IN RE: KEN FAULK,
Protest Decision 2001 EAD 80
Issued: January 17, 2001
OEA Case No. PR010813SO
Ken Faulk, a member of Local 19, 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 Local 19 and its member Dan Stunda, challenging the nomination of Stunda as a delegate candidate.
Election Administrator representative Dolores Hall investigated the protest.
Findings of Fact
Local 19 scheduled three delegate and alternate delegate nomination meetings to be held simultaneously, but in three different locations, on January 7, 2001. The nomination meeting held in Waxahatchie, Texas, resulted in no nominations. Local 19 business representative Carl Branch conducted the nomination meeting in Grapevine, Texas. Election Administrator adjunct Patrick Dooner was present. Dooner states that the Grapevine meeting was uneventful; 12 members were present. Written nominations for delegate were read for three individuals constituting the Local 19 Unity Slate, and two other individuals were nominated from the floor. The five nominees were all present. Mail nominations for alternate delegate were read for three individuals on the Local 19 Unity Slate and one member was nominated for alternate delegate from the floor. Dooner states no questions were raised about any other written nominations.
The Houston nomination meeting was conducted by Local 19 trustee Jerry Vincent. Election Administrator regional director Dolores Hall was present. Local 19 maintains an office in Houston because of the large number of Continental Airline employee members there. The Local organized these members two years ago and this is the first union election in which they have participated. There were 32 members present. After opening the nomination meeting and reading salient portions of the nomination notice and the Election Administrator's notice to employees of Continental Airlines regarding determination of their eligibility, Vincent began to read written nominations for alternate delegate. Hall advised Vincent that he should first open the floor for nominations for delegate positions and he did so. Vincent announced there were no written nominations for delegate positions at Houston. There were nine delegate nominations; two of the nominees declined nomination and one was not present to accept. The floor was then closed for delegate nominations and opened for alternate delegate nominations.
Vincent read three written alternate delegate nominations and then called for alternate delegate nominations from the floor. One member was nominated three times, because the member was not certain of the eligibility of her seconders. She had three different seconders and accepted each nomination in turn. The individual who had not been present to accept the nomination for delegate arrived during this time, which was after the time for making delegate nominations from the floor. He was nominated, seconded and accepted for alternate delegate. Dan Stunda was nominated as an alternate delegate, was seconded and accepted the nomination in person. The floor was then closed for alternate delegate nominations.
Hall then suggested that Vincent read the nominations that had been made in Grapevine, which had been sent to the Houston meeting by facsimile. A mail nomination, second and acceptance was read for Stunda for delegate. Someone in the assembly pointed out that Mr. Stunda had already accepted the nomination as alternate delegate and argued that he could not run for two positions. Vincent advised Stunda that he would have to decide between the two nominations. Stunda said that he was confused and thought his acceptance at the Houston meeting was for a delegate candidacy, since that was his intention. Vincent then asked the secretary for the Houston meeting to record that Stunda declined nomination as an alternate delegate candidate.
Later that day, the Local received a written report of the Grapevine nomination meeting. Stunda's name was not listed as a member nominated as a delegate candidate at the Grapevine meeting. Upon inquiry, Branch, the Grapevine meeting chair, stated that he had not received a written delegate nomination for Stunda. Branch stated that all the written nominations he read at the Grapevine meeting had been given to him by Vincent. Vincent stated that the written nomination of Stunda as a delegate candidate was contained in the group that had been faxed to him that morning from Grapevine. However, a written nomination, second, and acceptance of Stunda were in fact date-stamped as having been received in the Local 19 office in Grapevine on January 5, 2001 at 4:00 p.m. by Dana Hutchins, a clerical employee at that location.
Analysis
Article II, Section 5(f) of the Rules provides that:
Any member eligible to nominate or second a nomination may do so by a writing submitted to the Local Union Secretary-Treasurer. A written nomination or second must be received by the Local Union Secretary-Treasurer no later than 5 p.m. of the day immediately prior to the day of the relevant nomination meeting. The writing shall state whether it is a nomination or a second, the name of the member being nominated or seconded and whether the nomination or second is for delegate or alternate delegate. It shall be signed by the member submitting the nomination or second and shall contain his/her Social Security number. At the nomination meeting, the presiding Local Union officer shall announce and treat the written nomination or second as if it had been made from the floor of such meeting.
Similarly, Article II, Section 5(h) provides that a member who is properly nominated and seconded may "accept his/her nomination at the time made … in writing. If acceptance is made in writing, the document must be presented to the presiding Local Union officer no later than the time the member is nominated."
At the Houston meeting, based upon the requirement of Article II, Section 5(i) of the Rules that "[n]o member may accept nomination for both a delegate and an alternate delegate position, Stunda withdrew his nomination for alternate delegate. His written nomination, second and acceptance were, however, all timely and properly submitted to Local 19 in conformance with the provisions of Article II, Section 5(f) and (i) of the Rules. The fact that these writings were not read at the Grapevine meeting, through no fault of Stunda, should not and do not delegitimize Stunda's delegate candidacy. Nor should Stunda's confused and temporary acceptance at Houston of an in-person nomination for alternate delegate position deprive Stunda of the opportunity to run for delegate. That error was promptly corrected by Stunda's withdrawal at the Houston meeting of his acceptance of an alternate delegate nomination, which Stunda only accepted in the first place because he mistakenly understood it as the delegate nomination that had been tendered to the local union in writing.
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
2001EAD 80
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