OFFICE OF THE ELECTION SUPERVISOR
for the
INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS
IN RE: JIM BRADY, ) Protest Decision 2021 ESD 55
) Issued: February 4, 2021
Protestor. ) OES Case No. P-064-012721-NE
____________________________________)
Jim Brady filed a pre-election protest pursuant to Article XIII, Section 2(b) of the Rules for the 2020-2021 IBT International Union Delegate and Officer Election (“Rules”). The protest challenged the nomination and election of Patrick LoPresti and James Santangelo as delegate and alternate delegate, respectively, of Local One-L, Graphic Communications Conference of the IBT.
Election Supervisor representative Jeffrey Ellison investigated this protest.
Findings of Fact and Analysis
LoPresti is president of Local Union One-L; Santangelo is secretary-treasurer. Protestor Brady contends that LoPresti and Santangelo are disqualified from delegate and alternate delegate because they violated the local union’s bylaws. Specifically, Brady argues that Santangelo is ineligible for his position as secretary-treasurer and holds that position in violation of the bylaws. Brady further argues that LoPresti violated the bylaws by appointing Santangelo to the secretary-treasurer post.
LoPresti made the appointment in January 2019, and Santangelo has served continuously as local union secretary-treasurer since that time. Santangelo was employed as local union controller for many years prior to his appointment as secretary-treasurer, and he has been a member paying journeyman pressman dues monthly by check-off authorization since 2003. Protestor Brady urges that Santangelo’s appointment as secretary-treasurer violated the bylaws. The bylaws require that any person appointed or elected as an officer of the local union must be a journeyman. Brady contends that Santangelo did not achieve journeyman status in a manner the bylaws recognize (generally, by apprenticeship). Therefore, according to Brady, Santangelo is not legitimately a journeyman and is ineligible to hold the office of secretary-treasurer under the bylaws, whether by appointment or election.
The Election Supervisor enforces the Election Rules, which govern nomination and election of delegates and alternate delegates to the IBT convention, and nomination and election of International officers. Article I. The Rules do not permit the Election Supervisor to investigate or order compliance with local union bylaws that are not related to his electoral jurisdiction.
Article VI, Section 1(a) of the Rules provides that “to be eligible to run for any Convention delegate, alternate delegate or International Officer position, one must: (1) be a member in continuous good standing of the Local Union, with one’s dues paid to the Local Union for a period of twenty-four (24) consecutive months prior to the month of nomination for said position with no interruptions in active membership due to suspensions, expulsions, withdrawals, transfers or failure to pay fines or assessments; (2) be employed at the craft within the jurisdiction of the Local Union for a period of twenty-four (24) consecutive months prior to the month of nomination; and (3) be eligible to hold office if elected.”
The nominations meeting for Local Union One-L’s delegates and alternate delegates election occurred on January 26, 2021. Therefore, the 24-month period during which candidates must be in continuous good standing to be eligible for nomination ran from January 2019 through December 2020.
LoPresti was the only nominee for delegate; Santangelo the only one for alternate delegate. They were elected without opposition.
We treat the protest as challenging their eligibility for nomination.
Both satisfy the continuous good standing requirement for timely payment of dues and work at the craft. For each, dues were timely paid by check-off authorization. Under Article II, Section 4(e) of the IBT constitution, their full-time employment as local union officers constitutes “work at the craft,” which each has performed for the full 24-month eligibility period. While protestor Brady contends that Santangelo achieved his office illegitimately, the fact remains that he has held it for the entire eligibility period. Where Santangelo has actually worked at the craft in a manner the IBT constitution recognizes, we are without jurisdiction to examine whether he should have been permitted to do so.
The remaining challenge to LoPresti’s eligibility for delegate rests on the third eligibility criterion, viz., eligibility to hold office if elected. The contention is that he forfeited that eligibility by appointing Santangelo in violation of the bylaws. This contention fails, however, because the third criterion serves as a basis for disqualifying a nominated candidate only for a person convicted of any of the felonies listed in Section 504 of the LMRDA, 29 USC 504. Chilcoat, E35 (January 26, 1996); Walker, 2006 ESD 272 (May 24, 2006). This provision therefore has no application to LoPresti.
Accordingly, we find no basis within our jurisdiction to challenge the eligibility of LoPresti and Santangelo for nomination and election in the local union’s delegate and alternate delegate election. For this reason, we DENY this protest.
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. Any party requesting a hearing must comply with the requirements of Article XIII, Section 2(i). All parties are reminded that, absent extraordinary circumstances, no party may rely in any such appeal upon evidence that was not presented to the Office of the Election Supervisor. Requests for a hearing shall be made in writing, shall specify the basis for the appeal, and shall be served upon:
Barbara Jones
Election Appeals Master
IBTappealsmaster@bracewell.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, all within the time prescribed above. Service may be accomplished by email, using the “reply all” function on the email by which the party received this decision. A copy of the protest must accompany the request for hearing.
Richard W. Mark
Election Supervisor
cc: Barbara Jones
2021 ESD 55
DISTRIBUTION LIST (BY EMAIL UNLESS NOTED):
Bradley T. Raymond, General Counsel
International Brotherhood of Teamsters
braymond@teamster.org
Edward Gleason
egleason@gleasonlawdc.com
Patrick Szymanski
szymanskip@me.com
Will Bloom
wbloom@dsgchicago.com
Tom Geoghegan
tgeoghegan@dsgchicago.com
Rob Colone
rmcolone@hotmail.com
Barbara Harvey
blmharvey@sbcglobal.net
Kevin Moore
Mooregp2021@gmail.com
F.C. “Chris” Silvera
fitzverity@aol.com
Fred Zuckerman
fredzuckerman@aol.com
Ken Paff
Teamsters for a Democratic Union
ken@tdu.org
Jim Brady
mulletrig@aol.com
ALA Local Union One-L
jamessante@optonline.net
Thomas Kennedy
tkennedy@cwsny.com
Peter Marks
pmarks@ibtvote.org
Jeffrey Ellison
EllisonEsq@gmail.com