IN RE: TOM SAXTON,
Protest Decision 2001 EAD 148
Issued: February 8, 2001
OEA Case No. PR011512AT
Tom Saxton, a member of Local 391, 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"). Saxton alleges that Local 391 business agent Donny Brown violated the Rules by pressuring him to sign a petition supporting the candidacies of Jack Cipriani and James P. Hoffa, and further alleges that supporters of Cipriani improperly engaged in campaign activity inside the local union's hall.
Election Administrator representative J. Griffin Morgan investigated the protest.
Findings of Fact
Saxton is a steward for Local 391 and a candidate for delegate on the Home Team slate. He says that Brown called him at home and asked him to sign a petition for the "Cipriani-Hoffa slate," and that he did so again on January 13, 2001 in the lobby of the local union's building prior to the local's 10:00 a.m. membership meeting.
According to Saxton, Brown phoned him at home on January 12, 2001. Brown asked if Saxton would sign a petition in favor of Jack Cipriani and James P. Hoffa, candidates for International office. Saxton says he told Brown that he had never been asked to do that before, and that he had thus never done so. Brown told Saxton that he would see him in the morning before the local union's membership meeting.
The local's membership meeting started at 10 a.m. on January 13. The local union's delegate nomination meeting followed at noon. The local union kept sign-in sheets for the meetings.
Brown approached Saxton before the membership meeting in the lobby of the local's hall. He again asked him to sign the petition. Saxton said he did not feel comfortable signing petitions. Brown then asked Saxton if there was a problem between them, and Saxton said there was not.
Brown concedes that he called Saxton at home, and that he did so because he was trained not to campaign in the local union hall, using union resources such as the phone. His version of his telephone conversation with Saxton is not materially different from that of Saxton. Brown says that when he saw Saxton before the membership meeting, he said, "Tom, we do have a petition, my reason for the call last night was to support the team." Brown says that Saxton replied that he never signed anything but his paycheck, and that he asked Saxton if there was a problem between them and was told there was not. According to Brown, the conversation lasted a minute or less.
Saxton also says he observed members passing out Cipriani-Hoffa campaign buttons in the lobby of the hall. Saxton further says that he was told as a steward not to campaign in the local union hall.
Brown confirms that two local union members located just inside the outer doors of the hall passed out such buttons. After being offered the buttons, members passed into the lobby and ultimately into the meeting room itself. A number of members took the proffered buttons and wore them.
Brown says he was told he could not campaign during his work hours, the work hours of members, or through use of union resources, but that he or other members were not told to avoid campaigning inside the local union hall before and after meetings.
Neither Brown, Saxton nor other witnesses could identify an example of past campaign activity, such as passing out campaign leaflets, in the lobby of the local union hall before union meetings. The meeting hall is adjacent to the lobby. Before and after the January 13 meetings, the lobby of the hall was crowded with members talking about various issues. Many of those conversations were inevitably about delegate campaign matters.
Analysis
Article VII, Section 11(a) guarantees the right of all IBT members to participate in campaign activities. The section provides in pertinent part:
All Union members retain the right to participate in campaign activities, … including the right to run for office, to support or oppose any candidate, to aid or campaign for any candidate, and to make personal campaign contributions. This includes, but is not limited to, the right to distribute campaign literature and to otherwise solicit support for a member's candidacy outside a meeting hall before, during and after a Union meeting, regardless of Union policy, rule or practice.
Under this provision, and regardless of past practice, local union members have a right to engage in campaign activities outside the local union hall. Kesner, P567 (July 23, 1991), aff'd, 91 EAM 174 (August 9, 1991). This right exists even if the campaigning takes place on property owned by the union. Kesner, supra; Teller, P97 (January 2, 1991).
Thus, the Rules provide that each local union member has a right equal to that provided other members to engage in campaign activities on union premises. However, "[a]bsent a past practice permitting such conduct inside of the union hall, or evidence that a complainant has been denied the right to engage in such conduct on a discriminatory basis, the Rules do not authorize the distribution of campaign literature inside a union hall." Maney, P299 (February 23, 1996); Teller, supra.[1]
Where the union meeting is not held in a building that is union property, but is instead held in a meeting room rented at an outside facility, such as a room rented in a restaurant, campaigning outside of the room in where the meeting takes place has been held to be permitted by Article VII, Section 11(a). See Maney, supra. In such instances, the local union "ha[s] no duty to notify the other candidates of the opportunity to campaign and d[oes] not violate the Rules by renting a room in the building in which the campaigning occurred." Id.
Here, Brown did briefly discuss campaign matters with Saxton in the local union's building before the local union membership meeting, in the same way that many other members did that day before the membership meeting. Such a brief discussion alone, without any distribution of campaign literature, does not violate the Rules. Nor is there any merit to Saxton's claim that Brown improperly pressured him into signing the Cipriani-Hoffa petition. There was nothing at all coercive about Brown's words or conduct. We accordingly DENY that portion of Saxton's protest.
