Craig Gonsalves
Castro Valley, California 94546
December 15, 1997
Marty Frates
Business Agent
TEAMSTER LOCAL #70
70 Hegenberger Road
Oakland, California 94621-0170
Certified #P 195 619 849
Re: In response to your confusing letter
of November 24, 1997.
Dear Marty:
I was not appointed shop steward. I was elected in accordance with the
Shop Steward Rules and Regulations for Local 70.
You removed me from office in violation of the by-laws. Robert Alameda
was illegally appointed by you to replace me. You cannot provide me with
a copy of any documentation that substantiates your claim that I resigned
because none exists. When and how do you claim I resigned?
Please refer to the letter I sent you on August
14, 1995. In that letter I informed you; "My doctor has
recommended that I take 30 days rest from my shop steward activities. I
will be back at full capacity as shop steward on September 7, 1995. In
my absence, please refer any shop steward business to my assistant, Mike
Madina." You didn't formally inform my coworkers or myself
of the fact that you had illegally removed me from office until a year
later. A year after you illegally removed me from office you posted a letter
informing my coworkers and myself that Robert Alameda had replaced me.
You can't justify these actions.
You have systematically removed nearly all the pro-democratic reform shop
stewards from office at the Oakland hub. Past practice demonstrates that
you will continue to remove stewards you don't approve of in violation
of the bylaws and against the wishes of the membership. Chuck Mack addresses
this issue in his letter to Stuart Alexander of
Waste Management, dated December 11, 1997. Mr. Mack states; "We
reject your request for an election of Chief Steward and Shop Steward.
It's not warranted by the facts. Moreover, it would constitute a violation
of Local 70 Stewards Bylaws which provide that Stewards can only be removed
by an election or the Executive Board should they be found guilty of conduct
in violation of our Constitution and Bylaws." You informed
Kim Marchant of her illegal removal from office in your letter
of July 29, 1997. You removed a well respected Steward, Kim Marchant,
from office without an election or a directive of the Executive Board.
My coworkers and myself have the right to present grievances directly to
UPS management. You have failed to advise us of this simple fact. Section
159 (a) of the National Labor Relations Act [corrected from Section
9 (a)], stipulates; "any individual employee or a group of employees
shall have the right at any time to present grievances to their employer
and to have such grievances adjusted, without the intervention of the bargaining
representative, as long as the adjustment is not inconsistent with the
terms of a collective-bargaining contract or agreement then in effect:
Provided further, That the bargaining representative has been given opportunity
to be present at such adjustment.
I notice that you have forwarded a copy of our correspondence to
James P. Hoffa. I will follow your lead and forward all our correspondence
to Mr. Hoffa. I will also include a copy of my letter
of November 11, 1997, to Chuck Mack, which addressed this issue. Mr.
Mack has not yet responded to that letter. Let Mr. Hoffa evaluate the circumstances
for himself.
Sincerely,
Craig Gonsalves
CG:ce
cc:
Mike Lewis, Chairman, I.B.T. Ethical Practice Committee
Bob Blanchet, I.B.T. Representative
James P. Hoffa, I.B.T. Presidential Candidate
Chuck Mack, Secretary Treasurer, Teamster Local 70
Christine M. Mrak, Esq., I.B.T. Election Officer Representative (Case #PR-038)
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