March 5, 1996
VIA UPS OVERNIGHT
Charles Knight
March 5, 1996
Page 1
Charles Knight
1209 Forest Ridge
Sandy, UT 84094
Dave Rogers
1695 E. 400 South
Springville, UT 84663
Craig Eddins
5866 S. 3600 West
Lake Shore, UT 84660
Marty Grange
1120 S. 860 East
American Fork, UT 84003
Morton Farmer, Jr.
871 W. 675 North
Orem, UT 84057
Lannea Cangelosi
705 S. Redwood Road #79
Salt Lake City, UT 84104
Brad Aitken
1010 W. 7770 South
Provo, UT 84601
Abe Petersen
1565 S. Sandhill Road
Orem, UT 84058
Ralph J. Taurone, Secretary-Treasurer
2641 S. 3270 West
Salt Lake City, UT 84119
Charles Knight
March 5, 1996
Page 1
Re: Election Office Case No. E-102-LU222-EOH
Gentlepersons:
Local Union 222’s nomination meeting was held on February 12, 1996. At the meeting, David Rogers, Craig Eddins, Marty Grange, Morton Farmer, and Lannea Cangelosi were nominated to run for delegate to the International convention. Abe Petersen and
Charles Knight
March 5, 1996
Page 1
Mr. Rogers nominated Mr. Farmer. At the same meeting, Brad Aitken was nominated to run for alternate delegate. By letter received by the Election Officer on February 14, 1996, Charles Knight protested the eligibility of the candidates to run for delegate or alternate delegate. He alleged that none of them have maintained 24 months of continuous good standing as required by the Rules for the IBT 1995-1996 International Union Delegate and Officer Election (“Rules”). In addition, he alleged that Mr. Petersen is not a member of Local Union 222, and, thus, under the Rules, he is not eligible to nominate a candidate for delegate or alternate delegate.
Article VII, Section 1(a) of the Rules provides:
(a) To be eligible to run for any Convention delegate, alternate delegate or International Officer position, one must:
(1) Be a member in continuous good standing of the Local Union, with one’s dues paid to the Local Union for a period of twenty-four (24) consecutive months prior to the month of nomination for said position with no interruptions in active membership due to suspensions, expulsions, withdrawals, transfers or failure to pay fines or assessments;
(2) Be employed at the craft within the jurisdiction of the Local Union for a period of twenty-four (24) consecutive months prior to the month of nomination; and
(3) Be eligible to hold office if elected.
Article X, Section 5 of the IBT Constitution states, in pertinent part:
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. In such an event, the Local Union shall notify the member of his employer’s failure and payment shall be made by the member within thirty (30) days of said notice in order to retain good standing status.
Charles Knight
March 5, 1996
Page 1
The investigation revealed that Messrs. Rogers, Eddins, Grange, Farmer, and Aitken are employed by Geneva Rock Products (“Geneva”). According to Local Union 222, members of the local union employed by Geneva are “encouraged” to take withdrawal cards in the winter months because work is not plentiful during that time. In fact, members are automatically placed on withdrawal if they are employed with Geneva and the local fails to receive a check-off payment. When the payments resume, the member is returned from withdrawal.
The TITAN record indicates that each of the Geneva employees protested here was placed on withdrawal for some period during the 24-month period under review in this decision. The Election Officer has previously determined, however, that withdrawal cards not issued at the request of a member, but as a result of a local union policy, do not affect a candidate’s eligibility so long as he or she had earnings from which dues could be deducted during the period in which they were put on automatic, unrequested withdrawal. See Gergely, E-029-LU395-EOH (January 17, 1996).
Such an analysis of whether a member under eligibility review had sufficient earnings in a particular month is especially important here because it is the practice of Geneva to not deduct union dues in a week in which the member worked less than 40 hours. As a result, the record must be examined to see if the protested candidates had earnings from which their dues could have been deducted, irrespective of the fact that the employer did not deduct or remit dues or that the local union had placed the member on withdrawal. In order to maintain eligibility, a member must cash-pay dues during a month in which he or she had no earnings from which the employer could check-off dues.
Eligibility of David Rogers
Mr. Rogers paid no dues in April 1994, nor were any remitted to the local union from his employer during that month. At that time, he was on withdrawal. An examination of his payroll records indicates he had no earnings from which dues could be deducted in that month. Accordingly, it is the determination of the Election Officer that Mr. Rogers is not eligible to run for delegate or alternate delegate to the International convention. Mr. Rogers was in good standing at the time of the nominations meeting, however, and so was eligible to nominate
Mr. Farmer.
Eligibility of Craig Eddins
Mr. Eddins paid no dues in February 1994 nor were any remitted to the local union from his employer during that month. According to his payroll records, he had no earnings from which dues could be deducted in that month. Accordingly, it is the determination of the Election Officer that Mr. Eddins is not eligible to run for delegate or alternate delegate to the International convention.
Eligibility of Marty Grange
Charles Knight
March 5, 1996
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Mr. Grange paid no dues in January 1996 nor were any remitted to the local union from his employer during that month. According to his payroll records, he had no earnings from which dues could be deducted in that month. In fact, Mr. Grange has informed the Election Officer that he has been laid off and is currently not working at Geneva and currently has no earnings. Accordingly, it is the determination of the Election Officer that Mr. Grange is not eligible to run for delegate or alternate delegate to the International convention.
Eligibility of Morton Farmer
Mr. Farmer paid no dues in March and April 1994, nor were any remitted to the local union from his employer during those months. In addition, his February 1994 dues were posted late on the TITAN system. According to his payroll records, however, Mr. Farmer had sufficient earnings from which dues could be deducted in February, March, and April 1994. Accordingly, it is the determination of the Election Officer that Mr. Farmer is eligible to run for delegate or alternate delegate to the International convention.
Eligibility of Brad Aitken
Mr. Aitken paid no dues in February or March 1994, nor were any remitted to the local union from his employer during those months. In addition, dues for September and December 1994, and January, February, March, April, May, and June 1995 were posted late on the TITAN system. According to his payroll records, however, Mr. Aitken had sufficient earnings from which dues could be deducted in each of these months. Accordingly, it is the determination of the Election Officer that Mr. Aitken is eligible to run for delegate or alternate delegate to the International convention.
Eligibility of Lannea Cangelosi
Ms. Cangelosi is a cash-dues payer employed by Yellow Freight. The investigation revealed that she paid her December 1994 dues on January 4, 1995. Ms. Cangelosi states that she was out of town at the end of December 1994 and paid the dues as soon as she returned. Because of this late payment, Ms. Cangelosi has failed to maintain 24 consecutive months of continuous good standing prior to her nomination. Accordingly, it is the determination of the Election Officer that Ms. Cangelosi is not eligible to run for delegate or alternate delegate to the International convention.
Eligibility of Abe Petersen
The protester alleges that Mr. Petersen is not a member of Local Union 222 and, thus, his nomination of Mr. Farmer is invalid. An examination of the nomination record indicates that Mr. Petersen was not the sole nominator or seconder of any candidate. 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. Because Mr. Farmer was also nominated by Mr. Rogers, who has been determined to have been in good standing at the time, any dispute regarding the eligibility of Mr. Petersen is moot.
Charles Knight
March 5, 1996
Page 1
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 & 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 N. Capitol Street, Suite 855, Washington, DC 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
Jonathan Wilderman, Regional Coordinator