Eligibility of Herbert & Ransom, 2026 ESD 50
OFFICE OF THE ELECTION SUPERVISOR
for the
INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS
) Protest Decision: 2026 ESD 50
IN RE: ELIGIBILITY OF )
DANNY HERBERT and ) Issued: February 26, 2026
JESSE RANSOM )
) OES Case No. E-073-020926 &
) E-074-020926
INTRODUCTION
Eric Jiminez filed two pre-election protests pursuant to 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 Danny Herbert (E-073-020926) and Jesse Ramson (E-074-020926) to run for delegate. The protestor alleges that neither Herbert nor Ramson maintained continuous good standing with all dues timely paid and that Ramson was suspended and not an active member throughout the eligibility period. Additionally, Jiminez claims that Ransom is ineligible to nominate because he had not paid all of his dues owed through January 2026.
Ron Webne of the Office of the Election Supervisor (“OES”) investigated this protest.
APPLICABLE LAW
Eligibility to Run for Office
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.
Under Article X, Section 5(c) of the IBT Constitution, generally, all members paying dues must pay them on or before the last business day of the current month. Any member failing to pay dues by that deadline shall not be in good standing and payment of such dues after the due date does not restore good standing status for that month (or months) in computing the continuous good standing status required to be eligible for office. Id. There is an exception: “It is well-settled that a member on dues check-off retains his good standing even if his dues were remitted late or not at all by the employer, provided he had signed a check-off authorization and had sufficient earnings or paid leave in the month from which dues could have been deducted.” In re Eligibility of Jakwan Rivers, 2015 ESD 32 (Sept. 21m 2015) (citing IBT Constitution, Article X, Section 5(c)) and (collecting cases). The local “shall notify the member of the employer’s failure” to make deductions from the member’s earnings to pay his dues. IBT Constitution, Article X, Section 5(c).
Eligibility to Nominate or Second
Nominations must be made and seconded by members in good standing other than the nominee. To be in good standing a nominator or seconder must have his/her dues paid through the month prior to the nomination meeting. Eligibility of Terwilliger, 2011 ESD 82 (January 24, 2011); Eligibility of Walczak & Palacz, 2016 ESD 73 (January 16, 2016); Eligibility of Matysik, 2016 ESD 101 (February 7, 2016). Unlike the eligibility requirements to run for delegate, if a member misses the deadline to pay his or her dues, they may restore their good standing for purposes of nominating or seconding by payment of the delinquent dues prior to the nomination meeting. Specifically, dues must be paid by the day before the nomination meeting to be in good standing to nominate or second. Hadley, E128 (March 25, 1995) (emphasis added).
FINDINGS
The nomination meeting for Local 952 took place on February 6, 2026. Therefore, to be eligible to run for delegate, Herbert and Ransom must have paid their dues in a timely manner and remain in active standing for each month beginning February 2024 through January 2026 (the “Eligibility Period”). To be eligible to nominate, Ransom must have paid his dues through January 2026.
Danny Herbert Eligibility
Herbert timely paid his dues each month during the Eligibility Period except in:
· November 2024
· June 2025
However, Herbert was on dues checkoff with his employers, Local 952 and then Albertsons, and provided paystubs showing earnings for work performed in November 2024, June 2025, and November 2025, sufficient to pay his dues for those three months. Thus, he is entitled to the benefit of Article X, Section 5(c) of the IBT Constitution (the “Checkoff Rule”), and is deemed to have timely paid his dues and maintained his good standing for each of these three months.
The protestor does not take issue with Herbert’s June and November 2025 payments. He does, however, dispute that Herbert’s November 24 dues are deemed to have been paid timely. We, therefore, further discuss our findings as to Herbert’s November 2024 dues payment below.
