On October 19, 2015, OLMS entered into a voluntary compliance agreement with United Steelworkers Local 9-507 (located in Canton, N.C.), concerning an election of union officers conducted in April 2015. Local 9-507 agreed to conduct new nominations and a new election for the offices of president, executive vice president, treasurer, financial-secretary, recording secretary, vice president product services, vice president maintenance, vice president materials, vice president non-exempt, vice president paper and board, vice president pulp production, vice president recovery and utilities, vice president TQA, vice president Waynesville Shipping, vice president Waynesville Extruder, and three trustees prior to March 31, 2016, under the supervision of OLMS. The investigation concluded that the local applied an unreasonable candidate qualification when it retroactively imposed a meeting attendance requirement to candidates denying otherwise eligible candidates from running for office. The agreement follows an investigation by the OLMS Atlanta-Nashville District Office.
On October 8, 2015, OLMS entered into a voluntary compliance agreement with American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 2779 (located in Gainesville, Fla.), concerning an election of union officers conducted in March 2015. Local 2779 agreed to conduct new nominations and a new election for the offices of president, vice-president, secretary-treasurer, first vice-president, second vice-president, and three delegates prior to March 31, 2016, under the supervision of OLMS. The investigation concluded that the local failed to provide notice of nominations meeting the requirements of the LMRDA or the local’s bylaws. The agreement follows an investigation by the OLMS Atlanta-Nashville District Office.
On September 16, 2015, the Department entered into a voluntary compliance agreement with Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 26 (located in Minneapolis, Minn.), concerning an election of union officers conducted in March 2015. Local 26 agreed to hold a new election for the office of security officer delegate under OLMS’s supervision. The investigation concluded that the polling hours did not allow members working certain shifts the opportunity to vote. The agreement follows an investigation by the OLMS Detroit-Milwaukee District Office.
On September 14, 2015, OLMS entered into a voluntary compliance agreement with Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 9416 (located in Bakersfield, Calif.), concerning a challenged election conducted in April 2015. Local 9416 agreed to hold new nominations and a new election for the office of secretary-treasurer. The investigation concluded that the union allowed an ineligible candidate to run for office. The agreement follows an investigation by the OLMS Los Angeles District Office.
On September 11, 2015, OLMS entered into a voluntary compliance agreement with International Chemical Workers Union Council (ICWUC) of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 387C (located in Albuquerque, N.M.), concerning the challenged local delegate election conducted in April 2015. The union agreed to conduct new nominations and a new local delegate election under OLMS supervision no later than January 31, 2016. The investigation disclosed that the union failed to provide proper notice of nominations to its members when it did not provide notice reasonably calculated to reach all its members denying members the opportunity to nominate. The agreement follows an investigation by the OLMS Denver-St. Louis District Office.
On September 10, 2015, OLMS entered into a voluntary compliance agreement with American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and AFGE Local 446 (located in Asheville, N.C.), concerning a challenged election conducted in February 2015. AFGE and Local 446 agreed to hold new nominations and a new election for secretary-treasurer, vice president of nursing, and chief steward of nursing. The investigation concluded that the local failed to adequately inform nominees of their nominations. The agreement follows an investigation by the OLMS Atlanta-Nashville District Office.
On September 1, 2015, OLMS, entered into a voluntary compliance agreement with American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 2425 (located in East Orange, N.J.), to conduct new nominations, an election, and installation for the offices of president and secretary-treasurer under OLMS supervision no later than January 31, 2016. The investigation established that Local 2425 failed to provide members with the right to vote in that the union was aware of a problem specific to Veteran’s Administration (VA) employees where address information with the employer database would override any new address changes made to the AFGE database resulting in at least 11 members who were not sent ballots to their current address. Also, the union failed to: 1) provide members the right to vote when it improperly refused to count at least three ballots for various reasons; 2) provide adequate safeguards by using a post office box for return ballots that was shared with another union; 3) allow observers the ability to observe the entire tally process; and 4) provide proper notice of election when notices were not sent to the VA members with the outdated address issue. The agreement follows an investigation by the OLMS New York District Office.
On August 25, 2015, OLMS entered into a voluntary compliance agreement with Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 192 (located in Oakland, Calif.), concerning the challenged election of officers conducted on December 10, 2014. The union agreed to conduct new nominations, if necessary, and a new election for the positions of vice president, recording secretary, assistant business agent – transportation, delegate #6, delegate #7, delegate #8, and alternate delegate, under OLMS supervision. The investigation disclosed that members were denied the right to vote when retirees were not provided a delegate ballot and when new probationary members were not allowed to vote. The agreement follows an investigation by the OLMS San Francisco-Seattle District Office.
