January 10, 1996
VIA UPS OVERNIGHT
Raul Rodriguez, Jr.
January 10, 1996
Page 1
Raul Rodriguez, Jr.
13251 Mulberry Drive, Apt. #1
Whittier, CA 90602
John Wood, Plant Manager
Certified Grocers of CA, Ltd.
2601 Eastern Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90040
Bill Rose, Director of Labor Relations
Certified Grocers of CA, Ltd.
2601 Eastern Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90040
Jerome L. Vercruse, Secretary-Treasurer
Teamsters Local Union 630
750 S. Stanford Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90021
Raul Rodriguez, Jr.
January 10, 1996
Page 1
Re: Election Office Case No. P-241-LU630-CLA
CORRECTED
Gentlemen:
A pre-election protest was filed pursuant to Article XIV, Section 2(b) of the Rules for the 1995-1996 IBT International Union Delegate and Officer Election (“Rules”) by
Raul Rodriguez, Jr., a member of Local Union 630. Mr. Rodriguez’s charges that Local
Union 630 officials coerced his employer, Certified Grocers of California (“Certified”), to remove campaign literature from a union bulletin board located on Certified’s property. He also charges that Certified Plant Manager John Wood removed his campaign literature from the plant’s union bulletin board in violation of Article VIII, Section 11(d) of the Rules.
In response, Local Union 630 denies coercing Certified into removing Mr. Rodriguez’s campaign literature from the bulletin board. Plant Manager Wood denies having spoken with any Local Union 630 official regarding documents posted on the bulletin board. He admits, however, that he removed the campaign literature from the bulletin board. He states that doing so was in compliance with a long-standing company policy on bulletin board usage as reflected in the collective bargaining agreement between Local Union 630 and Certified. This policy, he states, permits Certified to remove any literature that appears on the bulletin board that does not indicate on its face that the literature has been approved by union officials.
This protest was investigated by Regional Coordinator Dolly Gee.
Raul Rodriguez, Jr.
January 10, 1996
Page 1
The Rules, at Article VIII, Section 11(d), state, “No restrictions shall be placed upon candidates’ or members’ preexisting rights to use employer or Union bulletin boards for campaign publicity.”
The facts underlying this protest are mostly undisputed. On November 14, 1995, four witnesses saw Mr. Wood remove three pieces of campaign literature, which had been posted the previous day by Mr. Rodriguez, from a union bulletin board located in the work area of the plant’s salvage department. The witnesses notified Mr. Rodriguez of the literature’s removal. Mr. Rodriguez, who is shop steward at the plant, confronted Mr. Wood and asked him if he had removed the campaign literature from the bulletin boards. Mr. Wood admitted having done so. Although Mr. Rodriguez asserted that he had the right to post campaign literature on the bulletin board, he refrained from doing so again.
Article XIV, Section A of the collective bargaining agreement between Certified and Local Union 630 states, in relevant part, that the plant bulletin board “shall be used exclusively for authorized union notices . . .” However, as the prior Election Officer stated regarding the same collective bargaining language in Blake, Election Officer Case No. P-953-LU848-CLA (October 30, 1991):
While the existence of a contractual prohibition on the use of union bulletin boards for campaign publicity is important evidence in determining whether there is a pre-existing right of access to the bulletin board, it may not be dispositive of the issue. The de jure restricted union bulletin board may have been transformed through past practice into a de facto general purpose bulletin board. In such case it would be violative of the Rules to prohibit the posting of campaign material on such boards even in light of the contractual prohibition on such posting.
A significant amount of evidence gathered during the investigation refutes Mr. Wood’s claim that his activities reflect Certified’s long-standing company policy on bulletin board usage. To the contrary, past practice indicates here that Article IV, Section A of the collective bargaining agreement between Certified and Local Union 630, until recently, has been sporadically enforced by the local union or Certified. The Election Officer credits the protester’s claim, which is supported by statements from other members employed by Certified, that employees have freely and extensively posted a variety of non-approved documents on union bulletin boards located throughout the Certified facility. Mr. Rodriguez collected and submitted to the Election Officer several examples of such literature, and the Election Officer credits his claim that non-approved literature often remains posted on these bulletin boards for several weeks at a time. Further evidence of past use of union bulletin boards inside the Certified facility is found in a protest investigation conducted by the Election Officer in 1991. See Blake, supra. No change has occurred in the relevant contractual language since the Election Officer’s 1991 decision.
Raul Rodriguez, Jr.
January 10, 1996
Page 1
The Election Officer finds, therefore, that past practice at the Certified facility created a pre-existing right to use the bulletin board for campaign publicity. Thus, the removal of the literature by the Certified plant manger violated Article VIII, Section 11(d) of the Rules.
There is no evidence to support Mr. Rodriguez’s claim that Local Union 630 officials collaborated with Certified to remove campaign literature from a union bulletin board located on Certified’s property. Mr. Rodriguez’s protest is GRANTED in respect to Certified’s improper removal of campaign literature from the union bulletin board and DENIED in all other respects.
When the Rules have been violated, “the Election Officer may take whatever remedial action is appropriate.” Article XIV, Section 4. To remedy this violation, the Election Officer hereby orders Certified to cease and desist from removing campaign literature relating to the 1995-1996 IBT International Union Delegate and Officer Election. In addition, within seven (7) days of this decision, Certified is ordered to post the enclosed Notice on all union bulletin boards for a thirty-day (30) period. Within two (2) days of posting the attached note, Certified shall file an affidavit with the Election Officer setting forth the steps it has taken to comply with this decision and order.
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 and 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 North Capitol Street, Suite 855, Washington, D.C. 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
Dolly Gee, Regional Coordinator
NOTICE TO TEAMSTER MEMBERS
EMPLOYED BY CERTIFIED GROCERS OF CALIFORNIA
You have the right to participate in campaign activities on behalf of candidates for delegate and alternate delegate to the 1996 IBT Convention.
You have the right to participate in campaign activities on behalf of candidates for International Officer in the IBT.
You have the right to post campaign material on union bulletin boards since such bulletin boards have been used in the past for similar postings.
No company official or union member may prohibit you from engaging in the above-described campaign activity.
Certified Grocers will not interfere with your right to post campaign material on the bulletin boards designated above in the same manner as used in the past.
You do not have the right to engage in any conduct which reduces production, decreases discipline, is unsafe or in any way interrupts the business of Certified Grocers.
_________________________________
John Wood, Plant Manager
Certified Grocers of California
This is an official notice and must remain posted for 30 consecutive days from the day of posting, and must not be altered, defaced or covered by any other material.
Prepared and approved by Barbara Zack Quindel, Election Officer, IBT.