Protest Decisions

OFFICE OF THE ELECTION SUPERVISOR

for the

INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS

IN RE: ELIGIBILITY OF                          )           Protest Decision 2016 ESD 214

            LYLWYN TORRES,                       )           Issued: May 23, 2016

                                                                        )           OES Case No. E-277-050316-FW    

            Local Union 1932.                             )

____________________________________)                                                                  

Anabel Palazuelos, member Local Union 1932, filed a pre-election protest pursuant to Article XIII, Section 3(b) of the Rules for the 2015-2016 IBT International Union Delegate and Officer Election (“Rules”).  The protest alleged that elected delegate Lylwyn Torres is ineligible to be seated at the IBT convention as an elected delegate from that local union.  Torres also uses the name Ling Esangga. 

Election Supervisor representative Jo Pressler 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 1932 is a newly chartered local union that has been in existence less than 24 months.  Accordingly, the exception to the 24-month rule stated in Article VI, Section 2(e) applies, viz.

In any newly chartered Local Union that has been in existence for less than twenty-four (24) months, the member must be in continuous good standing over that period and must have worked under the Local Union’s jurisdiction for at least half the period ot time since the Local Union was chartered.

            Local Union 1932 is entitled to elect eighteen delegates and four alternate delegates to the IBT convention.  The number of delegate and alternate delegate candidates nominated at the local union’s nominations meeting held January 16, 2016 equaled the number of positions to be elected, and those candidates were declared elected at the close of the nominations meeting.  Torres was elected as a delegate to the IBT convention.

Applying the exception stated in Article VI, Section 2(e), the eligibility period for candidates in this election commenced in May 2015 and ran through December 2015.[1]  To verify Torres’s eligibility during this period, we reviewed dues payment records for dues remitted on her behalf.  Torres was employed by Local Union 1932 during the relevant period, paying her dues by checkoff authorization.  This dues payment history fully satisfied the obligation to make timely payment of dues on a continuous basis; moreover, the continuous employment with the local union satisfied the employment at the craft obligation. 

Accordingly, we find that Torres was eligible for nomination as delegate.

The protest does not contest these essential facts.  Rather, it points to Torres’s dismissal from employment on or about March 1, 2016, and argues that the dismissal has the effect of rendering Torres ineligible to be seated as a delegate because she is no longer a member in good standing.

We disagree.  The eligibility criteria stated in the IBT constitution and adopted with some modification in the Rules point to the signal event of nomination and assess each candidate’s qualifications for nomination against whether he/she satisfied the dues payment and work requirements in the eligibility period that preceded that nominations meeting.  Once a member is both nominated and elected to the position of delegate or alternate delegate, he/she no longer need satisfy the same continuous good standing requirements that were necessary for nomination.  Instead, the elected delegate or alternate delegate need only be a member in good standing at the time he/she serves in that capacity at the convention. Definition 34 of the Rules defines “member in good standing” as “a member who has paid his/her dues through the month prior to the month in question.”  Notably, that definition does not include the employment at the craft requirement to be nominated for the position of delegate or alternate delegate.  Moreover, under the IBT constitution, a member “unemployed in the jurisdiction of the Local Union” may continue his/her membership in good standing for a period of six months following the month in which he/she was last employed merely by paying the required dues.  Article XVIII, Section 6(a).

Torres is presently not employed under the jurisdiction of the local union nor has she been since her termination in March 2016.  Nonetheless, she may remain a member in good standing of Local Union 1932 and take her seat as a delegate to the IBT convention from that union by paying her dues through May 2016.  Eligibility of Curtis, 2016 ESD 183 (April 28, 2016); Eligibility of Perez, 2016 ESD 210 (May 10, 2016).  To register at the Convention as an accredited delegate, Torres will need to establish her good standing through May 2016 by presenting evidence of paid-up status.[2]

For these reasons, we DENY this protest and find Torres currently remains ELIGIBLE to be seated as an elected delegate of Local Union 1932 at the IBT convention, provided she pays her full dues up to and including those for May 2016 prior to her attendance at the IBT convention. 

If Torres does not tender full dues to pay her dues obligation through May 2016, she will not be a member in good standing and will forfeit her delegate seat.  Although all or nearly all members of Local Union 1932 pay their dues by checkoff authorization, an option unavailable to Torres since the date of her termination of employment, the local union is obliged by the IBT constitution to accept direct payment of dues from members. 

Assuming Torres pays her dues so as to retain membership in good standing in the local union, the local union will also be obliged to pay Torres’s convention expenses detailed in our Advisory Regarding Payment of Expenses for Convention Delegates and Alternate Delegates (March 24, 2016)

Any interested party not satisfied with this determination may request a hearing before the Election Appeals Master within three (3) 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 214

DISTRIBUTION LIST (BY EMAIL UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED):