IN RE: HOFFA-HALL 2011, Protestor.
Protest Decision 2011 ESD 66
Issued: January 10, 2011
OES Case No. P-064-122010-NA
Hoffa-Hall 2011 filed a pre-election protest pursuant to Article XIII, Section 2(b) of the Rules for the 2010-2011 IBT International Union Delegate and Officer Election ("Rules"). The protest alleged that the Gegare campaign impermissibly submitted slate accreditation petitions without also submitting a slate declaration.
Election Supervisor representative Jeffrey Ellison investigated this protest.
Findings of Fact and Analysis
Article X permits a candidate for International office to seek accredited status, which if attained will accord the candidate benefits under Article VII, Sections 3, 4, 10 and 11 of the Rules (relating to access to the IBT membership list and the certified delegate list, and publication of campaign material in The Teamster and on the IBT website). Section 2(b) of Article X permits candidates for International office to circulate and obtain members' signatures on petitions that list more than one candidate. The signatures on these slate accreditation petitions will be counted toward the accreditation of the candidates listed on the petitions only if a valid slate has been formed that includes the candidates listed on the slate accreditation petition. Ostrach, 2005 ESD 39 (December 21, 2005); Advisory on Accreditation of Candidates and Publication of Campaign Literature in The Teamster (July 14, 2010).
Hoffa-Hall 2011 alleged that the Gegare campaign circulated slate accreditation petitions for multiple candidates without also submitting a slate declaration form. The protest further stated:
However, Ostrach permitted candidates circulating slate petitions to supply a valid slate declaration upon submission of the petitions to your office for accreditation. While there appears to be no set rule as to the real deadline, it is clear from the decisions that this must certainly be done before: a) the issuance of an Election Supervisor certification of accreditation of any slate candidates; and b) provision of any of the benefits of accreditation (i.e. membership lists, magazine space, ability to examine other candidate CCERs, etc.).
All of the petitions submitted by the Gegare campaign were OES Form 16 slate accreditation petitions, most listing several individuals and some listing Gegare alone. For the signatures on those petitions to be counted, Article X, Section 2(b) and our advisory require that a valid slate declaration listing the candidates whose names appear on the petitions also be submitted.
The Gegare campaign submitted a slate declaration of eight candidates, signed in counterpart as permitted by our decision in Ostrach, 2005 ESD 41 (December 27, 2005); the last signed counterpart was received on January 10, 2011. The eight candidates listed on the slate declaration are Fred Gegare, Brad Slawson, Sr., Henry Perry, Jr., Fred Zuckerman, Robert Ryder, Jerry Conner, Tony Jones, and Teresa Finke. We find that a valid slate has been formed of these candidates.
In reviewing the petitions submitted by the Gegare campaign, we counted toward an individual candidate's accreditation those petitions that listed that candidate's name, either alone or in combination with any other candidate listed on the Gegare slate declaration. We did not count toward an individual candidate's accreditation any petitions that listed that candidate's name along with any other person who has not joined the Gegare slate.
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, 1801 K Street, N.W., Suite 421 L, Washington, D.C. 20006, 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
2011 ESD 66
DISTRIBUTION LIST (BY EMAIL UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED):
Bradley T. Raymond, General Counsel
International Brotherhood of Teamsters
25 Louisiana Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20001
braymond@teamster.org
David J. Hoffa
Hoffa Hall 2011
1100 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Ste. 730
Washington, D.C. 20036
hoffadav@hotmail.com
Ken Paff
Teamsters for a Democratic Union
P.O. Box 10128
Detroit, MI 48210-0128
ken@tdu.org
Barbara Harvey
1394 E. Jefferson Avenue
Detroit, MI 48207
blmharvey@sbcglobal.net
Fred Gegare
P.O. Box 9663
Green Bay, WI 54308-9663
kirchmanb@yahoo.com
Scott D. Soldon
Previant Goldberg
1555 North River Center Drive, Ste. 202
P.O. Box 12993
Milwaukee, WI 53212
sds@previant.com
Fred Zuckerman, President
Teamsters Local Union 89
3813 Taylor Blvd.
Louisville, KY 40215
fredzuckerman@aol.com
Robert M. Colone, Esq.
P.O. Box 272
Sellersburg, IN 47172-0272
rmcolone@hotmail.com
Carl Biers
Box 424, 315 Flatbush Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11217
info@SandyPope2011.org
Julian Gonzalez
Lewis, Clifton & Nikolaidis, P.C.
350 Seventh Avenue, Suite 1800
New York, NY 10001-5013
jgonzalez@lcnlaw.com
Kathryn Naylor
Office of the Election Supervisor
1801 K Street, N.W., Suite 421 L
Washington, D.C. 20006
knaylor@ibtvote.org
Jeffrey Ellison
214 S. Main Street, Ste. 210
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
EllisonEsq@aol.com