As you know, the union entered into a voluntary settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS), pursuant to which OLMS is conducting a new election for the offices of Local 32035 president, vice president, and secretary. The new election will be conducted under OLMS’ supervision. OLMS is responsible for assuring that the election is conducted in accordance with Title IV of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 (LMRDA) and, insofar as lawful and practicable, the union constitution.
Election rules will be formulated at a pre-election conference to be held within the next few weeks. The law prohibits the use of union and/or employer time, equipment and resources to support or denounce any candidate in an election. This includes sending campaign-related material from an employer email account. We’ve attached DOL’s publication regarding the use of union and employer funds for your information.
The election will not occur until at least a month after the pre-election conference. All candidates will be advised of the specific dates of the election (when they are selected) and will be given more than sufficient time to campaign.
OLMS Election Coordinator Mark Coldren, along with the candidates and the Elections and Referendum Committee, will be formulating more specific rules for this election in the future. However, it is very important that anyone (including non-candidates) who intends to distribute anything (via email, mail, or any other method) to any candidates or members prior to that time contact Election Coordinator Coldren at (202) 513-7325 prior to doing so to make sure that the activities that are being conducted are in compliance with the law. It is important that the law and rules are followed. If OLMS finds that a violation of the law occurred that may have affected the outcome of the election, OLMS will not be able to certify the election and the burden and expense on the union from this new election will have been wasted.
Despite the highly-politicized atmosphere in the Local at this time, we all want to ensure that the upcoming re-run is conducted properly. We urge everyone to adhere to these requirements.
Michael S. Wolly
ZWERDLING, PAUL, KAHN & WOLLY, P.C.