Chao v. Local 538 of United Food and Com. Workers, 03-C-474-S.
| Decision Date | 20 February 2004 |
| Docket Number | No. 03-C-474-S.,03-C-474-S. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Western District of Wisconsin |
| Parties | Elaine L. CHAO, Secretary of Labor, United States Department of Labor, Plaintiff, v. LOCAL 538 OF the UNITED FOOD AND COMMERCIAL WORKERS INTERNATIONAL UNION, AFL-CIO, CLC, Defendant. |
Richard D. Humphrey, Assistant U.S. Attorney, Madison, WI, and Leonard A. Grossman, U.S. Department of Labor Office of the Solicitor, Chicago, IL, for Plaintiff.
Bruce M. Davey, Lawton & Cates, Madison, WI, for Defendant.
Plaintiff U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao commenced this action to set aside as invalid the January 23 and 24, 2003 election conducted by defendant Local 538 of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, AFL-CIO and to direct the conduct of a new election under plaintiff's supervision in accordance with Title IV of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959, 29 U.S.C. §§ 481-483. The Court has subject matter jurisdiction over this action pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1331 and 29 U.S.C. § 482(b). The matter is presently before the Court on plaintiff's motion for summary judgment. The following facts are undisputed.
Defendant Local 538 of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, AFL-CIO represents 2,100 members who are employees of three South Central Wisconsin employers: Oscar Mayer, Doskocil Foods (now Tyson), and Jones Dairy. Local 538 conducted an election of officers on January 23 and 24, 2003. Several officer positions were contested in the election including President, Secretary-Treasurer, eight of twelve Vice Presidents, and two Delegates-at-Large to the United Food and Commercial Workers International Convention. The margin of victory in the election ranged from 15 votes in the Secretary-Treasurer election to 453 in the election for President. The elected officers are currently serving three-year terms.
The Union Labor News is the monthly newspaper of the South Central Federation of Labor, which serves several unions in South Central Wisconsin including Local 538. Members of Local 538 receive the Union Labor News each month by mail. Each edition consists of twelve pages.
Information concerning the election was included in the October, November, December, and January editions of the Union Labor News. Election information first appeared on page ten of the October and November editions and page eight of the December edition in a section entitled "UFCW Local 538 Report to Membership." Information concerning the election also appeared on page eight of the January edition in a section entitled "Laborers Local 464 Laborers Report." No election information was mailed to Local 538 members other than that which was included in the Union Labor News.
The "UFCW Local 538 Report to Membership" on page ten of the October 2002 edition of the Union Labor News contains the first mention of the election. A large black rectangular box (approximately one inch tall and five inches across) on the top of the page with large white letters and a smokestack logo identifies the page as the "UFCW Local 538 Report to Membership." One half of the page consists of three large advertisements. In the upper right-hand corner of the page is a photograph of two Local 538 members in protective clothing. The photograph is accompanied by a large, detailed caption. The report itself is divided into two columns. Three headings divide the second column in larger, bolded text: "RETIREES," "NEW STEWARDS," and "UNION MEETINGS." The first column contains no heading but is devoted to describing the nomination and election processes for officers and delegates to the upcoming United Food and Commercial Workers International Convention. This information continues until about one-half way down in the second column. Specifically, the report describes the dates, times, and places of the nominations and elections for each of the three employer-units of Local 538. A close examination reveals that the words "nominations" and "elections," which in total occur five times, are bolded within the article.
The Local 538 election information is repeated in the UFCW Local 538 Report to Membership on page ten of the November 2002 edition of the Union Labor News. Again, half of the page consists of advertisements — one of which is a large reminder to vote in the upcoming Wisconsin state elections. The report begins with an essay discussing which policy issues will likely influence union members' selection of candidates in the state elections. The Local 538 election information begins one-half way down the first column and ends one-half way down the second column. This time, it is preceded by the heading "REMINDER TO ALL UFCW LOCAL 538 MEMBERS." Again, the words "nominations" and "election" are bolded. The UFCW Local 538 Report to Membership appears on page eight of the December 2002 edition of the Union Labor News. The report begins with an essay concerning recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions involving the Americans with Disabilities Act and their effect on workers. The heading "REMINDER TO ALL UFCW LOCAL 538 MEMBERS" appears toward the bottom of the first column, and the election information follows, continuing two-thirds way down the second column. The information provided is similar to that in the October and November editions. Again, one-half of the page consists of two large advertisements. The following page contains a section entitled "UFCW Local 538 Jefferson Report." The Jefferson unit is one of the Local 538 employer-units. One paragraph of this report repeats the election information pertinent to the Jefferson unit.
