April 22, 1996
VIA UPS OVERNIGHT
Dan Eby & David Dethrow
April 22, 1996
Page 1
Dan Eby
600 Ivygate Drive
St. Louis, MO 63129
David L. Dethrow
2843 Radnor
St. Charles, MO 63301
Mike Valendy, Manager
United Parcel Service
1381 Ryder Trail, N.
Earth City, MO 63045
Galli Team for Convention Delegates Slate
c/o Joseph A. Galli, Secretary-Treasurer
Teamsters Local Union 688
300 S. Grand
St. Louis, MO 63103
Martin Wald
Schnader, Harrison, Segal & Lewis
1600 Market Street, Suite 3600
Philadelphia, PA 19103
Dan Eby & David Dethrow
April 22, 1996
Page 1
Re: Election Office Case Nos. P-597-LU688-MOI
P-632-LU688-MOI
Gentlemen:
This matter involves two pre-election protests filed by members of Local Union 688 pursuant to Article XIV, Section 2(b) of the Rules for the 1995-1996 IBT International Union Delegate and Officer Election (“Rules”). Local Union 688 held its delegate election on March 25, 1996. The Election Officer has consolidated the two protests for decision and deferred her consideration of the protests until post-election, pursuant to Article XIV,
Section 2(f)(2) of the Rules.
In P-597-LU688-MOI, Dan Eby filed a protest against United Parcel Service (“UPS” or the “employer”), alleging that one of the employer’s supervisors removed campaign literature from a locker room used by its employees.
Dan Eby & David Dethrow
April 22, 1996
Page 1
In P-632-LU688-MOI, David L. Dethrow filed a protest against the Galli Team for Convention Delegates (“Galli Team”), a slate of candidates in the Local Union 688 delegate election. The protester alleges that the Galli Team used the Joint Council 13 newspaper, the Missouri Teamster, to support the Galli Team and to attack its opponents, the Teamsters for Ron Carey (“Carey”) slate. The protester cites a list of candidates for delegate and alternate delegate, and the shop where each candidate works, published on page three of the March 1996 issue. The list, alleges the protester, is the same list that the Election Officer found in Youngerman, P-588-LU688-MOI (March 14, 1996), aff’d, 96 - Elec. App. - 137 (KC)
(March 20, 1996), was published, in violation of the Rules, by Local Union 688 in its newspaper, Teamsters 688 Today.
Local Union 688 Secretary-Treasurer Joseph A. Galli, who is vice president of Joint Council 13 and was a candidate on the Galli Team, responds to P-632-LU688-MOI that on the same day that he received a copy of the decision in Youngerman, supra, he attempted to stop the mailing of the March issue of the Missouri Teamster because it contained a similar list to the one found in violation of the Rules. He was advised, however, that the newspaper was already in the mail.
Regional Coordinator Michael D. Gordon investigated the protests.
There were 4,173 ballots cast at the Local Union 688 election, of which 3,819 ballots were counted. The two slates, the Carey slate and the Galli Team, competed for 14 delegate positions and four alternate delegate positions. The results of the election were as follows:
Delegates
Name Slate Number of Votes
Joseph A. Galli Galli 2,360
Pete Youngcourt Galli 2,356
Pat Raftery Galli 2,348
Jerry Skaggs Galli 2,348
Amos Green Galli 2,346
Beverly Powell Galli 2,341
Terry L. Kneemiller Galli 2,341
Rich Schildknecht Galli 2,340
Bob Portell Galli 2,340
Maleta Shelton Galli 2,338
Carmenlita Haynes Galli 2,338
Jo Stowe Galli 2,338
Charles T. Lenceski Galli 2,336
William Jones Galli 2,336
Dan Eby Carey 1,449
John Bokern Carey 1,446
Nancy W. Youngerman Carey 1,445
David L. Dethrow Carey 1,444
Bob Whittman Carey 1,441
Dan Eby & David Dethrow
April 22, 1996
Page 1
Oscar McHughes Carey 1,441
Charles Street Carey 1,437
John Summers Carey 1,435
Charlie Eckhard Carey 1,434
John F. Youngerman Carey 1,431
Daryl Kirkpatrick Carey 1,430
Joe Boeger Carey 1,429
Ray Sanders Carey 1,429
Nicholas H. Baxter Carey 1,419
Alternate Delegates
Bill Meyers Galli 2,350
Louis Bakula Galli 2,345
Robert Fallert Galli 2,327
Georgie Love Galli 2,326
Gary Spearman Carey 1,438
Ron Stevens Carey 1,436
Bob Tomlin Carey 1,433
Dennis Kunz Carey 1,422
1. Alleged Removal of Campaign Literature
On March 7, 1996, UPS Feeder Manager Mike Valendy removed campaign literature from “radio boxes” in the locker room used by employees at the UPS facility in Earth City, Missouri.[1] The campaign literature removed was the March 1996 issue of the Convoy-Dispatch, a newspaper published by the Teamsters for a Democratic Union. The March 1996 issue, on its front page, urges members not to vote for candidates in the delegate and International officer elections whom the paper describes as “Old Guard,” “corrupt” and opposed to “innovative programs” in the union. The protester alleges that the employer has previously permitted employees to leave union and personal notices in these radio boxes.
