Yale & Towne Manufacturing Co.

In the Matter Of WALKER VEHICLE COMPANY AND THE AUTOMATIC' TRANSPORTATION COMPANY,. DIVISIONS OF THE YALE & TOWNE MANU- FACTURING COMPANY and WALKER-AUTOMATIC INDEPENDENT LABOR ASSOCIATION Case No. R-319 Mr. Jack G. Evans, for the Board. Mr. David R. Clarke, of Chicago, Ill., for the Company. Mr. J. Warren McCaffrey, of Chicago, Ill., for Walker-Automatic Independent Labor Association. Mr. Paul B. Glaser, of Gary, Ind., and Mr. Thurlo,,w G. Lewis, of Chicago, Ill., for Steel Workers Organizing Committee, for Nira Lodge No. 1328 of the Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel and Tin Workers of North America, affiliated with the Committee for Industrial Organization. Mr. A. Bruce Hunt, Jr., of counsel to the Board. SUPPLEMENTAL DECISION AND ORDER October 31, 1938 On November 29, 1937, the National Labor Relations Board, herein called the Board, issued a Direction of Election 1 in the above-entitled case. The Direction of Election provided that an election by secret ballot be held within twenty (20) days among certain employees of Walker Vehicle Company and the Automatic Transportation Com- pany, divisions of the Yale & Towne Manufacturing Company, herein called the Company, at its Chicago, Illinois, plant, to determine their representative for the purposes of collective bargaining. On Decem- ber 13, 1937, and December 31, 1937, the Board issued Amendments 2 to said Direction of Election in which the Board discussed and decided. certain issues raised subseglient to issuance of the Direction of Elec- tion. In the first of said Amendments the Board extended the period- within which the election was to be held. 14 N. L. R. B. 242. 2 4 N. L. R. B. 243 and 4 N. L. R. B . 244, respectively. 9 N. L. R . B., No. 53. 587 588 NATIONAL LABOR R ELATIONS BOARD Pursuant to the Direction, as amended, an election by secret ballot was conducted on January 8, 1938, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the Thirteenth Region (Chicago, Illi- nois) among the employees of the Company in the bargaining unit found appropriate by the Board. On January 11, 1938, said Regional Director issued and duly served upon the parties his Intermediate Report on the ballot,-and on January 14, 1938, and March 17, 1938, supplements thereto were issued and duly served upon the parties. In the second of such supplements said Regional Director ruled upon the challenged ballots cast in the election. Walker-Automatic Independent Labor Association, herein called the Association, the petitioner in the instant case, filed objections and exceptions to the Intermediate Report, as supplemented, and requested that the election be set aside and declared null and void. On June 10, 1938, the Board issued a Decision and Second Direc- tion of Election 3 in which it declared the election of January 8, 1938, to be null and void for the reason therein stated and in which it directed that a new election be held within the ensuing fifteen (15) days. In this Decision the Board affirmed the rulings of the Regional Director on the challenged ballots and, in accordance therewith, reworded the unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargain- ing as follows : "All the production and maintenance employees of the Company, including repairmen and truckers, who were employed by it during the pay roll period immediately preceding November 29, 1937, excluding those who have since quit or been discharged for cause, and the supervisory employees, draftsmen, engineers (except engineers employed in maintenance), watchmen, and production stock record clerks." On June 16, 1938, Nira Lodge No. 1328 of the Amalga- mated Association of Iron, Steel and Tin Workers of North America, herein called the Amalgamated, one of the parties to the instant case, filed a petition to defer the election. On June 22, 1938, the Associa- tion filed its objections to said petition and on the same clay the peti- tion was denied. On June 23, 1938, the Board issued an Amendment to Second Direction of Electi0114 extending for a week the period within which the election was to be held. Pursuant to said Second Direction of Election, said Regional Di- rector conducted an election by secret ballot on July 1, 1938. Full opportunity was accorded all the parties to the investigation to par- ticipate in the conduct of the secret ballot and to make challenges. On July 7, 1938, said Regional Director, acting pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regula- tions-Series 1, as amended, issued and caused to be served on the parties his Intermediate Report on the conduct of the ballot. 