Eligibility of Herrera, 2025 ESD 9
OFFICE OF THE ELECTION SUPERVISOR
for the
INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS
) Protest Decision 2025 ESD 9
IN RE: ELIGIBILITY OF )
) Issued: Oct. 13 2025
MICHELLE HERRERA )
) OES Case No. E-016-100425-WE
)
)
)
INTRODUCTION
Jason Rabinowitz filed a protest challenging the eligibility of Michelle Herrera, a candidate for delegate in the International Brotherhood of Teamsters 2026 International Union Delegate and Officer Election (“Election”) on the Members First slate pursuant to Article XIII, Section 2(b) of the Rules for the Election (“Rules”). Specifically, Rabinowitz alleges that Herrera is not eligible because she has not paid dues for 24 consecutive months.
Ron Webne, a representative of the Office of the Election Supervisor (“OES”), investigated this protest.
FINDINGS OF FACT AND ANALYSIS
Pursuant to Art. VI, Section 1 (a)(1)-(3) of the Rules, 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.
Herrera was nominated to run for delegate to the IBT 2026 Convention for Local 2010 at Local 2010’s nomination meeting on October 4, 2025. Therefore, to meet the dues payment requirement of Art. VI, Section 1 (a)(1) of the Rules, Herrera must have paid her dues on time for the period October 2023 through September 2025. To verify the eligibility of Herrera, we reviewed TITAN records for dues remitted on her behalf. TITAN records showed that her dues were paid only for the period December 2023 through August 2025, but even assuming she paid her dues for September 2025, she would only have paid dues for 22 months ending in the month prior to the nomination meeting.[1]
There are exceptions to the 24-consecutive month dues requirement, but none that apply here. See e.g., Rules, Article VI, Section 2(e) (a member of a newly chartered Local Union in existence for less than 24 months, must be in continuous good standing over that period and must have worked under the Local Union's jurisdiction for at least half the period of time since the Local Union was chartered); IBT Constitution, Article II, Section 4(b) (a member of an independent union, or a union formerly affiliated with an international union other than the IB, that merges with an existing Local Union less than 24 months prior to the next election of officers, need only be in good standing for half of the time since the merger to be eligible for office).
Herrera joined Local 2010 after October 2023, signed the checkoff authorization December 17, 2023, and dues were first deducted from her paycheck in December 2023. There is no provision in the Constitution or the Rules that would exempt someone who joined less than 24 months before the election. Therefore, Ms. Herrera is not eligible to run for delegate or alternate delegate. See In re: Eligibility of Gilbert Alvarez, 2005 ESD 7 (Aug. 30, 2005) (no exception applies to a member who joins the IBT and local less than 24 months ago).
For these reasons, we find Michelle Herrerra INELIGIBLE to run for the position of delegate or alternate delegate under Article VI, Section 1(a)(1) and GRANT this protest.
APPELLATE RIGHTS
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:
Election Appeals Master
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. 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. A copy of the protest must accompany the request for hearing.
Timothy S. Hillman
Election Supervisor
cc: Barbara Jones, IBTappealsmaster@bracewell.com
2025 ESD 9
DISTRIBUTION LIST (BY EMAIL UNLESS NOTED OTHERWISE):
Jason Rabinowitz
Michelle Herrera
Members First Slate
Edward M. Gleason, Jr.,
Richard Hooker
David Suetholz
Will Bloom
Ken Paff
Timothy S. Hillman
Paul Dever
Ron Webne
Deborah Schaaf
Kelly Hogan
[1] TITAN shows that her dues were paid in the month after the month in which they were due, i.e., August 2025 dues were paid on September 23, 2025. To maintain “good standing,” however, Art X, Sec. 5(c) of the IBT Constitution requires that dues be paid before the last business day of the month in which they are due. Since, Ms. Herrera was on checkoff, however, she would not lose good standing if she had earnings for work performed in the relevant month from which the dues could have been deducted. IBT Const. Art. X, Sec. 5(c).