OFFICE OF THE ELECTION SUPERVISOR
for the
INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS
IN RE: ELIGIBILITY OF ) Protest Decision 2021 ESD 41
MICHAEL IBARRA, ) Issued: January 13, 2021
) OES Case No. E-046-010721-FW
Local Union 848. )
____________________________________)
Eric Tate, secretary-treasurer and principal officer of Local Union 848, filed a pre-election protest pursuant to Article XIII, Section 2(b) of the Rules for the 2020-2021 IBT International Union Delegate and Officer Election (“Rules”). The protest alleged that Michael Ibarra is not eligible for nomination in Local Union 848’s delegates and alternate delegates election.
Election Supervisor representative Jeffrey Ellison 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.”
The nominations meeting for Local Union 848’s delegates and alternate delegates election was held January 6, 2021. Therefore, the 24-month period during which candidates must be in continuous good standing to be eligible for nomination ran from January 2019 through December 2020.
Protestor Tate alleges that Ibarra is ineligible for nomination because his membership transferred into Local Union 848 in October 2019, after the eligibility period we are concerned with here commenced. Accordingly, the protest asserts that Ibarra has only 15 consecutive months of good standing with Local Union 848, short of the 24 months necessary to be eligible for nomination.
Generally, the 24 months of good standing must be served with a single local union. However, the IBT constitution and the Rules provide an exception to this rule. Article II, Section 4(a)(4)(d) of the IBT constitution states the following:
To be eligible for election to any office in a Local Union a member who has been involuntarily transferred from one Local Union to another Local Union must have worked at the craft as a member under the jurisdiction of the Local Union from which he has been transferred, and must have been so employed and in continuous good standing on a cumulative basis in both Local Unions for a total of twenty-four (24) consecutive months prior to nomination.
Article VI, Section 2(a) of the Rules declares that the “continuous good standing requirement may be met by compliance with the withdrawal and transfer card provisions of the International Constitution and Local Union bylaws.” Section 2(g) of the same article mirrors the constitutional provision quoted above.
Our decisions have held a transfer to be involuntary – and thus not disqualifying for nomination – where the member must accept the transfer to retain employment in the craft. Chentnik, E5 (September 18, 1995) (member had to transfer in order to retain job); Vasquez, E77 (February 15, 1996) (member’s terminal closed, thus requiring transfer); Pursley & Hogue, 2006 ESD 75 (February 9, 2006) (same). In addition, a transfer will be deemed involuntary where it occurs for greater seniority protection, even if the member had the choice of remaining at the original local in a less desirable position. Jackson, E4 (September 27, 1995), aff’d, 96 EAM 50 (January 3, 1996) (member eligible even though he would not have been laid off because he reasonably believes he would have been but for transfer). The principle underpinning these decisions is that the transfer is involuntary because it is the employer’s action – rather than the member’s – that caused the transfer in local unions.
Although we have construed the cited provisions of the IBT constitution and Rules only in circumstances where the transfer was the result of employer action, the provisions are broadly drafted to include transfers that result from union action as well.
We apply this decisional framework to the facts presented here. Delegate candidate Ibarra, the subject of this protest, is employed by Toyota Logistics Services (TLS) in Long Beach CA and has been for nearly 25 years. TLS members were represented by Local Union 495 until October 2019, when the entire bargaining unit was transferred to Local Union 848. The genesis of this transfer was long in the making. Local Union 495 principal officer Bob Lennox told our investigator that local union leadership experienced difficulty over several years in providing representation that TLS bargaining unit members found satisfactory. A succession of business agents and repeated meetings with bargaining unit members and leaders did not resolve these difficulties, and Lennox reluctantly concluded that the best solution would be to move the TLS bargaining unit to another local union. He arranged a meeting of the bargaining unit with leadership of Local Union 63, a nearby union, to determine if transfer to that union would be a good match. Both the unit membership and Local Union 63 leadership concluded that such a transfer would not serve the long-term interests of either party. Thereafter, Lennox considered a move of the unit to Local Union 848 and discussed this potential with protestor Tate. Lennox said that the matter was put to the bargaining unit members, who were asked to answer yes or no to the statement, “I vote to transfer to Teamsters Local Union 848.” Lennox stated that Local Union 495 elected not to campaign on the question. According to Lennox, Local Union 848 did campaign, and its experience representing two other units of Toyota members was discussed during the campaign. The result of the secret ballot vote was 125 in favor of the transfer and 43 against.