The January 2003 edition of the Union Labor News does not contain a section identified as the UFCW Local 538 Report to Membership. The section is mislabeled. Instead, a large black rectangular box (also approximately one inch tall and five inches across) on the top of the page with large white letters and a hard hat logo identifies the page as the "Laborers Local 464 Laborers Report." Local 464 is a different international union which is also served by the Union Labor News. Two-thirds of this page consists of advertisements. The report begins with an essay reminding members of their Weingarten rights. Next, election information follows the heading "ELECTION OF OFFICERS, EXECUTIVE BOARD AND DELEGATES PLEASE NOTE CHANGES FOR POLLING HOURS FOR THURSDAY, JANUARY 23, 2003 FOR THE UFCW LOCAL 538 OSCAR MAYER — MADISON UNIT."
By letter dated February 7, 2003 Local 538 member Joseph R. Jerzewski protested the election to the Election Chairperson. The Chairperson denied his protest. Jerzewski appealed the denial of his protest to the International President. Having invoked internal union remedies without obtaining a final decision, Jerzewski filed a complaint with plaintiff, who commenced this action pursuant to 29 U.S.C. § 482(a)(2).
MEMORANDUMThe Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 (LMRDA) requires that "[n]ot less than fifteen days prior to the election notice thereof shall be mailed to each member at his last known home address." 29 U.S.C. § 481(e). The parties dispute whether information contained within the four editions of Union Labor News was sufficient to provide "notice" of the 2003 election within the meaning of § 481(e) of the LMRDA. The LMRDA does not define the term "notice."
Summary judgment is appropriate when, after both parties have the opportunity to submit evidence in support of their respective positions and the Court has reviewed such evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmovant, there remains no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c); see also Usery v. Int'l Org. of Masters, Mates & Pilots, Int'l Maritime Div., ILA, AFL-CIO, 538 F.2d 946, 949 n. 5 (2d Cir.1976) ().
A fact is material only if it might affect the outcome of the suit under the governing law. Disputes over unnecessary or irrelevant facts will not preclude summary judgment. A factual issue is genuine only if the evidence is such that a reasonable factfinder, applying the appropriate evidentiary standard of proof, could return a verdict for the nonmoving party. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 254, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (l986).
Plaintiff is responsible for enforcing the elections provisions of Title IV of the LMRDA. 29 U.S.C § 482. The Department of Labor has promulgated interpretive regulations with respect to these provisions: 29 C.F.R. pt. 452 (2003). Two of these regulations address the notice requirement of § 481(e). The first describes the notice requirement in relevant part as follows:
Elections required by title IV to be held by secret ballot must be preceded by a notice of election mailed to each member at his last known home address not less than fifteen days prior to the election.... The notice must include a specification of the date, time and place of the election and of the offices to be filled, and it must be in such form as to be reasonably calculated to inform the members of the impending election. Specification of the offices to be filled would not be necessary if it is a regular, periodic election of all officers and the notice so indicates. A statement in the union bylaws that an election will be held at a certain time does not constitute the notice required by the statute. Since the Act specifies that the notice must be mailed, other means of transmission such as posting on a bulletin board or hand delivery will not satisfy the requirement. A notice of election must be sent to every member as defined in section 3(o) of the Act, not only to members who are eligible to vote in the election. Where the notice, if mailed to the last known permanent or legal residence of the...
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...resort to the Table of Contents on page 2 and be redirected to page 66 in the magazine. Chao v. Local 538 of the United Food & Commercial Workers Int'l Union, 307 F.Supp.2d 1027, 1035 (W.D.Wis. 2004) (union members "are under no obligation to search the [union's publication] for important a......