IN RE: TOM LEEDHAM RANK AND FILE POWER SLATE,
Protest Decision 2001 EAD 444
Issued: September 10, 2001
OEA Case No. PR083112NE
The Tom Leedham Rank and File Power slate (the "Leedham 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") against Local Union 237. The protest alleges an article posted on the local's website constitutes impermissible support for and an endorsement of the candidacy of James Hoffa.
Election Administrator representative Jeffrey Ellison investigated the protest.
Findings of Fact and Analysis
Local 237 maintains a website at www.local237teamsters.com. Among the features of the site is "Newsline," which contains current articles of general interest to the local's membership. Newsline also holds an archive section that includes articles previously appearing in Newsline.
An article entitled "Members Cheer Hoffa in Standing Ovation" appears in the archive section of Newsline. The article reports on General President Hoffa's appearance at a June 7, 2000, stewards' seminar held in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Hoffa's remarks as reported by the article include the following:
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his promise "to end the [government's] trusteeship of the Teamsters and give the union back to its members," |
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his declaration that union members are "fighting for our lives" and his assurance that in the local's "efforts to obtain fair contracts this year from municipal leaders, 'we will back you all the way, with anything it takes. We must be united.'" |
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his charge that jobs have been lost to "misguided government trade policies," emphasizing the need "to support only those legislators who comprehend the difficulties faced by those raising families and withhold aid to those who would ship American jobs to sweatshop nations." |
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his insistence that, since taking office, he has restored "unity, pride and strength to the union and … buil[t] bridges to all the union's constituencies" by organizing many new members and winning better contracts. |
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his conclusion that "[t]he future is bright … The Teamsters are back. Together we will restore a strong voice for America's working families." |
The article was first posted on the current Newsline portion of the website in July 2000. Investigation shows it was moved to the archive section in or around September 2000 and remains there presently. The local was unable to provide data concerning the number of times the article has been accessed by browsing software.
Article VII, Section 8 of the Rules prohibits use of a union-financed publication "to support or attack any candidate or the candidacy of any person." Article VII, Section 11(b) prohibits a union from endorsing a candidate. Article VII, Section 11(c) bars use of union funds "to assist in campaigning." Article XI, Section 1(b)(13) forbids a candidate from accepting an improper contribution.
We held in Martinez, 2001 EAD 384 (June 11, 2001) ("Martinez I") that a union makes permissible use of a publication to "note its accomplishments as a way of building … support" among its members. However, a union-financed publication violates the Rules when it directly praises the accomplishments of the incumbent administration, rather than the union, and when it adopts the campaign themes of the incumbent candidate's slate.
We hold that the provisions of Article VII, Section 8 regarding union-financed publications apply to websites authorized, funded or maintained by a union.
However, we DENY the protest. Although the article here contains the elements of union-financed campaigning we found impermissible in the organizing brochure presented in Martinez I, the instant article was first posted more than a year ago and some fifteen months before the mailing of ballots in the International officer election, and it was moved to the archive section of the local's website a year ago. Because it first appeared long before the delegate and International officer elections, we hold it fails the timing prong of the tone, timing and content test. We further find the article's use of the "unity, pride and strength" phrase occurred before that phrase became closely associated with the Hoffa re-election campaign.
The development of internet technology presents an issue that did not arise in previous election cycles, viz., whether the continued posting of an article, impermissible but for its historic nature, in the archive section of a union's website will satisfy the timing prong of the tone, timing and content test and therefore violate the Rules. Before the advent of the internet, a person seeking access to historic news accounts of the union's activities had to obtain and then page through old editions of the union's publications. The archiving ability a website provides allows greater access to such accounts because back issues of the publication remain posted.
We would find a Rules violation were the article at issue here posted in the current portion of Newsline. We would also find a violation if investigation showed the article was prepared close in time to the election for placement in the archive section of a union's website. But here, where the article is aged and has been in the archive section of the website for a lengthy period, we decline to find that its continued posting there violates the Rules.
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 (facsimile: 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 444
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
Hoffa Unity Slate
Todd Thompson
209 Pennsylvania Ave. SE
Washington, DC 20003
Matt Ginsberg
Tom Leedham Campaign
P.O. Box 6678
Arlington, VA 22206
James L. Hicks, Jr., P.C.
Suite 1100
2777 N. Stemmons Freeway
Dallas, TX 75207
IBT Local 237
216 W. 14th Street
New York, NY 10011