Reynolds Metals Co.

In the Matter Of REYNOLDS METALS COMPANY, EMPLOYER and INTER- NATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS, LOCAL UNION 49, AFL, PETITIONER In the Matter of REYNOLDS METALS COMPANY, EMPLOYER and INTER- NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS, WILLAMETTE LODGE, No. 63, PETITIONER Tn the Matter of REYNOLDS METALS COMPANY, EMPLOYER and INTER- NATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF PAINTERS, DECORATORS, AND PAPER- HANGERS OF AMERICA, LOCAL No. 10, AFL, PETITIONER In the Matter of REYNOLDS METALS COMPANY, EMPLOYER and INTER- NATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS, LOCAL UNION 125, AFL, PETITIONER In the Matter Of REYNOLDS METALS COMPANY, EMPLOYER and BLACK- SMITHS LOCAL No. 37, INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF BLACK- SMITHS, DROP FORGERS AND HELPERS, AFL, PETITIONER Cases Nos. 36-RC-176, 36-RC-19,0, 36-RC-199, 36-RC-ADO, and 36-RC-207, respectively.Decided July 8, 1949 DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS Upon petitions duly filed, a hearing on these consolidated cases was held before Robert J. Wiener, hearing officer of the National Labor Relations Board. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.' At the re- i The hearing officer permitted the United Steelworkers of America, Local 330, CIO, herein called the Intervenor, to intervene on the basis of its contract with the Employer covering the employees here involved. The Petitioners opposed such intervention on the ground that.the Intervenor has not complied with Section 9 (f), (g), and (h) of the Act. The Petitioners also contended that for the same reason the Intervenor should not be per- mitted on the ballot. Notwithstanding its noncompliance, the Intervenor was entitled to intervene on the strength of its contractual interest. New Indiana Chair Company, Inc., 80 N, L. R. B. 1686; The Baldwin Locomotive works, 76 N. L. R. B. 922. However, because of such noncompliance, we shall not accord the Intervenor a place on the ballot in the elections hereafter directed. The Kinsman Transit Company, 75 N. L. R. B. 150. The Intervenor requested an investigation to ascertain whether the Petitioners' repre- sentation interest has changed materially. As a petitioner's prima facie showing of interest is solely a matter of administrative procedure to be determined by the Board itself, we approve the hearing officer's denial of this request. The Employees' present desires will 85 N. L. R. B., No. 17. 110 REYNOLDS METALS COMPANY 111 quest of the Intervenor, oral argument was heard before the Board. The Intervenor, Electricians, Machinists, and Painters were repre- sented by coulisel and participated in the argument.' Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds : 1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. 2. International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local Union 49, herein called Electricians 49; International Brotherhood of Elec- trical Workers, Local Union 125, herein called Electricians 125; Inter- national Brotherhood of Painters, ' Decorators and Paperhangers of America, Local No. 10, herein called Painters; Blacksmiths Local No. 37, International Brotherhood of Blacksmiths, Drop Forgers and Helpers, AFL, herein called Blacksmiths, are all labor organizations affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, claiming to repre- sent employees of the Employer. International Association of Machinists, Willamette Lodge No. 63, herein called Machinists, is a labor organization claiming to repre- sent employees of the Employer. 3. The Intervenor and the Employer contend that their collective bargaining agreement is a bar to the instant proceedings. The con- tract, which carries a terminal date of May 15, 1949, contains a 30-day automatic renewal clause. As the petitions in the present case were filed before the operative date of the automatic renewal clause, we find that the contract is not a bar to a present determination of repre- sentatives.' A question of representation exists concerning the representation of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. 4. The Employer, which has a number of different types of alu- minum plants throughout the United States, operates an aluminum be disclosed by the results of the elections . Sunray Oil Corporation , 76 N. L. R . B. 970; Davis Lumber Company, Inc., 75 N. L. R . B. 851. After the hearing, Locals 49 and 125 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers moved to strike the brief of the Intervenor on the ground that it contained irrele- vant and misleading information . As each party is entitled , under the Board 's Rules and Regulations, to file a brief commenting on the evidence and setting forth its position, we deny the motion. The Intervenor moved the Board to dismiss the Machinists ' petition on the ground that that Petitioner enlarged the scope of its proposed unit at the hearing. Inasmuch as the Intervenor did not accept the hearing officer 's invitation to recover from its "surprise," the Intervenor was not prejudiced by the action of the Machinists in specifying in greater detail the coverage of the proposed unit. The motion is hereby denied. I Oral argument was presented jointly on the instant case and in Aluminum Ore Company, 85 N. L. R. I3., No. 18, because of certain issues common to both. Danner Press, Inc., 80 N. L. R. B . 844; Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company ( Red Arrow Lines ), 79 N. L. R. B. 448. 112 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD reduction plant at Troutdale, Oregon 4 At this plant, the only one involved in the instant proceedings, alumina is reduced to ingots or pig aluminum. The reduction process is essentially performed in the potroom where alumina is dissolved in a chemical bath which is in steel tanks (pots), and there plated out by electrical energy to liquid aluminum. The liquid is then formed into ingots or poured directly into pig aluminum. The operations in the other departments, which are located in the several buildings of the plant, are ancillary to the potroom. Thus, the rectifier station converts the alternating current received from a Bonneville Power Administration substation into direct current and regulates the flow of this current into the potroom; the electrical maintenance department maintains and repairs all the electrical equipment in the plant including the rectifier station; the mechanical maintenance department repairs mechanical equipment. Since 1943 the employees at Troutdale have been organized on a plant-wide basis and represented by the present Intervenor, which has won three Board elections at this plant. In each of these proceedings the participating unions agreed upon a plant-wide production and maintenance unit .5 In the present case, however, the Petitioners seek to establish separate units, alleged to be craft units, of employees in the electrical and mechanical maintenance departments, and in the rectifier station. Electricians 125 proposes a unit of rectifier station operators. Electricians 49, Machinists, Blacksmiths, and Painters re- quest separate craft units of maintenance men. The Employer and the Intervenor oppose severance of the proposed craft units. Relying on our decisions in the National Tube and Ford cases,6 the Intervenor argues that this plant is so highly integrated that the historical plant- wide unit is the only appropriate one for collective bargaining purposes and that the petitions should, therefore, be dismissed. We are constrained to reject the contention that no craft bargaining units can appropriately be established in this plant. The record shows that the several groups of workers in the craft units here pro- posed by the Petitioners are not so closely identified and intermingled with their fellow employees in production departments as were the maintenance craft groups whose severance we disapproved in the National Tube and Ford cases. The employees sought to be severed * Prior to 1946, the Troutdale plant was operated by the Aluminum Company of America. 'Aluminum Company of America, 19-R-1047, 19-R-1066, consent election, 1943; Aluminum Company of America, 61 N. L. R. B. 251 ( 1945 ) ; Reynolds Metals Company, 19-R-1959, consent election, 1946. In the first of these three cases, the unions were Aluminum Trades Council , AFL, and Aluminum Workers of America, CIO , the predecessor of the Intervenor. In the second and third cases the petitioner was the Metal Trades Council of Portland and Vicinity, AFL. 6 National Tube Company, 76 N. L. R. B. 1199 ; Ford Motor Company (Maywood Plant), 78 N. L. R. B. 887. REYNOLDS METALS COMPANY 113 in the present case are not stationed in production departments per- forming routine and repetitive operations under production super- visors. On the contrary, some of the maintenance men are perma- nently stationed in craft shops or departments separate from the production departments, while the others are dispatched from their craft shop headquarters to do repair and maintenance work through- out the plant wherever and whenever they are needed; all of them work under maintenance department foremen. Moreover, the pattern of industrial unit bargaining in aluminum reduction plants is not so firmly established as it is in the basic steel industry. • The Board found in one case that a separate craft unit of electrical maintenance workers would be appropriate in an aluminum reduction plant; ' and in this Employer's reduction plant at Sheffield, Alabama, the maintenance workers have bargained on the basis of separate craft units for several years." We find, therefore, that the precedents relied upon by the Intervenor are not controlling in this case and that craft units, if clearly defined and appropriate, may be set apart for bargaining pur- poses at this plant.9 The Intervenor's further contention that the craft groups sought by the Petitioners are not sufficiently distinct or skilled to