June 28, 1996
VIA UPS OVERNIGHT
James Smith
June 28, 1996
Page 1
James E. Smith
Teamsters Local Union 115
2833 Cottman Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19149
James P. Hoffa
2593 Hounds Chase
Troy, MI 48098
Thomas Ryan, President
Teamsters Local Union 107
107 Spring Garden Street
Philadelphia, PA 19123
Robert Baptiste
Baptiste & Wilder, P.C.
1150 Connecticut Avenue, Suite 500
Washington, DC 20036
James Smith
June 28, 1996
Page 1
Re: Election Office Case No. P-798-LU107-SCE
Gentlemen:
A pre-election protest was filed pursuant to Article XIV, Section 2(a) of the Rules for the 1995-1996 IBT International Union Delegate and Officer Election (“Rules”) by
James E. Smith, Jr., a member of Local Union 115. Mr. Smith alleges that Thomas Ryan, president of Local Union 107, improperly used union resources to distribute anonymous campaign literature attacking John Morris, a candidate for International vice president on the Ron Carey slate. Mr. Ryan is also a candidate for International vice president. Mr. Ryan admits that one of his campaign workers distributed the material, but denies the allegation that any union funds or equipment were used.
This protest was investigated by Regional Coordinators Bruce Boyens and Peter
V. Marks.
The investigation discloses that on May 30, 1996, Mr. Smith received a copy of the protested campaign flyer at his office at Local Union 115. The flyer falls into the category of “anonymous” campaign literature, as it is impossible to determine from its face who produced it. Similarly, the flyer contains no information from which the sender can be identified. The flyer’s masthead reads, “Ron Carey Failure Fax” and is headlined, “Spyscam Agent.”
James Smith
June 28, 1996
Page 1
This same flyer was also sent to the offices of Local Union 776 on June 4. At the top of the flyer received by Local Union 776 on June 4 is the facsimile tag: “5/30/96 23:28:44 Via fax XXX-XX-XXXX7 THOMAS RYAN Page 001.” Local Union 107’s facsimile number is 215-625-9087. No facsimile tag was reproduced on the faxed flyer received by Local
Union 115 on May 30. It is based upon the appearance of the tag line on the fax received by Local Union 776 that the protester asserts that union funds and facilities were utilized to distribute this anonymous literature attacking the Carey campaign.
Mr. Ryan states that after he received the flyer, he gave a copy to Bob Brown, a campaign worker for his campaign organization, the Committee to Elect Tom Ryan.
Mr. Brown states that he took the copy of the flyer to the Ryan campaign headquarters and, over the next several days including June 4, transmitted it to various IBT local unions via the campaign’s fax machine. The copy Mr. Brown faxed from the Ryan campaign office contained the “Thomas Ryan” tag line.
Article XII, Sections 1(b)(1) and (3) of the Rules prohibit a union from using its funds “to promote the candidacy of any individual.” The Rules define campaign contribution broadly to include any direct or indirect contribution where the purpose, object or foreseeable effect of that contribution is to influence the election of a candidate. Rules, Definitions, 5. Mr. Ryan asserts that he did not utilize union resources to fax this campaign material and that the appearance of his name and the local union fax number on the material was there when the material was received by Local Union 107.
The investigation supports Mr. Ryan’s assertion that the fax tag was on the material received at Local Union 107. The fax machine log was submitted to the Election Office by Local Union 107. It shows that no transmissions were sent via that facsimile machine, either to Local Union 115 or Local Union 776 between June 3 and June 6. An on-site visit was paid by Mr. Marks to Local Union 107 for the purpose of faxing documents between the local union and the Election Officer’s regional office in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to determine whether the fax machine in Local Union 107, when either receiving or sending faxes, would produce the tag line on the protested document. The information obtained by Mr. Marks demonstrated that a fax received by his office from Local Union 107 had the following tag line: “06/21/1996 09:37 XXX-XX-XXXX7 TEAMSTERS 107.” A fax which
Mr. Marks sent from his office to Local Union 107 had the following tag line: “SENT BY: PETER MARKS 6-21-96 9:52AM; 609 646 0919 XXX-XX-XXXX7.” The local union only has one fax machine. Mr. Marks’ investigation confirmed that Local Union 107’s fax machine does not produce a tag line similar to that on the protested anonymous literature. Moreover, the Election Officer believes that it is reasonable to conclude that the “” in the fax tag line pointing to Mr. Ryan’s name and that the local union fax number on the protested document demonstrates that the anonymous literature was received by Mr. Ryan at the local union office and not sent by the local union fax machine.
Therefore, the Election Officer’s investigation concludes that there is no evidence linking Mr. Ryan or union resources to the distribution of the protested campaign material.
James Smith
June 28, 1996
Page 1
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 & Watkins
885 Third Avenue, Suite 1000
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 N. Capitol Street, Suite 855, Washington, DC 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
Bruce Boyens, Regional Coordinator
Peter V. Marks, Regional Coordinator