The Rules for the International Union election are out and are being enforced. Filing election protests isn’t bullying. It’s democracy at work.
Our union has the most democratic elections and election rules of any major union. The same rules apply to everyone and enforcing them protects every member’s right to participate in a fair election.
Election protests are decided by an Independent Election Supervisor. Without them, Teamster democracy wouldn’t exist.
In the current campaign, six protests have been filed to date. The Election Supervisor has issued four decisions. In two of those four decisions, the Election Supervisor found that union resources had been used to campaign, and issued appropriate remedies.
That’s how the system works. Issues are corrected in a timely fashion, rather than waiting till after the election is over and demanding a rerun.
In the last two IBT election cycles, held in 2016 and 2021, the Election Supervisor issued a total of 580 decisions on protests. They were filed by all the slates and candidates—incumbents and challengers.
Protests were also filed by members, including TDU members, and by a number of candidates for delegate.
TDU members and other rank-and-file Teamsters who won protests were often called whiners or trouble-makers by officials who broke the Rules. That line of attack was wrong then and it’s wrong now.
Election protests keep our elections democratic and maintain an even playing field for all sides.
The Election Supervisor doesn’t have a huge staff to observe everything happening across the union. He relies on members’ protests to spot issues for his staff to investigate. That’s what protests are for.
When protests are valid, they are upheld. When they are not, they’re dismissed. That’s the Election Supervisor’s job.
Our Teamster democracy didn’t happen by accident. TDU worked hard to secure fair rules, and we continue to work to maintain democratic rules monitored by an independent Election Supervisor.
Do you want to know how the Election Rules work, how to file protests, and where to see all the decisions that have been made? Get answers to Frequently Asked Questions here.