IN RE: ELIGIBILITY OF DELEGATE AND ALTERNATE DELEGATE CANDIDATES OF LOCAL UNION 726
Protest Decision 2006 ESD 91
Issued: February 22, 2006
OES Case No. E-06-014-012406-HQ
Vanessa Bankhead, a member of Local Union 726, filed an eligibility protest pursuant to Article XIII, Section 2(b) of the Rules for the 2005-2006 IBT International Union Delegate and Officer Election ("Rules"). The protest alleged that all candidates nominated for delegate and alternate delegate at Local Union 726 were ineligible to run for those positions. The protest further alleged that all persons who nominated and who seconded the nominations of the candidates for delegate and alternate delegate were ineligible to nominate and to second such nominations.
Election Supervisor representatives Steven R. Newmark and Jeffrey Ellison investigated this protest.
Findings of Fact and Analysis
At the nomination meeting held January 18, 2006, Thomas Clair, John Falzone, Kenneth Brantley, John Hurley, and Anthony Fiori were nominated for delegate and Linda Cruz and Michael Melone for alternate delegate on the Fair and Equity slate. Donald Bellheimer, Michael Edwards, Carlos Sanchez, Ray Erickson and Tres Peel were nominated for delegate and Victor Tanco for alternate delegate on the F.E.F.A. slate. George Buccieri, Brian Duffy, Paul Alvarez, Tommie Spencer and William Wade were nominated for delegate on the Every Teamster Counts slate. Finally, Vincent Tenuto, James Glaesser, Mary King, Joe Arce, Joe Vercillo, Ruby Franklin, and Tom Respondi were nominated as independent candidates for delegate, and Patrick Johnston was nominated as an independent candidate for alternate delegate.
Protestor Bankhead alleged that these candidates "may be ineligible … due to the 24 consecutive month rule." The only evidence Bankhead produced to support her sweeping challenge to each candidate for every position in the delegate and alternate delegate election was that she "never saw" these members before at union meetings.
Article VI, Section 1 of the Rules, provides that "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; [and] (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."
Article VI, Section 3 of the Rules bars enforcement of "any meeting attendance requirement as a condition for establishing one's eligibility to run for any Convention delegate, alternate delegate or International Officer position."
TITAN records demonstrated that each candidate paid dues by check-off authorization for the 24-month eligibility period. In rare instances, monthly dues for some candidates were not posted to TITAN until a month after the month in which they were due. Had these candidates been cash-dues payers, these late payments would have constituted interruptions in continuous good standing and rendered them ineligible to office. However, a member on dues check-off retains his good standing even if his dues were remitted late or not at all, provided he gave a check-off authorization and had sufficient earnings in the month from which dues could have been deducted. Dunn, E9 (October 31, 1995); Reynozo, 2005 ESD 18 (October 25, 2005); aff'd, 06 EAM 05 (January 4, 2006). For the candidates for whom TITAN records showed late posting of monthly dues payments, investigation demonstrated that these members had sufficient earnings in the months for which no dues were posted to fund those dues. Accordingly, they do not suffer a break in continuous good standing as the result of these late dues postings.
In sum, our thorough investigation found that all candidates for delegate and alternate delegate maintained continuous good standing for the full 24-month eligibility period, despite the protestor's assertion that she "never saw" them before.
To be eligible to nominate or second a nomination, a member must be "in good standing, … with his/her dues paid through the month prior to the nominations meeting." Article II, Section 5(h).
TITAN records for all nominators and seconders demonstrated that they all paid dues by check-off authorization. TITAN and employment records demonstrated either that these members had dues deducted from their wages in December, the month preceding the month of the nomination meeting, or had sufficient wages in that month from which dues could have been deducted. Accordingly, each nominator and seconder was qualified under the Rules to perform that function.
For these reasons, we find all candidates nominated either for delegate or alternate delegate in Local Union 726 to be ELIGIBLE for those positions. Accordingly, we DENY the protest in all respects.
We conclude with these observations. Article XIII, Section 1 of the Rules grants each member the right to "file a protest with the Election Supervisor alleging noncompliance with these Rules." However, "it shall be the burden of the complainant to present evidence that a violation has occurred." Here, the sum of protestor Bankhead's evidence was her bare claim that the candidates were ineligible because she "never saw" them before. She leveled this protest at all candidates, including incumbent local union officers and business agents who have appeared at local union meetings for years. To chase down this broad claim, our office expended considerable resources - funded with Teamster dues dollars - to investigate the dues payment and employment histories of 26 candidates for delegate and alternate delegate and another score of members who nominated and seconded nominations. Contradicting the protestor's claim that all candidates, nominators and seconders were ineligible, we concluded they were all eligible. Under these circumstances, we understate the case when we say that the protestor's assertion that these candidates were ineligible was irresponsible.
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 Supervisor 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
885 Third Avenue, Suite 1000
New York, New York 10022
Fax: (212) 751-4864
Copies of the request for hearing must be served upon the parties, as well as upon the Election Supervisor for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, 1725 K Street, N.W., Suite 1400, Washington, D.C. 20007-5135, all within the time prescribed above. A copy of the protest must accompany the request for hearing.
Richard W. Mark
Election Supervisor
cc: Kenneth Conboy
2006 ESD 91
DISTRIBUTION LIST (BY EMAIL UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED):
Bradley T. Raymond, General Counsel
International Brotherhood of Teamsters
25 Louisiana Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20001-2198
braymond@teamster.org
Sarah Riger, Staff Attorney
International Brotherhood of Teamsters
25 Louisiana Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20001-2198
sriger@teamster.org
David J. Hoffa, Esq.
