New York Shipping Association

310 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD NEW YORK SHIPPING ASSOCIATION, PETITIONER and INTERNATIONAL LONGSHOREMEN'S ASSOCIATION, INDEPENDENT, AND INTERNATIONAL LONGSHOREMEN'S ASSOCIATION, AFL. Case No. 2-RM-556. July 22,1954 Order Directing Regional Director To Open and Count Challenged Ballots On June 18, 1954, the Acting Regional Director for the Second Region issued his report on challenges in the above-entitled matter. In his report he recommended to the Board that 655 ballots be opened and counted, that the challenges to 472 ballots be sustained, that 12 ballots be ruled void, that the disposition of 630 challenges be with- held pending the opening and counting of the first-mentioned group of ballots, and that if neither Union has a majority of the valid votes cast, that the Board direct a hearing with respect to the group of 630 ballots. The 655 challenged ballots which the Acting Regional Director rec- ommended opening and counting consisted of ballots of 72 voters (Appendix A of the report pn challenges) whose names were in fact on the eligibility list but were overlooked, incorrectly spelled, or omit- ted therefrom in error; 545 (Appendix F), who were challenged for lack of proper identification but found, upon investigation, to have met the voting requirements; 36 (Appendix M) who were challenged for miscellaneous reasons but found, upon investigation, to have met the voting requirements; and 2 (discussed in section 6 of the report) whose ballots were placed in the challenge box by mistake. The 472 ballots as to which the Acting Regional Director recom- mended that the Board sustain the challenges consisted of ballots of 15 voters (Appendix B) who failed to register with the Waterfront Commission; 11 (Appendix C) pensioners who had retired from the industry; 79 (Appendix D) who did not meet the 700 hours' require- ment; 4 (Appendix E) who worked part of the required number of hours for a nonmember of the Association; 40 (Appendix G) who, al- though in the classifications embraced in the unit, had not registered with the Waterfront Commission; 8 (Appendix H) whose employ- ment during all or most of the required time was as a nonmember of the Association; 95 (Appendix I) who failed to meet the 700 hours' requirement; 18 (Appendix J) who for other reasons indicated in the Appendix were found to be ineligible; and 202 (Appendix K) whose names were either omitted from the eligibility list or stricken therefrom on the basis of lists of supervisors, but which, according to the report, none of the parties asserted were eligible to vote. The 12 challenged ballots which the Acting Regional Director rec- ommended should be ruled void (discussed in section 5 of the report) 109 NLRB No. 80. NEW YORK SHIPPING ASSOCIATION 311 consisted of ballots as to which, by inadvertance, the challenged voter's identity could not be determined as a means of ascertaining his eligibility. The 630 challenged ballots as to which the Acting Regional Direc- tor made no disposition but recommended a hearing (Appendix L), consisted of ballots of approximately 550 voters challenged as "hatch bosses" and 80 others challenged as chief clerks or foremen of a super- visory nature. On June 28, 1954, the Association filed exceptions to the recom- mendation that a hearing be held with respect to 550 of the 630 ballots (the 550 representing "hatch bosses"). On July 1, 1954, the AFL filed exceptions (a) to the recommendations with respect to 2 chal- lenged ballots (LaDagona and Noble) in Appendix J, and 36 chal- lenged ballots in Appendix K. In its exceptions, the AFL also re- quested the Board to direct the Regional Director to count and re- port the IBM voting cards surrendered by nonchallenged voters and to investigate and report on "the manner in which ineligible voters were included on the eligibility list." The ILA filed no exceptions. The Board has duly considered the Acting Regional Director's re- port and the exceptions filed thereto. In agreement with the Acting Regional Director, and in the absence of exceptions with respect to this portion of his report, the Board adopts his recommendation to open and count the 655 ballots described in Appendix A, Appendix F, Appendix M, and section 6 of the report. The Board finds merit in the AFL's exceptions as to the ballots of LaDagona and Noble in that it appears that these employees met the requirement of 700 work- ing hours during the 12 month-period ending September 30, 1953. These ballots should therefore also be opened and counted. In the absence of exceptions, the Board adopts the recommendation of the Acting Regional Director in section 5 of the report that 12 challenged ballots be found void. The Board finds no merit in the requests in the AFL's exceptions to direct the Regional Director to count and report the IBM voting cards and to investigate and report on the preparation of the eligibility list on the ground that this is not, in any sense, germane to the issue respecting challenges now before the Board, and as no objections were filed to conduct affecting the election, held on May 26, 1954, and as, in any event, the use of IBM voting cards was a matter wholly within the province of the Regional Director's authority in connection with the conduct of the election and not sub- ject to litigation by the parties. Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY DIRECTED that as part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining among the employees in the unit heretofore found appropriate, the Regional Di- rector for the Second Region should, pursuant to National Labor Re- lations Board Rules and Regulations, within ten (10) days from the 312 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD date of this Direction, open and count the 655 ballots described in Appendixes A, F, M, and section 6 of the Acting Regional Director's report, and the ballots of LaDagona and Noble, and thereafter pre- pare and cause to be served upon the parties a revised tally of ballots, including the count of said challenged ballots. The Board expressly reserves herein the disposition with respect to all other recommendations of the Acting Regional Director as con- tained in his report on challenges, and all exceptions filed by the parties not specifically treated herein, until such time as the Regional Director serves his revised tally of the ballots. MEMBERS MURDOCK and PETERSON took no part in the consideration of the above Order Directing Regional Director To Open and Count Challenged Ballots. THE ZIA COMPANY and INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS, CHAUFFEURS, WAREHOUSEMEN AND HELPERS , LOCAL UNION No. 492, AFL, PETITIONER . Case No. 33-RC-464 . July 02,1954 Order Amending Decision and Direction of Election On May 27, 1954, the Board issued a Decision and Direction of Election 1 in the above-entitled matter, wherein it directed a self- determination election in a voting group confined solely to certain employees previously unrepresented by the Petitioner to determine whether they desire to become part of a recognized unit presently rep- resented by the Petitioner.2 On June 11, 1954, the Petitioner filed with the Board its motion for reconsideration of and clarification of decision and direction of election, in which it clarified its position by. stating that it desires certification in the Board overall unit. On June 28, 1954, the Employer filed with the Board a reply to the Petitioner's motion, requesting, in effect, that the Board take no action which would rescind its earlier direction of a self-determination election for. the previously unrepresented employees.' As the overall certification requested by the Petitioner is possible only in the event the employees 1108 NLRB 1134. 2 Although the Petitioner had sought an election and certification in a broad unit com- prised of employees in the historical unit plus the above-noted previously unrepresented employees, the Board decided that even though the two groups may appropriately be grouped together in a single overall unit , sound policy dictates that a self-determination election should be granted the previously unrepresented employees. Accordingly, as the Peti- tioner's position was not clear from the record as to whether it still desired an election in the historical unit, the Decision and Direction of Election directed an election among the previously unrepresented employees only. 3 As noted hereinafter, this Order does not disturb the original direction of a self-deter- mination election, but merely provides for an additional separate election in the recog- nized unit. 109 NLRB No. 50.