The distribution of Cipriani-Hoffa campaign buttons in the local union hall before the meeting is, on the other hand, a violation of the Rules, since distribution of campaign literature (including campaign buttons) inside a union hall before a union meeting is prohibited, at least where no past practice legitimates such conduct. Stefanski, P505 (March 6, 1996); Maney, supra. No such past practice was identified here, and we accordingly GRANT that part of the protest which challenges the button distribution.
Remedy
When the Election Administrator determines that the Rules have been violated, he "may take whatever remedial action is appropriate." Article XIII, Section 4. In fashioning the appropriate remedy, the Election Administrator views the nature and seriousness of the violation as well as its potential for interfering with the election process.
In ordering a remedy here, we take into account the fact that the ballots in the local union's delegate election will be mailed on February 13, 2001, and have fashioned a remedy that is designed to remove any impression that any delegate or International officer candidate is institutionally favored by Local 391, an impression that may have been created by the access given Cipriani-Hoffa supporters to the union's premises to distribute campaign materials in the hall prior to the membership meeting.
In this case, the Election Administrator orders Local 391 to cease and desist from any conduct that interferes with any rights guaranteed under the Rules. We also order that the attached notice be mailed to the residences of all attendees at either of the January 13 meetings. This notice should be mailed no later than February 13, 2001. Within one (1) day of this mailing, the local union will file with the Election Administrator an affidavit indicating compliance.
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
2001 EAD 148
NOTICE TO IBT LOCAL 391 MEMBERS
The Rules for the 2000-2001 IBT International Union Delegate and Officer Election ("Rules") protect the right of all IBT members to run for delegate, alternate delegate and International office, to support candidates of their own choosing for those offices, and oppose the incumbent leadership of their local union as part of any such activity. The Rules further prohibit any interference by your local union and/or officers of your local union with such protected conduct. The Election Administrator will not permit any such interference.
Before the Local 391 meetings held on January 13, 2001 at the Local 391 hall in Colfax, NC, supporters of the Cipriani-Hoffa slate were allowed to distribute campaign buttons favoring the candidates on this slate inside the local union hall. After a protest was filed with the Election Administrator for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the Election Administrator found that Local 391 violated the Rules by permitting such campaign activity inside the local union hall.
The Election Administrator has ordered that Local 391 cease permitting such activity, and has ordered the mailing of this Notice to all those in attendance at either of the January 13 meetings.
Absent a contrary past practice, the distribution of campaign literature or buttons is not permitted inside the local union's hall before, during or after local union meetings, unless such literature distribution takes place on literature tables open to all candidates, is available to all candidates on an equal basis, and takes place after advance notice to all candidates of the availability of such literature table distribution.
The distribution of campaign buttons in Local 391's hall before the January 13, 2001 local union meetings is not to be interpreted as an indication that Local 391 itself supports the election of any particular delegate, alternate delegate or International officer candidates.
Any protest you have regarding your rights under the Rules or any conduct by any person or entity which violates the Rules should be filed with Election Administrator William A. Wertheimer, Jr., 727 15th Street, NW, 10th Floor, Washington, D.C. 20005, telephone 800.565.VOTE, telecopier 202.454.1501.
_____________________
Jack Cipriani, President
IBT Local 391
This is an official notice prepared and approved by William A. Wertheimer, Jr., Election Administrator for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
DISTRIBUTION LIST VIA FAX AND UPS NEXT DAY AIR:
Patrick Szymanski
IBT General Counsel
25 Louisiana Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20001
Fax: 202.624.6884
Bradley T. Raymond
Finkel, Whitefield, Selik,
Raymond, Ferrara & Feldman
32300 Northwestern Highway
Suite 200
Farmington Hills, MI 48334
Fax: 248.855.6501
J. Douglas Korney
Korney & Heldt
30700 Telegraph Road
Suite 1551
Bingham Farms, MI 48025
Fax: 248.646.1054
Barbara Harvey
Penobscot Building
Suite 1800
645 Griswold
Detroit, MI 48226
Fax: 313.963.3572
Betty Grdina
Yablonski, Both & Edelman
Suite 800
1140 Connecticut Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20036
Fax: 202.463.6688
Tom Leedham c/o Stefan Ostrach
110 Mayfair
Eugene, OR 97404
Fax: 541.607.4484
IBT Local 391
3100 Sandy Ridge Road
Colfax, NC 27235
Fax: 336.996.4431
J. Griffin Morgan
Elliott, Pishko, Gelbin & Morgan
500 West Fourth Street
Winston-Salem, NC 27120
Fax: 336.724.3335
Tom Saxton
6450 Starlette Lane
Trinity, NC 27370
(via UPS Next Day Air only)
[1] The Rules have been held to permit distribution of campaign literature inside a local union hall on campaign literature distribution tables that are open to all candidates after advance notice to them. See Ostrach, 2001 EAD 29 (October 2, 2000), aff'd, 00 EAM 7 (October 10, 2000). The distribution of the campaign materials in the local union hall here did not take that form.