OFFICE OF THE ELECTION SUPERVISOR
for the
INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS
IN RE: FRED ZUCKERMAN, ) Protest Decision 2016 ESD 213
) Issued: May 17, 2016
Protestor. ) OES Case No. P-001-051115-NA
)
Election Appeals Master Roberts issued her decision in Zuckerman, 2016 EAM 21 (May 16, 2016), affirming the Election Supervisor’s decision in Zuckerman, 2015 ESD 63 (December 28, 2015), as modified by an agreement between the Election Supervisor and the IBT with respect to the handling and custody of the mailing list to be used for the mailing of the remedial notice.
We order the notice attached to this decision to be mailed to all Teamster members who registered for the 2015 Unity Conference. The notice differs from the original notice appended to 2015 ESD 63 in two particulars. First, it contains the following language memorializing the IBT’s post-decision compliance with the advance written notice requirement, viz.
The IBT has complied with this decision by giving written notice to all candidates for International office of the hotels and dates in 2016 at which it will conduct union-related meetings, conferences, and conventions and has given further notice that it will have no involvement in securing, approving or making of any arrangements a candidate may enter into with the hotel or other service provider for campaign activities.
Second, the attached notice corrects a typographical error that appeared in the original notice.
The IBT has supplied OES with a mailing list of all Teamster members who registered for the 2015 Unity Conference. OES will in turn supply the list to a mailhouse that certifies to OES that it will perform the mailing and not divulge the list to or permit inspection or copying by any candidate, slate, or representative thereof. Hoffa-Hall 2016 is responsible for the full costs of the mailing, including first-class postage, will supply suitable guarantee of payment to the mailhouse so that the mailing will not be delayed, and will pay the invoice for the mailing promptly upon presentation of an invoice therefor.
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
2016 ESD 213
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
Jeffrey Ellison
214 S. Main Street, Suite 212
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
NOTICE TO ALL TEAMSTERS WHO ATTENDED
THE 2015 TEAMSTERS UNITY CONFERENCE
The Election Supervisor has found that the distribution of campaign flyers for the Hoffa-Hall 2016 campaign by front desk check-in clerks at the Paris Hotel on May 9, 2015 violated the Election Rules.
Under the Rules, an employer such as the Paris Hotel is prohibited from making a campaign contribution to a candidate, including a discount for services that is not available to other candidates. The Election Supervisor has found that the Paris Hotel violated the Rules by giving a discount to Hoffa-Hall 2016 for check-in clerk distribution of campaign flyers that was not available to other candidates. The Election Supervisor has further found that Hoffa-Hall 2016 violated the Rules by accepting that discount. The campaign has been ordered to pay a $3,000.00 fine to the Election Supervisor (equal to three times the value of the discount), and to distribute this notice to conference registrants.
Under the Rules, the union must provide advance written notice of the availability of union campaign assistance to all candidates before any candidate may obtain that assistance. The Paris Hotel asked the IBT if it approved the distribution of campaign flyers for Hoffa-Hall 2016 by Paris Hotel check-in clerks, and the IBT did not object. The hotel’s approval request put the IBT in the position of approving the distribution, and the union did not give advance written notice to all other candidates that such a service was available. The Election Supervisor has also found that Hoffa-Hall 2016 violated the Rules by accepting that union assistance under circumstances where it knew that no advance written notice of the availability of the service had been made to other candidates.
The Election Supervisor will not permit any such violations of the Rules. The IBT has complied with this decision by giving written notice to all candidates for International office of the hotels and dates in 2016 at which it will conduct union-related meetings, conferences, and conventions and has given further notice that it will have no involvement in securing, approving or making of any arrangements a candidate may enter into with the hotel or other service provider for campaign activities.
You may read these decisions in Zuckerman, 2015 ESD 63 (December 28, 2015), aff’d 2016 EAM 21 (May 16, 2016). at https://www.ibtvote.org/Protest-Decisions/esd2015/2015esd063 and
https://www.ibtvote.org/Protest-Decisions/eam2015/2016EAM021.
Any protest you have regarding your rights under the Rules or any conduct by any person or entity that violates the Rules should be filed with Richard W. Mark, 1050 17th Street, N.W., Suite 375, Washington, D.C. 20036, telephone: 844-428-8683, fax: 202-774-5526,
email: electionsupervisor@ibtvote.org.