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IN RE: FRED GEGARE, Protestor, Fred Gegare,candidate for IBT General President, filed a pre-election protest pursuant to Article XIII, Section 2(b) of the Rules for the 2010-2011 IBT International Union Delegate and Officer Election (“Rules”).The protest alleged that the Hoffa-Keegel 2011 campaign violated the Rules by faxing accreditation petitions to local unions for distribution on campaign literature tables and bulletin boards. Election Supervisor representative Jeffrey Ellison investigated this protest. Findings of Fact and Analysis On May 25, 2010, the Hoffa-Keegel 2011 campaign sent a 6-page fax to all IBT local unions and joint councils. The transmission consisted of a cover sheet, a 3-page campaign statement, and 2 pages of accreditation petitions. The cover sheet was addressed “To: Teamster Local Union” and requested that the recipient “distribute [the attached] material by placing it on literature tables and bulletin boards open to all candidates.” The first 2 pages of the 3-page campaign statement were addressed “Dear Hoffa-Keegel 2011 Slate Supporters;” it read in part:
This message bore the signatures of James Hoffa, Thomas Keegel, and 23 other persons who either currently hold or seek office with the IBT. The third page of the campaign statement was titled “Hoffa – Keegel 2011 Petition Drive Information” and provided information about where to get accreditation petitions, the number of signatures needed for accreditation, who is permitted to sign the petitions and what information they must provide, who is permitted to circulate the petitions, and where the completed petitions should be submitted. The final two pages of the fax were blank accreditation petitions for slate candidates (Election Supervisor Form 16), one in English, other in Spanish. After sending the 6-page fax just described to all IBT local unions and joint councils, the campaign sent a 3-page fax to the same fax list the same date. The cover page of the second fax read:
Two slate accreditation petition forms, one English, the other Spanish, followed the fax cover sheet. These listed Hoffa and Keegel as candidates for election to General President and General Secretary-Treasurer, respectively. Under Article X of the Rules, a candidate for International office may be certified by the Election Supervisor as an accredited candidate by obtaining the petition signatures of at least 2.5% of the relevant membership pool. An accredited candidate is permitted access to IBT membership lists for campaign purposes and is entitled to have his/her campaign literature published in the “battle pages” of certain editions of union-wide publications.Article VII, Sections 2, 3 & 10. With the May 25 faxes, the Hoffa-Keegel 2011 capaign sought to distribute its accreditation petitions to campaign loyalists and supporters on the literature tables or bulletin boards all local unions are required to establish under Article VII, Section 7(h) of the Rules.It is settled law that campaign literature tables and bulletin boards established under the Rules may not be used for distribution of accreditation petitions, Schaffer, 2000 EAD 8 (August 1, 2000), affirmed as modified, 00 EAM 02 (August 17, 2000), because such petitions are destined for distribution outside the confines of the local union and as such “must be sent to a supporter’s home address or to a campaign address.” Buck, P919 (November 5, 1996), aff'd, 96 EAM 274.This holding has been repeated in Election Office Advisories on the use of campaign literature tables and bulletin boards since the 2000-2001 election cycle. See, e.g.,Advisory on the Use of Literature Tables or Bulletin Boards For the Distribution of Campaign Literature Inside Union Halls, issued September 15, 2005, viz
Based on these precedents, the Hoffa-Keegel 2011 campaign’s faxing of accreditation petitions to local union halls for distribution via the literature tables violated the Rules The May 25 faxes also violated the Advisory on literature tables and bulletin boards, which limits each candidate’s or slate’s campaign material to one single-sided 8 ½” x 11” page. The purpose of this limitation is two-fold. First, because the Advisory has stated that “[l]ocals should not charge for the first 50 copies of each piece of campaign literature,” the one-page limitation caps at a minimal level the expense that local unions will incur in receiving and photocopying faxed campaign literature. In addition, for local unions that use literature bulletin boards, it insures that that the literature of one slate or candidate will not overwhelm the limited space available. The 3-page campaign statement of the Hoffa-Keegel 2011 was therefore too long. On Thursday, May 27, our office was contacted by several local unions that had received the faxes described above requesting information concerning their obligations under the Rules to establish and maintain campaign literature tables or bulletin boards, and whether accreditation petitions could be circulated through such literature tables. Through these inquiries, we were supplied the faxes that the Hoffa-Keegel campaign transmitted on May 25. Before the instant protest was filed, we contacted counsel for the Hoffa-Keegel campaign on Friday, May 28 to advise that accreditation petitions may not be sent to local unions for distribution on campaign literature tables or bulletin boards. In the discussion that ensued,we also advised that literature intended for distribution or display on local union literature tables or bulletin boards may not be longer than one page. After consultation with his client, campaign counsel conceded that the faxes were improper under the Rules and proposed to fax a statement to that effect to the original fax recipients to remedy the matter. While we were considering the campaign’s proposal, the instant protest was filed. The protest alleged some of the same Rules violations that we raised with counsel for the Hoffa-Keegel 2011 campaign and further protested the use of local union resources (viz., fax machines) to receive the material. As remedy, the protest requested that we “disqualify the Hoffa-Keegel 2011 campaign from participating in the 2010-2011 International Officer Election.” On Sunday, May 30, 2010, the Hoffa-Keegel 2011 campaign faxed to the original fax recipients the following notice:
When the Election Supervisor determines that the Rules have been violated, he “may take whatever remedial action is deemed appropriate.” Article XIII, Section 4. In fashioning the appropriate remedy, the Election Supervisor views the nature and seriousness of the violation as well as its potential for interfering with the election process. We direct the Hoffa-Keegel 2011 campaign to cease and desist from transmitting accreditation petitions or campaign literature longer than a single one-sided page to local unions for distribution on campaign literature tables or bulletin boards. We further direct the Hoffa-Keegel 2011 to advise the original fax recipients in writing that accreditation petitions may not be placed on literature tables or bulletin boards for distribution and that any such petitions that were faxed to local unions or joint councils will be considered invalid in the accreditation process. For recipients of the original fax transmissions who have already honored the campaign’s request that copies be made of the material faxed them, the campaign is to provide reimbursement, at 12¢ per page, for those copies. Based on the notice the campaign faxed to the original fax recipients on May 30,2010, we will deem this aspect of the remedy RESOLVED upon receipt of a compliance affidavit that includes listings of the original fax recipients and the recipients of the remedial notice, submitted to us within 3 working days of the date of this decision. We order no remedy concerning the cost to local unions and joint councils of the use of their fax machines for the faxes at issue here. Once brought to its attention, the campaign quickly recognized the Rules violations and sought to remedy them. These actions demonstrate a desire to comply with the Rules. The Advisory further contemplates that material appropriate for literature tables may be distributed to local union fax machines, so that resource is equally available to all candidates. Under these circumstances, we exercise our discretion to refrain from imposing every possible remedy that a violation might otherwise warrant. Finally, the protestor’s request that the Hoffa-Keegel 2011 campaign be disqualified from participating in the 2010-2011 IBT International Officer Election is rejected as disproportionate to the violations found here. 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, 1801 K Street, N.W., Suite421 L, Washington, D.C. 20006, all within the time prescribed above. A copy of the protest must accompany the request for hearing.
cc: Kenneth Conboy
DISTRIBUTION LIST (BY EMAIL UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED): Bradley T. Raymond, General Counsel David J. Hoffa Ken Paff Barbara Harvey Robert M. Colone, Esq. Fred Gegare Jeffrey Ellison
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