IN RE: ERIK JENSEN, Protestor.
Protest Decision 2006 ESD 282
Issued: May 30, 2006
OES Case No. P-06-146-021406-MW
(See also Election Appeals Master decision 06 EAM 49)
Erik Jensen, a member and delegate candidate from Local Union 320, 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"). The protest alleged that the local union failed to permit access to or use of its email list, in violation of the Rules.
Election Supervisor representative Joe Childers investigated this protest.
Findings of Fact
Protestor Jensen alleged that the local union violated the Rules by refusing to permit use of its email list for campaign purposes. According to the protest, local union secretary-treasurer Sue Mauren "maintains … that no such list exists."
Our investigation centered on whether the local union maintains an email list. Jensen supplied several emails he stated showed that such a list existed. Thus, he produced a copy of an email from Kari Seime, a local union business agent and candidate for delegate on the Mauren slate. The message, dated January 30, 2006, was sent to Pam Cook and Orv Terhark from Seime's personal e-mail address; it solicited campaign support for Seime and the Mauren slate.
The remaining emails Jensen produced were dated 2003 and 2004 and primarily concerned union matters of importance during the Minnesota legislative session. Jensen did not supply any further evidence establishing that the local union maintains an email database; instead, his proofs addressed employer policies and practices that permit employees to use employer-provided email for personal reasons.
Mauren stated that local union does not maintain an email database. She stated that most local union members have employer-provided email accounts, and the local union tried in 2004 to develop a database of these email addresses to facilitate communication with members during the legislative session. Several attempts in 2004 exposed a number of problems with the arrangement. First, Mauren stated that several employers have rules prohibiting use of email for political purposes. Further, Mauren said that when the local union attempt to send out group emails, these were often snared by anti-spam software and did not reach their destinations. As a result, the local union abandoned its effort to develop the email database.
Mauren stated that officers and business agents receive email messages, but the local union does not maintain a central repository or server for such email or email addresses. Any email address book that a business agent might develop is maintained on that agent's computer.
Analysis
On March 6, 2006, the Election Supervisor issued an "Advisory on Rights of Candidates to Distribute Campaign Literature to Members Using IBT International Union and Local Union Email Lists." With respect to local union e-mail lists, the advisory states:
A Local Union email address list is defined as an email address list previously accumulated and maintained by the local and used by the local to issue official notices, communications, reports, newsletters, announcements or any other notices of official union business to local union members. . . . An email address list maintained by the Local Union does not include an informal email list which a local officer, business agent, shop steward, or employee has compiled for personal use to contact other local members, even where such contact involves some official union business.
We find insufficient evidence that Local Union 320 maintains an email address list as defined in the advisory. Mauren's statements to our investigator denying the existence of such a database are corroborated by the email messages Jensen supplied. Thus, the messages from 2003 and 2004 correspond with what Mauren described as the local union's attempt, now abandoned, to develop an email database to be used to communicate with and mobilize its membership. The Seime email from 2006, sent from her personal email account, demonstrates that she may maintain "an informal email list [she] has compiled for personal use to contact other local members." Given our finding that the local union does not have a database of the email addresses of its membership, the local union did not violate the Rules by failing to produce it.
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. 20006-1416, 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 282
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
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
Stefan Ostrach
1863 Pioneer Parkway East, #217
Springfield, OR 97477-3907
saostrach@gmail.com
Erik Jensen
4345 11th Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55407
Jense028@umn.edu
Susan Mauren
Secretary-Treasurer, Local 320
3001 University Avenue SE #500
Minneapolis, MN 55414
Joe Childers
201 West Short Street, Suite 310
Lexington, KY 40507
childerslaw@yahoo.com
William C. "Bill" Broberg
1108 Fincastle Road
Lexington, KY 40502
wcbroberg@aol.com
Jeffrey Ellison
510 Highland Avenue, #325
Milford, MI 48381
EllisonEsq@aol.com