Herbert worked for Local 952 until the termination of his employment on November 5, 2024.[1] Jiminez provided a paystub from Local 952 for the pay period October 27, 2024, through November 5, 2024, showing that Herbert worked 80 hours during that time and received earnings of $4,461.54 (gross) plus $196.15 in sick pay. Herbert clearly had sufficient earnings from Local 952 in November 2024 from which his dues for that month could have been deducted.[2]
Jiminez does not dispute that Herbert worked for Local 952 through November 5, 2024, and that Herbert was on dues checkoff with Local 952 at that time. Rather, it is his position that because it was Local 952’s practice to deduct dues from the third paycheck of each month, which Herbert knew, and because Herbert did not receive a third paycheck that month because he had stopped working and did not have earnings from which his dues could have been deducted, Herbert was required to directly pay his dues for November 2024 no later than the last business day that month or lose his good standing. In other words, Jiminez claims that Herbert could not rely on the Checkoff Rule for his November 2024 dues. We disagree and decline to interpret the Checkoff Rule this narrowly.
The Checkoff Rule allows a member to maintain good standing even if his dues are remitted late or not at all, provided that he had a signed checkoff and sufficient earnings in the month from which the employer could have deducted dues. IBT Constitution, Article X, Section 5(c). Employers may make mistakes or have peculiarities in the way that it chooses to deduct members’ dues that are beyond the control of members. The Checkoff Rule recognizes this and aims to protect a member’s eligibility status under these circumstances. In stark contrast to the purpose of the Checkoff Rule, Jiminez asks us to find that Herbert loses the benefit of the Checkoff despite the fact that he meets the two criteria: (1) he was on checkoff in November 2024; and (2) had sufficient earnings for work performed in November 2024 from which his dues could have been deducted because of a technicality in the way that Local 952 administers its deduction of dues payments for its employees. We decline to do so. Although an employer may choose when to deduct its employee members’ dues, we find that rendering a member ineligible based solely on a timing decision wholly outside of the member’s control contravenes the Checkoff Rule and cannot be so interpreted. Moreover, such an outcome would not further the purpose of the Rules.
Accordingly, we find that Herbert is deemed to have timely paid his dues for November 2024 (and the other two months referenced above), that he maintained continuous good standing throughout the Eligibility Period, and, therefore, we DENY Protest No. E-073-020926. [3]
Jesse Ransom Eligibility
Jiminez claims that Ransom did not maintain his continuous good standing and was not an active member throughout the Eligibility Period. Specifically, Jiminez claims that Ransom has not paid his dues since September 13, 2025, and has been suspended since January 7, 2025, rendering him ineligible.
Ransom has a signed checkoff with his employer. Jiminez does not dispute this. TITAN records show that Ransom paid his dues in a timely manner for February 2024 through July 2024. These months are not at issue here.
Per TITAN, the next payment following Ransom’s July 2024 dues payment was made on September 13, 2024, by a deduction of his UPS earnings through checkoff. [4] Since that payment, no dues have been paid [5] TITAN also confirms that Ransom was suspended on January 7, 2025.[6]
Ransom stated that he was injured at the end of July 2024 and did not work from July 26, 2024, through mid-October 2024. Notwithstanding the fact that he returned to work in October 2024, his dues have not been paid for 16 months (from October 2024 through February 11, 2026).[7] Because Ransom has been on checkoff this entire 16-month period and had earnings for each of these months sufficient to pay his dues,[8] he is deemed to have timely paid his dues for October 2024 through February 2026 under the Checkoff Rule.
However, Ransom admitted that he worked no hours, and received no earnings from UPS for any reason, including sick pay, holiday pay, or vacation pay, from which UPS could have deducted his dues for August 2024. He produced one paystub that corroborates this (i.e., that he worked no hours, and received no payment from UPS). He stated that this is the only paystub he received in August 2024. Since Ransom had no earnings from which UPS could have deducted his dues for August 2024, he cannot rely on the Checkoff Rule. Instead, he was required to make a direct payment to Local 952 no later than the last business day of August 2024 to maintain his good standing. He did not, causing a break in his continuous good standing rendering him ineligible to run in the delegate election.
Additionally, Ransom acknowledges that he never paid dues for August 2024. Thus, even though he is deemed to have timely paid his dues for all the other months during the Eligibility Period based on the Checkoff Rule, his August 2024 dues (of which he cannot rely on the Checkoff Rule) remain unpaid. Accordingly, he was not eligible to nominate at the nomination meeting. See IBT Constitution, Art. X, Section 5(c) (good standing for purposes of nomination may be restored provided all delinquent dues are paid prior to the nomination meeting); see e.g., Eligibility of Ham, 2011 ESD 138 (February 25, 2011); aff’d, 2011 EAM 27 (March 18, 2011) (a member who was one month delinquent on his dues for a month he had no earning to fund them through checkoff and did not made a cash payment directly to the local was ineligible to nominate or second).
