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IN RE: ALONZO WILLIAMSON and JIMMY PAYNE Protestors. Alonzo Williamson and Jimmy Payne, members of Local Union 728, filed pre-election protests pursuant to Article XIII, Section 2(b) of the Rules for the 2005-2006 IBT International Union Delegate and Officer Election (“Rules”). The protests allege that the local union failed to produce a copy of its local union plan upon request and failed to post notice of the submission of the plan to the Office of the Election Supervisor as required by the Rules. The protests were consolidated for investigation. Election Supervisor representative Dolores C. Hall investigated the protests. Findings of Fact Local Union 728 submitted its local union plan for the delegate and alternate delegate election to our office for review and approval on September 29, 2005. On October 3, protestor Williamson orally requested a copy of the proposed plan from the local union’s secretary-treasurer, Larry Macdonald. Williamson asserts that Macdonald replied that he had to file an affidavit and have the plan approved before he could produce the plan to Williamson. Williamson asserts that Macdonald’s failure or refusal to produce the plan to him violated the Rules. Macdonald denies that he told Williamson that the plan would not be produced to him until after it was approved by our office. Instead, he states that he told Williamson a copy of the plan would be mailed to him promptly. Williamson received a copy of the plan on October 5, 2005. Protestor Payne asserts that, as of 2 p.m. on October 4, the fifth day following submission of the plan to our office, notice of the submission of the proposed plan had not been posted on the union bulletin board at his UPS worksite. The required notice was posted at Payne’s worksite on October 5, and Payne contends this posting violated the Rules because it was one day late. Payne further warned that he intended to check for the required posting at union bulletin boards at Local 728 worksites and file a protest each time he discovered that the posting had not been made. He states that he is going to “hold Macdonald’s feet to the fire” to “teach Macdonald how serious it is to follow the Rules.” Payne ran unsuccessfully against Macdonald for the local union’s secretary-treasurer position. Analysis Article II, Section 4 of the Rules provides:
As we said in Fahey, 2005 ESD 10 (September 8, 2005), “[l]ate notices or missing postings will not result in a Rules violation in the absence of bad faith on the part of the local union or disadvantage to any potential candidates.” Lefevre, 2001 EAD 301 (April 12, 2001), citing Wenham, 2001 EAD 221 (March 7, 2001), Snow, P368, (March 6, 1996), and Young, P426 (March 29, 1996). Here, the local union complied with Williamson’s request for the local union plan. Further, the notice of submission of the local union plan was posted at Payne’s UPS worksite. While Payne contends that the posting was one day late, no evidence has been presented of bad faith on the part of the local union or substantial prejudice to any potential candidate. Accordingly, we DENY the protest. 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 Supervisor 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 Copies of the request for hearing must be served upon the parties, as well as upon the Election Supervisor for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, 1725 K Street, N.W., Suite 1400, Washington, D.C. 20007-5135, all within the time prescribed above. A copy of the protest must accompany the request for hearing. Richard W. Mark DISTRIBUTION LIST (BY EMAIL UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED): Patrick J. Szymanski Bradley T. Raymond David J. Hoffa Barbara Harvey Ken Paff Alonzo Williamson Jimmy Payne Larry Macdonald Dolores C. Hall
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