OFFICE OF THE ELECTION SUPERVISOR
for the
INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS
IN RE: TEAMSTERS UNITED, ) Protest Decision 2015 ESD 25
) Issued: August 28, 2015
Protestor. ) OES Case Nos. P-029-080615-FW
) and P-031-080715-FW
____________________________________)
Teamsters United filed two pre-election protests pursuant to Article XIII, Section 2(b) of the Rules for the 2015-2016 IBT International Union Delegate and Officer Election (“Rules”). Protest P-029-080615-FW alleged that Republic Services violated the Rules by refusing parking lot access to Teamsters United supporters at its Long Beach, CA facility. Protest P-031-080715-FW made a similar allegation against Republic Services concerning its Gardena, CA facility.
The first protest also alleged that Local Union 396 steward Mauricio Thomas participated in and abetted the denial of campaign access at the Long Beach facility.
We consolidated the protests’ allegations with respect to Republic Services for investigation and decision. Election Supervisor representative Michael Miller investigated these protests.
We severed the allegations of Protest P-029 with respect to Mauricio Thomas for disposition in a separate protest decision.
Findings of Fact and Analysis
On Tuesday afternoon, August 4, 2015, Teamsters United campaigners sought access to the parking lot at Republic Services’ Long Beach facility where employees park their cars in order to solicit signatures on slate accreditation petitions. They were denied access by facility’s operations manager. The campaigners presented a copy of the Rules provision authorizing campaign access, as well as the Election Supervisor’s advisory on the same subject. The operations manager maintained his position denying them access.
On Thursday afternoon, August 6, 2015, Teamsters United campaigners sought access to the parking lot at Republic Services’ Gardena facility where employees park their cars in order to campaign. Jay Fowler, the facility’s general manager, denied access, relying on advice from human resources director Shelley Stratton, despite presentation by the campaigners of the parking lot access rule and the court order approving the Rules.
These protests followed.
Article VII, Section 12 (e) grants parking lot access to members exercising campaign rights under the Rules. Specifically, the provision states:
(e) Subject to the limitations in this Subsection, (i) a candidate for delegate or alternate delegate and any member of the candidate's Local Union may distribute literature and/or otherwise solicit support in connection with such candidacy in any parking lot used by that Local Union's members to park their vehicles in connection with their employment; (ii) each member of a candidate's Local Union has the reciprocal right to receive such literature and/or solicitation of support from such candidate or candidate's advocate; (iii) a candidate for International office and any Union member within the regional area(s) in which said candidate is seeking office may distribute literature and/or otherwise solicit support in connection with such candidacy in any parking lot used by Union members to park their vehicles in connection with their employment in said regional area(s); (iv) each member of the International Union who is employed within the regional area(s) in which said candidate is seeking office has the reciprocal right to receive such literature and/or solicitation of support from such candidate for International office or candidate's advocate.
The foregoing rights are available only in connection with campaigning during the 2015-2016 IBT International Union Delegate and Officer Election conducted pursuant to the Consent Order and only during hours when the parking lot is normally open to employees. The rights guaranteed in this Subsection are not available to an employee on working time, may not be exercised among employees who are on working time and do not extend to campaigning which would materially interfere with the normal business activities of the employer. An employer may require reasonable identification to assure that a person seeking access to an employee parking lot pursuant to this rule is a candidate or other member entitled to such access. Nothing in this Subsection shall entitle any candidate or other Union member to access to any other part of premises owned, leased, operated, or used by an employer or to access to a parking lot for purposes or under circumstances other than as set forth herein.
The foregoing rights are presumptively available, notwithstanding any employer rule or policy to the contrary, based upon the Election Supervisor's finding that an absence of such rights would subvert the Consent Order's objectives of ensuring free, honest, fair, and informed elections and opening the Union and its membership to democratic processes. Such presumption may be rebutted, however, by demonstrating to the Election Supervisor that access to Union members in an employee parking lot is neither necessary nor appropriate to meaningful exercise of democratic rights in the course of the 2015-2016 election. An employer seeking to deny access to Union members in an employee parking lot may seek relief from the Election Supervisor at any time.
On August 11, 2015, Stuart Newman, counsel for Republic, acknowledged the court order enforcing the Rules generally and the parking lot access provision in particular. Newman stated that “our management has been instructed to permit the access ordered by Judge Preska.”
On this basis, we deem these protests RESOLVED with respect to Republic Services at its Long Beach and Gardena, CA facilities. As stated, we reserve for separate decision the allegations in Protest P-029-080615-FW concerning steward Thomas.
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:
Kathleen A. Roberts
Election Appeals Master
JAMS
620 Eighth Avenue, 34th floor
New York, NY 10018
kroberts@jamsadr.com
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, 1050 17th Street, N.W., Suite 375, Washington, D.C. 20036, all within the time prescribed above. A copy of the protest must accompany the request for hearing.
Richard W. Mark
Election Supervisor
cc: Kathleen A. Roberts
2015 ESD 25
DISTRIBUTION LIST (BY EMAIL UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED):
Bradley T. Raymond, General Counsel
International Brotherhood of Teamsters
25 Louisiana Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20001
braymond@teamster.org
David J. Hoffa
1701 K Street NW, Ste 350
Washington DC 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
Teamsters United
315 Flatbush Avenue, #501
Brooklyn, NY 11217
info@teamstersunited.org
Louie Nikolaidis
350 West 31st Street, Suite 40
New York, NY 10001
lnikolaidis@lcnlaw.com
Julian Gonzalez
350 West 31st Street, Suite 40
New York, NY 10001
jgonzalez@lcnlaw.com
David O’Brien Suetholz
515 Park Avenue
Louisville, KY 45202
dave@unionsidelawyers.com
Fred Zuckerman
P.O. Box 9493
Louisville, KY 40209
fredzuckerman@aol.com
Mauricio Thomas
c/o Teamsters Local Union 396
teamsters@local396.net
Stuart Newman
Seyfarth Shaw LLP
1075 Peachtree Street, NE, Suite 2500
Atlanta, GA 30309-3958
snewman@seyfarth.com
Teamsters Local Union 396
880 S. Oak Park Road, Suite 200
Covina, CA
teamsters@local396.net
Michael Miller
P.O. Box 251673
Los Angeles, CA 90025-1673
miller.michael.j@verizon.net
Christine Mrak
chrismrak@gmail.com
Deborah Schaaf
1521 Grizzly Gulch
Helena, MT 59601
dschaaf@ibtvote.org
Jeffrey Ellison
214 S. Main Street, Suite 210
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
EllisonEsq@aol.com