Elite Laundry Co. of Washington, D. C., Inc.

In the Matter of ELITE LAUNDRY CoiIPANY OF WASHINGTON, D. C., INC., and CLEANERS AND LAUNDRY WORKERS UNION, LOCAL 188-B, ADIAL- GAMATED CLOTHING WORKERS OF AMERICi1 rr - Case No. 5-R-1..369 ,SUPPLEMENTAL DECISION. AND CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES February 29, 19414 On January.6, 1944; pursuant to the Decision and Direction of •Elec- tion^ issued by' the Board herein on December 7, 1943,1 an, election by secret.ballot'was conducted under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for: the Fifth Region (Baltimore, Maryland). Thereafter,. on January 6, 1944, a Tally of Ballots was certified to the Board by the .Regional Director and representatives of the Union. The tally showed that of the approximately 361 eligible` voters, 268 cast valid votes, of which 148 were for Cleaners and Laundry Workers Union, Local,188-B, Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, and 112-were against said, Union..> Eight-ballots were challenged, and 4 were declared void. 1-1 1 . I The Company filed Objections to the Election, alleging that the secrecy of the ballot was not maintained in that in some instances - `oters were allowed to enter' occupied 'election' booth's: • The Regional Director's investigation revealed that in approximately six t instances this did occur,2 but that the Board's agents immediately sent-the second person entering the booth into an empty booth. No allegation was made that the Union planned or directed this practice. It seems clear that the occurrences were entirely inadvertent. Inasmuch as the num- ber of ballots which may have been affected by the alleged misconduct plus the number of challenged ballots is not sufficient to affect the re- sults of the election, we shall overrule the Conipaily's objection. 153 N L. R B. 1212 2 People not accustomed to voting frequently enter occupied booths despite msti uction from a Board agent to, choose an empty one. Board agents are tiained to watch for and avoid this situation as much as possible 55 N. L. It B., No. 38. 226 ELITE LAUNDRY CO. OF WASHINGTON , D. C., INC. 227 The Company also objected to the Board's making a certification on less than a majority of the votes of all eligible voters. It is well settled that where, as here , a representative number of employees voted and the challenged ballots cannot affect the results, the Union should be certified as the exclusive representative since it received a majority of the valid ballots cast. The Company further objected to the Board's agent's refusal to allow the Company 's drivers to cast challenged bal- lots in the election . Since the drivers were excluded from the unit in our Decision and Direction of Election herein, the action of the Board agent was proper and is hereby affirmed. 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, Section 9, of National Labor Rela- tions Board Rules and Regulations , Series 3. . IT IS HEREBY CERTIFIED that Cleaners and Laundry Workers Uilion, Local 188-B, Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations , has been designated and selected by a majority of all maintenance and production em- ployees of Elite Laundry Company of Washington , D. C., Inc., ex- cluding truck drivers and helpers, store clerks and all supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote ; discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees or effectively' rec- ommend such action, as their retn •esentative for the purposes of col- lective bargaining, and that, pursuant to Section 9 (a) of the Act, the said organization is the exclusive bargaining representative of all such employees for the purposes of collective bargaining with respect to rates of pay, wages, hours of employment , and other conditions of employment; MR. JoHN M. HousTON took no part in the consideration of the above Supplemental Decision and Certification of Representatives.