October 5, 1998
VIA FIRST CLASS MAIL
James P. Hoffa
October 5, 1998
Page 1
James P. Hoffa
2593 Hounds Chase
Troy, MI 48098
Hoffa Slate
c/o Patrick J. Szymanski, Esq.
Baptiste & Wilder
1150 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.
Suite 500
Washington, D.C. 20036
Geraldo Zero
Sec.-Treas.
Teamsters Local Union 705
1645 W. Jackson Boulevard
Chicago, IL 60612
Tom Leedham
c/o Tom Leedham Campaign Office
P.O. Cox 15877
Washington, D.C. 20003
Bradley T. Raymond, Esq.
Finkel, Whitefield, Selik, Raymond,
Ferrara & Feldman
32300 Northwestern Highway
Suite 200
Farmington Hills, MI 48334
James P. Hoffa
October 5, 1998
Page 1
Re: Election Office Case No. PR-270-LU705-EOH
Gentlemen:
James P. Hoffa, a candidate for general president, and the Hoffa Unity Slate, 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”) against Local Union 705,
Gerald Zero, secretary-treasurer of Local Union 705, and Tom Leedham, a candidate for general president. The protester alleged that Local Union 705 used union resources to campaign for
Mr. Leedham in violation of the Rules by providing access to campaign materials through Local Union 705's web site. Local Union 705 denied violating the Rules.
This protest was investigated by Director of Campaign Finance Leslie Deak.
James P. Hoffa
October 5, 1998
Page 1
In August, 1997, Jeff Dexter, a business agent at Local Union 705, created a web site for Local Union 705 in order to post details about the UPS strike and settlement. He used his personal Internet site, address http://colint.com/lbr0725/frames14.htm in order to create the local union web page at address www.teamsters705.org. Mr. Dexter paid for his Internet site through personal funds, primarily using it for private affairs, not Local Union business. At that time, the Local Union 705 web site had no links to any other sites on it.
In January, 1998, Mr. Dexter began updating the Local Union 705 site and used his Internet site to design the changes before up-loading the changes to the Local Union 705 web site. The changes included the addition of hyper-links to the web page. Prior to completing the updated web page, Mr. Dexter experimented with two links, one to TDU and one to the IBT, because he knew their web page addresses.
Due to time constraints, Mr. Dexter did not complete the update to Local Union 705's web page in January, 1998, and left the experimental, unfinished design for Local Union 705's web page on his Internet site without uploading it to the Local Union 705 web page. He worked on the web page both on union time and on personal time, depending on his schedule.
Mr. Dexter stated that he had not understood that his personal Internet site was accessible by others: He did not disseminate its address and he was not aware that it could be reached through any search engines.
The protester alleged that the unfinished web page on Mr. Dexter’s Internet site violated the Rules because it stated that it is Local Union 705's official web site and contained the hyper-link to TDU’s web page, which consists primarily of campaign material advocating the election of Mr. Leedham. The protester argued that by including the hyper-link, the local union is endorsing Mr. Leedham’s campaign and using union resources to provide the campaign materials to its members.
Union facilities and equipment may not be used to campaign unless the union is reimbursed at fair market value, all candidates have equal access to the union resources, and the candidates are notified in writing ahead of time of the availability of the resources. Rules, Article VIII, Section 11(c), Article XII, Section 1(b)(3). Campaigning requires some advocacy for or against a candidate. Hoffa, PR-029- IBT-NCE (December 8, 1997); Giacumbo, P-001-IBT-PNJ, (September 29, 1995), aff’d in rel. part, 95 - Elec. App. - 32 (KC) (November 1, 1995).
Mr. Dexter was not using union resources to advocate for or against any candidate. He was in the process of using union resources, primarily his work time, to create a web page for the local union. He had not finalized the home page and up-loaded it onto Local Union 705's web site. Mr. Dexter had not shared his Internet site address with anyone connected to the rerun election and believed that Internet users would not be able to find the site without the address. TDU’s web site was chosen as the destination for a hyper-link not to promote TDU’s support of Mr. Leedham’s candidacy, but as a convenient site to experiment with a new tool for the local union web page.
James P. Hoffa
October 5, 1998
Page 1
Although Mr. Dexter’s actions do not rise to the level of campaign activity, the Election Officer understands that the appearance of the site could be misleading. Mr. Dexter has removed the draft home page from his Internet address in order to resolve any future confusion.
Accordingly, this protest is hereby 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, 444 N. Capitol Street, Suite 445, Washington, DC 20001, Facsimile
(202) 624-3525. A copy of the protest must accompany the request for a hearing.
Sincerely,
Michael G. Cherkasky
Election Officer
cc: Kenneth Conboy, Election Appeals Master