February 6, 1996
VIA UPS OVERNIGHT
Larry Deane & Darrell W. Emily
February 6, 1996
Page 1
Larry Deane
5333 Coventry Court
Norcross, GA 30071
Darrell W. Emily
160 Old Mill Drive
Locust Grove, GA 30248
Kenneth Hilbish, President
Teamsters Local Union 528
2540 Lakewood Avenue, S.W.
Atlanta, GA 30315
Larry Deane & Darrell W. Emily
February 6, 1996
Page 1
Re: Election Office Case Nos. E-056-LU528-EOH
E-057-LU528-EOH
Gentlemen:
In response to Kenneth Hilbish’s request for a verification of his eligibility, the Election Officer found on January 6, 1996 that Mr. Hilbish was eligible to run for delegate or alternate delegate to the International convention. Mr. Hilbish was nominated to run for delegate on January 20, 1996. In separate protests, received by the Election Officer on January 24 and January 25, respectively, Darrell W. Emily and Larry Deane alleged that
Mr. Hilbish is ineligible to run for delegate or alternate delegate to the International convention because the local union has paid his dues in violation of the IBT Constitution and, as a result, he lacks the 24 months continuous good standing required by the Rules for the 1995-1996 IBT International Union Delegate and Officer Election (“Rules”).[1]
Larry Deane & Darrell W. Emily
February 6, 1996
Page 1
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).
Mr. Hilbish became president of Local Union 528 in January 1995.[2] An examination of his TITAN record indicates that, prior to becoming president, Mr. Hilbish was on dues checkoff, and his employer remitted his dues in a timely manner for all months prior to January 1995 within the relevant 24-month period. After becoming president, Mr. Hilbish also paid checkoff dues until May 1995, when his January through April 1995 dues were refunded to him by the local union. The record indicates that these dues were posted again on June 2, 1995 along with his dues for May and June 1995. After that time, the record reflects timely checkoff payments.
The investigation revealed that, at a local union executive board meeting on April 22, 1995, Alvin Bode, a member of Local Union 528, made a motion that the local union pay
Mr. Hilbish’s dues and refund to him payments for dues he had already paid during his tenure as president. The motion was ratified by the executive board, and Mr. Hilbish was refunded his dues money on May 12, 1995. On June 2, 1995, the local union paid Mr. Hilbish’s January through June dues and has thereafter paid his dues in a timely manner.
Mr. Bode’s motion that the local union retroactively pay his dues was made and ratified pursuant to Article XII, Section 3 of Local Union 528’s bylaws, which states, “Reinitiation fees shall be $25.00, plus $5.00 Building and Maintenance Fund fee. President dues and initiation fees shall be maintained unless changed as provided herein.” This section was interpreted to mean that the local union was responsible for paying the local union president’s dues.
On January 26, 1996, Mr. Hilbish requested that General President Ron Carey render a decision regarding this interpretation of the local union bylaws. Mr. Hilbish states in his request that he sought Mr. Carey’s determination because of a letter he received from the local union secretary-treasurer and a trustee in which they questioned the propriety of the executive board’s interpretation.
Mr. Carey issued a response on January 26, 1996 in which he stated that the executive board’s interpretation was incorrect but was reasonably based on a typographical error in the local union bylaws. After comparing the bylaws as currently worded with past versions,
Larry Deane & Darrell W. Emily
February 6, 1996
Page 1
Mr. Carey determined that Article XII, Section 2 was intended to state, “Present dues and initiation fees. . .” instead of “President dues and initiation fees. . .” Mr. Carey directed the union to cease the practice of paying the president’s dues.[3] However, he further stated that, because he found that the policy had been authorized by the local union executive board and that the board’s decision was not unreasonable given the wording of the local union bylaws, past payment of Mr. Hilbish’s dues did not cause him to lose good standing in the union as defined by Article X, Section 5(c) of the IBT Constitution.[4]
Larry Deane & Darrell W. Emily
February 6, 1996
Page 1
The Election Officer gives considerable weight to the decision of the IBT General President in this instance. Interpretation of the IBT Constitution, including the resolution of conflicts between local union bylaws and the IBT Constitution, is a legitimate union function, and the Election Officer will generally defer to such an interpretation so long as it is within the wide range of reasonableness, granted the union is managing its affairs. See Robbins, et al., P-013-IBT-SCE, et seq. (June 30, 1995), aff’d, 95 - Elec. App. - 3 (KC) (July 26, 1995). The actions of Mr. Hilbish and the executive board were not unreasonable in light of the language of the bylaws. This action led Mr. Hilbish to allow the local union to pay his dues in his stead. The Election Office does not find such actions to have broken Mr. Hilbish’s 24 months of continuous good standing.
One issue remains to be discussed. Because of the resolution of the executive board, Mr. Hilbish’s dues were not checked off for May 1995. The local union did not pay
Mr. Hilbish’s dues for May until June 2, 1995, when the local union made a lump payment to cover Mr. Hilbish’s dues retroactively to January 1995. As a result, a late payment is reflected on Mr. Hilbish’s TITAN record.
The late payment does not render Mr. Hilbish ineligible. The local union, as
Mr. Hilbish’s employer, should have checked off his dues for the period in which the policy concerning the president’s dues was in effect. Mr. Hilbish had sufficient earnings in each month from which dues could have been deducted. As a result, he does not lose his good- standing status. See Note 2, supra.
Accordingly, it is the determination of the Election Officer that Mr. Hilbish is eligible to run for delegate or alternate delegate to the International convention.
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
J. Griffin Morgan, Regional Coordinator
[1]In E-057-LU528-EOH, Mr. Deane also asks that anyone nominated or seconded by Mr. Hilbish also be declared ineligible. An examination of the nomination record indicates that Mr. Hilbish was not the sole nominator or seconder of any candidate. Since the Rules at Article II, Section 5(e) require that a candidate need only be nominated by one member in good standing and seconded by one other member in good standing, a finding regarding Mr. Hilbish’s eligibility in the present protest would have no effect on a determination of the propriety of any nomination in which he participated. As a result, Mr. Deane’s second request will not be addressed in this decision.
[2]The office of president in Local Union 528 is a salaried, full-time position.
[3]Mr. Carey did not make reference to Article XXIII, Section 7 of the IBT Constitution, cited by Mr. Emily, which states:
Local Union Secretary-Treasurers cannot and must not carry any person on their books as members of the organization and mark them exempt from paying dues, unless there has been a waiver by the General Executive Board.
[4]The IBT Constitution, Article X, Section 5(c), provides, in pertinent part:
All members paying dues to Local Unions must pay them on or before the last business day of the current month. Membership dues to Local Unions are due on or before the first day of the month and must be paid on or before the last business day of that month. Any member failing to pay his dues at such time shall not be in good standing for such month but may restore such good standing for such month for the purpose of attending meetings, nominating, voting and participating in the affairs of the Local Union by the payment of his delinquent dues prior to said meeting. 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.