All text messages that will be sent from this campaign are intended only for the "480 Four" Slate campaign of the interim officers who are running for full terms, namely: Jess Danielle, Lon Morgan, Jonah Heckler, and Alex Cintron. Please note that the text-blasting platform will only be used to send messages that are related to the campaign. All messages sent will be within the guidelines set forth in the IATSE Local 480 Constitution for election campaigning. Recipients can easily opt-out within the texting platform. Messages will stop after the election on June 23, 2024. Text blasting services are paid for by the "480 Four" candidates; union funds have not been used for the promotional efforts related to this campaign. Phone numbers of members were gathered from the Local 480's Roster, openly listed for members only. No additional contact information of members has been provided to this slate, that have not also been freely provided to other candidates.
Please find the relevant articles and policies below that are important for the text blast procedures.
Local 480 CBL Article VII, Section 4
All requests made to the Judge of Election by any candidate to distribute campaign literature by mail or otherwise, at the candidate's own expense, shall be honored. Any request granted shall be made available to all candidates. Candidates shall have access to the names and contact information for all members of the Local. Candidates must be informed of all campaign literature regulations mandated by the Local, the International and the United States Department of Labor.
IATSE LOCAL 480 MEMBER CONTACT INFORMATION POLICY
(excerpt)
REVIEWED BY THE EBOARD: 10.15.2022
ADOPTED BY THE MEMBERSHIP: 10.16.2022
REVIEWED BY THE EBOARD: 10.15.2022
ADOPTED BY THE MEMBERSHIP: 10.16.2022
2) Elections – also effective Oct 16, 2023Emailing campaign materials
To email campaign information to the membership, candidates may submit materials to the
Election Judge, who within 24 hours must forward the materials to all Local 480 members at the
same time, from a single dedicated campaign email address (perhaps
elections@iatselocal480.com). Campaign materials will be forwarded exactly as written and
formatted.
Any member responses to the campaign email address will NOT be forwarded to the candidate;
therefore, candidates should consider including “reply to” contact information in their missives.
There are no limits to quantity of emails a candidate can send.
Mailing campaign materials
In addition to emailing campaign materials throughout the communication period, Local 480
will also print and mail a one-time packet of collected candidate campaign literature to all
members within two weeks following the close of nominations. The Election Judge must notify
all candidates of the literature due date at the same time. Literature for this mailing is limited
to no more than one single-sided letter-sized pdf page, per candidate.
If a candidate wishes to mail additional literature to members, candidates must furnish such
mailings to the Local 480 office in envelopes which are already stuffed, sealed and contain
proper postage. Local 480 will then address the envelopes and mail them within two business
days. Additional postal mailings will cost the candidate a $400 handling fee for staff time.
Communication period
Local 480 will email any submitted campaign literature for any candidate beginning 36 hours
after the close of nominations and continuing until 5p the Friday before Election Day.
To email campaign information to the membership, candidates may submit materials to the
Election Judge, who within 24 hours must forward the materials to all Local 480 members at the
same time, from a single dedicated campaign email address (perhaps
elections@iatselocal480.com). Campaign materials will be forwarded exactly as written and
formatted.
Any member responses to the campaign email address will NOT be forwarded to the candidate;
therefore, candidates should consider including “reply to” contact information in their missives.
There are no limits to quantity of emails a candidate can send.
Mailing campaign materials
In addition to emailing campaign materials throughout the communication period, Local 480
will also print and mail a one-time packet of collected candidate campaign literature to all
members within two weeks following the close of nominations. The Election Judge must notify
all candidates of the literature due date at the same time. Literature for this mailing is limited
to no more than one single-sided letter-sized pdf page, per candidate.
If a candidate wishes to mail additional literature to members, candidates must furnish such
mailings to the Local 480 office in envelopes which are already stuffed, sealed and contain
proper postage. Local 480 will then address the envelopes and mail them within two business
days. Additional postal mailings will cost the candidate a $400 handling fee for staff time.
Communication period
Local 480 will email any submitted campaign literature for any candidate beginning 36 hours
after the close of nominations and continuing until 5p the Friday before Election Day.
VIOLATIONS
Any member found to have acted in violation of this policy may be subject to having charges
brought against them, in accordance with the 480 Constitution or the International’s
Constitution.
Any member found to have acted in violation of this policy may be subject to having charges
brought against them, in accordance with the 480 Constitution or the International’s
Constitution.
