December 13, 1995
VIA UPS OVERNIGHT
Jerry Halberg
December 13, 1995
Page 1
Jerry Halberg
7903 S. 124th Street
Seattle, WA 98178
Robert A. Hasegawa, Secretary-Treasurer
Teamsters Local Union 174
553 John Street
Seattle, WA 98109
Labor Education and Research Project
7435 Michigan Avenue
Detroit, MI 48210
Ken Paff
Teamsters for a Democratic Union
7437 Michigan Avenue
Detroit, MI 48210
Teamsters Rank and File Defense Fund
7437 Michigan Avenue
Detroit, MI 48210
Jerry Halberg
December 13, 1995
Page 1
Re: Election Officer Case No. P-111-LU174-PNW
Gentlepersons:
This pre-election protest was filed pursuant to Article XIV, Section 2(a) of the Rules for the 1995-96 International Union Delegate and Officer Election ("Rules") by
Jerry Halberg, a member of Local Union 174, in Seattle, Washington. The protester alleges that Local Union 174 has made an unlawful campaign contribution by displaying and distri-buting at the Local Union 174 dues office the June 1995 issue of Labor Notes, a monthly newsmagazine published by the Labor Education and Research Project in Detroit, Michigan, containing an article attacking the candidacy of James P. Hoffa.
Regional Coordinator Christine M. Mrak investigated the protest.
Jerry Halberg
December 13, 1995
Page 1
The facts giving rise to the protest are not in dispute. The local union has subscribed to Labor Notes for years and distributes copies to its membership because the publication, according to Local Union 174 Secretary-Treasurer Robert Hasegawa, provides useful coverage of union activities. The pages of the June issue submitted by the protester indicate broad coverage of the labor movement, including reports on a strike by immigrant carpenters in southern California, a strike by a local union of the United Rubber Workers in Decatur, Illinois, and a nationwide conference in Detroit sponsored by Labor Notes.
The protester does not dispute any of the facts as reported, but objects to a paragraph and a photograph of James Hoffa in a two-page article beginning on page seven reporting on the conference sponsored by the publication. The article includes pictures of some of the persons attending the conference, including a picture of James Hoffa captioned with “Jimmy Hoffa, Jr.” Following a reference to the “1200 labor activists and supporters” who attended the conference, the paragraph reads:
As in the past, many were associated with movements to reform and improve their unions. This fact came to life when Jimmy Hoffa, Jr., old guard candidate for Teamster president in 1996, showed up outside the Teamsters meeting. After he insulted the Diamond Walnut strikers from Teamster Local 601, he was encouraged to leave by Teamsters chanting, “Car-ey, Car-ey.” He got the message.
The Rules, at Article VIII, Section 8(a), provide the following prohibition, “No publication or communication financed, directly or indirectly, by a Union may be used to support or attack any candidate or the candidacy of any person. . . .” In Sauwoir, Case
No. P-041-LU41-EOH et al. (August 16, 1995), the Election Officer held that this provision, because it specifically prohibits indirect financial support, applies to a local union’s purchase of multiple copies of a periodical for distribution to the membership.
Additionally, Article VIII, Section 5(a)(4) of the Rules provides:
A Local Union shall not discriminate or permit discrimination in favor of or against any candidate in conjunction with its meetings or otherwise. This requirement shall apply not only to formal presentations by or on behalf of candidates but also to informal campaign activities, such as, for example, comments on candidates during meetings, literature distribution at meetings, literature distribution tables, etc.
The Election Officer further held in Sauwoir, supra, that to the extent a local union distributes a publication which supports or attacks a candidate or candidacy to its members, the nondiscrimination provision in Article VIII, Section 5(a)(4) is implicated.
Jerry Halberg
December 13, 1995
Page 1
To determine whether a union-financed publication or its distribution violates the Rules, the Election Officer must first determine if the subject of the publication was a “candidate” within the meaning of the Rules at the time of the publication.[1] The Election Officer has previously found that Mr. Hoffa and Mr. Carey became candidates prior to June 1995 when the cited issue of Labor Notes was published. See Sauwoir, supra; Martin, et al., P-010-IBT-PNJ, et seq. (August 17, 1995), aff’d 95 - Elec. App. - 18 (KC) (October 2, 1995).
In reviewing the protested articles, The Election Officer looks to the tone, content and timing to determine what constitutes campaigning. See, e.g., Ruscigno, P-067-LU20-EOH (July 19, 1995). The Election Officer also reviews the specific context in which the communication takes place. See Martin, supra.
Most of the protested paragraph is objective. There is nothing in the photograph of Mr. Hoffa accompanying the article, or its caption reading “Jimmy Hoffa, Jr.,” that constitutes a violation of Article VIII, Section 8(a)(3), or is otherwise an attack upon
Mr. Hoffa prohibited by the Rules. The cited paragraph, however, arguably “attacks”
Mr. Hoffa by referring to him as an “old guard candidate” and the comment that Mr. Hoffa “got the message,” and supports the candidacy of Mr. Carey when reporting the chanting of his name by Teamsters attending the conference.
The term “old guard candidates” describing Mr. Hoffa appears once inside of a news-magazine reporting on a wide range of matters of interest to union members. In this context, the single reference to Mr. Hoffa as an “old guard candidate” on page seven in the third paragraph of a two-page article reporting on events at a national conference attended by trade unionists is not found to convert an otherwise legitimate news article into impermissible campaigning. The report about the chanting and that Mr. Hoffa “got the message” was a response to the reported insult to the Diamond Walnut strikers. Such reporting on the impressions made by an individual who is a candidate does not constitute “campaigning” any more than if a newspaper reported that a particular candidate was “booed” down without being allowed to finish a speech. See Sauwoir, supra.
Insofar as the Election Officer does not find the article to constitute “campaigning” in violation of Article VIII, Section 8, the distribution of Labor Notes is not subject to the nondiscrimination provision in Article VIII, Section 5.
Jerry Halberg
December 13, 1995
Page 1
The protester also alleges that the IBT Constitution, which prohibits campaign contributions from a foundation, has been violated because the Labor Education and Research Project, publisher of Labor Notes, is funded by foundations. The protester points to no publication as evidence of a campaign contribution other than the June 1995 issue of Labor Notes considered above. Having found that the cited publication is not campaign literature, there is no issue before the Election Officer regarding campaign financing by a foundation.
Accordingly, the protest is DENIED.
Any interested party not satisfied with this determination may request a hearing before the Election Appeals Master within one day of receipt of this letter. The parties are reminded that, absent extraordinary circumstances, no party may rely upon evidence that was not presented to the Office of the Election Officer in any such appeal. Requests for a hearing shall be made in writing and shall be served on:
Kenneth Conboy, Esq.
Latham and Watkins
885 Third Avenue
New York, NY 10022
Fax (212) 751-4864
Copies of the request for hearing must be served on the parties listed above as well as upon the Election Officer, 400 North Capitol Street, Suite 855, Washington, D.C. 20001, Facsimile (202) 624-3525. A copy of the protest must accompany the request for a hearing.
Sincerely,
Barbara Zack Quindel
Election Officer
cc: Kenneth Conboy, Election Appeals Master
Christine M. Mrak, Regional Coordinator
[1]Under the Rules, “candidate” is defined as:
[A]ny member who is actively seeking nomination or election for any Convention delegate position or International Officer position. The term includes any member who has accepted any campaign contribution as defined by the Rules or made any expenditure, where the purpose, object or foreseeable effect of the contribution or expenditure is to influence the election of that member to any such position.