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By KEVIN NEVERS A disputed election of union officers held in March by Local 2038 of the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) is being investigated by the Department of Labor (DOL), a Local 2038 member told the Chesterton Tribune on Thursday. Kensey Alsman, a member of the Beta Division of Local 2038, said that DOL opened its investigation of the March 12 election on Monday. DOL spokesman Brad Mitchell would not confirm or deny the existence of an investigation, under DOL policy. “But when we receive a formal complaint in a timely fashion of an alleged violation of the Labor-Management Reporting Act, we are obliged to investigate,” Mitchell told the Tribune. In March Alsman characterized the election as a “self-coronation” and alleged that only the local’s executive board members, including the incumbent officers running for re-election, were allowed to cast votes. Local 2038 President Mike DeVaney, Business Agent Rusty White, and Secretary-Treasurer Rob Gross were all re-elected, with a total of 42 votes cast for all candidates, Alsman said. The complaint filed by the Local 2038 membership makes three general allegations: *Members in good standing of the local were not permitted to vote--in violation not only of the ILA Constitution and the local ’s bylaws but in violation of DOL regulations forbidding indirect union elections--because they did not meet the “Executive Board’s qualifications standard that required voters to be local or division officers.” Of the approximately 600 members in good standing of Local 2038, only 42--local and division officers--were declared eligible to vote, the complaint alleges.*The nomination process was flawed--in violation of DOL regulations requiring a union to “take steps to notify sick, laid-off, or other non-working members” eligible to vote but “who might not ordinarily see a notice posted only at the work site(s) or union hall”--because the notices were posted only at the union hall and around the plant, despite the fact that around 80 percent of the Beta Division’s members were laid off at the time. Moreover, the complaint alleges, members were not allowed to make direct nominations but were allowed only to “suggest” a nomination.*The hours of voting--7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with no proxy votes or absentee ballots allowed--violate DOL regulation requiring members to have “a reasonable opportunity to vote” and the union to consider their “work schedules and work locations . . . when establishing polling hours and places.” The complaint notes that members on a 12-hour shift, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., could not possibly have cast ballots anyway in the election given the hours of voting.The complaint asks DOL to declare the March 12 election null and void, to re-open nominations for the positions of president, business agent, and secretary-treasurer, and to ensure that the new election be held within 30 days conforming to the ILA Constitution, local bylaws, and federal regulations. Members of Local 2038 petitioned the Executive Board to hold a hearing on the matter one day after the election. But the “Executive Board has stalled this process for three months and still shows no signs of making a decision,” one of the complainants was quoted as saying on Alsman’s website. Under DOL policy, complainants must exhaust all of their appeal options within the union before requesting a DOL investigation or may begin the appeals process and then in 90 days take their case to DOL.
Posted 6/19/2009 |
