Protest Decisions

ELECTION APPEALS MASTER

FOR THE INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS

            Protest Decision 2025 ESD 1 (“ESD 1”), which addresses a pre-election protest filed by Mark Bethel, was issued on March 31, 2025 (OES Case No. P-001-021825-CAN) by the Office of the Election Supervisor (“Election Supervisor” or “OES”).  The protest alleged that officers of Local 31 impermissibly used local union resources to campaign against Mr. Bethel in the upcoming International Officers election in violation of the Rules for the 2025-2026 IBT International Union Delegate and Officer Election (the “Rules”).

In the March 31, 2025 decision, the Election Supervisor found that he did not have jurisdiction over this matter and denied the protest.  More specifically, the Election Supervisor denied the protest because he determined that the campaign activity at issue related to Local 31’s 2027 local officer election – not the IBT’s 2026 International Delegates and Officers election over which the OES does have jurisdiction.  See ESD 1 at 3. On April 1, 2025, Mr. Bethel appealed the decision.  On April 1, 2025, by Notice of Hearing, the Election Appeals Master (“EAM”) scheduled a hearing for April 4, 2025.  On April 3, 2025, the OES and Stan Hennessy, President of Local 31, submitted supplemental written arguments in support of their respective positions.
            

A hearing by video conference was held on April 4, 2025.  The following individuals attended the hearing:  Kelly Hogan and Jack Sullens on behalf of the OES; Mr. Hennessy and Murwan Salame on behalf of Local 31; and Mark Bethel, on his own behalf. 

For the reasons set forth below, ESD 1 is REVERSED and REMANDED.

Background

Local Union 31 will conduct two elections in the coming years.  The first is the January 2026 International Delegates and Officers election, which is governed by the Rules, and the second is the December 2027 local officers election governed by the IBT Constitution.  The current President of Local 31 is Mr. Hennessy, who has been an officer in the union for over 38 years.  In the Fall of 2024, Mr. Bethel, a Business Representative for Local 31, announced that he planned to run against Mr. Hennessy in both upcoming elections.  As part of his campaign, Mr. Bethel formed the Bethel Unity Slate, which is comprised of other prospective International Delegate and local officer candidates from Local 31. 

      On September 11, 2024, the Bethel Unity Slate submitted a letter to Mr. Hennessy and other officers of Local 31 announcing its intent to run in both elections.  See Bethel Unity Slate Letter, dated September 11, 2024.  The letter also served to provide  notice to Local 31’s officers that they would be required to comply “with all applicable laws, union by-laws, and the [IBT] constitution during the upcoming International Delegates election set for 2026 and the Local Union election in 2027.”  Id.  The letter was signed by Mr. Bethel, Sean St. Pierre and Catherine Gastaldello from the Bethel Unity Slate as candidates for both International Delegate and local union office.  Id. 

           
          In addition to submitting the September 11, 2024 letter to the officers of Local 31, Mr. Bethel explained at the appeal hearing that the letter was distributed to several members during a local membership meeting.  Mr. Bethel stated that the members were made aware at that meeting – and through the September 11th letter – that he was a candidate in both elections.

            Between September 2024 and February 2025, Mr. Bethel and others on his slate actively campaigned at entrances and parking lots of various Teamster employers by distributing campaign fliers to Local 31 members on their way in to work.  See Bethel Campaign fliers dated November 2024, December 2024 and January 2025.  Each flier has the Bethel Unity Slate logo with the dates 2026 and 2027 and some of the fliers have a QR code that hyperlinks to the campaign’s social media site.  Id.   
 

Bethel’s fliers were critical of the Hennesy administration’s policies and advocated for a change in leadership by urging recipients to “Vote the Mark Bethel Unity Slate.”  See January 2025 Campaign Flier.  While the fliers did not clearly delineate whether the campaign materials were tied to the IBT’s International Officers election or Local 31’s local officer election, they included information regarding a variety of issues relevant to both local and national union issues.  Id.