On August 21, 2015, the Department entered into a voluntary compliance agreement with United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 909 (located in Warren, Mich.), concerning an election of union officers conducted in May 2015. Local 909 agreed to hold a new election for all contested offices under OLMS’s supervision. The investigation concluded that (1) the Local failed to properly count ballots for the vice-president race thereby denying one candidate the opportunity to participate in a run-off election; (2) the Local placed improper restrictions on the candidate right to have an observer present at the ballot tally; and, (3) the Local failed to provide for ballot secrecy at the polling location. The agreement follows an investigation by the OLMS Detroit-Milwaukee District Office.
On August 7, 2015, OLMS entered into a voluntary compliance agreement with American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 1345 (located in Fort Carson, Co.), to conduct a new election and installation for the offices of president, vice president, DECA vice president, and three trustees under OLMS supervision no later than December 11, 2015. The OLMS investigation established that Local 1345 failed to ensure ballot secrecy by placing a unique number on the back of each ballot which made it possible to identify which member voted each returned ballot. A list containing the numbers placed on ballots was also used to issue and mark replacement ballots. The replacement ballot number was listed next to the original ballot number with an “R” added to the number further demonstrating that each ballot number corresponded to a specific and identifiable voter. Additionally, the union failed to maintain required election records including: 1) the eligibility list used during nominations; 2) the list of member names and addresses used to mail and/or mark ballots; 3) the eligibility list used during the tally of ballots; and, 4) the record of replacement ballots. The agreement follows an investigation conducted by the OLMS Denver-St. Louis District Office.
On June 10, 2015, OLMS entered into a voluntary compliance agreement with National Association of Government Employees (NAGE) Local R5-150 (located in Charleston, S.C.), concerning its failure to hold an officer election within the past three years. The union agreed to conduct nominations and an election for officers under OLMS supervision. The supervised election will be completed on or before September 4, 2015. The agreement follows an investigation by the OLMS Atlanta-Nashville District Office.
On June 9, 2015, OLMS entered into a voluntary compliance agreement with International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 835 (located in Orlando, Fla.), concerning its challenged election of officers on December 2, 2014. The union agreed to conduct new nominations, if necessary, and a new election for two departmental executive board positions under OLMS supervision. The investigation of the challenged election revealed that the union did not properly impose a constitutional requirement that restricts voting on departmental executive board positions to members who work in the represented department when it improperly allowed the entire membership to vote on each contested departmental executive board position. The agreement follows an investigation by the OLMS Atlanta-Nashville District Office.
On June 5, 2015, OLMS entered into a voluntary compliance agreement with the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC), located in Washington, DC, concerning its challenged election of officers in October 2014. The union agreed to hold a new mail ballot election for the office of Director of Retired Members by October 15, 2015. The investigation of the challenged election disclosed that the union improperly disqualified an eligible candidate because he attempted to accept nomination by signing the acceptance form with an electronic signature. The agreement follows an investigation by the OLMS Washington District Office.
On May 20, 2015, OLMS entered into a voluntary compliance agreement with Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 3250 (located in Norcross, Ga.), concerning its challenged election of officers that was held on November 14, 2014. The union agreed to conduct new nominations and a new election for one vice president position under OLMS supervision. The investigation of the challenged election revealed that the union did not uniformly impose candidate eligibility requirements when it improperly allowed an ineligible candidate to run for the vice president position. The new election will be completed on or before September 15, 2015. The agreement follows an investigation by the OLMS Atlanta-Nashville District Office.
On May 18, 2015, OLMS entered into a voluntary compliance agreement with Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 3122 (located in Miami, Fla.), concerning the challenged election of officers conducted on November 14, 2014. The union agreed to conduct new nominations, if necessary, and a new election for the position of president, under OLMS supervision. The investigation of the challenged election disclosed that the union failed to provide adequate safeguards when nominees served on the election committee; failed to provide adequate safeguards when members were re-credentialed and voted during a voting drive; and failed to elect officers by secret ballot. The agreement follows an investigation by the OLMS Atlanta-Nashville District Office.
On May 5, 2015, OLMS entered into a voluntary compliance agreement with International Association of Machinists District Lodge 142 (located in Kansas City, Mo.), concerning its June 2014 election of officers. The OLMS investigation found that District Lodge 142 failed to provide members proper notice of election when it mailed the election notice in the union newsletter more than six months prior to the June 2014 balloting. District Lodge 142 agreed to conduct a new election for eleven officer positions under OLMS supervision no later than August 31, 2016. The agreement follows an investigation by the OLMS Denver-St. Louis District Office.
