IN RE: WILLIE WILLIAMS, Protestor.
Protest Decision 2006 ESD 259
Issued: May 19, 2006
OES Case No. P-06-279-050506-AT
(See also Election Appeals Master decision 06 EAM 48)
Willie Williams, a member of Local Union 391, filed a pre-election protest pursuant to Article XIII, Section 2(b) of the Rules for the 2005-2006 IBT International Union Delegate and Officer Election ("Rules"). He asserted that Randy Conrad had not complied with the order issued by the Election Appeal Master, which affirmed the remedy imposed by the Election Supervisor in Webb, 2006 ESD 155 (March 24, 2006). In addition, he asserted that Local Union 391 was not taking the decisions seriously.
Election Supervisor representative J. Griffin Morgan investigated this protest.
Findings of Fact and Analysis
In Webb, supra, the Election Supervisor found that Conrad failed to acknowledge to our investigator the actions he took and statements he made during the nominations meeting for Local Union 391's delegate and alternate delegate election. The Election Supervisor ordered Conrad to post a notice on all union bulletin boards under the jurisdiction of Local Union 391 that stated in part that "[t]he Rules require that all witnesses cooperate with the Election Supervisor in the investigation of protests, and I did not do so." This decision was affirmed in all respects on appeal to the Election Appeals Master. 06 EAM 27 (April 4, 2006)
On April 18, 2006, protestor Williams alleged that the required notice was not posted on 6 out of 7 bulletin boards at the Greensboro, NC UPS hub, and was not posted on either bulletin board at the Fayetteville UPS Center or the single board at the Goldsboro UPS Center. Williams also alleged that Conrad used a Local Union 391 post office box for the return address on his letter to stewards containing the notices to be posted. On April 24, protestor Williams alleged that the notice was not posted at 3 additional locations: UPS Winston-Salem (2 boards); UPS Southern Pines (1 of 2 boards); and Miller Brewing in Eden (1 board posted out of 3 or 4 boards).
On May 5, 2006, Williams filed a protest which alleged that Conrad: (1) used Local 391 office staff and supplies to comply with the posting requirement; (2) used a Local 391 post office box as his return address when he mailed the notices to be posted; and (3) failed to post the notices within 7 days as required by the decisions of the Election Supervisor and Election Appeals Master. Local Union 391 has approximately 7,200 members, 179 stewards and over 100 union bulletin boards.
After receiving Williams' April 18 letter, the Election Supervisor's representative contacted Local Union 391 regarding ownership of the post office box and the allegation that notices were not posted at some locations. Local Union 391 administrative assistant Stormy Fields stated that the PO box used by Conrad did not belong to the local union. On April 25, 2006, Conrad provided an envelope, returned by the post office as undeliverable, showing the PO box used in his mailings was in Walkertown, NC, which is not a location convenient to Local Union 391's office. In his response to the protest, Conrad stated that the Walkertown, NC PO box belonged to his father, Ronald Conrad.
Conrad provided copies of multiple receipts demonstrating that on or before April 5, 2006, he paid for envelopes, stamps and copying costs to reproduce the notice. On April 6, Conrad provided to the Election Supervisor an affidavit stating that on April 5, he mailed the required notice to all stewards and to each office of Local Union 391.
In his response to the May 5 protest, Conrad provided a detailed description of his effort to comply with the posting requirement after he had mailed the notice to the stewards. His attempts to insure compliance included:
- On Saturday, April 8, Conrad spoke with several Stewards at the Greensboro general membership meeting and they confirmed that they had received the notice.
- Conrad said that he asked stewards he worked with if they had received and posted the notice.
- On Saturday, April 22, at the Raleigh general membership meeting, Conrad said he learned from a business agent that the steward from UPS Fayetteville had not received the notice because the steward was recently elected and did not appear on the steward labels that were provided to him for mailing. Conrad says he mailed the new steward the notice.
- On Monday, April 24, Conrad learned from Stormy Fields, who had spoken with our representative, that UPS Greensboro may have had only had 1 out of 7 bulletin boards with the notice posted and UPS Goldsboro and Fayetteville may have had no notices posted. Conrad stated that he went home and got his own car and personal cell phone. He contacted business agent Donny Brown to see whether he would be permitted to enter the UPS Greensboro facility to check the boards and post the notices on boards where none were posted. He attempted to contact the stewards at other locations where the notice may not have posted.