Hoffa 2006
30300 Northwestern Highway, Suite 324
Farmington Hills, MI 48834
David@hoffapllc.com
Barbara Harvey
645 Griswold Street
Suite 3060
Detroit, MI 48226
blmharvey@sbcglobal.net
Ken Paff
Teamsters for a Democratic Union
P.O. Box 10128
Detroit, MI 48210
ken@tdu.org
Judith Brown Chomsky
P.O. Box 29726
Elkins Park, PA 19027
jchomsky@igc.org
Stephen Ostrach
1863 Pioneer Parkway East, #217
Springfield, OR 97477-3907
saostrach@gmail.com
Thomas P. Clair
103 Andover Drive
Prospect Hills, IL 60070
John Falzone
15 E Cedar Creek Court
Palos Heights, IL 60463
Kenneth Brantley
21314 Bern Owl
Matteson, IL 60443
John Hurley
11546 Lake Shore Drive
Orlando Park, IL 60467
Linda Cruz
3500 S Sangamon Street
Chicago, IL 60609
Anthony Fiori
13028 Blue Grass Drive
Lemont, IL 60439
Michael Melone
1448 Hodlmair Ct
Elk Grove Village, IL 60007
L.T. Griffin, Jr.
3707 215th Street
Matteson, IL 60411
George Buccieri
3326 N. Ozanam
Chicago, IL 60634
Kenneth Brantley
21314 Bern Owl Drive
Matteson, IL 60443
Joe LaRucci
3836 N. Plainfield
Chicago, IL 60634
John T. Cichocki
7973 S. Kildane
Chicago, IL 60652
Jim Glaesser
3834 N. Osceola
Chicago, IL 60634
William Kazlauskas
6200 S. Kolmer
Chicago, IL 60629
Don Bellheimer
11306 S. Kedzie
Chicago, IL 60655
Tommie Spencer
10943 S. King Drive
Chicago, IL 60628
Ruby Franklin
8232 S. Champlain
Chicago, IL 60619
David McKinney
6024 S. McVicker
Chicago, IL 60678
Harry Wambaja
1648 W. 32nd Place
Chicago, IL 60608
Peter Bonamici, Jr.
454 North Carpenter Street
Chicago, IL 60622
Glenn Williams
5318 S. Damen
Chicago, IL 60609
George Onuszkanyez
2525 W. Walton Street
Chicago, IL 60622
Robert J. Esposito
05416 S. Sayre
Chicago, IL 60638
Efrain Perez
4633 N. Laramie
Chicago, IL 60630
Jose Arce
3058 N. Newcastle
Chicago, IL 60634
Darryl W. Ivery
15721 Vine
Harvey, IL 60426
Joey Vercillo
10934 S. Kedzie
Chicago, IL 60655
Chris Iandolo
2819 N. Oak Park Avenue
Chicago, IL 60634
Raymond Erickson
13412 S. Avenue O
Chicago, IL 60633
Vince Tenuto
10940 S. Kedzie
Chicago, IL 60655
Mike Marcatante
3122 Secretariat Drive
Aurora, IL 60504
Tres Peel
12207 S. Stewart Avenue
Chicago, IL 60628
Jose Feliciano
5854 S. Mason
Chicago, IL 60638
William Wade
3222 N. Page
Chicago, IL 60634
Joe Loporchio
5560 W. Ardmore
Chicago, IL 60646
John T. Geraci
346 N. Oak
Woodale, IL 60191
Paul Alvarez
7266 W. Talcott Avenue
Chicago, IL 60631
Joe Alvarez
8657 W. Berwyn
Chicago, IL 60656
Tyrone Nelson
10341 S. May
Chicago, IL 60643
Patrick Johnston
10207 S. Bell
Chicago, IL 60643
Richard Green
7832 S. Hermitage
Chicago, IL 60620
Felmon Smith
7542 S. Perry
Chicago, IL 60620
George A. Sever
3920 West 60th Place
Chicago, IL 60629
Martin Zamora
2019 W. 21st Place
Chicago, IL 60608
Brian Duffy
8182 S. Knox
Chicago, IL 60652
Oscar Polanco
8522 W. Argyle
Chicago, IL 60656
Joseph Colello, Jr.
4842 N. Rutherford
Chicago, IL 60656
Angelo Fata
4509 S. Wallace
Chicago, IL 60609
John Fasso
5846 N. Ottawa
Chicago, IL 60631
Roderick J. Myles
2951 W. 81st Street
Chicago, IL 60652
Carlos Sanchez
6154 W. 60th Street
Chicago, IL 60638
Tommie Respondi
5628 S. Melvina
Chicago, IL 60638
Mary King
9213 S. Lowe
Chicago, IL 60620
Richard T. Green
8447 S. Cregier
Chicago, IL 60617
Mike Edwards
2959 S. Quinn
Chicago, IL 60608
Kevin Kaiser
PO Box 132
Frankfort, IL 60423
Thomas P. Clair
Local 726 Secretary-Treasurer
1645 W. Jackson
Chicago, IL 60612
Vanessa Bankhead
9117 S. Justine
Chicago, IL 60620
James Green
230 W. Monroe Street
Chicago, IL 60606
jwglaw@aol.com
Bill Broberg
1108 Fincastle Road
Lexington, KY 40502
wcbroberg@aol.com
Steven R. Newmark
1725 K Street, NW Suite 1400
Washington, DC 20005
snewmark@ibtvote.org
Jeffrey Ellison
510 Highland Avenue, #325
Milford, MI 48381
EllisonEsq@aol.com