June 8, 2015
The U.S. Department of Labor has advised the NALC that it has rejected complaints filed by four unsuccessful candidates in the 2014 election of national officers, with one exception: At the Department’s request, NALC will conduct a special election for the office of director of retired members.
As previously reported, in December 2014, the National Election Committee received appeals submitted by candidate for national president David Noble, candidate for national trustee Eryca Bloom, candidate for vice president Deidre Beal and candidate for assistant secretary-treasurer Sharella Spikes. The committee met at NALC National Headquarters in Washington, DC, during the week of Jan. 6 to review the election-result appeals.
The committee’s decision was to deny the appeals.
Each of the four appellants subsequently filed election protests with the Department of Labor, which has advised NALC that its investigative findings do not provide a basis for action by the department to set aside the protested election.
However, the department also advised the NALC that it did not agree with the National Election Committee’s decision to reject the nomination of Minneapolis Branch 9 member Ken Ring for the office of director of retired members. In August of 2014, the committee determined that three nominations for national officer positions did not meet the requirements for certification under the terms of the NALC Constitution, and committee members voted unanimously to disqualify all three.
In the case of candidate Ring, the committee found that the nomination/acceptance form submitted on his behalf during the 2014 convention in Philadelphia did not contain his handwritten signature.
Ring’s disqualification resulted in the uncontested election of Corvallis, OR Branch 1274 member Ron Watson as director of retired members.
The Department of Labor found that the nomination/acceptance form submitted on behalf of candidate Ring had an electronic signature. It further concluded that neither the form nor the NALC’s notice of nominations, as published in The Postal Record, provided sufficient notice that a handwritten signature was required.
During a teleconference conducted on June 2, the NALC Executive Council unanimously agreed to accept the Department of Labor’s request to conduct a special election for director of retired members between Watson and Ring.
Under the terms of a compliance agreement signed by NALC President Fredric Rolando on June 5, the election will be conducted before Oct. 15, 2015.
Further details regarding the special election will be published in a future Postal Record and will be posted here on the NALC website.