In Transport Workers Union (TWU) Local 241, whose members are maintenance workers at Columbia University and the Juilliard School, a Sept. 2021 election pitted the incumbent slate against an opposition group whose original plan was to contest three offices, but two of their slate were barred from running by the local’s election committee, which determined that one nominator and one candidate were not in good standing for a part  of the year and thus could not run or nominate. The third candidate, Chris Hannigan, ran for Treasurer. He had been vocal in criticizing  the local for being too close to management in pursuing (or, rather, not pursuing) grievances by members and not maintaining a transparent and responsive internal union governance structure. Hannigan almost fell out of good standing as well. Prior to the election Hannigan was brought up on charges.   Hannigan’s alleged offense was to report to  management a safety violation on the worksite. Hannigan had no idea who was at fault, but when management revealed to all that it was a certain fellow unionist, that individual brought Hannigan up on charges of violating the TWU Constitution Section 5 subsections (d) (Hannigan maliciously published or circulated among the membership false reports or misrepresentations), (f) (Hannigan  willfully wronged a member of the International Union), and (n) (Hannigan by act or omission of conduct prejudiced or damaged the interest and welfare of the International Union or Local # 241).  The local upheld the charges and suspended Hannigan which would have prevented his candidacy. Continuous good standing for one year before the election is a criterion of eligibility.   On appeal, the international TWU’s Committee on Appeals  reversed the local’s verdict.

Parallel to Hannigan’s experience was local 241 member Kelvin McAllister’s attempt to run for President. He had served twice as president of the local and had long emphasized the importance of union militancy on behalf of its members.

The nominating meeting occurred on October 12th, 2021 over Zoom, McAllister was nominated as a presidential candidate by Luis Ventura, who himself was the third opposition group  candidate.  On  October 18th, 2021 McAllister received a letter from the union nullifying his  nomination because  Ventura was not a member in good standing in late 2020 and early 2021, at a time when he was terminated by his employer. Ventura fought his termination and was reinstated in his position. Having been made whole by his employer, Ventura says he was never notified that he was required to pay back dues from the wages he received during his months of termination and moreover, asserts he was not notified that he was not a member in good standing prior to the nomination meeting. McAllister’s nomination and Ventura’s candidacy were voided.  On appeal, McAllister argued that the union should have pointed out beforehand that Ventura was not in good standing and could not nominate him and that Ventura should have been notified of his lack of good standing. The union denied McAllister’s appeal of the nullification.

In the election, Hannigan lost. Hannigan and McAllister filed complaints that ultimately went to the New York District Office of the DoL’s OLMS.  McAllister challenged the union’s determination that his nominator was not in good standing, and Hannigan pointed out irregularities with the securing of the ballots, among  other violations.  DoL investigators found that the violations pointed out by Hannigan warranted a rerun and a VCA was entered into with the union on May 6, 2022 to conduct a new election for several of the offices. The investigation established that the union failed to mail a notice of election to all members at their last known home address not less than 15 days prior to the election, and found that the union failed to properly secure unused ballots prior to the election. McAllister’s complaint was not upheld, as the DoL did not ask for new nominations for the office of President, nor did it rerun that officer election. McAllister posed several inquiries to the DoL, but could not get an answer as to why his complaint was denied. He was told he was not entitled to a Statement of Reasons (SOR) from DoL because the election was to be rerun and DoL does not issue a SOR when an election is rerun.

Not deterred, McAllister and Hannigan (whose race was being rerun)  made a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request in late May 2021 for  DoL to the release the documents associated with their investigation hoping they could determine why McAllister’s complaint was denied.  DoL refused the request claiming that ongoing cases were exempt from FOIA and that Hannigan and McAllister could resubmit the FOIA request after the rerun and when the case was officially closed by DoL.

The rerun election date was August 23rd, 2022, and Hannigan lost. Hannigan once again filed an election complaint with OLMS regarding alleged collaboration between local 241 officers and management to limit the time horizons during which they could vote in the rerun. (The procedure for filing an election complaint in a DoL rerun is that the candidate  has 10 days after the rerun date to file such complaint, and it goes right to the OLMS  election supervisor who conducted the rerun: it does not go to the union-eds.). The complaint was once more dismissed by OLMS.

With the rerun over, Hannigan and McAllister have resubmiited their FOIA request and tell us  the DoL is attempting to satisfy it.