IN RE: PAT IRONSIDE,
Protest Decision 2001 EAD 114
Issued: January 30, 2001
OEA Case No. PR0115112CA
Pat Ironside, a member of Local 31, filed a pre-election protest pursuant to Article XIII, Section 2(b) of the Rules for the 2000-2001 IBT International Union Delegate and Officer Election ("Rules") against Garnet Zimmerman, principal officer of Local 31, requesting that biographies of the candidates be sent with the ballot package in the delegate election. He notes in the protest that biographies have been sent with every election at Local 31, including the last delegate election. Ironside says that the decision not to send out biographies with the ballot gives the incumbents, including Zimmerman, an unfair advantage.
Election Administrator representative Gwen Randall investigated the protest.
Article II, Section 10(e) of the Rules provides that candidates shall be identified on the ballot by name only, and, if affiliated, by slate. No asterisks or similar marking distinguishing incumbency may be placed on the ballot. Article VII, Section 7(a)(1) provides that each candidate shall be permitted an opportunity, equal to that of other candidates, to have his or her literature distributed by the union, at the candidate's expense, through a "reasonable number of mailings" undertaken by the union.
Nothing in the Rules requires that candidate biographies be included in a ballot package. The Rules provide that no information other than the delegates name or slate affiliation may be included on a ballot, and do not state that the non-discriminatory mailing of candidate campaign literature provided for by Article VII, Section 7(a)(1) is to be accomplished as part of the mail ballot process.
There is no allegation that Local 31 has refused to distribute campaign literature on behalf of any delegate candidates or candidate slates. The protestor and those with whom he is politically aligned may avail themselves of their rights under Article VII, Section 7(a)(1), but they may not do so by requiring the local union to mail candidate biographies or other campaign materials with delegate election ballots.
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 two (2) working days of receipt of this decision. The parties are reminded that, absent extraordinary circumstances, no party may rely upon evidence that was not presented to the Office of the Election Administrator in any such appeal. Requests for a hearing shall be made in writing, shall specify the basis for the appeal, and shall be served upon:
Kenneth Conboy
Election Appeals Master
Latham & Watkins
Suite 1000
885 Third Avenue
New York, New York 10022
Fax: 212-751-4864
Copies of the request for hearing must be served upon all other parties, as well as upon the Election Administrator for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, 727 15th Street NW, Tenth Floor, Washington, DC 20005, all within the time period prescribed above. A copy of the protest must accompany the request for hearing.
William A. Wertheimer, Jr.
William A. Wertheimer, Jr.
Election Administrator
cc: Kenneth Conboy
2001 EAD 114
DISTRIBUTION LIST VIA UPS NEXT DAY AIR:
Patrick Szymanski
IBT General Counsel
25 Louisiana Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20001
Bradley T. Raymond
Finkel, Whitefield, Selik,
Raymond, Ferrara & Feldman
32300 Northwestern Highway
Suite 200
Farmington Hills, MI 48334
J. Douglas Korney
Korney & Heldt
30700 Telegraph Road
Suite 1551
Bingham Farms, MI 48025
Barbara Harvey
Penobscot Building
Suite 1800
645 Griswold
Detroit, MI 48226
Betty Grdina
Yablonski, Both & Edelman
Suite 800
1140 Connecticut Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20036
Tom Leedham c/o Stefan Ostrach
110 Mayfair
Eugene, OR 97404
IBT Local 31
Attn: Garnett Zimmerman
Attn: Kathy Peters
1 Grosvenor Square
Delta, BC
Canada V3M 5S1
Fax: 604.540.6073
Pat Ironside
23765 123d Ave.
Maple Ridge, BC V4R 1N7
Gwen Randall
421 Seventh Ave. SW
Suite 3300
Calgary AB T2P 4K9