            On the morning of February 12, 2025, Mr. Bethel and other members of his slate distributed similar campaign fliers to Local 31 members who were reporting to work at the Metro Vancouver Regional District (“Metro Vancouver”), a public service Teamster employer. Again, the fliers did not specify whether it was related to the IBT’s International Delegates and Officer election or the local union election.  However, Mr. Bethel and his co-candidates asked members to sign a petition in support of the Bethel Unity Slate that shows they were campaigning in both upcoming elections.  Specifically, the petition states:

By signing this document, I support the Bethel Unity Slate for the 2026 IBT Local Delegates and the 2027 Teamsters Local 31 elections.  I understand by signing this document, I support to committing the Bethel Unity Slate and give permission for my name to be used publicly and as a supporter of the aforementioned slate.  Furthermore, I, along with the other supporters whose names are listed herein, request the IBT and/or Teamsters Canada to conduct the above-noted Local 31 elections.

“Sign Sheet for support and fair elections” submitted by Bethel to EAM on April 1, 2024 (the “Petition”).[1]

           
        Below this heading, the Petition has designated columns for members to write in their first and last names, provide an email address, provide a cell phone number, asks members whether they use the “WhatsApp” messaging app, and seeks the member’s signature.  Id.  Certain members who reported to work on February 12th confirmed that the Bethel Unity Slate campaigned at Metro Vancouver that day and were asked to sign the Petition.  Members sent emails to Mr. Hennessy and Mr. Salame that describe – and complain – about Bethel’s campaign activity, as follows:   “I was confronted that morning on the steps of Metrotower III by a group of 4 individuals including Catherine Gastaldello who stated they were from the union and immediately asked me to sign my personal information onto a list.  I declined in request of more information and was given a print out of a campaign for their slate.”  Email from Local 31 member, dated February 14, 2025.  See also, e.g., Email from Local 31 member , dated February 14, 2025 (“lady asked for me to sign a form to support the Teamsters Bargaining Agreement”); Email from Local 31 member, dated February 20, 2025 (“[a]ccording to my colleagues, four individuals claimed to be with Teamsters 31 and solicited signatures from union members”).

           
           In their reports to OES, Mr. Hennesy and Mr. Salame also stated that Mr. Bethel sought signatures as part of his campaign activity on February 12, 2025.  See February 20, 2025 Salame letter to OES (“there is an active situation at the [Metro Vancouver] workplace where there is a group of four (4) individuals, claiming to be from the Union, outside the workplace stopping workers and staff, distributing literature, soliciting signatures and personal information, and relating information that is alarming in nature.”);  see also February 20, 2025 Hennessy Letter to OES (“Unauthorized Solicitation:  As members arrived at work, they were approached by individuals they did not recognize and were asked if they were Teamsters members.  If a member confirmed their affiliation, the individuals claimed to be “from the union” and directed them to sign a petition requesting personal information.  Regardless of whether they signed, members were given campaign literature with Mr. Bethel’s Unity Slate.” (emphasis in original)).

            On February 13, 2025, in response to member complaints about Bethel’s campaign activity at the Metro Vancouver location, Mr. Hennessy and Mr. Salame drafted and issued a letter on Teamsters Local Union 31 letterhead to members of Metro Vancouver.  See Letter, dated February 13, 2025, from Mr. Hennessy and Mr.  Salame to Members (the “February 13 Letter”).  The letter stated, in pertinent part:

I am writing to address the recent concerns by members at Metro Vancouver regarding unsolicited letters left at your workplace…To be clear, the letters were not issued by Teamsters Local 31, nor do they reflect the values, principles, or professional standards of our Union.  They originate from a disgruntled union representative currently campaigning for a future election in 2027.  While our Union respects the democratic process, we will not tolerate misleading or disruptive tactics that undermine the trust and solidarity of our membership.

Id.

            Mr. Bethel submitted a protest to the Election Supervisor claiming that the February 13 Letter was an impermissible use of local union resources.  Following an investigation, the Election Supervisor denied the protest for lack of jurisdiction.

Discussion

            It is clear that the Election Supervisor only has authority to conduct and supervise the election of delegates to the International Convention, the nomination of candidates for International office at the Convention, and the election of International officers.  See Article I of the Rules; see also Brady 2021 ESD 55, affirmed by 2021 EAM 10 (“The Election Supervisor enforces the Election Rules, which govern nomination and election of delegates and alternate delegates to the IBT convention, and nomination and election of International officers.)  OES does not have jurisdiction over local union elections.  

