IN RE: MICHAEL ZAJAC, Protestor.
Protest Decision 2011 ESD 169
Issued: March 20, 2011
OES Case Nos. P-123-020811-NE
Michael Zajac, an IBT Local Union 317 steward and candidate for delegate, 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 Local Union 317 officers and agents "routinely use email addresses" to communicate with stewards and members and that they acquired those addresses "while working as agents for the union." Zajac requested access to the local union's email list.
Election Supervisor representative Deborah Schaaf investigated this protest.
Findings of Fact
Zajac, who has served as steward for more than 20 years, told our investigator that he had received email from past and current business agents of Local Union 317. The local union's vice president has sent email to Zajac with a suffix of "twcny.rr.com," which is the domain for Time-Warner Cable of New York and appears to be the vice-president's personal email account. Zajac stated that he did not know whether Local Union 317 maintained an email list for official communication with its membership. He has not received any email communications from Local Union 317 addressed to the membership at large. He has not received any email communications transmitting campaign literature and had no evidence that Local Union 317 officials were using member email addresses for campaign purposes.
Gary Staring, local union principal officer, told our investigator that Local Union 317 does not maintain a list of its members' email addresses. He said that Local Union 317 does not use email to communicate with union members about official business.
Local Union 317 held its delegate election ballot count on March 9, 2011. Zajac's slate lost the election by nearly a 2-1 margin.
Analysis
The Rules require the union to honor "reasonable requests by candidates for distribution of literature through electronic mail." Article VII, Section 7(a)(4). An Advisory on email provides the following definition of a list covered by the Rules:
As a general rule, email lists covered by the 2011 Rules and this Advisory consist of: a) email addresses used by the IBT or a local union to communicate with all or a portion of the body's membership; or b) email addresses obtained because the union asked for them, collected them, or were given them. It is not the intent of the 2011 Rules to require any local union to create a list of email addresses that does not otherwise exist.
Email addresses compiled by a union officer or agent in the course of official communication with members are a union asset and may not be used by the individual for campaign purposes unless the addresses are made available on equal terms to any requesting candidate.
Advisory on Rights of Candidates to Distribute Campaign Literature to Members via Email at 1-2 (January 7, 2011).
No evidence has been submitted that establishes the existence of a "covered list" as defined in the Advisory. The protestor had no evidence that Local Union 317 used email to communicate with all or a portion of its membership, and the local union denied that it had or maintained such a list. There is no evidence that candidates in the delegate election disseminated any campaign communications by email. Lacking evidence that any "covered list" exists, the protestor was not denied access to any such list. For the foregoing reasons, we DENY the protest.[1]
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 169
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
3541 N. Summit Avenue
Shorewood, WI 53211
scottsoldon@gmail.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
Michael Zajac
P.O. Box 3012
Syracuse, NY 13220
zajac.mike43@yahoo.com
Gary Staring, Secretary-Treasurer
Teamsters Local Union 317
P.O. Box 11037
Syracuse, NY 13218
gstaring@twcny.rr.com
Deborah Schaaf
1118 Coddington Road
Ithaca, NY 14850
debschaaf33@gmail.com
David F. Reilly
22 West Main Street
Wickford, RI 02852
dreilly@dfresq.com
Maria S. Ho
Office of the Election Supervisor
1801 K Street, N.W., Suite 421 L
Washington, D.C. 20006
mho@ibtvote.org
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
[1] We consider this matter as a post-election protest pursuant to Article XIII, Section 2(f)(2). As we find no Rules violation, we need not consider whether the conduct complained of affected the outcome of the election.
