OFFICE OF THE ELECTION SUPERVISOR
for the
INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS
IN RE: FRANK HALSTEAD, ) Protest Decision 2016 ESD 246
) Issued: June 16, 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
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.
In Halstead, 2016 ESD 211 (May 11, 2016), we addressed the omission from the list Local Union 572 prepared of a Durham School Services facility where the local union represents a unit comprised of 131 school bus drivers and 85 school bus attendants. We found that 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. We ordered a remedy for that violation, and the local union complied with that remedial order.
We deferred to subsequent decision the alleged failure of Local Union 572 to identify any worksites at which its members employed by the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) work.
On May 11, 2016, the same date our decision with respect to the Durham facility issued, we received from the local union and forwarded to the protestor a list of all LAUSD facilities where local union members may work. The list provided was a url for a page on the employer’s public website. The local union indicated that no site listed on the webpage employed more than three members, nearly all employed one to three members, and some sites occasionally employed one or more but sometimes zero members. Because the number of members at each location was very small and assignments by the employer were in some cases fluid, the local union could not be more specific with the list that was provided. All members employed at LAUSD had employer-provided email addresses that were contained on a list made available for campaigning.
A principal purpose of the requirement that local unions provide accurate and complete worksite lists to candidates requesting them is to provide those candidates and their supporters the opportunity for face-to-face campaigning with members who are employed at those sites. Although the list the local union provided was compiled by the employer and appeared on a publicly accessible webpage, we find that the local union adopted it by reference when forwarding it to our representative in response to this protest. The local union’s lack of knowledge concerning the precise number of members employed at each discrete site and the fact that some sites occasionally had no members working there was communicated to the protestor, and he indicated his receipt of the list and acceptance of the limitations that accompanied it.
On this basis, we deem the portion of this protest concerning LAUSD 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
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
Liz Rosenfeld
Wohlner Kaplon Cutler Halford & Rosenfeld
16501 Ventura Blvd., Suite 304
Encino, CA 91436
erosenfeld@wkclegal.com
Rick Middleton
For Members with Rick Middleton
rmiddleton@teamsters572.org
Lourdes Garcia
Lulu_garcia77@hotmail.com
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.