Ransom states that Local 952 never notified him of any dues arrearages. Under Article X, Section 5(c) of the IBT Constitution, “where the Local Union notifies the member of his employer’s failure to make check-off deductions, then payment must be made by the member within thirty (30) days of said notice in order to retain good standing status.” If the local union does not send such a notice, then the member is entitled to rely on the Checkoff Rule for eligibility purposes. Here, as discussed above, Ransom was not entitled to rely on the Checkoff Rule because he had no earnings whatsoever from UPS in August 2024. Eligibility of Ham, 2011 ESD 138 (February 25, 2011); aff’d, 2011 EAM 27 (March 18, 2011).
We find that Ransom is ineligible to run as delegate because he had a break in his 24-month continuous good standing during the Eligibility Period and ineligible to nominate because he is not in good standing as his August 2024 dues are outstanding. Accordingly, we GRANT Protest No. E-074-020926. As a result, the nominations of Jose Negrete and Victor Tostado, were invalid.
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 50
DISTRIBUTION LIST (BY EMAIL UNLESS NOTED OTHERWISE):
Jesse Ramson
Danny Herbert
Eric Jimenez
Richard Hooker
David Suetholz
Will Bloom
Ken Paff
Thomas Kokalas
Timothy S. Hillman
Paul Dever
Ron Webne
Deborah Schaaf
Kelly Hogan
[1] Herbert worked up to and including November 5, 2024.
[2] Jiminez also provided a paystub from Local 952 for the pay period November 5, 2024, through November 5, 2025, showing that Herbert was paid vacation pay in the amount of $5,075.94.
[3] Jiminez provided a document entitled “Application and Authorization for Payroll Deduction – Teamsters Local 952” purportedly signed by Herbert on December 12, 2024. This, he states, was the new checkoff authorization Herbert signed when he joined Albertsons. This document does not change the fact that Herbert worked for Local 952 in November 2024 and was on checkoff authorization with it. Therefore, Local 952, not Albertsons, was required to deduct and remit his due November 2024. It also corroborates that Herbert was on dues checkoff in June and November 2025.
[4] Ransom provided a paystub for the pay period September 1-7, 2024, showing that he worked no hours but received $87.00 in holiday pay. Consistent with TITAN records, the paystub also shows that dues in the amount of $54.00 were deducted from that amount.
[5] Jiminez (more than once) and Local 952’s TITAN operator were both interviewed. Jiminez made inconsistent statements about Local 952’s practice regarding the process of remitting dues for its members employed by UPS. It’s unclear how or why UPS did not remit Ransom’s dues starting in October 2024, since he is on authorized checkoff, has been working since then, and UPS has been paying him for such work. Ransom states he was never notified by the local about his arrears. Jiminez acknowledged this but then provided a withdrawal form that he claims was mailed to Ransom on September 27, 2024. This withdrawal form does not give Ransom notice that UPS has not been remitting his dues since he returned to work. Jiminez stated his belief that Ransom should have gone on withdrawal status when he was injured and unable to work so that when he deposited his withdrawal card, the local would be notified that he was working again and the local would resume billing UPS to remit his dues. This argument fails because Ransom was not obligated to go on withdrawal. Further, we find Jiminez’s assertions that UPS was not on notice that Ransom returned to work disingenuous. As noted above, Ransom has been working for UPS and receiving a paycheck for 16 months. Although we reject Jiminez’s assertions, these facts are not material to our determinations here because Ransom became ineligible after he failed to directly pay his dues to the local by the last business day of August 2024 causing a break in the 24 consecutive months of timely dues payments before Local 952 stopped billing UPS for his dues.
[6] As of the last date we checked in February 2026, Ransom was still suspended.
[7] This was the last time we checked during our investigation.
[8] Ransom provided copies of paystubs for pay periods for each month from October 2024 through February 2026 showing that he had earnings in each of those months from which his dues could have been deducted.