April 12, 1996
VIA UPS OVERNIGHT
Michael Fleming
975 N. Howard Street
Akron, OH 44310
Members First Slate
c/o Jake Adams, President
Teamsters Local Union 24
727 Grant Street
Akron, OH 44311
Re: Election Office Case No. P-692-LU24-CLE
Gentlemen:
Michael Fleming, a member of Local Union 24 and a candidate for delegate from that local union, filed a pre-election protest pursuant to Article XIV, Section 2(b) of the Rules for the 1995-1996 IBT International Union Delegate and Officer Election (“Rules”). The protester alleges that a letter of resignation from the position of steward (which he previously held) was taken from his personnel file at the local union and copies placed in the drivers’ room at the Consolidated Freightways terminal. According to the protester, use of the letter obtained from the union files is both an invasion of his privacy and a misuse of union resources, in violation of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act and
Article XII, Section 1 of the Rules.
Jack Widmer, secretary-treasurer of the local union and a candidate on the local union officers’ slate, denies that he or any of the other local officers had anything to do with the current use of the letter. Mr. Widmer also responds that copies of the letter had been posted on union bulletin boards when Mr. Fleming resigned as steward in 1990.
Regional Coordinator Joyce Goldstein investigated the protest.
Michael Fleming
April 12, 1996
Page 1
The letter states that Mr. Fleming was resigning his position (in 1990) because he could not get along with Mickey Mader, a business agent for Local Union 24. Mr. Mader and
Mr. Fleming are now on the same slate in the delegate election; the letter recently found in the drivers’ room is marked with the words “politics makes strange bedfellows.”
When asked if copies of the letter had been posted in 1990, Mr. Fleming agreed that they had. Mr. Fleming also admitted that copies had also been circulated during a stewards’ election in 1994.
The Election Officer finds that there is no evidence that the letter had been removed from Mr. Fleming’s files at the local union in connection with the current campaign. To the contrary, Mr. Fleming’s own account and the other evidence establish that copies of the letter have been circulating at Local Union 24 for years. Therefore, there is no basis to find that any of the local union officers did anything improper in connection with the letter’s recent reappearance.
.
Accordingly, the protest 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
Joyce Goldstein, Regional Coordinator