Protest Decisions

OFFICE OF THE ELECTION SUPERVISOR

for the

INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS

IN RE: SAM BUCALO,                               )           Protest Decision 2016 ESD 304

                                                                        )           Issued: October 11, 2016

            Protestor.                                           )           OES Case No. P-370-093016-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 Bucalo was removed from his position as an administrator of the local union DRIVE fund in retaliation for his protected protest activity.

            Election Supervisor representative Dan Walsh investigated this protest.

Findings of Fact and Analysis

The Democrat, Republican, Independent, Voter Education fund (DRIVE) is an IBT-sponsored political action and education initiative supported by voluntary contributions of local union members.  The funds are remitted directly to the IBT, which in turn rebates a portion of the contributions to the local unions from whose members they were contributed.  Each local union DRIVE fund then may be used to support political candidates and voter education in accordance with guidelines promulgated by the IBT.

In accordance with policy, Local Union 100 maintains its DRIVE funds in a bank account separate from other local union funds.  Each check issued from the fund must be signed by two local union officials.  Until September 28, 2016, local union president Dave Webster and Bucalo were the signers on the account.  On that day, Webster appointed Ron Butts, local union vice president, to replace Bucalo as a signer on the account.  Webster advised Bucalo the next day, September 29, that Butts had replaced him and that Bucalo was to turn over all DRIVE-related materials to Butts.

Bucalo alleged that his removal from DRIVE responsibility was retaliation for the protest Bucalo filed in P-369-092616-ME, in which Bucalo asserted that Webster and/or other members of the local union executive board had violated the Rules by posting Hoffa-Hall 2016 pole stickers on union-owned lampposts in violation of the Rules.

Bucalo assumed check-signing responsibility on the DRIVE account when Webster appointed him to the position in or about January 2014, shortly after Webster was installed as local union president.  Thereafter, administration of the local union DRIVE fund, including decisions concerning the political candidates to whom contributions would be directed, was carried out by Webster and Bucalo.  Webster and Bucalo ran for local union office on the same slate in the fall of 2013, but the relationship has suffered since that time and the two now communicate only in writing.

On or before September 26, 2016, Webster prepared a check in the amount of $500 as a political contribution to an Ohio state senator seeking reelection.  He forwarded the check he had signed to Bucalo for Bucalo’s signature; the check was accompanied by a handwritten note listing four reasons for supporting the candidate.  Bucalo returned the check unsigned, with a typed letter dated September 26 listing five reasons why the contribution should not be made.  Two days later, Webster replaced Bucalo with Butts, and Webster and Butts went to the bank that held the DRIVE account to complete new signature cards that would allow Butts to sign checks on the account.  That same day, Webster prepared a new check for the candidate, had Butts sign it, and delivered it to the candidate that evening.  Webster notified Bucalo he had been replaced on the DRIVE account the next day.  The letter did not state the reason for the action, nor did Webster otherwise communicate the reason or his dissatisfaction to Bucalo over Bucalo’s objection to the contribution.

September 26 was the date Bucalo filed the protest over the pole stickers in P-369-092616-ME and the date he returned the unsigned check with his letter questioning the proposed political contribution.  With this protest, Bucalo alleges that his removal from the DRIVE account was because of the protest, which, if proved, may state a violation of the Rules.

We are persuaded on the facts presented that Webster’s decision to replace Bucalo with Butts was because of Bucalo’s letter objecting to the proposed political contribution.  The action Webster took was directly and narrowly related to the DRIVE fund and Bucalo’s response to a specific use of that fund. 

Accordingly, we find no retaliation prohibited by the Rules and DENY this protest.  As we have found no Rules violation, whether Webster had authority under the local union bylaws[1] to remove Bucalo from his position is a question beyond our authority to resolve.

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 304

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