Ruling expected today
on Teamsters electionThe union indicates it
will allow Anson Ilae to run
for president against Mel Kahele
Teamster Anson "Slim" Ilae may know today whether his name will be on the ballot challenging Mel Kahele for president in the 2003 elections of the Teamsters and Allied Workers Local 996.
Ilae, a shuttle bus driver with Budget Rent-a-Car, filed suit in U.S. District Court last week to get his name on the ballot after the union declared him ineligible at the last minute for paying his October 2002 dues late.
Local 996 representatives obtained copies yesterday of Ilae's timecards showing he had worked until Nov. 1, 2002, before he went on workers' compensation.
If he worked until Nov. 1, Ilae's dues would have been automatically deducted from his paycheck in October and he would have been in good standing with the union to run.
"They're waiting for Budget to give the originals, but have indicated a willingness to put him on the ballot," Michael Green, Ilae's attorney, said yesterday. "We're not expecting the originals to be different from the copy."
Meanwhile, a hearing scheduled today in U.S. District Court on Ilae's motion for a temporary restraining order has been taken off the court calendar. The union has agreed not to mail ballots until the matter is resolved and, if needed, will reprint them, said Sean Kim, attorney for Local 996.
The union hopes to have the mail-in ballots distributed to members and returned before Nov. 2, when they will be counted, Kim said.
Local 996 represents nearly 6,000 bus drivers, hospital employees and drivers for United Parcel Service, American Linen and various trucking companies.
