May 21, 1996
VIA UPS OVERNIGHT
George Kieffer
2580 Miller Street
Lakewood, CO 80215
Zeik Saidman
University of Colorado at Denver
1445 Market Street, Suite 380
Denver, CO 80202
Re: Election Office Case No. P-755-LU435-EOH
Gentlemen:
A pre-election protest was filed pursuant to Article XIV, Section 2(b) of the Rules for the IBT International Union Delegate and Officer Election (“Rules”) by George Kieffer, a member of Local Union 435. Mr. Kieffer alleges that the Election Officer failed to rule on his prior protests, P-745-LU435-RMT and P-746-LU435-RMT, within the time limit assigned by the Rules. He contends that, because of the delay in the rulings, he has been denied an equal opportunity to campaign, in violation of the Rules. The Election Officer deferred making a determination upon this protest until after the delegate election, pursuant to her authority under Article XIV, Section 2(f)(2) of the Rules.
Protest Division Chief Benetta Mansfield investigated the protest.
George Kieffer
May 21, 1996
Page 1
Mr. Kieffer filed P-745-LU435-RMT on April 24, 1996 and P-746-LU435-RMT on April 25, 1996. These protests were assigned to Associate Regional Coordinator Zeik Saidman for investigation. In both protests, Mr. Kieffer alleged that Hoffa campaign materials had been posted on glass-enclosed, locked union bulletin boards to which other candidates did not have access, in violation of the Rules. The Election Officer consolidated the protests in a decision issued May 9, 1996. In her decision, the Election Officer ruled that the denial of equal access to the bulletin boards constituted a violation of the Rules. As a remedy, she ordered that the protester be allowed to post a one-page document in support of Ron Carey on the glass-enclosed bulletin boards at the Safeway Warehouse and King Soopers Transportation facilities where the Hoffa material had been posted. The decision directed Mr. Kieffer to give the local union his campaign literature by May 14, and then directed the local union to post the material by May 15.
Ballots for Local Union 435’s delegate re-run election were mailed on April 22, 1996. The ballots were collected and counted on May 16, 1996.
Article XIV, Section 2(f) of the Rules states that when a pre-election protest is filed, “[t]he Election Officer or her representative shall determine the protest within seven (7) days of receipt.”
Mr. Saidman promptly began his investigation of the protests, speaking to the protester and Local Union 435 Secretary-Treasurer Roman Garcia the day after the protests were filed with the Election Officer. Within seven days after the protest was filed, the campaign literature supporting Mr. Hoffa was removed from the bulletin boards. As the protester is already aware, the Regional Coordinator assigned to investigate his protests was delayed in submitting his report to the Election Office because of a serious illness in his family. These cirumstances present a reasonable basis for the delay in the issuance of the decision.
In addition, the Election Officer concludes that Mr. Kieffer was not substantively harmed by the delay. While the order did not give him the opportunity to post his material so that it could influence the delegate election, the investigation revealed that the protested literature was removed from the locked bulletin boards several days before the consolidated decision was issued. As a result, the Rules violation found had a limited impact because the literature did not remain posted for a substantial period of time.
The Election Officer also notes that her order directed Mr. Kieffer to provide literature in support of Mr. Carey’s candidacy, just as the protested literature supported the candidacy of Mr. Hoffa. Messrs. Hoffa and Carey are candidates for general president, a contest that will not be concluded until December 1996. As a result, sufficient time remains for the posted literature to influence voters in the International election.
For the foregoing reasons, 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
George Kieffer
May 21, 1996
Page 1
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, 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