            Here, the Election Supervisor found that he lacked jurisdiction because the Bethel Unity Slate’s campaign materials distributed to members on February 12, 2025 did not specifically reference the 2026 IBT International Officers election or the 2027 local officers election.  ESD 1 at 1 and 3.  The Election Supervisor found that the materials were a general criticism of the Hennesy administration and concluded the campaign activity was relevant only to the local election.  Id.  The Election Supervisor also determined that the membership was generally unaware whether Bethel intended to run in both campaigns.  Id. at 1, 2-3.  Additionally, in interviews with the OES investigator about this matter, Mr. Bethel admitted that his campaign literature did not reference a specific election even though he told the investigator he was running in both.  Id. at 3. 

            In reaching this conclusion, the Election Supervisor relies on several cases that dismissed protests because the conduct complained of was directed solely to local union officers elections.  See Jordan, 2001 EAD 76 (January 3, 2001); Collett, 2000 EAD 66 (December 19, 2000); Hale, 2000 EAD 61 (December 12, 2000); Weronke, P867 (August 19, 1996); Bishop, 2011 ESD 112 (February 14, 2011); ESD 1 at 3.  In each of these cases, however, the campaign activity was focused on the local election and did not pertain to the International election.  The facts in the current case require a different result.

            The relevant evidence before me demonstrates that Mr. Bethel is actively seeking office in both the IBT’s International Delegate and Officers election as well as Local 31’s local officer election.  On September 11, 2024, the Bethel Unity Slate submitted a letter to the current administration – including Mr. Hennessy – stating its intent to seek office in both elections.  See September 11, 2024 Letter.  That letter was signed by the slate as candidates for both International Delegate and union office and was distributed at a membership meeting that put several members on notice of Bethel’s candidacy in both elections. 

            The Bethel Unity Slate’s campaign literature, which was distributed to members at various employers, also contains a logo that references the years each election is scheduled to take place – 2026 and 2027.  While the campaign literature itself does not specifically reference either election, there is sufficient evidence that Mr. Hennessy, Mr. Salame and other members of Local 31 understood Bethel was running in both.  Moreover, the first election set to occur in the cycle is the IBT International Officers in January 2026.  The Local 31 officers election will take place about one year after that in December 2027.  As the Bethel Unity Slate is campaigning now, it is evident the candidates are running in the election that comes first in time.   

            In addition, the Petition used on February 12, 2025 at Metro Vancouver to solicit contact information from interested members – the activity that is the main subject of the protest – expressly states that Bethel is a candidate in the International Officers election (“[b]y signing this document, I support the Bethel Unity Slate for the 2026 IBT Local Delegates and the 2027 Teamsters Local 31 elections.”)  See Petition.

The Election Supervisor confirmed at the hearing that the Petition was not previously provided by Bethel during the initial investigation and represented new information.  While there is a general rule that no party may rely upon evidence that was not previously presented to the Election Supervisor, I find that the circumstances here warrant the Petition’s consideration.   The record demonstrates that  the OES investigator was provided with multiple emails from members, as well as letters from Mr. Hennessy and Mr. Salame, that specifically reference the Petition.  That information should have been reviewed and considered by OES in its determination, and I am admitting the Petition as part of the evidence in this appeal.[2]    

        In order to deny an election protest for want of jurisdiction, the Election Supervisor must examine the totality of circumstances surrounding the campaign activity.  Based on a careful review of the record before me, the Election Supervisor’s findings with respect to jurisdiction here are not consistent with the weight of the evidence and prior precedent.  Bethel is clearly campaigning in both elections.  Accordingly, the Election Supervisor should have exercised jurisdiction over this matter. 

ESD 1 is REVERSED and REMANDED to the Election Supervisor to determine whether Mr. Hennessy and Mr. Salame violated the Rules by using union resources to oppose a campaign in violation of Article VII, Section 12(c), Article XI, Section 1(b)(3) or any other related provisions.

SO ORDERED

Hon. Barbara S. Jones (Ret.)

Election Appeals Master

DATED:         May 22, 2025



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