OFFICE OF THE ELECTION SUPERVISOR
for the
INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS
IN RE: TEAMSTERS UNITED, ) Protest Decision 2015 ESD 39
Protestor. ) OES Case No. P-058-100515-MW
____________________________________)
Teamsters United filed a pre-election protest pursuant to Article XIII, Section 2(b) of the Rules for the 2015-2016 IBT International Union Delegate and Officer Election (“Rules”). The protest alleged that Jack Cooper Transport violated the Rules by barring campaign activity in parking lots where Teamster members park their vehicles and other non-work areas of its facilities.
Election Supervisor representative Chris Mrak investigated this protest.
Findings of Fact and Analysis
The Rules grant members and candidates the limited right to campaign on employer parking lots where members park their vehicles. Article VII, Section 12(e). In addition, members may campaign in non-work areas of employer facilities when both the campaigning members and their audience are on break, lunch, or other non-work time. Article VII, Section 12(a).
On September 30, 2015, a memo dated September 30, 2011 appeared on the employer bulletin board of Jack Cooper Transport in Roanoke, Indiana. The memo was from Curtis Goodwin, senior vice president for labor relations. It read:
It is Company policy to be neutral in any Teamster campaign. Therefore, there is to be no soliciting of any kind on Company property which includes affixing any type of material to our buildings, windows, trucks, or any other property that is in the possession of the Company. There will be no handing out of any types of material such as pamphlets, buttons, etc. There will be no exceptions. Please be advised that the failure to follow Company policy will result in disciplinary action taken.
Investigation showed that the memo was prepared and posted in September 2011. It was reposted at the Roanoke facility on September 30, 2015.
When contacted by our investigator, Goodwin acknowledged the Rules provisions permitting campaign activity in employer parking lots where members park their vehicles and in non-work areas on non-work time.
While this protest was pending, a concern was raised that certain unidentified members had posted campaign flyers and/or stickers on employer walls and other fixtures in work areas of the facility. Such conduct, if proven, may violate the Rules.
Our investigator consulted with the employer’s representatives as well as a representative of the protestor for the purpose of communicating to line supervision and rank-and-file members the conduct permitted and prohibited under the Rules.
To reinforce this communication, the employer has agreed to post the notice attached to this decision on employer bulletin boards at all of its facilities and to maintain the notice for the duration of the 2015-2016 IBT International Officer and Delegate Election. On this basis, we deem this protest RESOLVED.
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 39
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
Jack Cooper Transport
Attn: Curtis Goodwin
12200 Lafayette Center Road, Gate 5
P.O. Box 592
Roanoke, IN 46783
cgoodwin@jackcooper.com
Bill Broberg
1108 Fincastle Road
Lexington, KY 40502
wbroberg@ibtvote.org
Chris Mrak
2357 Hobart Avenue, SW,
Seattle, WA 98116
chrismrak@gmail.com
Jeffrey Ellison
214 S. Main Street, Suite 210
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
EllisonEsq@aol.com
Office of the Election Supervisor
for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters
1050 17th Street, N.W., Suite 375
Washington, D.C. 20036
202-429-8683
844-428-8683 Toll Free
202-774-5526 Facsimile
ElectionSupervisor@ibtvote.org
www.ibtvote.org
Richard W. Mark
Election Supervisor
IBT International Officer Election:
Campaign Access Rights and Responsibilities
The 2015-2016 election for International Officers and Local Union delegates to the 29th IBT International Convention is underway. Employers of Teamsters, the IBT, Joint Councils, and Local Unions must be neutral and cannot support any particular candidates.
The opportunity to campaign face-to-face is important to a democratic election process. Therefore, the Court-ordered Election Rules provide candidates and members supporting them with the following access rights and responsibilities:
Parking Lots:
- Employer parking lots where union members park their vehicles are available for IBT International Officer election candidates and supporters (including candidates for delegate and alternate delegate) to campaign. Even members who do not work at the facility may have campaign access to the facility’s parking lot.
- Employers may require members accessing parking lots to identify themselves as members entitled to campaign.
- Members may campaign in parking lots of Local Union halls before or after union meetings, but may not campaign inside the union hall unless the union has given advance notice to all candidates for a particular office and provided an equal opportunity to all candidates.
- Campaign access to parking lots under the Court-ordered Election Rules is limited to the 2015-2016 IBT International Officer and Delegate election. The Election Rules do not extend to local union officer elections.
Inside the worksite:
- Members may discuss candidates, campaigns, and election issues with each other during work time if doing so does not interfere with work.
- Members may distribute campaign materials in non-work areas such as break rooms during non-work times. This includes leaving campaign literature on lunch tables. It does not include affixing campaign materials to employer property.
- Members generally may not post campaign materials on employer bulletin boards or distribute them through the employer’s mail or email system unless,, before this International Officer election, the employer allowed employees to distribute similar material, or other material unrelated to work, through the business mail or email system.
- Members may NOT post campaign materials on union equipment or property, including union bulletin boards at workplaces, unless the union has given advance notice to all candidates of the opportunity to post material.
- Members who do not work at a particular facility do not have the right to campaign inside the facility unless a pre-existing right or practice allows solicitation by non-employees there.
- Members have the right to receive campaign messages from other members. Therefore, a member cannot interfere with another member’s campaigning, such as by interfering with parking lot campaigning or removing leaflets from break rooms.
- Members representing the Union (including officers, business agents, and stewards) may not campaign on union-paid or employer-paid time and may not wear or display campaign material or paraphernalia in meetings with employers.
For more information
Visit the OES website at www.ibtvote.org or call the Office of the Election Supervisor toll-free at (844) IBT-VOTE (428-8683).