IN RE: KEVIN M. BOLIG,
Protest Decision 2001 EAD 243
Issued: March 20, 2001
OEA Case No. PR030511ME
Kevin M. Bolig, a Local 429 member and alternate delegate candidate on the Shappell-Noll slate, 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"). He alleges that the competing Roc/DC slate violated the Rules by obtaining a list of members' phone numbers that has been unavailable to him.
Election Administrator representative William Kane investigated the protest.
Findings of Fact and Analysis
The Roc/DC slate supports James P. Hoffa's campaign for General President. The Hoffa 2001 Unity slate supplied the Roc/DC slate with phone numbers derived by a third-party vendor from public records applied to the International Union membership list obtained by the Hoffa slate under Article VII, Section 3 of the Rules. With this resource in hand, the Roc/DC slate used a phone bank to urge Local 429 members to support the slate's candidates.
Bolig argues that Article VII, Section 2 of the Rules required notice to the Shappell-Noll slate of the availability of the membership list. That provision states, "if the Union permits any candidate to copy the list, all candidates must be notified of this and provided the same opportunity. The Union shall not, in any way, discriminate in favor or against any candidate with respect to access or use of the membership list."
Article VII, Section 3 of the Rules, however, protects the conduct of the Roc/DC slate and the Hoffa slate here. Thus, under that provision, International officer candidates have the right to obtain an International Union membership list and to share that list with delegate and alternate delegate candidates who intend "to advance the accredited or nominated [International Officer] candidate's campaign for nomination and/or election." Article VII, Section 3(a). As a supporter of the Hoffa campaign, therefore, the Roc/DC slate gained access to Local 429's membership list even though Local 429 could not have provided it, but not opposing slates, with a copy.
Nor is there any evidence or allegation that the Roc/DC slate misused or improperly disseminated Local 429's membership list.
For the foregoing reasons, 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 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 (fax: 202-454-1501), all within the time 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 243
DISTRIBUTION LIST VIA UPS NEXT DAY AIR:
Patrick Szymanski
IBT General Counsel
25 Louisiana Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20001
Bradley T. Raymond
Finkel, Whitefield, Selik,
Raymond, Ferrara & Feldman
32300 Northwestern Highway
Suite 200
Farmington Hills, MI 48334
J. Douglas Korney
Korney & Heldt
30700 Telegraph Road
Suite 1551
Bingham Farms, MI 48025
Barbara Harvey
Penobscot Building
Suite 1800
645 Griswold
Detroit, MI 48226
Betty Grdina
Yablonski, Both & Edelman
Suite 800
1140 Connecticut Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20036
Tom Leedham c/o Stefan Ostrach
110 Mayfair
Eugene, OR 97404
IBT Local 429
1055 Spring St.
Wyomissing, PA 19610
Roc/DC Slate
c/o IBT Local 429
1055 Spring St.
Wyomissing, PA 19610
Kevin M. Bolig
2806 Knoll Way
Sinking Spring, PA 19608
William B. Kane
242 Old Haymaker Rd.
Monroeville, PA 15146