Purepac Corp.

In the Matter Of PUREPAC CORPORATION AND KLINZMOTH CHEMICAL CORPORATION and WHOLESALE & WAREHOUSI WORKERS UNION,, LOCAL 65, C. 1. 0. , Case No. 2-R-4241 SUPPLEMENTAL DECISION AND CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES July 14, 1944 On April 17, 1944, the National Labor Relations Board issued a Decision and Direction of Election in the above-entitled proceedings' Pursuant to the said Direction of Election, an election by secret ballot was conducted on May 6, 1944, under the direction and super- vision of the' Regional Director for the Second Region (New York City). - At the conclusion of the election, a Tally of Ballots was fur- nished the parties in accordance with the Rules and Regulations of the Board. This Tally of,Ballots shows the following as to the balloting and its results : Total on eligibility list--------------------------------- --- 1:3 Total ballots cast-------------------------------------------- 14 Total ballots challenged ------------------------------------- 1 Total void ballots- ------------------------------------------ - 2 Total valid votes counted -------------- .--------------------- 11 Votes cast for Wholesale & Warehouse Workers Union, (Local .65, C. I. 0------------------------------------------------ Votes cast for Federal Labor Union, Local #20734, A F. L-_-- 5 Votes cast for neither--------------------------------------- 0 As reflected in the Tally of Ballots, the challenged ballot and the void ballots were sufficient in number to'affect the results of the elec- tion. Accordingly, the Regional Director investigated the challenged ballot and on June 10, 1944, issued and duly served upon the parties his Report on Election and Challenges in which he recommended that the challenge to the one ballot in question be sustained and that the Board certify the C. I. O. On June 15, 1944, the A. F. L. filed Objec- tions to said Report on Election and Challenges, alleging that the ?'55 N L. R. B 1386. 57 N L. R B.,' No. 68. 366 PUREPAC CORPORATION AND KLINZMOTH CHEMICAL CORPS 367 Regional Director wrongfully recommended the sustaining of the challenge; that lie failed to state the basis upon which two ballots were voided; and that the challenged ballot and two voided ballots were "proper, valid, and legal ballots."' On June 24, 1944, the Board, having considered the Regional Di- rector's Report on Election and Challenges and the A. F. L.'s Objec- tions to said Report, ordered that the above-entitled proceeding be referred to"the Regional Director for the purpose of issuing 'a- spple- mental report with respect to the basis upon which two' ballots,-were voided at the election conducted- May 6, 1944. Pursuant to the Board's order, the Regional Director, after investigation, issued a Supple- mental Election Report on June 27, 1944, copies of which were duly served upon the parties. No exceptions to the said Supplemental Election Report were filed by any of the parties. The A. F. L.'s request for oral argument is denied. Upon the basis of the facts reported by the Regional Director with respect to the challenged ballot and void ballots, and upon the entire record din the case, the Board makes the following: SUPPLEMENTAL FINDINGS OF FAC']' Eli^ib'ility'o,f AbrahamBei'k'owitz,to vote, in 't/i& election At the time of the Board's hearing, there were approximately 14 employees in the voting unit of "-Metropolitan Salesmen" of the Coln- pany. Prior to the pay-roll date-which governed the eligibility of voters,2 Abraham Berkowitz, one of the "Metropolitan Salesmen," re- signed his position, with the Company.' Berkowitz cast a ballot at the election, which was challenged by a Board agent. We agree with the Regional Director that, in view of Berkowitz' resignation prior tci'the date which,deternnnecl the eligibility of voters; his ballot was invalid; and, accordingly. we sustain the challenge to his. ballot. The two void ballots The Regional Director reported that the two ballots which he rec- ommended be declared void are blank ballots. Accordingly, we agree with his recommendation and hereby find that these two ballots are void. The appropriate unit In the -Decision and Direction of Election previously referred to, we stated that, under the circumstances in this case, we would -permit 2 April 15, 1944. Berkowitz resigned on March 29, 1944. .368 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD the "Metropolitan Salesmen" to express their desires through the means of an election,•as to whether they. shall bargain separately or as part of a plant-wide unit, before making any final determination as to the appropriate unit. If a majority of the employees were to choose the C. I. O., they would thereby have indicated their desire to consti- tute a separate bargaining unit. If they were to choose the A. F: L., they would thereby have indicated their desire to be part of the plant- wide unit. , In' view of our rulings with respect to the challenged ballot and the void ballots cast,,,the 'results of the election established that the "`Metropolitan Salesmen,'' having chosen the' C: I. 0., desire to bargain - collectively in a separate unit. , We find that all employees classified on the ,Company's pay roll as "Metropolitan Salesmen," excluding all supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote,' discharge, discipline, or 'otherwise effect changes ,in the status of employees, or effectively recommend such ac- tion, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bar- gaining, within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. 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 Re- lations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, IT IS HEREBY CERTIFIED that Wholesale & Warehouse Workers Union, Local 67, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organiza- tions; has been designated and selected by a majority of all employees, classified 'on the pay roll of Purepac Corporation and Klinzmoth Chemical-Corporation, New York City, as "Metropolitan Salesmen," excluding all supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline,, or otherwise effect changes in the `status of em- ployees, or effectively recommend such action, as their representative for the purposes of collective bairgaining'and-that, pursuant to Section 9 (a) of the Act,, the aforesaid labor organization is -the exclusive representative 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.