- Conrad stated that on Tuesday, April 25, he re-mailed the notice to the stewards he could not contact by phone. Conrad said he personally posted the notice on the bulletin board at UPS Greensboro and found that 5 of the 9 bulletin boards at UPS did have the notice posted. Conrad said he personally posted the notice in the UPS High Point facility and the UPS Winston-Salem facility. Conrad stated that he checked several of the bulletin boards located at the Roadway and ABF terminals and found the notice was posted.
- On or about April 27, Conrad stated that he learned that UPS Goldsboro did not have the notice posted, even though Conrad had re-mailed notices to the UPS Goldsboro steward on April 25. Conrad stated that he mailed 10 more copies of the notice to that steward because he understood the steward was taping them on the outside of the bulletin and they were being ripped down.
Local Union 391 provided copies of its April 7, 2006 executive board minutes which were read to the membership at the Greensboro membership meeting on April 8 and at the Raleigh membership meeting on April 22. The minutes read to the membership reflected the findings of the Election Appeals Master and the Election Supervisor and informed the membership that a notice regarding Conrad's violation of the Rules was to be posted by Conrad, with assistance of the stewards, on all bulletin boards for 30 days.
Local Union 391 provided copies of its May 12, 2006 executive board minutes which were read to the membership at the Greensboro membership meeting on May 13 and will be read at the Raleigh membership meeting on May 27. The minutes state that a new protest alleging non-compliance with the notice posting requirement had been filed. Secretary-treasurer Claude Gray "advised the Board and Agents that if their Stewards have any questions on the posting of the notice, to inform them that the notice must remain posted for 30 consecutive days on all bulletin boards and if in doubt, leave them posted."
Business agent Vernon Gammon provided a written statement dated May 17, 2006, that the required notice was posted on all bulletin boards at Miller Brewing by the human resources staff, which maintains the keys to the locked bulletin boards and posts all union notices.
When interviewed on May 16, protestor Williams stated that he believed the notice was posted on all the bulletin boards he had referenced in his letters and protest, except for 1 of 2 boards at UPS in Southern Pines. On May 16, David L. Coward provided a written statement that he had posted the notice on the union bulletin board in the Southern Pines center on April 10, 2006 and that it remains posted. Local Union 391 business agent Steve Bishop stated that Southern Pines formerly had two Union bulletin boards but now has only 1 union board.
Based on the receipts, statements and affidavit provided, we conclude that on April 5, Conrad mailed the required notice to Local Union 391 stewards to be posted on all union bulletin boards. Based on Conrad's follow-up, as outlined above, and because Local Union 391 voluntarily informed its membership of the decisions of the Election Appeals Master and the Election Supervisor and encouraged its business agents to work with the stewards to insure compliance with the posting requirement, we find that Conrad and Local Union 391 have made reasonable efforts to comply with the decisions in 06 EAM 27 and 2006 ESD 155. Finally, we find there is no factual basis for the allegation that Conrad used union resources, including a PO box, staff and materials to meet his obligation under these decisions.
Accordingly, we DENY this protest.
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 259
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
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
Daniel E. Clifton
Lewis, Clifton & Nikolaidis, P.C.
275 Seventh Avenue, Suite 2300
New York, NY 10001
dclifton@lcnlaw.com
Stephen Ostrach
1863 Pioneer Parkway East, #217
Springfield, OR 97477-3907
saostrach@gmail.com
Willie Williams
8805 Bend of the River Road
Rocky Mount, NC 27803
Randy Conrad, Organizer
IBT Local Union 391
P.O. Box 35405
Greensboro, NC 27425
Jack Cipriani, President
IBT Local Union 391
P.O. Box 35405
Greensboro, NC 27425
Robert M. Baptiste
Baptiste & Wilder, P.C.
1150 Connecticut Ave., N.W., Suite 500
Washington, D.C. 20036
rbaptiste@bapwild.com
J. Griffin "Griff" Morgan
Elliot, Pishko, Morgan
426 Old Salem Road
Winston-Salem, NC 27101
jgmorgan@epmlaw.com
Jeffrey Ellison
510 Highland Avenue, #325
Milford, MI 48381
EllisonEsq@aol.com