constitute appropriate units is considered in conjunction with our findings as to the general characteristics and specific com- position of these proposed units set forth below. The Two Electricians' Units Under the jurisdiction of the electrical superintendent, there are two groups of nonsupervisory employees: rectifier station operators and electrical maintenance men. Electricians 49 desires to represent the maintenance men. Electricians 125 seeks a unit confined to rectifier station operators. a. The maintenance group There are approximately 35 employees in the group of maintenance electricians proposed as a unit by Electricians 49. They are classified 7 Aluminum Company of America, 50 N. L. R. B. 380, involving a plant in Maspeth, Long Island, New York. The Board has also frequently approved craft units in various aluminum fabricating plants , Aluminum Company of America, Chicago Works, 54 N. L. It. B. 1043; Aluminum Company of America, 60 N. L. It . B. 278; Aluminum Company of America, 76 N. L. R. B. 510; Aluminum Company of America, 83 N. L. R. B. 398 ; Reynolds Metals Company, McCook Sheet Mills, 70 N. L. It. B. 1338. 8 Separate consent elections under Section 9 (e) of the Act were held in 1948 for units of electricians , switchboard operators, machinists and painters . Reynolds Metals Company, Reynolds Alloys Company, 10-UA-92 , 10-UA-11.9, 10-UA-90, 10-UA-108. See Aluminum Ore Company, supra, decided this day. 114 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD in the Intervenor's contract as electricians and electrician leadmen. All of these employees are engaged in the maintenance and repair of electrical equipment. Most of them work, in or out of the electrical "shop," under a foreman who is responsible for electrical maintenance and repair of mobile equipment, electrical motors, and wiring through- out the plant. The others are under the regular supervision of another foreman who is attached to the rectifier station. This fore- man has charge of the "meter room" where meters are maintained and repaired, and of the maintenance and repair of rectifier station equipment and refrigerating equipment throughout the plant. All of these maintenance electricians, except those who work in the meter room, rotate on 3 shifts,10 and on the second and third shifts, those on duty are under the supervision of a single foreman, the "shift fore- man" in the rectifier station. A maintenance electrician working on this 3-shift rotating basis covers 95 percent of the plant area in the course of a month, uses tools peculiar to the electrical trade, and has occasion to perform a wide range of electrical tasks." Except for certain mechanical tasks that are incidental to the repair of electrical equipment, these employees do nothing but electrical work. They do not interchange with employees in other departments. Their hourly rates are higher than those of the production workers and in 1948, when a wage raise was negotiated, they received the same 20-cent in- crease as other craftsmen 12 The Employer does not require these maintenance electricians to be licensed, and has no apprenticeship program. Nevertheless, 29 of the employees in this group have li- censes, for which the State of Oregon requires 4 years' "experience," or have had their applications for such licenses approved.13 We are satisfied that all of these maintenance electricians possess in sub- stantial degree, and exercise in the course of their employment, the skills traditionally associated with the electrical eraft.14 They,con- to The metermen work on a one-shift basis. " Certain electrical work is sent outside of the plant because the Employer lacks the equipment required therefor. For example , the Employer does not possess adequate facili- ties for fine balancing of rotors and armatures, and rewinding of transformers , generators, and motors. 12 In contrast , the production workers received a 14-cent increase. As a result, the hourly rate for such craftsmen as maintenance electricians, machinists , welders, blacksmiths, and painters is $1.75 as compared with a range of $1.36 to $1.67 for production workers, the heaviest concentration of rates occurring below $1.50. Laborers throughout the plant receive $1.34. 13 M. R. Volhaeye, chief electrical and safety inspector for the Bureau of Labor, State of Oregon, testified, on February 25, 1949, that 11 employees already had such licenses before the hearing, and that 18 other employees , whose applications were approved on that day, would be given licenses, 14 Phillips Chemical Company, 83 N. L. R. B. 612 ; General Tire and Rubber Company, 79 N. L. R. B. 580; Reynolds Metals Company, McCook Sheet Mills, 70 N. L. R. B. 1338; Aluminum Company of America, 50 N. L. R. B. 380. REYNOLDS METALS COMPANY 115 stitute, moreover, a homogeneous and distinct group. We find, there- fore, that they may constitute an appropriate unit for collective bar- gaining purposes. We shall include the metermen in the voting group of maintenance