Castle & Cooke Terminals, Ltd.

In the Matter of CASTLE & COOKE TERMINALS , LIMITED, EMPLOYER and KENNETH Y. PARK, ET AL ., PETITIONERS and INTERNATIONAL LONGSHOREMEN 'S & WAREHOUSEMEN'S UNION , LOCAL 137, UNIT 6, CIO, UNION Case No. 37-RD-14--Decided January 04, 1950 DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION Upon a decertification petition duly filed, a hearing was held before Arnold L. Wills, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the National Labor Relations Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three-member panel [Chairman Herzog and Members. Reynolds and Murdock]. 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. The Petitioners, employees of the Employer, assert that the Union is no longer the representative of the Employer's employees, as defined in Section 9 (a) of the Act. 3. The question concerning representation : On May 1, 1948, the Employer and the Union executed a contract, effective until April 30, 1949, covering the Employer's wharf clerk employees. This contract was automatically renewable, unless either party gave notice to amend or modify it 30 days prior to its expiration date. By letter, dated March 2, 1949, the Union advised the Employer of its desire to modify the contract. Pursuant to this letter, the con- tracting parties met on March 31, 1949. On the following day, there was a strike involving the Employer's longshoremen? It being cus- tomary that bargaining negotiations for the Employer's wharf clerks take place subsequent to those for its longshoremen, the Union and the Employer verbally agreed to continue the terms of the above-men- tion contract pending future negotiations. The petition herein was 1 This strike terminated on October 24, 1949. 88 NLRB No. 74. 287 288 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD filed on October 28, 1949. The Union contends that the petition is barred. We find this contention to be without merit. The notice contained in the Union's letters of March 2, 1949, effectively forestalled auto- matic renewal of the contract.2 The agreement to continue the con- tract pending future negotiations, being oral, cannot act as a bar.' Ac- cordingly, we find that no contractual bar exists to this proceeding .4 We find that a question affecting commerce 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 parties agree, and we find, that all employees at the Em- ployer's Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, plant, who are employed as permit clerks, delivery and receiving clerks, special clerks, and utility clerks, excluding the chief clerk, clerk dispatcher, terminal clerks, as- sistant terminal clerks, guards, professional employees, and supervisors as defined in the Act, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. DIRECTION OF ELECTION As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining with the Employer, an election by secret ballot 5 shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later than 30 days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and super- vision 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, among the employees in the unit found appropriate in paragraph numbered 4, above, who were employed during the payroll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction of Election, including employees who did not work during said payroll 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 rein- stated prior to the date of the election, and also excluding employees on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine whether or not they desire to be represented, for purposes of collective bargain- ing, by International Longshoremen's & Warehousemen's Union, Lorin 137, Unit 6, CIO. 2 Dictaphone Corporation, 78 NLRB 866. 3 Standard Brands, Incorporated, 81 NLRB 1311. * Cf. Bethlehem Steel Company , Shipbuilding Division, 79 NLRB 1271. 5 The Employer requests that the ballot herein be altered to read, "Do you wish to con- tinue to be represented for purposes of collective bargaining by International Longshore- men's & Warehousemen 's Union, Local 137, Unit 6, CIO?" The Union objects to any change in the ballot . Since our official ballot is worded so as to reflect amply the desires of the employees involved herein, we perceive no reason to change it in the present instance. The Employer's request is therefore denied.