17 N. L R. B. 827. '7 N. L. R. B. 835. DECISIONS AND ORDERS 589 As to the results of the secret ballot, the Regional Director reported the following : Total number eligible---------------------------------------- 303 Total number of ballots cast_________________________________ 276 Total number of ballots cast for the Association______________ 123 Total number of ballots cast for the Amalgamated------------- 116 Total number of ballots cast by employees desiring, neither organization---------------------------------------------- 17 Total number of challenged ballots cast_______________________ 20 Total number of blank ballots________________________________ 0 Total number of void ballots_________________________________ 0 In his Intermediate Report the Regional Director individually con- sidered the 20 challenged ballots and decided that 15 thereof had been cast by ineligible voters. He concluded that the remaining five ballots should not be opened and credited, and, in accordance with his rulings, made revised findings, as follows : Total number eligible_______________________________________ 303 Total number of ballots cast_________________________________ 261 Total number of ballots cast for the Association------------- 123 Total number of ballots cast for the Amalgamated------------- 116 Total number of ballots cast for neither organization-----____ 17 Total number of challenged ballots cast by voters ruled eligible_ 5 On July 14, 1938, and on September 30, 1938, the Association filed petitions asserting, inter alia, that the five challenged ballots should be counted and that it should be certified, on the basis of the results above set forth, as the sole collective bargaining agency for the em- ployees in the appropriate unit. These contentions are without merit. As before stated, the Regional Director ruled that 15 persons who had cast challenged ballots were ineligible. We find that these rulings in all instances except one, that of an employee named Fred W. Whichter, were correct, and the same are hereby affirmed. Since the counting of Whichter's ballot, as well as the ballots of the five voters who were ruled eligible, would not materially affect the final result, we deem it unnecessary that such challenged ballots be considered. The credit- ing of these six ballots in behalf of either organization would not afford that organization the necessary majority of the total number of votes cast, nor would such crediting in behalf of the Amalgamated destroy the plurality obtained by the Association. In such cases it is the policy of the Board not to open and credit the challenged ballots. In the instant case, a majority of the employees in the appropriate unit have indicated a desire to bargain collectively with the Company, although they have accorded neither of the rival organizations a ma- jority. Provision for a run-off election in such event, to be held at the request of the organization obtaining a plurality and with the name of that organization to be placed on the ballot, was made in Amendment to Direction of Election of December 31, 1937. However, 590 NATIONAL LABOR. RELATIONS BOARD the Association, although;it is the sole labor organization entitled to a run-off election herein, has not requested such an election, notwith- standing the fact that it has been apprised of its right thereto and of the necessity that such a request be made by it to the Board. The Association asserts that a refusal by the Board to so certify it, only because its vote did "not amount to over 50 per cent of the total number of ballots cast," would be "contrary to the spirit, scope, and purposes of the National Labor Relations Act." We have consid- ered this contention and decided adversely to it in several cases.5 Since the results of the secret ballot of July 1, 1938, show that no collective bargaining representative has been selected by a majority of the employees in the appropriate unit, we will dismiss the petition for investigation and certification filed by the Association. ORDER Pursuant to Article III, Sections 8 and 9, of National Labor Rela- tions Board Rules and Regulations-Series 1, as amended, it is ordered that the petition filed by Walker-Automatic Independent Labor Asso- ciation for investigation and certification of representatives of em- ployees of Walker Vehicle Company and the Automatic Transporta- tion Company, divisions of the Yale & Towne Manufacturing Company, Chicago, Illinois, be, and the same hereby is, dismissed. 6 See Matter of Interlake Iron Corporation and Amalgamated Association of lion, Steel and Tin Workers of North America, Local No. 1657, 4 N . L. R. B. 55, 58, approved in Second Amendment to Direction of Election of December 31, 1937, in the instant case.