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Office of the Election Supervisor for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters

OFFICE OF THE ELECTION SUPERVISOR

for the

INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS

 

IN RE: TEAMSTERS UNITED,               )           Protest Decision 2016 ESD 288

                                                                        )           Issued: September 23, 2016

            Protestor.                                           )           OES Case No. P-356-082916-AT     

____________________________________)                      

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 Ken Hall, John Murphy, and Hoffa-Hall 2016 supporters violated the Rules by using a van owned by Joint Council 55 for transportation associated with the International officer candidates forum held August 25, 2016.

            Election Supervisor representative Paul Dever investigated this protest.

Findings of Fact and Analysis

The International officer candidates forum was conducted on Thursday evening, August 25, 2016, at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.  Two candidates debated at the event, General President candidate Fred Zuckerman from the Teamsters United slate, and General Secretary-Treasurer candidate Ken Hall from the Hoffa-Hall 2016 slate.

Each candidate could request tickets for up to 50 individuals to attend the candidates forum.  Supplemental Rules for Conducting the International Officer Candidates Forum, Section I(6).  The forum’s invited audience was substantially comprised of supporters chosen by the candidates. 

Three officers and four business agents of Local Union 639, headquartered in Washington, DC, attended the forum with tickets provided by the Hoffa-Hall 2016 campaign.  They were President Tommy Ratliff, Secretary-Treasurer John Gibson, Vice President Phil Giles, and business agents Scott Clark, Wayne Settles, Bill Davis, and Darryl Haden.  They traveled from the Local Union 639 hall in northeast Washington to the forum venue using a van owned or leased by Joint Council 55, which has offices less than a mile away from the local union but parks the van at the local union.  According to Gibson, the van is available for local union officers to use for “official trips,” including rallies, protests, and the like.

Protestor Teamsters United asserted that the use of the van violated the Rules provision prohibiting use of union resources for a campaign purpose.  The protestor also claimed that Ken Hall, the Hoffa-Hall 2016 participant in the forum, and John Murphy, a principal of the campaign, used the van as well.

The candidates’ organization of individuals to attend the Candidates Forum as guests of the separate campaigns is partisan activity.  As such, supporters could not permissibly use union resources for transportation to the forum.[1]  Accordingly, we find that the use of the Joint Council 55 van by three officers and four business agents of Local Union 639 for transportation to the National Press Club constituted an impermissible use of union resources by campaign partisans to attend a campaign event.  Accordingly, we GRANT the protest with respect to these individuals.

We find no evidence to support the protestor’s allegation that Hall or Murphy used the van.  Accordingly, we DENY the protest with respect to these individuals.

Remedy

When the Election Supervisor determines that the Rules have been violated, he “may take whatever remedial action is deemed appropriate.”  Article XIII, Section 4.  In fashioning the appropriate remedy, the Election Supervisor views the nature and seriousness of the violation as well as its potential for interfering with the election process.  “The Election Supervisor’s discretion in fashioning an appropriate remedy is broad and is entitled to deference.”  Hailstone & Martinez, 10 EAM 7 (September 14, 2010).

            We order the officers and business agents of Local Union 639 to cease and desist from using union resources for a campaign purpose.

            We further order the seven individuals identified above who traveled to the forum in the union’s van to pay to Joint Council 55 the sum of $107.80, divided equally among them ($15.40 per person), which represents the cost of round-trip cab fare from the local union to the forum venue.[2]  Such payment shall be made no later than Monday, September 26, 2016.  A declaration of compliance shall be made under penalty of perjury to OES no later than Wednesday, September 28, 2016.  The purpose of these payments is strictly remedial in nature, to compensate the joint council for the commercially reasonable value of its van and to deter future use of union resources by the individuals involved.

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 288

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


Tommy Ratliff

Tlocal639@aol.com

John Gibson

jgibson@local639.org

Phil Giles

pgiles@local639.org

Scott Clark

sclark@local639.org

Wayne Settles

wsettles@local639.org

Bill Davis

wdavis@local639.org

Darryl Haden

dhaden@local639.org

Paul Dever

1050 17th Street, N.W., Suite 375

Washington, D.C. 20036

pdever@ibtvote.org

Jeffrey Ellison

214 S. Main Street, Suite 212

Ann Arbor, MI 48104

EllisonEsq@aol.com



[1] We do not consider whether, with advance notice, the joint council could have made the van available on a non-discriminatory basis to transport any members within the joint council to the forum.  See, e.g., Rules, Article VII, Section 12(c) (governing access to union facilities for campaigning).  In any case, the Local Union 639 officers and business agents did not rely on the equal access principle to justify their use of the joint council’s van.. 

[2] The cab fare assumes use of two cabs each way, one carrying four passengers, the other three, plus a 15% gratuity, as estimated using the fare estimator on www.taxifarefinder.com.