electricians set forth below, as they are paid the same hourly rate as the maintenance electricians; the work under one of the electrical maintenance foremen; and their functions and skills are allied to. those of the maintenance electricians. b. The rectifier station operators The rectifier station operating department is located in a separate building next to the potroom. The rectifier station, like the potroom, is in continuous operation, necessitating 4 shifts. On each shift the operating staff is composed of a shift foreman, 1 operator, 1 assistant operator, and 1 attendant. It is the 12 nonsupervisory employees in these categories that Electricians 125 wishes to include in a separate unit. The shift foreman supervises the operating staff; on those rare occasions when he is away from the rectifier station, the operator takes charge. The operator is on duty at the main duplex control board where he operates the switches which regulate and maintain the load of current to the potroom. He is aided by the assistant operator, who takes meter readings, keeps the daily power record sheet and other records. The assistant operator also helps when there is switch- ing to be done and he occasionally relieves the operator at the job of controlling the load. The attendant makes temperature readings and records the readings of various instruments in the rectifier station. It is his responsibility to inform the operator or foreman about any irregularities that he encounters. In addition, part of the attendant's time is spent on such tasks as sweeping the floor and dusting the apparatus. If there is an absentee on any shift, an employee in the same department is held over from another shift to do his work. The normal course of progression of an employee in the department is from attendant to assistant operator to operator. The correspond- ing rate steps start at $1.34 and reach $1.64.15 None of the operating staff is licensed by the State of Oregon. The operator does no repair, maintenance, or installation work; that is, as already indicated, the province of the maintenance electricians. It appears that, at most, the operator makes slight adjustments which may be necessary to keep a machine functioning. He must know the circuits which are used in order to trace any trouble and replace fuses, but he does no actual lay-out work or designing of circuits. 16 The rectifier station operators received a 14-cent increase in 1948. 857829-50-voi. 85-9 116 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Although the Intervenor concedes that the operators are skilled, it contends that they are not "electricians." We do not consider the matter of the label for these employees as important. It is clear from the record that the operating staff of the rectifier station con- stitutes an identifiable, homogeneous, and skilled group. They are comparable to powerhouse operators, a class which we customarily' regard as a severable appropriate unit."- Accordingly, we find that they may constitute a separate appropriate unit." The Machinists' Unit Machinists seeks a unit of machinists and certain other employees who work with the machinists, in the machine shop, and millwrights together with certain employees who work with them, outside the machine shop. All of these employees work under the two foremen in the mechanical maintenance department. There are eight machinists who spend most of their time in the machine shop. Six of them operate the usual machine shop equipment .such as lathes, shapers, drill presses, bolt machines, and milling ma- chines. They make parts for the various machines in the plant as well as the tools which are used in the potroom and carbon departments, and they also occasionally do repair work in the plant itself. Much of their work involves close tolerances. However, one of the six machinists is presently filling the job of toolroom repairman and works in the toolroom as both repairman and tool. dispenser. The remaining two machinists work exclusively on automotive equipment. The Ma- chinists would also include these machine shop employees : the stub end collector bar fabricator, who performs sawing and drilling opera- tions on a bar which is attached to the anodes used in the pots; the bridge craneman, who operates the crane and is a sweeper; and the four wvelders, who weld tools used in the potroom and other portions of the plant, and occasionally work outside of the machine Shop. 8 There are 28 millwrights, including the 2 leadmen.11 With the exception of 1 millwright in the machine shop; they work throughout 16 Baugh and Sons Compaay, 82 N. L. R. B. 1300: Kimberly-Clark Corporation, 78 N. L. R. B. 1.02; Smith. Paper, Incorporated, 76 N. I,. R. B. 1226. "Apparently the switchboard operators who constitute a separate bargaining unit at the Employer's Sheffield plant (see footnote 8 supra) are similar to the rectifier station operators in the present cases. There is some indication in the Board's decision in the Aluminum Company case, 50 N. L. R. B 380, that recifier station operators were included in the voting group of maintenance electricians established in that case. (See footnote 7 supra.) 