Department of Labor's "Conducting Local Union Officer Elections" guide, Chapter 6
As noted in Chapter 5, federal law establishes certain campaign rights for candidates in union officer elections including the right to have campaign literature distributed to the membership by the union at the candidate’s expense. In some unions the officers or employees may be involved in the campaign literature distribution process; in other unions, election officials or a professional mailer may handle requests from candidates. No matter what the practice, a union has a duty to comply with all reasonable requests to distribute literature and to treat all candidates equally. Any refusal to comply with a reasonable request is improper and could result in the election being successfully challenged. Election officials can avoid many problems concerning the distribution of campaign literature by establishing distribution procedures prior to the campaign period and informing all candidates about them.
Requirements
A union must comply with all reasonable requests by a candidate for distribution of campaign literature at the candidate’s expense. Federal law does not define “reasonable request” but election officials should try to comply with all requests to the extent possible, since any refusal might later be determined to have been unreasonable.
Other than by mail, there is no prescribed manner in which unions must distribute campaign literature. Likewise, unions are not required to provide candidate access to all methods of distribution that may be available to the union. Generally, if the candidate's request for an alternative method of distributing campaign literature is a reasonable one, the union is required to make the distribution. Accordingly, OLMS advises unions to comply with candidate's reasonable request to distribute campaign literature to the membership through e-mail if the union uses e-mail to disseminate information to its members.
Each candidate must be treated equally with respect to the cost of distributing campaign literature. There is no requirement that the union distribute literature free of charge. However, if a union distributes any candidate’s literature without charge, all other candidates should be notified that they are also entitled to have their literature distributed without charge.
A union should inform all candidates of the procedures for distributing literature in advance of the campaign period.
A person need not be formally nominated to be entitled to distribute campaign literature. A union must distribute campaign literature for a bona fide candidate seeking to be nominated who makes a request, even if a union rule prohibits campaign mailings prior to nominations.
A union may not regulate the contents of campaign literature it is asked to distribute and may not require that it be permitted to read the literature before distribution. The union may not censor campaign literature in any way, even if the literature includes derogatory remarks about other candidates. A union’s contention that mailing certain campaign literature may constitute libel does not justify a refusal to distribute the literature since the union is under a legal duty to distribute the material.
A union must honor requests for distribution of literature to all members in good standing and must also honor requests for distribution to only a portion of the membership if such distribution is feasible.
A union may not refuse to distribute literature because it has no staff or a small staff. If necessary, a union should employ additional temporary staff, use a professional mailer, or have the election officials make the distribution in order to comply with any requests. Any costs (for producing address labels, hiring temporary employees, etc.) can be passed on to each candidate requesting a distribution of literature.
A union may not limit the number of mailings which a candidate is permitted to make.
A union may require candidates to pay in advance for campaign literature distributions, if such a requirement is applied uniformly to all candidates.
Suggestions
Election officials should determine from union officers how the union handled requests to distribute literature in prior elections and if any problems occurred.
Election officials should decide how to handle requests to distribute campaign literature based on factors such as cost, availability of staff or election officials, etc. If appropriate, make necessary arrangements in advance to use union staff or a professional mailer to handle requests.
To avoid charges of unequal treatment, election officials should notify all candidates in advance of the conditions under which the union will mail campaign literature, including to whom candidates should direct a request for distribution, the payment required, and any other rules which apply.
One easy way for election officials to comply with requests for distribution is to require that campaign literature be furnished to the union in envelopes which are already stuffed, sealed, and contain proper postage.
If election officials discover that a candidate has used a “personal” mailing list which was created or obtained as a result of the candidate (or a supporter) serving as an officer or in a union job, the list should be made available to all other candidates.
Common Pitfalls
Not announcing procedures for the distribution of campaign literature in advance thereby giving the candidate who first makes a distribution request an advantage over other candidates who did not know about the distribution procedures.
a candidate’s campaign literature be read and/or approved by election officials or current officers before it is mailed.
Refusing a candidate’s request to mail literature to less than the full membership if such a distribution is feasible.
Imposing a deadline for making requests to mail literature and, as a result, refusing to comply with an otherwise reasonable request.
LMRDA Section 401(c) provides that:
. . . every local labor organization, and its officers, shall be under a duty, enforceable at the suit of any bona fide candidate for office in such labor organization . . . to comply with all reasonable requests of any candidate to distribute by mail or otherwise at the candidate's expense campaign literature . . . to all members in good standing of such labor organization . . . with equal treatment as to the expense of such distribution.
. . . every local labor organization, and its officers, shall be under a duty, enforceable at the suit of any bona fide candidate for office in such labor organization . . . to comply with all reasonable requests of any candidate to distribute by mail or otherwise at the candidate's expense campaign literature . . . to all members in good standing of such labor organization . . . with equal treatment as to the expense of such distribution.
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