OFFICE OF THE ELECTION SUPERVISOR
for the
INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS
IN RE: TEAMSTER POWER, ) Protest Decision 2021 ESD 166
) Issued: October 26, 2021
Protestor. ) OES Case No. P-195-102221-MW
____________________________________)
Teamster Power, a slate of candidates for International office, 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 the O'Brien-Zuckerman 2021 slate and Local Union 299 used employer resources to pose and take a campaign photo, in violation of the Rules.
Election Supervisor representative Joe Childers investigated this protest.
Findings of Fact and Analysis
DHL employs members of Local Union 299 at its distribution hub near Detroit Metropolitan Airport. On Friday, October 22, 2021, Kevin Moore visited the worksite to campaign. He asked several members to pose for a photo supporting the O'Brien-Zuckerman 2021 slate. More than 25 uniformed DHL employees agreed, with several holding campaign placards. The digital properties of the photo show it was taken at 7:55 a.m. The workday commenced at 8:00 a.m. with a pre-shift meeting with management. As such, the members were off-duty when the photo was taken.
The photo was posed outdoors at the hub, on the concrete of the otherwise vacant loading dock, which is adjacent to the asphalt parking lot where members park their vehicles. The protestor asserted that the concrete is a work area where campaigning is prohibited. Indeed, the loading dock is a work area when work is being performed during work time. However, this photo was snapped before the workday, in a vacant space where no work was being performed.
Finding no Rules violation, we DENY this 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 166
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
Fred Zuckerman
fredzuckerman@aol.com
Ken Paff
Teamsters for a Democratic Union
ken@tdu.org
Scott Jenkins
scott@oz2021.com
Teamsters Local Union 299
Kevin Moore
kmoore@teamsterslocal299.com
Joe Childers
jchilders@ibtvote.org
Bill Broberg
wbroberg@ibtvote.org
Jeffrey Ellison
EllisonEsq@gmail.com