April 2, 1996
VIA FACSIMILE
Stephen Mack
April 2, 1996
Page 1
Stephen J. Mack, Secretary-Treasurer
Teamsters Local Union 78
492 C Street
Hayward, CA 94541
Fax (510) 889-0865
Tom Gilmartin, Jr., Vice President
International Brotherhood of Teamsters
25 Louisiana Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20001
Fax (202) 624-8964
John F. Murphy, Secretary-Treasurer
Teamsters Local Union 122
650 Beacon Street
Boston, MA 02215
Fax (617) 266-2776
John J. Sullivan, Assoc. General Counsel
International Brotherhood of Teamsters
25 Louisiana Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20001
Fax (202) 624-6884
Paul Alan Levy
Public Citizen Litigation Group
1600 20th Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20009
Fax (202) 588-7795
Robert M. Baptiste
Patrick J. Szymanski
Baptiste & Wilder
1150 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Suite 500
Washington, DC 20036
Fax (202) 223-9677
Stephen Mack
April 2, 1996
Page 1
Re: Election Office Case Nos. P-032-LU245-PNJ
P-058-IBT-EOH
P-074-LU840-EOH
P-094-IBT-EOH
P-185-IBT-EOH
P-277-IBT-EOH
Supplemental Determination on Local Union 78
Gentlemen:
On January 10, 1996, the Election Officer received a request from Stephen J. Mack, secretary-treasurer of Local Union 78, to clarify her decision in Gilmartin, et al., P-032-
Stephen Mack
April 2, 1996
Page 1
LU245-PNJ (January 5, 1996), aff’d, 95 - Elec. App. - 75 (February 6, 1996). Specifically,
Mr. Mack requested that Local Union 78 be removed from the compliance provisions of the order based upon evidence that after Local Union 78 made a contribution to the Real Teamsters Caucus (“RTC”), Mr. Mack personally reimbursed the full amount of the contribution to the local union.
On January 17, 1996, the Election Officer requested additional evidence from Mr. Mack and, based upon the evidence submitted with his January 10 letter, stayed the “remedy ordered
. . . as to Local Union 78, pending further investigation.”
By letter dated February 1, 1996, Mr. Mack submitted further evidence to the Election Officer and the Election Officer now makes the following findings:
Based upon a TITAN communication dated February 27, 1995 from General President Ron Carey which questioned the legality of local union contributions to the RTC, Mr. Mack issued a personal check in the amount of $500 to Local Union 78, representing the amount of the contribution by Local Union 78 to the RTC.
On June 19, 1995, Mr. Mack sent a memorandum to the Executive Board of Local
Union 78 which reads as follows:
Re: The Real Teamsters Caucus
Questions have arisen regarding donations to the Real Teamster Caucus.
Our legal staff at Joint Council #7 has assured us that they are legal and proper, but pending a ruling from the Government or the I.B.T. that they are in conformance with the law, and the I.B.T. Constitution, we will make no further contributions.
The Local made one contribution in the amount of $500, which was reimbursed to the Local in the form of a personal check from my own account.
If the Real Teamsters Caucus receives a favorable ruling I will request that Local 78 reimburse me the $500.
On January 10, 1996, Mr. Mack wrote a letter to RTC Chairman Dan F. Darrow regarding Mr. Carey’s order concerning repayments to Teamster affiliates by the RTC. In that letter, Mr. Mack explains that since he converted the payment of $500 by Local Union 78 to a personal contribution, the RTC was not required to pay back $500 to Local Union 78. Mr. Mack has also presented evidence of the posting of his $500 to the account of Local Union 78 and a copy of the cancelled check.
Stephen Mack
April 2, 1996
Page 1
In Gilmartin, the Election Officer found that all of the IBT affiliates which contributed to the RTC after October 1994 violated Article XII, Section 1(b) by making prohibited campaign contributions. The Rules require that campaign contributions be strictly regulated.
Here, there is no question that Local Union 78 made such a campaign contribution even though the contribution was repaid by Mr. Mack. Although Mr. Mack deserves credit for attempting to remedy the matter upon notification from the IBT, it would not achieve the purposes of the Rules or the Consent Decree to find that if a contribution is repaid, the contribution never existed.
Thus, the Election Officer finds that Local Union 78 is properly included in the notice and is required to post and publish the notice in the next regular issue of its union newspaper or other periodical literature sent or otherwise made available to its members. Since the monies it contributed by RTC, however, have been converted to a personal contribution by Mr. Mack, there is no requirement that RTC repay monies to Local Union 78.
Accordingly, the request that Local Union 78 be removed from compliance provisions of the order is DENIED.
Any interested party not satisfied with this determination may request a hearing before the Election Appeals Master within one day of receipt of this letter. The parties are reminded that, absent extraordinary circumstances, no party may rely upon evidence that was not presented to the Office of the Election Officer in any such appeal. Requests for a hearing shall be made in writing and shall be served on:
Kenneth Conboy, Esq.
Latham & Watkins
885 Third Avenue, Suite 1000
New York, NY 10022
Fax (212) 751-4864
Copies of the request for hearing must be served on the parties listed above as well as upon the Election Officer, 400 N. Capitol Street, Suite 855, Washington, DC 20001, Facsimile
(202) 624-3525. A copy of the protest must accompany the request for a hearing.
Sincerely,
Barbara Zack Quindel
Election Officer
cc: Kenneth Conboy, Election Appeals Master
Matthew D. Ross, Regional Coordinator