November 25, 1998
VIA FIRST CLASS MAIL
Joseph J. Socha
November 25, 1998
Page 1
Joseph J. Socha
3 Ventura Drive
Oakdale, CT 06370
Tom Leedham Slate
c/o Tom Leedham Campaign Office
P.O. Box 15877
Washington, DC 20003
John Sarantopoulos, Sec.-Treas.
Teamsters Local Union 493
P.O. Box 485
Uncasville, CT 06382
Arthur Z. Schwartz, Esq.
Kennedy, Schwartz & Cure
113 University Place
New York, NY 10003
David A. Lucas, Sec.-Treas.
Teamsters Local Union 671
9 Signor Street
East Hartford, CT 06108
Thomas W. Leedham
18763 S. Highway 211
Molalla, OR 97038
Joseph J. Socha
November 25, 1998
Page 1
Re: Election Office Case No. PR-373-LU493-EOH
Gentlemen:
Joseph Socha, a member of Local Union 493, 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 Tom Leedham and his “Rank and File Power” Slate. The protester alleges that the Leedham campaign improperly allowed John Sarantopoulos, secretary treasurer of Local Union 493, to use the membership list provided to the Leedham campaign by the Election Officer for phone bank campaigning for local union office. The protester ran against Mr. Sarantopoulos in the local union officer election.[1] The protester alleges that David Lucas, secretary-treasurer of Local Union 671, who was designated by Joint Council 10 to supervise Local Union 493's election, informed the protester that in a conversation with Mr. Lucas,
Mr. Sarantopoulos stated that he had received the list of members and their telephone numbers from the Leedham campaign and not from Local Union 493.
Joseph J. Socha
November 25, 1998
Page 1
Mr. Sarantopoulos admits that he conducted phone banking in his campaign for local union office but he denies that he used a membership list from the Leedham campaign for such phone banking. Mr. Sarantopoulos maintains that the list of Local Union 493 members that he used for phone banking was obtained from Sharon Palmer at the Connecticut Democratic Town Committee. Mr. Sarantopoulos states that this list was provided to him by Ms. Palmer because he was involved in supporting pro-labor candidates running for Congressional and state office.
Mr. Sarantopoulos admits that he received a partial list of members in Local Union 493 from the Leedham campaign on November 8, 1998, subsequent to the local union officer election on November 7, 1998, and that he signed an affidavit stating that he would use this list only in relation to the International Officer Rerun Election.
Mr. Sarantopoulos states that in his conversation with Mr. Lucas, Mr. Lucas accused him of improperly using the membership list from the local union. Mr. Sarantopoulos states that he told Mr. Lucas that he had not obtained the membership list from the local union, that there were many ways to obtain a list and that Mr. Socha should contact the Hoffa campaign.
Mr. Sarantopoulos denies that he told Mr. Lucas that he had obtained the membership list from the Leedham campaign.
The protest was investigated by Election Office Staff Attorney Kathryn A. Naylor.
The investigator spoke with Mr. Lucas regarding his alleged conversation with
Mr. Sarantopoulos on about October 28, 1998. Mr. Lucas stated that Mr. Sarantopoulos denied using a list from the local union, then said, “Tell him [Protester Socha] that I got the list from the Leedham campaign and he can get a list from the Hoffa campaign.”
The investigation, however, confirmed Mr. Sarantopoulos’ assertions that he received a list of members in Local Union 493 and their telephone numbers from Sharon Palmer.
Ms. Palmer is involved in numerous Democratic political organizations in Connecticut.
Ms. Palmer stated that approximately 10 days prior to the November 3 election, she provided a list of Local Union 493 members and their telephone numbers to Mr. Sarantopoulos as part of the AFL-CIO’s Labor ‘98 Get Out the Vote (“GOTV”) project in Connecticut. Ms. Palmer notes that several lists of members in various labor organizations were generated by the national
AFL-CIO for use by the Connecticut state AFL-CIO. Ms. Palmer states that she is a vice-president with the Connecticut AFL-CIO and was responsible for distributing these lists to respective officers in various labor organizations who would make GOTV calls for AFL-CIO endorsed Congressional and state candidates. Ms. Palmer states that she was generally aware that Mr. Sarantopoulos was running for re-election in his local union; however, she did not have any conversations with Mr. Saranopoulos about using the list for that purpose.
Joseph J. Socha
November 25, 1998
Page 1
Donald Villa, president of Local Union 493, stated that he, Mr. Sarantopoulos and two other members of the Executive Board made calls to members in Local Union 493 using the list provided by Ms. Palmer and encouraged members to vote for pro-labor candidates in the national and state elections, and for Mr. Sarantopoulos in the local union officer election. Gail Sullivan and Kathy Thomas with the Leedham campaign stated that on November 8 and 11, the Leedham campaign provided Mr. Sarantopoulos with two partial lists of members that combined the entire account for membership in Local Union 493 for use in relation to the International Officer Rerun Election.
Article VIII, Section 3 of the Rules is violated when candidates running for IBT International office or their campaigns permit access, distribution or use of the membership list obtained from the Election Officer to support campaigning by candidates for local union office. See Hoffa, P-770-LU743-EOH (June 21, 1996), aff’d, 96 - Elec. App. - 210 (KC) (July 11, 1996). Here, Mr. Sarantopoulos’ use of a membership list for campaigning for local union office from the Connecticut AFL-CIO does not constitute a violation of the Rules.
The Election Officer, however, reminds Mr. Sarantopoulos that his current use of any membership lists received from the Leedham campaign is governed by Article VIII, Section 3 of the Rules and the guidelines set forth by the Election Officer in Cipriani, P-420-LU391-SEC, et seq. (March 1, 1996), aff’d, 96 - Elec. App. - 123 (KC) (March 13, 1996).
Based on the foregoing, the protest is DENIED.
Any interested party not satisfied with this determination may request a hearing before the Election Appeals Master within one (1) 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 North Capitol Street, NW, 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
[1]The ballots for Local Union 493's officer election were counted on November 7, 1998. Mr. Sarantopoulos was re-elected as secretary-treasurer of the local union.