Ohmite Manufacturing Co.

In the Matter of OHMITE MANUFACTURING COMPANY and UNITED MINE Woiu xis OF AMERICA, DISTRICT 50 Case No. R-5428 SUPPLEMENTAL DECISION AND CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES August 31, 1943 On June 24, 1943, the National Labor Relations Board issued a Decision and Direction of Election in the above-entitled proceeding.' Pursuant to the Direction of Election, an election by secret ballot was conducted on July 22, 1943, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the Thirteenth Region (Chicago, Illinois). On May 12,1943, the Regional Director, acting pursuant to Article III, Section 10, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regula- tions-Series 2, as amended, issued and duly served upon the parties an Election Report. As to the balloting and its results, the Regional Director reported as follows : Approximate number of eligible voters_______________________ 803 Total ballots cast__________________________________________ 640 Total ballots challenged ---------------------------- ____ 50 Total void ballots --------------------------------- -------- 3 Total valid votes counted___________________________________ 587 Votes cast for District 50, United Mine Workers of America____ 330 Votes cast against District 50, United Mine Workers of America- 257 Thereafter, on July 28, 1943, the Company filed objections to the election substantially as follows : 1. That the voters eligible to participate in the election were de- prived of a free choice in the election because the Union distributed leaflets which falsely and fraudulently represented to the employees that the National Labor Relations Board desired and recommended that the employees vote in favor of the Union. 2. That the employees eligible to vote were misled, by fraudulent statements, to vote in favor of the Union. 1 50 N L. R B. 815. 52 N. L. R. B., No. 47. 346 -OHMITE MANUFACTURING COMPANY 347 Following an investigation of the objections, on August 19, 1943, the Regional Director issued and duly served on the parties a Report on Objections in which he found the objections of the Company to raise no substantial or material issue with respect to the conduct of the ballot or the Election Report. Thereafter, on August 24, 1943, the Company requested a hearing before the Board at Washington, D. C., for the purpose of oral argu- ment on the objections. Since the objections are founded wholly upon the circulation of printed matter by the Union and such printed mat- ter has been examined by the Board, the request is hereby denied. The objections raised by the Company relate chiefly to written charges of the Union with respect to wages and working conditions of the employees and were published for the most part prior to the issuance of the Decision and Direction of Election herein. It is not the function of the Board in a representation case, to determine the truth or falsity of such charges. The employees to whom they were directed are able to evaluate their accuracy by observation and experi- ence. The Board has examined the fascimile ballots distributed by the Union. Obviously they are designed to persuade the employees to vote for the Union. Six employees assert that the facsimiles misled them to the belief that the Board desired employees to vote for the Union. That anyone was so misled is difficult to believe. The official Notice of Election was posted in conspicuous places throughout the Company's plants for several days prior to the election. The Notice fully informed the employees as to the choice they were offered and emphasized the secrecy of the ballot. Marked facsimile ballots are commonly used in elections to persuade the voter to prefer one choice over another and we do not agree that such practice is fraudulent. We find that the objections of the Company raise no substantial or material issue with respect to the conduct of the ballot or to the Elec- tion Report, and they are hereby overruled. CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National Labor Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, and pursuant to Article III, Sections 9 and 10, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, IT is HEREBY cERTI ED that District 50, United Mine Workers of America has been designated and selected by a majority of all em- ployees of Ohmite Manufacturing Company at its Chicago plant in- cluding janitors and janitresses, maintenance men, and toolroom and machine shop employees, but excluding working supervisors, plant expediters, office expediters, the works manager, the general manager, plant superintendents, assistant plant superintendents, general fore- 348 DrOLSMONS OF NA(PIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOM) men, clerical employees, office employees, armed guards, timekeepers, engineers, model makers and experimental machinists in the labora- tory, time-study engineers, and the matron counsellor, as their repre- sentative for the purposes of collective bargaining, and that pursuant to Section 9 (a) of the Act, the said organization is the exclusive rep- resentative of all such employees for the purposes of collective bar- gaining with respect to rates of pay, wages, hours of employment, and other conditions of employment. CHAIRMAN Mmms took no part in the consideration of the above Supplemental Decision and Certification of Representatives.