January 25, 1996
VIA UPS OVERNIGHT
Robert M. Winstead
January 25, 1996
Page 1
Robert M. Winstead, Secretary-Treasurer
Teamsters Local Union 89
3813 Taylor Boulevard
Louisville, KY 40215
Anthony Blair
3815 Hillcross Road
Louisville, KY 40229
Mike Knear
925 Sunnyside Drive
Clarksville, IN 47130
Joseph McGovern
139 Carissa Court
Hillview, KY 40229
Donald Cummins
3126 Bridwell Road
Louisville, KY 40216
Mark Allgeier
3514 Brockton Lane #1
Louisville, KY 40220
David Dorton
2311 Evans Lane
New Albany, IN 47150
Robert M. Winstead
January 25, 1996
Page 1
Re: Election Office Case No. E-021-LU89-EOH
Eligibility of Anthony Blair, Joseph McGovern, Mike Knear, Donald Cummins, Mark Allgeier, and David Dorton to Run for Delegate or Alternate Delegate and to Nominate or to Second
Gentlemen:
Local Union 89's nominations meeting was held on January 5, 1996. By letter received by the Election Officer on January 8, 1996, Robert M. Winstead, secretary-treasurer of Local Union 89, protested the eligibility of local union members Anthony Blair,
Joseph McGovern, Mike Knear, Donald Cummins, Mark Allgeier, and David Dorton to run for delegate or alternate delegate and to nominate or to second candidates for delegate or alternate delegate to the International convention.
Robert M. Winstead
January 25, 1996
Page 1
Mr. Winstead contends that none of the protested individuals satisfies the requirement of 24 months continuous good standing because each had dues arrearages. Thus, he alleges, they failed to pay their dues in a timely manner in accordance with the Rules for the 1995-1996 IBT International Union Delegate and Officer Election (“Rules”).
In order to be eligible to run for delegate to the International convention, a member must be in continuous good standing with his or her local union, with his or her dues paid to the local union for a period of 24 consecutive months prior to the month of nomination with no interruption in active membership due to suspensions, expulsions, withdrawals, transfers or failure to pay fines or assessments and be employed at the craft within the jurisdiction of the local union for a period of 24 consecutive months prior to the month of nomination. Rules, Article VII, Sections 1(a)(1) and (2). In addition, a member must be in good standing at the time of the nomination in order to nominate or second the nomination of a candidate. Rules, Article II, Section 5(e)
According to the IBT Constitution, dues must be paid on or before the last business day of the month. Article X, Section 5(c) further states:
Payment of such dues after their due date shall not restore good standing status for such month or months in computing the continuous good standing required by Article II, Section 4 of this Constitution as a condition of eligibility for office. However, a member on dues checkoff whose employer fails to make a proper deduction during any month in which the member has earnings from which the dues could have been deducted, shall not lose good standing status for that month.
Each of the protested individuals is an employee of United Parcel Service (“UPS”) on checkoff dues payment. The investigation disclosed that the TITAN record of each of the charged parties reflected an arrearage or a late payment, as the protester alleged. The investigation further disclosed, however, that each charged party had sufficient earnings from which dues could be deducted in the months for which late or missing payments were recorded on the TITAN system. According to Local Union 89's TITAN operator, UPS is usually very good at remitting dues to the local union in the month they have been checked off. The employer, however, has a history of failing to remit dues for individuals who had sufficient earnings for the month but had no earnings during the pay period in which the checkoff occurred.
There are many instances in which an employer does not deduct dues from a member’s earnings because the member was ill during the pay period from which dues are deducted or chose to go on vacation during the pay period. When a member seeking an eligibility verification is on check-off and there is a late payment of dues, the Election Officer has determined such members to be eligible as long as they had sufficient earnings in the month(s) in question from which dues can be deducted.
Robert M. Winstead
January 25, 1996
Page 1
Accordingly, it is the determination of the Election Officer that Messrs. Blair, McGovern, Knear, Cummins, Allgeier, and Dorton are eligible to run for delegate or alternate delegate to the International convention. The standard of eligibility for nominator or seconder requires that the member be in good standing at the time of the nomination. Hence, the finding that these individuals are eligible to be candidates makes them eligible to be a nominator and seconder as well.
Any interested party not satisfied with this determination may request a hearing before the Election Appeals Master within one day of receipt of this letter. The parties are reminded that, absent extraordinary circumstances, no party may rely upon evidence that was not presented to the Office of the Election Officer in any such appeal. Requests for a hearing shall be made in writing and shall be served on:
Kenneth Conboy, Esq.
Latham and Watkins
885 Third Avenue, Suite 1000
New York, NY 10022
Fax (212) 751-4864
Copies of the request for hearing must be served on the parties listed above as well as upon the Election Officer, 400 North Capitol Street, Suite 855, Washington, D.C. 20001, Facsimile (202) 624-3525. A copy of the protest must accompany the request for a hearing.
Sincerely,
Barbara Zack Quindel
Election Officer
cc: Kenneth Conboy, Election Appeals Master
Bruce Boyens, Regional Coordinator