January 26, 1999
VIA FIRST CLASS MAIL
Grayson L. Hare, Jr.
January 26, 1999
Page 1
Grayson L. Hare, Jr.
2920 Garfield Avenue, #31
Carmichael, CA 95608
Alan Daurie, Business Agent
Teamsters Local Union 150
7120 E. Parkway
Sacramento, CA 95823
Cliff Webb, Sec.-Treas.
Teamsters Local Union 150
7120 E. Parkway
Sacramento, CA 95823
Tom Leedham Campaign Office
P.O. Box 15877
Washington, DC 20003
Ken Paff
Teamsters for a Democratic Union
7435 Michigan Avenue
Detroit, MI 48210
Paul Alan Levy, Esq.
Public Citizen Litigation Group
1600 20th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20009
Arthur Z. Schwartz, Esq.
Kennedy, Schwartz & Cure
113 University Place
New York, NY 10003
Grayson L. Hare, Jr.
January 26, 1999
Page 1
Re: Election Office Case No. PR-396-LU150-PNW
Gentlemen:
Grayson L. Hare, Jr., a member of Local Union 150, 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 Alan Daurie, business agent of Local Union 150.
Mr. Hare alleges that he was excluded from his bargaining unit’s negotiating team by Mr. Daurie because of his support for the candidacy of Tom Leedham. Mr. Hare further alleges the
Mr. Daurie removed pro-Tom Leedham campaign literature from a union bulletin board, brought Leedham campaign materials to a negotiating session, made negative comments about Mr. Hare and others in the course of negotiations with the employer and campaigned for James P. Hoffa, Jr. during union-funded lunches with the negotiating team. The Election Officer deferred this protest for post-election review pursuant to his authority under Article XIV, Section 2(f)((2) of the Rules.
The protest was investigated by Regional Coordinator Chris Mrak.
Grayson L. Hare, Jr.
January 26, 1999
Page 1
These matters are being considered in a post-election context. Therefore the Election Officer will examine whether the violations “may have affected the outcome of the election.” As the Election Officer previously stated in Cheatem, Post-27-EOH (August 21, 1997),
[T]he Election Officer concludes that the election is presumed to be fair and regular. Therefore, in order to grant a post-election protest, the evidence must overcome this presumption by demonstrating a violation of the Rules that may have affected the outcome of the election. This is consistent with DOL’s standard for certification of supervised elections.
Id., at 105.
- Exclusion from the Negotiating Committee
Mr. Hare was elected steward of the San Juan Unified School District Transportation bargaining unit in 1996. In recent years, it has been the practice of the San Juan Unified School District Transportation bargaining unit for the elected stewards to comprise the negotiating committee. Accordingly, Mr. Hare has participated in his bargaining unit’s annual wage reopener negotiations with management since 1996. In 1998, Mr. Hare and one other steward were excluded from the negotiating committee by Mr. Daurie.
The Election Officer’s investigation found evidence of a history of animosity and ill will between Mr. Hare and Mr. Daurie. In the 1997 wage reopener negotiations, Mr. Hare vocally opposed the tentative agreement supported by Mr. Daurie and the bargaining committee which was ratified by the membership of the bargaining unit. One member of the negotiating committee stated that it is not unusual for Mr. Daurie to insult Mr. Hare in negotiating session caucus breaks. Mr. Hare and another steward were brought up on internal union charges following the 1997 negotiations. The charges were found to have merit by the local union with Joint Council 38 sustaining two of the charges on appeal. Based on the above, the Election Officer found no evidence that Mr. Hare’s exclusion from the negotiating committee was related to his support of Mr. Leedham, but rather on internal affairs of the local union.
- Removal of Leedham Campaign literature
The Rules at Article VII, Section 11(d) provide in pertinent part that “[N]o restrictions shall be placed upon candidates’ or members’ preexisting rights to use employer or Union bulletin boards for campaign publicity.”
Grayson L. Hare, Jr.
January 25, 1999
Page 1
Mr. Daurie admits to removing Leedham campaign literature from a union bulletin board, but states that he regularly removes all materials unrelated to union business from the bulletin board, including all campaign literature, without regard to candidate or slate. The protester admits that the bulletin board in question is a union bulletin board and not a general purpose board.
The Election Officer finds no preexisting right of candidates to post literature on this union bulletin board and no evidence that Mr. Daurie did not enforce his policy of removing all non-union materials from the bulletin board even-handedly.
- Mr. Daurie’s Conduct During Negotiations
The Election Officer’s investigation uncovered no evidence of Mr. Daurie campaigning for James P. Hoffa Jr. during lunch breaks in the negotiating sessions. Further, the Election Officer finds that the allegations regarding Mr. Daurie’s comments during caucus breaks in negotiating sessions, even it true, did not affect the outcome of the election.
For the foregoing reasons, the protest is DENIED in its entirety.
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. Request for a hearing shall be made in writing and shall be served on:
Kenneth Conboy, Esq.
Latham & Watkins
885 Third Avenue, Suite 100
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
Christine Mrak, Regional Coordinator