On May 1, 2015, OLMS entered into a voluntary compliance agreement with the National Association of Government Employees (NAGE) Local R4-17 (located in Hampton, Va.), concerning the challenged election of officers conducted on September 30, 2014. The union a greed to conduct new nominations, if necessary, and a new election under OLMS supervision. The investigation of the challenged election disclosed that the union failed to provide proper notice of election; failed to elect its officers by secret ballot; denied members the right to vote; and failed to publish the election results. The agreement follows an investigation by the OLMS Washington District Office.
On April 14, 2015, OLMS entered into a voluntary compliance agreement with the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), Local 2028 (located in Pittsburgh, Pa.), concerning the challenged election of officers conducted on December 1, 2014 and the January 12, 2015 runoff election. The union agreed to conduct a new election for executive vice president, chaplain, chief steward (Oakland), EEO officer (runoff candidates only) and six delegate positions under OLMS supervision. The investigation of the challenged election disclosed that the union denied members the right to vote when eligible members were not mailed ballots and when ballot packages returned for having bad addresses were not re-mailed after a forwarding address had been provided. The agreement follows an investigation by the OLMS Philadelphia-Pittsburgh District Office.
On April 13, 2015, OLMS entered into a voluntary compliance agreement with Sheet Metal Air Rail Transportation Union (SMART) concerning the challenged election of officers conducted by SMART Local 1715 (located in Charlotte, N.C.) on November 8, 2014. The union agreed to conduct a new election for Local 1715 Secretary under OLMS supervision. The OLMS investigation of the challenged election disclosed that the union allowed a candidate and union officer to handle ballots; failed to publish instructions on how to obtain a replacement ballot; failed to retrieve returned undeliverable ballot packages from the post office; did not arrange for the key to the post office box to remain in the possession of the postmaster as required by the union’s constitution; and, failed to maintain ballot return envelopes. The agreement follows an investigation by the OLMS Atlanta-Nashville District Office.
On March 12, 2015, the Department entered into a voluntary compliance agreement with the United Brotherhood of Carpenters (UBC) District Council for St. Louis and Vicinity, located in St. Louis, Missouri, concerning a challenged election in August 2014. The union agreed to hold a new election for the office of executive secretary-treasurer. The OLMS investigation concluded that the union failed to elect the executive secretary-treasurer by secret ballot as required by the UBC Constitution. The voluntary compliance agreement follows an investigation by the OLMS Denver-St. Louis District Office.
On February 6, 2015, OLMS entered into a voluntary compliance agreement with National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) Local ZTL (located in Hampton, Ga.), concerning the challenged election of officers conducted on October 3, 2014. The union agreed to conduct new nominations and an election for the positions of president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, and one area representative. The investigation of the challenged election disclosed that the union failed to provide proper notice of election when it included incorrect information about the duplicate ballot request deadline and the ballot return deadline. The union also failed to provide adequate safeguards when ballots were left unsecured in an office to which union officials and candidates had access and an election official accessed the ballots in the post office box without anyone else present. The agreement follows an investigation by the OLMS Atlanta-Nashville District Office.
On February 2, 2015, OLMS entered into a voluntary compliance agreement with American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 2206 (located in Birmingham, Ala.), concerning the challenged election of officers conducted on March 27, 2014. The union agreed to conduct new nominations, if necessary, and a new election for vice president of grievances, vice president - COS, vice president - section 1, vice president - section 2, and secretary under OLMS supervision. The investigation of the challenged election disclosed that the union failed to provide proper notice of election; denied members the right to vote; permitted ineligible members to vote; and failed to provide adequate safeguards when instructions were not included with the ballot and when candidates were listed on the ballot for races for which not all members were eligible to vote. The agreement follows an investigation by the OLMS Atlanta-Nashville District Office.
On January 30, 2015, OLMS entered into a voluntary compliance agreement with Machinists District Lodge 141 (located in Elk Grove Village, Ill.), to conduct a new election under OLMS supervision for all officer positions. The OLMS investigation of the challenged June 2014 election disclosed that the election notice mailed to members contained incorrect information about the location, polling hours, and dates of local lodge elections and that a candidate’s reasonable requests for distribution of campaign literature at the candidate’s expense were denied. The agreement follows an investigation by the OLMS Chicago District Office.
Last Updated: 12-4-15