May 9, 1996
VIA UPS OVERNIGHT
George Kieffer
2580 Miller Street
Lakewood, CO 80215
Roman Garcia, Secretary-Treasurer
Teamsters Local Union 435
2941 W. 19th Avenue
Denver, CO 80204
Re: Election Office Case Nos. P-745-LU435-RMT, P-746-LU435-RMT
Gentlemen:
George Kieffer, a member of Local Union 435, 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 piece of campaign literature supporting James Hoffa, a candidate for general president, was displayed in locked, glassed-encased union bulletin boards at the Safeway Warehouse (P-745-LU435-RMT) and at King Soopers Transportation (P-746-LU435-RMT) for at least a week. Mr. Kieffer contends that when he asked to post pro-Carey literature on these bulletin boards, he was told that access to the bulletin boards would not be available.
Roman Garcia responds that he did not authorize and was not aware of the posting on the union bulletin boards and immediately ordered the documents removed once he learned of their presence through Mr. Kieffer’s protests. Mr. Garcia states that the bulletin boards were for official union material printed on Local Union 435 letterhead only, and that there has never been any practice of permitting campaign literature on these glass-encased and locked bulletin boards. Keys to some of the bulletin boards are given to local union business agents
Associate Regional Coordinator Zeik Saidman investigated these protests.
George Kieffer
May 9, 1996
Page 1
Article VIII, Section 11(d) of the Rules states:
No restrictions shall be placed upon candidates’ or members’ preexisting rights to use employer or Union bulletin boards for campaign publicity . . . Such facilities and opportunities shall be made available to all candidates and members on a nondiscriminatory basis.
Past practice is a relevant consideration in determining whether a pre-existing right to use bulletin boards for campaign-related purposes has been established. Meyer, P-130-LU600-MOI, et seq. (October 12, 1995); Blake, P-953-LU848-CLA (October 30, 1991).
The Election Officer has no reason to doubt the credibility of either the protester or the charged party. However, it is clear that in the midst of a hotly-contested re-run delegate election in Local Union 435, someone posted campaign material for a candidate supported by one of the slates on a union bulletin board, where it apparently remained for approximately a week. The position of the local union is that these bulletin boards are reserved “solely for official and approved Union business.” Thus, the access for these postings, while not authorized by the local union, was apparently permitted by business agents with keys to the locks for the bulletin boards. This access gave the Hoffa campaign an unfair advantage over the Carey campaign, in violation of the Rules. See MacDonald, P-379-LU490-CSF
(February 20, 1996).
Accordingly, the protest is GRANTED.
As a remedy, the Election Officer shall permit a one-page piece of campaign literature in support of Mr. Carey, on an 8½11-inch sheet of paper, to be posted on the glass-encased and locked union bulletin boards located at the Safeway Warehouse and King Soopers Transportation facilities. Within two (2) days of the issuance of this decision, the protester should give the document to Mr. Garcia who shall post it on the bulletin boards by the following day, to remain there for seven (7) days. Within two (2) days of posting the documents, Mr. Garcia shall file with the Election Officer an affidavit detailing his compliance with this order.
An order of the Election Officer, unless otherwise stayed, takes immediate effect against a party found to be in violation of the Rules. In Re: Lopez, 96 - Elec. App. - 73 (KC) (February 13, 1966).
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:
George Kieffer
May 9, 1996
Page 1
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
Zeik Saidman, Associate Regional Coordinator