officials, should know where members work and can use that knowledge to campaign, rank-and-file challengers, whose most effective campaign technique is face-to-face contact in employee parking lots, must rely on the worksite list the local union provides to determine where potential voters can be found.
The list provided to Halstead did not include the address of a Durham School Services facility where Local Union 572 represents a unit comprised of 131 school bus drivers and 85 school bus attendants. Halstead discovered the existence of this site when campaigning among employees of Durham who work at another location.
The local union provided evidence to our investigator that the omission of the Durham worksite at issue here was inadvertent. It indicated that preparation of the worksite list for the current election cycle began in approximately July 2015. With the assistance of the TITAN operator and office staff, local union employee Carolina Roth compared the worksite list from the prior election cycle with TITAN records for each employer. Where there appeared to be address changes, Roth and the staff updated the addresses after confirming them with the recognition clauses of the most recent, relevant collective bargaining agreements and the responsible business agent(s). In addition, they checked for new locations on demographic reports provided by several larger employers, checking with the business agents and employers to determine if new location codes revealed in those reports had physical addresses, and if they did, these were added to the worksite list. Finally, the local union gave each business agent with responsibility for posting election notices on worksite bulletin boards the lists identifying the locations of those worksite boards. When a business agent corrected or amended that posting list, the new information was transferred to the worksite list. Despite this effort with internal cross-checks, the omission of the Durham location at issue here was not discovered by the local union.
The local union’s failure to include the Durham work location in the worksite list violated the Rules, notwithstanding its assertion that the failure was inadvertent. To remedy this violation, the notice attached to this decision shall be mailed by Local Union 572 by first class mail to all members employed at the Durham location that is the subject of this decision no later than May 13, 2016, and posted on the worksite bulletin board(s) at that location by the same date.[1] Local Union 572 shall provide proof to OES by declaration no later than May 16, 2016 that the mailing and posting were accomplished timely.
In addition, Local Union 572 shall provide list of addresses of members employed at this Durham location to OES no later than May 12, 2016. We will make the list available for the Teamsters United 572 slate to send one campaign mailing to the persons on the list. We will provide the list to a mailhouse designated by Teamsters United 572 on receipt from that vendor of a signed declaration that it will not deliver the list to Teamsters United 572 or any other party or provide it for inspection or copying by any party. Local Union 572 shall be responsible for the expenses and postage of this mailing. The expense for which Local Union 572 is liable under this remedy is the cost of #10 envelopes, mailing labels or address-labeling process, paper and printing for a one-sheet, two-sided flyer printed in color on white paper, and first class postage. Local Union 572 is not responsible for artwork or layout expense associated with the mailing. Local Union 572 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. Local Union 572 shall pay the full amount of the vendor’s invoice for this service; such reimbursement shall be tendered no later than three (3) calendar days after the date on which the invoice is transmitted by email to Liz Rosenfeld, counsel for the Local Union 572.
Protestor Halstead, the Teamsters United 572 slate, and Local Union 572 have indicated their acceptance of this remedy.
The protest also alleged that Local Union 572 failed to identify any worksites at which its members employed by the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) work. We defer this allegation to subsequent decision.
On this basis, we deem this protest RESOLVED.
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
2016 ESD 211
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
Frank Halstead
fwhalstead@hotmail.com
Teamsters Local Union 572
450 E. Carson Plaza Dr.
Carson, CA 90746
info@teamsters572.org
erosenfeld@wkclegal.com
Rick Middleton
For Members with Rick Middleton
rmiddleton@teamsters572.org
Michael Miller
P.O. Box 251673
Los Angeles, CA 90025
miller.michael.j@verizon.net
Deborah Schaaf
1521 Grizzly Gulch
Helena, MT 59601
dschaaf@ibtvote.org
Jeffrey Ellison
214 S. Main Street, Suite 212
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
EllisonEsq@aol.com
Office of the Election Supervisor
for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters
1050 17th Street, N.W., Suite 375
Washington, D.C. 20036
202-429-8683
844-428-8683 Toll Free
202-774-5526 Facsimile
ElectionSupervisor@ibtvote.org
www.ibtvote.org
Richard W. Mark
Election Supervisor
Notice to All LoCAL UNION 572 MEMBERS
EMPLOYED AT DURHAM SCHOOL SERVICES – LELAND NORTON WAY
from the IBT Election Supervisor
The Election Rules require that local union delegate elections be fair, honest, open, and informed. Under the Election Rules, candidates and their supporters are permitted to campaign in employer parking lots where union members park their vehicles for work. The Election Rules require each local union to create and give to candidates who request it a list of all worksites where members of the local union are employed so that candidates may campaign there. The worksite list must be accurate and complete.
The list of worksites Local Union 572 created for this delegates election did not include the Durham School Services – Leland Norton Way location where local union members work. This failure violated the Rules.
The Election Supervisor will not permit any such violations of the Election Rules. The Election Supervisor has ordered that this notice be mailed to all members of Local Union 572 who work at the Durham School Services – Leland Norton Way location and also be posted on the union bulletin board at that location.
The Election Supervisor has issued this decision in Halstead, 2016 ESD 211 (May 11, 2016). You may read this decision at https://www.ibtvote.org/Protest-Decisions/esd2015/2016esd211.
If you make a mistake on your ballot, or lose your ballot, or need any materials which accompanied your ballot, or if you have already voted and wish to change your vote, you may request a duplicate ballot by contacting UniLect Election Services toll-free at 855-240-0363.
Any protest you have regarding your rights under the Rules or any conduct by any person or entity that violates the Rules should be filed with Richard W. Mark, 1050 17th Street, N.W., Suite 375, Washington, D.C. 20036, telephone: 844-428-8683, fax: 202-774-5526, email: electionsupervisor@ibtvote.org.
[1] Although the local union is able to identify and create a mailing list of members employed at the Durham location which was omitted from the worksite list, no comprehensive email list exists for the members who work at that location, ruling out the possibility of that email could be used to deliver the notice.