In order to address any rumors and misinformation out there, here is the truth concerning the 2021 Local 79 Officer Election:
• Local 79 had its Officer Election in June, overseen by Local 79’s Judges of Election and conducted by the American Arbitration Association.
• On June 22nd the American Arbitration Association and the Judges of Election certified the results that Business Manager Mike Prohaska of the Clean Slate received 1,479 votes and his opponent received 586 votes.
• The full report of the election was read by Chief Judge David Melton at the July membership meeting.
• Following the election, the opponent filed multiple (27) election protests with the International Union.
• On July 16th, the International conducted a hearing and examined all of the allegations raised in the protests.
• On August 2nd, the International issued its unanimous decision that the objections had no merit and that the results of the election should stand.
• In September, the opponent filed basically the same protests with the Department of Labor.
• The Department of Labor conducted a thorough investigation of the allegations raised.
• On November 3rd the Department of Labor dismissed the protest and stated that “there was no objectionable conduct that affected the outcome of the election” in which the opponent only received 28% of the votes.
• The International decision and the Department of Labor letter of findings are posted below. As soon as the DOL issues its final report that will also be posted.