August 28, 1996
VIA UPS OVERNIGHT
Ken Mee
August 28, 1996
Page 1
Ken Mee
42356 Greenbrier Park Drive
Freemont, CA 94538
Chuck Mack, President
Teamsters Joint Council 7
150 Executive Park Boulevard
Suite 2900
San Francisco, CA 94124
William Boe, Director of Labor Relations
Airborne Express
3101 Western Avenue
Seattle, WA 98111
Jeff Thomas, District Field Service Manager
Airborne Express
229 Littlefield Avenue
South San Francisco, CA 94080
Ron Carey, General President
International Brotherhood of Teamsters
25 Louisiana Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20001
Nathaniel Charny
Cohen, Weiss & Simon
330 W. 42nd Street
New York, NY 10036
Ken Mee
August 28, 1996
Page 1
Re: Election Office Case No. P-860-LU85-CSF
Gentlemen:
Ken Mee, a member of Local Union 287 and candidate for re-election to the position of IBT Vice-President for the Western Region, filed a pre-election protest pursuant to Article XIV, Section 2(b) of the Rules for the IBT International Union Delegate and Officer Election ("Rules") alleging that officials of Local Union 85 violated the Rules by failing to give Mr. Mee the same campaign assistance that they gave to his opponent in the International officer election, Joint Council 7 President Chuck Mack. Specifically, Mr. Mee alleges that on July 22, 1996, Local Union 85 officials scheduled three meetings of members at their workplaces to discuss the IBT Convention, at which Mr. Mack was allowed to campaign. Mr. Mee further states that Local Union 85 has not granted his request for equal access. His protest is also lodged against
Mr. Mack and against any employer that allowed such campaign activity on its premises.
Ken Mee
August 28, 1996
Page 1
Local Union 85 admits that it sponsored three meetings on July 22, at which Mr. Mack campaigned.
This protest was investigated by Regional Coordinator Matthew D. Ross.
During the week of the IBT Convention (July 15 to 19), Local Union 85 President
Lou Marini telephoned Local Union 85 Secretary-Treasurer Van Beane from Philadelphia to propose that after the Convention they take Mr. Mack to several facilities to give a Convention report. Mr. Beane states that he agreed.
Accordingly, on July 19, Mr. Beane spoke with a manager at the 23rd Street (San Francisco) facility of Airborne Express to get permission to hold a 7:30 a.m. meeting on July 22, in order to report on Convention events. Mr. Beane also planned a 10:00 a.m. meeting for members employed at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco. He did not contact management about that meeting, because he planned to hold it in a public area.
To advertise the meetings, Mr. Beane had a notice typed on local union letterhead. He was unable to provide a copy of either notice to the Election Officer's investigator. However, he stated that the approximate text of each notice was as follows: "Attention members. On Monday morning at [time], Chuck Mack, President of Teamsters Joint Council 7 will be [location] to discuss the events of the 1996 Teamsters Convention in Philadelphia, PA." The notice for the Airborne meeting was posted on the local union's bulletin board at that facility on Friday, July 19. The local union does not maintain a bulletin board at the Moscone Center. However, the local union has in the past posted notices in an area near the time clock. Mr. Beane states that the notice for the Moscone meeting was posted there.
Mr. Marini also had the idea to distribute Hoffa campaign material at these meetings. At the Convention, the Hoffa campaign issued daily "Convention News" bulletins. Mr. Marini assembled packets of these materials for distribution by stapling together copies of the daily bulletin for each of the five Convention days.
The meeting at Airborne's 23rd Street facility began at approximately 7:30 a.m. and lasted about 15 minutes. Mr. Beane stated that the shift at that facility began at 8:00 a.m. According to Mr. Beane, most of the discussion was about local union matters unrelated to the Convention. However, he also introduced Mr. Mack as being there at Mr. Beane's request "to give you a report on the Convention." Mr. Mack spoke and handed out packets of the Hoffa campaign literature prepared by Mr. Marini.
Before going to the Moscone Center for the second scheduled meeting, Messrs. Mack, Beane, and Marini traveled to another Airborne location, at Littlefield Avenue in San Francisco, for an impromptu meeting. Permission was sought and obtained to meet with members in the coffee room on their morning break. The meeting began at approximately 8:30 a.m. and covered local union and Convention-related issues. Mr. Mack spoke again and handed out packets of Hoffa literature. The meeting lasted about 15 minutes.
Ken Mee
August 28, 1996
Page 1
Messrs. Mack, Beane, and Marini arrived at the Moscone Center at approximately
10:00 a.m. About 25 members met with them in a public location near the top of a ramp leading down into the building. The meeting lasted 15 to 20 minutes and covered Convention and non-Convention issues. Mr. Mack spoke and distributed Hoffa campaign material.
By letter dated July 23, the next day Airborne wrote to Mr. Marini objecting to the campaign content of the meeting at its Littlefield Avenue facility. The letter is signed by a District Field Service Manager:
It has come to my attention that during the 07-22-96 meeting you conducted with your members at this location a discussion of the current election campaign for President of the Teamsters Union may have taken place.