18 The machinists, one of the millwrights, and these three fringe categories are apparently all the employees regularly stationed in the machine shop, except for the blacksmiths, who work at one end of that building. All of them are under the jurisdiction of the machine shop foreman, who also supervises certain employees, among whom are painters and truck drivers, stationed outside the machine shop. In The other of the two foremen in the mechanical maintenance department, the "mill- wright" foreman, supervises these millwrights, the welders working with them, the oilers, REYNOLDS METALS COMPANY 117 the plant. They repair pot shelves, cradles, and superstructures, and also dismantle and reassemble equipment. Working side by side with them under the supervision of a millwright leadman, are three welders who weld machinery, equipment, and plant structures. They, along with the machine shop welders, received the "craft" raise in 1948.20 The Petitioner would include these welders. It would also include four oilers, who are engaged in the unskilled job of pumping fuel and oiling and greasing all plant machinery. Some employees classified as laborers perform duties ordinarily assumed by machinists helpers, but it is not clear what proportion of time they devote to such work. Others regularly assist millwrights. Still others may aid or substitute for the stub end collector bar fabri- cator. When they are assigned to jobs which pay more, the laborers receive the higher rate. We are of the opinion that the machinists, millwrights, and the allied mechanical maintenance employees, such as welders, the stub end collector bar fabricator, and those laborers regularly assisting in or doing the same work, have skills and functions similar to those of other employees we have held to constitute identifiable, homogeneous craft groups.21 We find, therefore, that they may constitute a separate appropriate unit. We shall include the two machinists who function as automotive mechanics. Although they and the other machinists work on different kinds of equipment and machinery, they are skilled, receive the same compensation and have similar interests 22 However, we shall exclude the bridge craneman and oilers'23 because they per- form no skilled mechanical maintenance work. We shall also exclude the toolroom repairman classification, as there is no incumbent serving as such, but we are including the machinist who performs the tool dispensing function and in addition does skilled tasks not ordinarily required in this job. The Blacksmiths' Unit Blacksmiths requests a unit of blacksmiths and blacksmith ham- mermen. The blacksmith shop, which is located at, the end of the machine shop building, is equipped with forges and automatic ham- mers. The two blacksmiths participate in making and repairing various tools used in the plant. The hammerman operates an air- and certain other mechanical maintenance employees working outside of the machine shop, including brickmasons, roof repairmen, and scrubber-system repairmen. 20 See footnote 12 supra. 21 Anaconda Wire and Cable Company, 81 N. L. R. B. 1235; International Harvester Company, McCormick Twine Mills, 80 N. L. R. B. 1279; Reynolds Metals Company, 74 N. L. R. B. 1139; Reynolds Metals Company, McCook Sheet Mills, 70 N. L. R. B. 1338. 22 Cities Service Refining Corporation, 83 N. L. R. B. 890 ; Columbia Pictures Corporation, 80 N. L. R. B. 1381; St. Regis Paper Company (Kraft Pulp Division), 80 N. L. R. B. 570. 23 St. Regis Paper Company (Kraft Pulp Division), supra. 118 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD driven hammer and acts as the blacksmith's helper. Some laborers are regularly called in to relieve the hammerman. As the blacksmiths have been historically recognized as a craft group,24 and as the record shows that these employees exercise the customary skills of this craft, we find that they may constitute a sepa- rate appropriate unit 25 The Painters' Unit Painters desires a unit of all painters, including the leadman. All six painters have their headquarters in a separate building. They paint the offices and do rough maintenance painting throughout the plant. In addition, they replace broken glass. Most of the paints are bought in prepared form so that it is unnecessary for the painters to know how to match or mix paints. Although three of the painters have been upgraded from production jobs in the preceding two and a half years, the Employer's supervisor of mechanical maintenance testified that some of the painters are "first-class" painters with experi- ence dating back to the construction of the plant. All the painters receive the same rate of pay as the maintenance electricians, machin- ists, and other craft employees. In view of the foregoing facts as to their rate of pay and their dis- tinctive