Reed Roller Bit Co.

In the Matter of REED ROLLER BIT COMPANY and UNITED STEEL- WORKERS OF AMERICA, CIO Case No. 16-R-894 SUPPLEMENTAL DECISION AND DIRECTION January 16, 1945 On October 11, 1944,.pursuant to a Decision and Direction of Elec- tion issued by the Board on September 22, 1944 (58 N. L. R. B. 488), an election by secret ballot was conducted among certain em- ployees of Reed Roller Bit Company, Houston, Texas, under - the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the Sixteenth Region (Fort Worth, Texas). Upon the conclusion of the election, a Tally of Ballots was furnished the parties in accordance with the Rules and Regulations of the Board. The Tally indicated that of approximately 2,350 eligibles in the voting group, 1,664 cast valid votes. Of these, 839 were cast for the Steelworkers, 803 were cast for the Council, and 22 were cast against both the foregoing labor organizations. In addition, 86 ballots were challenged and 8 ballots,were declared void-by the'Regional Director. Inasmuch as it appeared that the challenged ballots might affect the results of the election, the Regional Director, pursuant to Article III, Section 10, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regula- tions-Series 3, as amended, investigated the issues raised by, the chal- lenged ballots and, on November 27, 1944, issued and duly served upon the parties a Report on Challenged Ballots embodying therein certain recommendations. On December 4, the Council filed with the Board "Exceptions to the Regional Director's Decision on Challenged Bal- lots" 1 and a request for oral argument. The request is hereby denied. On December 9, the Company filed "Employers Exceptions to Report on Challenged Ballots and Argument in Support Thereof," 2 and, on The Exceptions of the Council are general in nature. z An extension of time in which to file exceptions had been granted the Company The Company 's Exceptions are both general and specific , embodying therein some evidence in the form of affidavits in support of its position. 60 N. L. R. B, No. 14. 73 74 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD December 22, the Steelworkers filed an Answer to the Company's Exceptions.3 The Board has considered the Regional Director's Report, the Exceptions of both the Company and the Council, and the Answer of the Steelworkers. Upon the evidence thus adduced, and upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following : SUPPLEMENTAL FINDINGS OF FACT The Regional Director, in his Report, indicated that the ballots of five persons were challenged on the ground that the names of the per- sons casting the ballots did not appear upon the list of employees of the Company eligible to participate in the election. He found in his Re- port, without exception being taken thereto, that Bertha Estes, H. D. Hendry, and D. C. Dykes were employed by the Company on the date determining eligibility to vote in the election, and that Charles F. Blaschke and F. E. Stepleton were not. Accordingly, we shall over- rule the challenges to the ballots of Estes, Hendry, and Dykes, and sustain the challenges to the ballots of Blaschke and Stepleton. We are of the opinion that the evidence adduced 4 does not support a finding that the following employees, herein referred to as Group A, possess supervisory authority within the meaning of our customary definition : S. A. Ferguson C. P. Anderson W. Robinson G. T. Foley Ira Sanborn J. R. Sanders H. H. Turnage G. W. Wilcox Delbert Klaus W. J. Othold James O. Lord G. A. Hutto C. B. Cox Haynes Lee Y. C. Carmichael B. C. Haygood U. W. Richardson D. W. Brown R. P. Berry J. W. Britton Harry J. Ritchey M. W. Seifert W. B. Garner Charles N. Fuller P. H. Meyers Lawrence Berry - J. D. Brookshire W. C. Ettings Edwin W. Loshe Eugene B. Methvin H. H. Westphal V. W. Bricker Henry A. Scharnberg Fred Liccion J. B. Neiderhofer M. E. Christian M. C. Hart W. H. Dotson K. T. Hogg J. C. Earl Terry E. Leediker E. N. Henshaw R. S. Hill W. M. Latham E.-L. Mason J. D. Smith Accordingly, we shall overrule the challenges to their ballots. 8 An extension of, time in which , to file Answer has been granted the Steelworkers. *This consists of the Company 's past collective bargaining history as evidenced by the collective bargaining agreement between the Company and the Council , and affidavits of employees and supervisors. REED ROLLER BIT COMPANY 75 From the evidence, we are also of the opinion that the following employees, hereinafter referred to as Group B, possess supervisory authority within the meaning of our customary definition : 5 George W. Sager - C. E. -Christ 6 Fred W. Kopp H. D. Ringleston F. R. Eckert Accordingly, we shall sustain the challenges to their ballots. We conclude and find that Estes, Hendry, Dykes, and the employees in Group A were eligible to vote in the election, and the ballots of these employees are hereby declared valid. We further find that Blaschke, Stepleton, and the employees in Group B were ineligible to vote in the election, and the ballots of these employees are hereby de- clared invalid. Since the results of the election may be determined by the counting of the challenged ballots declared valid, we shall direct that they be opened and counted. If after counting the chal- lenged ballots declared valid the results of the election are not con- ^clusive, we shall take action with respect to the remaining employees whose ballots were challenged, and whose status is not herein ,determined.? DIRECTION 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 10, of National Labor Rela- tions Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, as amended, it is hereby DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation authorized by the Board -to ascertain representatives for the purpose of collective bargaining with Reed Roller Bit Company, Houston, Texas,- the Regional Di- rector' for the Sixteenth Region shall, pursuant to the Rules and Reg- ulations of the Board set forth above, within ten (10) days from the date of this Direction open and count the ballots of Bertha Estes, H. D. Hendry, D. C. Dykes, S. A. Ferguson, G. T. Foley, H. H. Turnage, W. J. Othold, C. B. Cox, B. C. Haygood, R. P. Berry, Except for Christ, the Company concedes that all employees in Group B possess super- visory authority .and does not except to the recommendations contained in the Regional Director's Report with respect to them. 6 Among other indicia of supervisory authority, Christ "Makes out ability ratings on the employees working under him." The Company does not specifically deny this fact. 7 As hereinbefore noted, the ballots of 86 persons were challenged . We have herein dis- posed of 56 of these challenged ballots. The record thus far made does not afford a suffi- cient basis for disposing of the remaining challenged ballots. 76 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD M. W. Seifert, P. H. Meyers, W. C. Ettings, H. H. Westphal, Fred Liccion, M. C. Hart, J. C. Earl, R. S. Hill, E. L. Mason, 0. P. Ander- son, Ira Sanborn, G. W. Wilcox, James 0. Lord, Haynes Lee, U. W. - Richardson, J. W. Britton, W. B. Garner, Lawrence Berry, Edwin W. Loshe, V. W. Bricker, J. B. Neiderhofer, W. H. Dotson, Terry E. Leediker, W. M. Latham, J. D. Smith, W. Robinson, J. R. Sanders, Delbert Klaus, G. A. Hutto, Y. C. Carmichael, D. W. Brown, Harry J. Ritchey, Charles N. Fuller, J. D. Brookshire, Eugene- B. Methvin, Henry A. Scharnberg, M. E. Christian, K. T. Hogg, and E. N. Ren- shaw, and thereafter prepare and cause to be served upon the parties in this proceeding a Supplemental Tally of Ballots, embodying therein his recommendations as to the result of the balloting. [See infra, 60 N. L. R. B. 1174, for Second Supplemental Decision and Direction.] ,