Lennox said that he then met with Tate to negotiate terms of the transfer. Lennox stated that he asked Randy Cammack, president of Joint Council 42, the umbrella organization of which both Local Unions 495 and 848 were members, to attend, although the joint council’s approval was not necessary to effectuate the transfer. The result of negotiations was a transfer agreement between the local unions that moved the TLS unit to Local Union 848. In exchange for receiving the bargaining unit, Local Union 848 agreed to remit one-half of the dues income from the unit to Local Union 495 each month through December 2022. As the result of this agreement, reduced to writing and signed by each principal, the unit was transferred effective October 2019.
Protestor Tate told our investigator that Ibarra advocated for the transfer, initially with a petition circulated among members asking that the unit be moved to Local Union 848 and then by campaigning for a “yes” vote on the secret ballot referendum. Because Ibarra favored the transfer, Tate argues, his move to Local Union 848 was voluntary and, as a result, rendered him ineligible for nomination because he lacks 24 months of continuous good standing with Local Union 848. Tate further states that members who voted “no” on the transfer referendum should be considered involuntary transfers into Local Union 848 because they opposed the move.
Whether or not a member favors or influences a decision by two local unions to move the bargaining unit he works in from one union to the other is not a deciding or even relevant factor in determining whether the transfer was voluntary or involuntary. Here, the decisionmakers were the two local unions, either one of which could have prevented the transfer simply by refusing it. Once the two unions agreed to the transfer, members at the TLS facility in Long Beach were compelled to join the union to which the unit was transferred if they wished to remain Teamsters. Under these circumstances, the decision to transfer the unit was voluntary on the part of the local unions but involuntary from the perspective of the unit members, despite Ibarra’s advocacy for the transfer.
Having concluded Ibarra’s transfer to Local Union 848 was involuntary under the IBT constitution and the Rules, we turn now to his dues payment history, which shows that he maintained continuous good standing on a cumulative basis with the two local unions for the entirety of the 24-month eligibility period.
Accordingly, we find Ibarra ELIGIBLE for nomination as delegate and DENY the 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. Any party requesting a hearing must comply with the requirements of Article XIII, Section 2(i). All parties are reminded that, absent extraordinary circumstances, no party may rely in any such appeal upon evidence that was not presented to the Office of the Election Supervisor. Requests for a hearing shall be made in writing, shall specify the basis for the appeal, and shall be served upon:
Barbara Jones
Election Appeals Master
IBTappealsmaster@bracewell.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, all within the time prescribed above. Service may be accomplished by email, using the “reply all” function on the email by which the party received this decision. A copy of the protest must accompany the request for hearing.
Richard W. Mark
Election Supervisor
cc: Barbara Jones
2021 ESD 41
DISTRIBUTION LIST (BY EMAIL UNLESS NOTED):
Bradley T. Raymond, General Counsel
International Brotherhood of Teamsters
braymond@teamster.org
Edward Gleason
egleason@gleasonlawdc.com
Patrick Szymanski
szymanskip@me.com
Will Bloom
wbloom@dsgchicago.com
Tom Geoghegan
tgeoghegan@dsgchicago.com
Rob Colone
rmcolone@hotmail.com
Barbara Harvey
blmharvey@sbcglobal.net
Kevin Moore
Mooregp2021@gmail.com
F.C. “Chris” Silvera
fitzverity@aol.com
Fred Zuckerman
fredzuckerman@aol.com
Ken Paff
Teamsters for a Democratic Union
ken@tdu.org
Eric Tate
Tate32@hotmail.com
Michael Ibarra
Calhunter13@yahoo.com
Michael Miller
Miller.michael.j@verizon.net
Deborah Schaaf
dschaaf@ibtvote.org
Jeffrey Ellison
EllisonEsq@gmail.com