Article VIII, Section 11 of the Rules prohibits any restriction from being placed upon “candidates’ or members’ preexisting rights to solicit support, distribute leaflets or literature . . . or engage in similar activities on employer or Union premises.”
After discussion with a representative of the Election Officer and in an effort to resolve this protest, UPS has agreed to allow IBT members to leave campaign literature in the radio boxes in the locker room of the UPS facility at Earth City, Missouri. Under these circumstances, the Election Officer concludes that further processing of this protest is unwarranted. The protester’s complaint, as stated in this protest, has been remedied. Accordingly, this protest is now RESOLVED.
Dan Eby & David Dethrow
April 22, 1996
Page 1
2. Candidate List in the Missouri Teamster
In Youngerman, supra, the Election Officer granted a protest concerning the January/February 1996 issue of Teamsters 688 Today, which included a list of the names of each candidate on the two slates running for delegate from Local Union 688, along with a list of each candidate’s employer. There, the Election Officer noted that the campaign literature of the Galli Team repeatedly emphasized that its slate represents many workplaces, while the opposition, the Carey slate, only has candidates from UPS. The Election Officer concluded that in the context of the Local Union 688 campaign, the list of candidates, along with their employers, supported the Galli Team and attacked the Carey slate. Therefore, the Election Officer held that Local Union 688 violated the prohibition in the Rules on the use of a union-financed publication to attack or support a candidate by publishing the list of the employers of each candidate.
The Missouri Teamster is published nine times a year by Joint Council 13 and sent to all of the active and retired members of the 13 unions in the joint council free of charge, including those in Local Union 688. It is funded by the joint council, which receives per capita funds from its member local unions.
In mid-February 1996, Local Union 688 sent in copy for the March 1996 issue of the Missouri Teamster. The copy included a list of the two slates of candidates for delegate, stating each candidate’s employer.
The Election Officer’s issued a decision concerning Teamsters 688 Today on March 14, 1996. Local Union 688 received the decision on the morning of March 15. On that day,
Mr. Galli called the Missouri Teamster to try to stop delivery of the paper, but was told that the paper was already in the mail.
The list of candidates and their respective employers appears on page three of the Missouri Teamster. The list is headed by the words, “The Following Is Being Printed Pursuant to the Request of Local 688,” and is placed under a notice of the election for Local Union 688 delegates which describes delegate election procedures. The list of candidates in the Missouri Teamster listing each candidate’s name and shop is virtually identical to the list that the Election Officer found unlawful when published in Teamsters 688 Today. Pursuant to Youngerman, the list in the Missouri Teamster supports the Galli Team and attacks the Carey slate in violation of the Rules concerning union-financed publications. Accordingly, the protest is GRANTED.
Dan Eby & David Dethrow
April 22, 1996
Page 1
This protest is being considered in a post-election context. Therefore, the Election Officer must consider whether the violation “may have affected the outcome of the election,” under Article XIV, Section 3(b) of the Rules. A violation of the Rules alone is not grounds for setting aside an election unless there is a reasonable probability that the election outcome may have been affected by the violation. Wirtz v. Hotel Employees, Local 6, 391 U.S. 492, 507 (1968). A violation creates a presumption that the outcome was affected. Id. Once a violation is established, therefore, the Election Officer determines whether the effect of the violation was sufficient in scope to affect the outcome of the election. Id.; Dole v. Mailhandlers, Local 317, 711 F. Supp. 577, 581 (M.D. Ala. 1989).
The Election Officer finds that the remedy in Youngerman was adequate to remedy the violations in the local union and the joint council publications. In Youngerman, the Election Officer ordered Local Union 688 to provide the Carey slate with a mailing to the Local Union 688 membership of its campaign literature. Local Union 688 has affirmed that on March 16, 1996, the local union mailed to its membership a flyer provided by the Carey slate. On
March 15, 1996, before the Carey slate did the mailing ordered in Youngerman, the Galli Team advised the Carey slate that the list of candidates’ workplaces was going to be included in the forthcoming Missouri Teamster. However, the Carey slate did not, in its flyer mailed pursuant to the Election Officer’s order, respond to the comparison of the slates made in Teamsters 688 Today or the Missouri Teamster. Instead, the Carey slate’s flyer mailed
March 16, responded to a charge allegedly made by the Galli Team concerning whether the Carey slate supported a dues increase. By providing a union-funded opportunity to support their candidates, the Carey slate received a right to campaign much more directly with the members than the lists published in the local union or joint council newspapers.[2] In these circumstances, the Election Officer finds that this additional violation was not sufficient to affect the outcome of the election.
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
Dan Eby & David Dethrow
April 22, 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, 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
Michael D. Gordon, Regional Coordinator
[1]“Radio boxes” are containers for drivers’ use for their personal radios.
[2]Although the Missouri Teamster is sent to other local unions besides Local Union 688, the Rules violation here involves only Local Union 688, whose members have already received a remedy.