Please be advised that as an employer, Airborne Express does not allow such activities to take place on its property nor does it allow its employees to participate in partisan political activities while on company time.
Also by letter dated July 23, the protester, Mr. Mee, demanded that Mr. Beane furnish him information about the meetings in question and afford him with "union resources and services not less in quantity and quality than those extended to Mr. Mack."
Article VIII, Section 5(a) of the Rules establishes rules governing the access of candidates to local union membership meetings. Subsection 5(a)(3) provides:
The Local Union need not allot time for campaigning during any of its meetings. However, if campaigning during such meetings is permitted, the Local Union shall notify all candidates for the positions for which such campaigning will be permitted of the opportunity to speak at least five (5) days prior to the meeting and shall divide the time equally between those candidates (or candidates' credentialed representatives) who request an opportunity to speak. The order of appearance shall be determined by lot.
The provisions of Article VIII, Section 5 apply to all local union meetings of members, even if they are subject to being "called, changed or cancelled on very short notice." Weronke, P-306-LU662-NCE (January 31, 1996) (craft meetings); Birch, P-603-LU320-NCE (March 21, 1996) (bargaining unit meetings), aff'd, 96 - Elec. App. - 154 (KC) (April 1, 1996). In this matter, the 7:30 a.m. Airborne meeting and the Moscone Center meeting were planned and convened by Local Union 85 officials and advertised by notices printed on local union letterhead. The first Airborne meeting took place on employer premises by prior agreement. The second Airborne meeting, although not pre-planned, was convened by local union officials on employer
Ken Mee
August 28, 1996
Page 1
premises with the agreement of the employer. The Election Officer finds that all three meetings were local union meetings subject to the requirements of Article VIII, Section 5.
By Local Union 85's admission, it did not comply with Subsection 5(a)(3). It permitted Western Region Vice-Presidential candidate Chuck Mack to speak without giving prior notice and an equal opportunity to Mr. Mack's opponents, including Mr. Mee. Furthermore, the local union permitted Mr. Mack to distribute general Hoffa campaign material without affording an equal opportunity for the distribution of Carey campaign material. Accordingly, the Election Officer finds that Local Union 85 violated the Rules.
Mr. Mee also lodged his protest against Mr. Mack and against any employer that permitted such improper campaigning on its premises--in this matter, Airborne and Moscone Center. However, the requirements of Article VIII, Section 5 apply to the local union holding the membership meeting, not to the candidate-participants. Therefore, the Election Officer does not find that Mr. Mack violated the Rules. With respect to Airborne, the Election Officer notes that Local Union 85, in requesting permission to hold its meetings, stated that they would cover the Convention, a legitimate subject of union business. When Airborne discovered that the meeting at the Littlefield facility involved campaigning, the employer objected. In such circumstances, the Election Officer does not find Airborne to have violated the Rules. The Moscone Center meeting was not on the employer’s property and this employer is, therefore, not implicated.
Accordingly, the protest is GRANTED as to Local Union 85 and DENIED in all other respects.
When the Election Officer determines that the Rules have been violated, she "may take whatever remedial action is appropriate." Article XIV, Section 4. In fashioning the appropriate remedy, the Election Officer views the nature and seriousness of the violation, as well as its potential for interfering with the election process.
The improper campaigning that took place in this matter involved short speeches by
Mr. Mack at three work locations, accompanied by the distribution of Hoffa campaign literature. In order to provide similar access to Mr. Mack's opponent, Mr. Mee, without infringing on legitimate employer interests in restricting access by non-employees to employer premises, the Election Officer orders the following.
(1) Local Union 85 shall cease and desist from permitting campaigning by any International officer candidate at any of the local union's meetings, whether of the entire membership or any part of the membership, unless the local union complies with the notice and fairness requirements set forth in Article VIII, Section 5(a)(3) of the Rules.
Ken Mee
August 28, 1996
Page 1
(2) Local Union 85 shall send to every local union member working at (a) Airborne Express's 23rd Street Facility, (b) Airborne Express's Littlefield Avenue facility, and (c) the Moscone Convention Center, a mailing of campaign material provided to it by Western Region Vice-Presidential candidate Ken Mee. That material may consist of one page of campaign material from Mr. Mee and up to five pages of Carey campaign material. Each page shall be printed on one side of 8½ x 11-inch paper. Mr. Mee shall have five (5) working days from the date of this decision to submit the material to Local Union 85, and the local union shall have five (5) working days from the date of submission to complete the mailing. Local Union 85 shall bear the cost of duplication and mailing.
(3) At the time Mr. Mee submits his material to Local Union 85, he shall simultaneously provide a copy of such material to the Election Officer. With three (3) days of completing the mailing, Local Union 85 shall submit an affidavit to the Election Officer demonstrating that the mailing has been accomplished.
An order of the Election Officer, unless otherwise stayed, takes immediate effect against a party found to be in violation of the Rules. In Re: Lopez, 96 - Elec. App. - 73 (KC) (February 13, 1996).
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
Matthew D. Ross, Regional Coordinator