In re Eligibility of Andrew Finch & Justin Scott, 2026 ESD 39
OFFICE OF THE ELECTION SUPERVISOR
for the
INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS
) Protest Decision: 2026 ESD 39
IN RE: ELIGIBILITY OF )
) Issued: February 10, 2026
ANDREW FINCH and )
) OES Case No. E-066-020226 and
JUSTIN SCOTT ) E-068-020526
)
)
INTRODUCTION
Jared Frankian filed two pre-election protests pursuant to Article XIII, Section 2(b) of the Rules for the 2025-2026 IBT International Union Delegate and Officer Election (“Rules”) challenging the eligibility of Andrew Finch and Justin Scott as candidates for delegate in Local 431’s delegate election. Specifically, the protestor inquires if because Finch was a business agent until the middle of January and supposedly didn’t have return rights, does that make him ineligible under the Rules (Protest No. E-066-020226). Frankian also alleges that Scott was on state disability at various times throughout 2025 and failed to timely pay dues before the nomination meeting (Protest No. E-068-020526). We consolidated these protests for this decision.
Ron Webne, a representative of the Office of the Election Supervisor (“OES”), investigated these protests.
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.
The nomination meeting for Local 431 took place on January 8, 2026. Thus, both Finch and Scott must have paid dues in a timely manner for January 2024 through December 2025.
Andrew Finch
TITAN records show that Finch, who was on dues checkoff made timely payment of his dues for that entire period.[1] Frankian explained that on January 30 or 31, 2026, he received some information that led him to question whether Finch had resigned as business agent for Local 431. He was subsequently told that if Finch did resign as business agent, he would not or might not have the right to return to his job at CEMEX Construction. The IBT Constitution and Rules require, as a condition of eligibility, that a member be employed by the craft within the jurisdiction of the local for 24 consecutive months preceding the month of nomination. Frankian believes that if Finch resigned as business agent, he did so on January 26, 2026. It is unclear how Finch’d purported resignation as business agent,[2] would affect his eligibility to run for delegate since Frankian does not allege that Finch was not working in the craft before January 1, 2026. Given that the “working in the craft” requirement would apply to the period January 1, 2024, through December 31, 2025, and Frankian acknowledges that Finch was working in the craft during that time, the OES did not investigate this issue any further.
We note that there is a possible timeliness issue, because the protest was not filed until February 2, 2026, and the nomination meeting took place on January 8, 2026. Frankian stated that he first questioned Finch’s eligibility on January 30 or 31, 2026 and then read the rules on Sunday February 1, 2026, giving rise to this protest. We do not make a determination as to the timeliness issue here.
Accordingly, we find that Finch is eligible and DENY this protest as to the allegations against Finch.
Justin Scott
According to Scott there was never a time between January 1, 2024, and December 31, 2025, that he was not employed by UPS. Frankian does not dispute this. TITAN records show that Scott, who was on dues checkoff the entire 24 months prior to the nomination meeting, made timely payment of his dues for that period, except for November and December 2025, both of which, according to TITAN, were paid on January 26, 2026. However, Scott provided paystubs showing his earnings for work performed in November and December 2025 sufficient to pay his dues. Pursuant to Art. X, Section 5(c) of the IBT Constitution, dues for those months are deemed to have been timely paid.[3] IBT Constitution, Article X, Section 5(c) (“However, a member on dues checkoff whose employer fails to make a proper deduction during any month in which the member has earnings from work performed during the month from which the dues could have been deducted, or has earnings from which the employer normally makes a dues decision pursuant to the contract or established practice, shall not lose good standing status for that month.”).
There is an issue with regard to the timeliness of this protest. According to Frankian, Scott went on disability, a form of California unemployment compensation, in May 2025 when UPS attempted to fire him. At that time, Local 451 filed a grievance on Scott’s behalf, which succeeded. Scott was on disability while the grievance was being pursued.
Shortly after he returned to work in June 2025, Scott went back on disability and returned to work between November 7 and 11, 2025. Frankian acknowledged that he has been aware of this because he and Scott discussed it at that time. Specifically, Frankian stated that he remembers discussing Scott being on disability after Scott did not attend a general membership meeting of Local 431 at the beginning of November 2025. Frankian acknowledged that he was aware of these facts before the Local 431 nomination meeting. Consistent with his statements regarding the protest challenging Finch’s eligibility, Frankian stated that although he was aware of these underlying facts, he didn’t read (or re-read) the Rules governing eligibility until February 1, 2026, implying he simply did not know the significance of the facts until then. We do not make a determination as to the timeliness issue here.
Accordingly, we find that Scott is eligible and DENY this protest as to the allegations against Scott.
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
2026 ESD 39
DISTRIBUTION LIST (BY EMAIL UNLESS NOTED OTHERWISE):
Andrew Finch
Justin Scott
Edward M. Gleason, Jr.,
Richard Hooker
David Suetholz
Ken Paff
Thomas Kokalas
Timothy S. Hillman
Paul Dever
Ron Webne
Deborah Schaaf
Kelly Hogan
[1] Frankian questions whether Finch paid his dues for January 2026, but since that question does not bear on his eligibility, we need not address it.
[2] He appears to have no solid evidence that this happened. Local 431, he said, won’t give him any information about it. He said calls to Finch are being transferred to a phone that is not his. When Protest No. E-066-020226 was first filed, the OES tried contacting Finch via telephone and were unable to reach him. On February 5, 2026, the OES obtained Finch’s email address and sent him a copy of the acknowledgement letter and protest.
[3] Frankian also questions whether Finch paid his dues for January 2026, before the nomination meeting, but since that question does not bear on his eligibility, we need not address it. We also note that according to TITAN, Scott’s dues for January 2026 were paid on January 30, 2026.