Rio de Oro Uranium Mines, Inc.

RIO DE ORO URANIUM MINES, INC. 153 group of 12 employees; who were among those. laid off on April 20, had been hired for the first time during 1957, and their period of employment ranged from 1 month to about 3 months. These 12 em- ployees averaged approximately 7 weeks of work in 1957 up to the time of hearing. An employee laid off on May 8, 1957, had worked 3 weeks in 1955,3 months and 31/2 months (2 periods) in 1956, and 4 months in 1957. Thus it appears that, because of the nature of the Employer's operations, the bulk of the employees employed in the plastic division since its inception, in March 1955, have worked on an intermittent basis. We are of the. opinion that some of the employees in question have a reasonable expectation of future employment and a substantial interest in employment conditions at the plant. We accordingly find, on this record, that in addition to the employees actually employed on the_ eligibility date, all employees on laid-off status who have been employed by the Employer for a minimum of 280 hours-the equiv- alent of 7 weeks-during the year preceding the issuance of this Decision and Direction of Election are eligible to vote in the elections The Employer contends that the petition should be dismissed be- cause fluctuation in employment due to the newness of the plastic enter- prise means that no useful purpose will be served by an election. Alternatively, it requests the Board to postpone the election until it has stabilized employment. conditions. During the hearing, testimony for the Employer was that the current business-outlook for its plastic products appears "very black." , However, it is clear from the evi- d nce` that the employee complement in the plastic department has, in general, progressively increased. On this record, no reason ap- pears to dismiss the petition or postpone the election. Accordingly, we deny the Employer's motion. . F [Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication.] 1 See Underwriters - Salroage Company of Now York, 99 NLRB- 337; The Welch Grape Juice Company, 96 NLRB 214, 216; see also an Juan Mercantile Corporation,-117 NLRB S. Rio de Oro Uranium Mines, Inc. and Local No. -16, International Hod Carriers, Building. and Common Laborers Union of Amer- ica, AFL-CIO, Petitioner. _ • Case No. 33-RC-609. October 25; 1957 DECISION, ORDER, AND DIRECTION Pursuant, to a stipulation for -certification upon consent election, an election by secret ballot was conducted under -the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the Sixteenth Region on July 9; 1957, among the employee's in the unit described' in the stipu- 119 NLRB No. 25. 154 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD lation. At the conclusion of the election, a tally of ballots was furnished the parties. The tally shows that of the 40 eligible voters, 39 cast valid ballots, of which 20 voted for and 19 against the par- ticipating labor organization. The Regional Director, not having received objections to the elec- tion before the close of business on July 16, issued a certification of representatives to the Union and closed the case on July 17, pursuant to Section 102.61 of the Board's rule.' At 8 a. m. on July 17, 1957, the Employer's objections to conduct affecting the results of the elec- tion were received by mail in the Regional Office of the Board in Fort Worth, Texas. On July 29, 1957, the Regional Director issued his report on objections in which he found that, since the parties were furnished a tally of ballots on July 9, 1957, and the Employer's objec- tions were not received at the Regional Office in Fort Worth, Texas, until July 17, 1957, the objections were not timely filed. Conse- quently, he recommended that the objections filed in this proceeding not be considered. The Employer filed timely exceptions to the Regional Director's report. The Employer contends that its objections to the election were mailed from Albuquerque, New Mexico, "Registered, Special De- livery, Airmail," soon after 1 p. m. on July 15, 1957, to the Regional Director for the Sixteenth Region, Fort Worth, Texas, and it ,vas assured by the United States post office that the objections would be received by the Board before the close of business on July 16, 1957. In this case it appears to us that the Employer took every precau- tion necessary to assure compliance with the Board's Rules and Regu- lations governing the filing of objections to the election so that its objections, which were mailed, would be received by the 'Board's Regional Office before the close of business on the fifth day after the tally of ballots was furnished. It is reasonable to assume that in the normal operation of the United States mails objections to an elec- tion mailed airmail, registered, special delivery, from Albuquerque, New Mexico, on July 15, 1957, to Fort Worth, Texas, should have been delivered to the Board's office in Fort Worth, Texas, before the close of business on July 16, 1957. As the delay in receiving the objections in the Board's Regional Office appears not to be attribut- able to the Employer, it would be inequitable to penalize the Em- ployer for the delay. Accordingly, we do not adopt the Regional Director's recommendation that the objections be rejected as untimely. 'Section 102.61 provides : . . . Within five days after the tally of ballots has been furnished , any party may file . . . objections. .. . If no objections are filed within the time set forth above . . . the regional director shall forthwith issue to the parties . . . a certification of representatives . . . with the same force and effect as if issued by the Board , and the proceeding will thereupon be closed. NECCO SALES CORPORATION 155 We shall, therefore, reopen the .case, set aside the certification, and remand the case to the Regional Director for investigation of the issues raised by such objections. [The Board set aside the certification issued and reopened the case for further proceedings.] [The Board directed that the Regional Director for the Sixteenth Region shall investigate the issues raised by the objections and shall prepare and serve upon the parties a supplemental report on objec- tions, and shall take such other action as may be necessary, in accord- ance with the Rules and Regulations of the Board.] MEMBERS MURDOCK and BEAN took no part in the consideration of the above Decision, Order, and Direction. Necco Sales Corporation and Candy and Confectionery Union, Local 50, RWDSU, AFL-CIO, Petitioner. Case No. 2-RC-9029. October 25, 1957 DECISION AND CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES On August 22, 1957, pursuant to a stipulation for certification upon consent election, an election by secret ballot was conducted under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the Second Region among the employees in the agreed appropriate unit. Follow- ing the election, the Regional Director served on the parties a tally of ballots, which showed that of approximately 5 eligible voters, 5 cast ballots, of which 3 were cast for and 2 were cast against the Petitioner. No ballots were challenged. On August 27, 1957, the Employer filed timely objections which alleged that : (1) Promptly after the results of the election were published, 3 of the 5 employees who had voted informed the Employer that they had intended to vote, and to the best of their knowledge had voted, against the Petitioner; and (2) apparently a mistake was made in marking at least 1 ballot and, thus, the result of the election does not represent the true wishes, at the time of the election, of a majority of the employees who voted. On September .12, 1957, the Regional Director filed his report on objections in which he recom- mended that the objections be overruled and that the Petitioner be certified as the exclusive representative of the employees in the ap- propriate unit. On September 23, 1957, the Employer filed excep- tions to the Regional Director's report. Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the National Labor Relations Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with 119 NLRB No. 28.