skills in work which is clearly different from the work of all other employees in the plant, we find flat the painters are a craft group that may constitute a separate appropriate unit.26 We have found that the employees in each of the craft groups de- scribed above may constitute an appropriate bargaining unit if they so desire, notwithstanding their present inclusion in a broader unit. However, as the inclusion of these employees in the existing plant- wide unit is also clearly appropriate, we shall not make any unit determination until elections have been conducted. If the majority of a voting group vote for the specified Petitioner, they will be taken to have indicated their desire to constitute a separate bargaining unit. Accordingly, we shall direct elections among the employees of the Employer at its Troutdale, Oregon, plant, in the groups enumerated below, excluding in each case office employees, guards, and watchmen, fire and plant protection employees, laboratory employees, profes- sional employees, office janitors, foremen, and supervisors as defined in the Act '27 and all other employees : 24 Southland Paper Mills, Inc., 81 N. L. R. B. 330; Potash Company of America, 80 N. L. R. B. 1035; Reynolds Metals Company, McCook Sheet Mills, 70 N. L. R. B. 1338. 16 The fact that the blacksmiths are not separately supervised does not militate against the conclusion that they are a distinct craft group. 26 Anaconda Wire and Cable Company, supra. Cf. Pacific Car and Foundry Company, 76 N. L. R. B. 32. 27 The parties agreed to or did not oppose these exclusions . They also agreed, and we find, that leadmen are not supervisors within the meaning of the Act. REYNOLDS METALS COMPANY - - 119 (a) All maintenance electricians and electrician leadmen in the plant, including the meter men and leadman working in the meter room or electrical testing department adjacent to the rectifier room; (b) All employees in the rectifier station operating department in- eluding operators, assistant operators, and attendants; (c) All machinists and millwrights including automotive mechan- ics, millwright leadmen, welders, stub end collector bar fabricator, and those laborers who spend the greater part of their time assisting the preceding employees or doing similar work, but excluding oilers, machine shop bridge craneman and toolroom repairman ; (d) All blacksmiths, blacksmith hammerman, and laborers who spend the greater part of their time assisting the blacksmiths or act- ing in the capacity of blacksmith hammerman; (e) All painters, including leadman. We shall not place the Intervenor's name on the ballot because it is not in compliance with Section 9 (f), (g), and (h) of the Act.28 DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining with the Employer, separate elec- tions by secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later than 30 days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the Region in which this case was heard, and subject to Sections 203.61 and 203.62 of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 5, as amended, among the employees in the voting groups described in paragraph numbered 4, above, who were employed during the pay- roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction of Elec- tions, including employees who did not work during said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation or temporarily laid off, but excluding those employees who have since quit or been discharged for cause and have not been rehired or reinstated prior to the date of the elections and also excluding employees on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine whether or not : (a) All employees in Group (a) desire to be represented for pur- poses of collective bargaining by International Brotherhood of.Elec- trical Workers, Local Union 49, AFL; (b) All employees in Group (b) desire to be represented for pur- poses of collective bargaining by International Brotherhood of Elec- trical Workers, Local Union 125, AFL; Se See fgotnote 1 supra. -120 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD . (c)- All employees in Group (c) desire to be represented for pur- poses of collective bargaining by International Association of Machin- ists, Willamette Lodge No. 63; (d) All employees in Group (d) desire to be represented for pur- poses of collective bargaining by Blacksmiths Local No. 37, Inter- national Brotherhood of Blacksmiths, Drop Forgers, and Helpers, AFL; (e) All employees in Group (e) desire to be represented for purr poses of collective bargaining by International Brotherhood of Paint- ers, Decorators, Paperhangers of America, Local No. 10, AFL.29 29 The compliance status of the Painters has lapsed since the hearing in this matter. In the event it fails to renew its compliance with Section 9 (h) within 2 weeks from the date of this Direction , the Regional Director is to advise the Board to that effect. No election shall be conducted unless and until compliance has been renewed.