Post Falls Lumber Co.

POST FALLS LUMBER COMPANY 157 All electricians and electrician leaders, excluding office clerical em- ployees, all other employees, guards, and supervisors as defined in the Act. If a majority of the employees in the voting group vote for the Peti- tioner, they will be taken to have indicated their desire to constitute a separate appropriate unit, and the Regional Director conducting the election directed herein is instructed to issue a certification of repre- sentatives to the Petitioner for such unit, which the Board, under the, circumstances, finds to be appropriate for purposes of collective bar- gaining. In the event a majority do not vote for the Petitioner, these employees shall remain a part of the existing unit and the Regional. Director will issue a certification of results of election to such effect. 5. The Employer asserts, and the Petitioner denies, that 16 em- ployees have been permanently laid off and thus are ineligible to vote. The Intervenor takes no position. Between September 6, 1957, and May 9, 1958, the Employer laid off 16 electricians. due to a permanent change from volume production to research and development, and prototype production. In addition, the Employer contemplates fur- ther reduction in force. The collective-bargaining agreement between the Employer and the Intervenor provides that laid-off employees retain.their seniority for a period equal to the period of their employ- ment. However, there appears to be no reasonable expectancy of their recall in the near future. Accordingly, we find that the 16 laid- off employees are not eligible to vote in the election? [Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication.] 7 Higgins, Inc., 111 NLRB 797. H. C. Schumacher d/b/a Post Falls Lumber Company and North Idaho and Eastern Washington District Council of Lumber and Sawmill Workers, AFL-CIO, Petitioner and International Woodworkers of America, AFL-CIO, Local 10-119. Case No. 19-RC-2196. November 19, 1958 DECISION AND CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES Pursuant to a stipulation for certification upon consent election, executed by the parties on July 21, 1958, an election by secret ballot was conducted on July 29, 1958, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the Nineteenth Region among the em- ployees in the unit described in the stipulation. At the conclusion of the election, the parties were furnished a tally of ballots which showed that of approximately 33 names on the eligibility list, 17 were 122 NLRB No. 24. 158 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD shown as "temporary," and of 19 ballots cast, 1 ballot was void, 7 ballots were cast for the Petitioner, 9 ballots were cast for the Intervenor, and 3 ballots were challenged by both unions. On August 13, 1958, following an investigation, the Regional Director issued and duly served on the parties his report on chal- lenged ballots, in which he recommended that the challenges made by the Unions be sustained. The Employer timely filed exceptions to the Regional Director's recommendations. Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three- member panel [Chairman Leedom and Members Bean and Jenkins]. The Board has considered the Regional Director's report, the ex- ceptions, and the entire record in this case, and finds : 1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act. 2. The labor organizations involved claim to represent employees of the Employer. 3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa- tion of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section 9(c) (1) and Section 2(6) and (7) of. the Act. 4. The following employees of the Employer constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act : All production and maintenance employees engaged in the manu- facturing of lumber at the Post Falls Lumber Company plant located at Post Falls, Idaho, but excluding all office clerical employees and plant clerical employees, supervisors and professional employees, inde- pendent contractors, and guards and/or watchmen as defined in the Labor Management Relations Act of 1947, as amended. 5. No objections to the election were filed. The Employer's excep- tions to the challenges are lacking in merit. The Employer filed exceptions to the challenges of three employees involved herein. At the time Fred Bramer and John Hanshew were hired by the Company, there was an understanding with them that they were to be made permanent employees upon completion of the construction work for which they were hired. Bramer was hired June 1, 1958, as a construction laborer; Hanshew was hired about May 15, 1958, as a construction laborer; Harold Gain, who cast the third challenged ballot, was hired April 1, 1958, as a construction laborer. There is no question about Gain's status, as the Employer concedes that he was hired as a temporary employee. Bramer, Gain, and Hanshew were hired for the purpose of construction work and were so employed on the day of the election. The essential element in determining an employee's eligibility to vote is his status on the eligibility payroll date ORMET CORPORATION 159 and on the date of the election.' As Bramer and Hanshew were not only temporary employees on the date of the election but were not in the voting unit, they were not eligible to vote. We therefore agree with the Regional Director's recommendations and hereby sustain the challenges to the ballots of Fred Bramer, Harold Gain, and John Hanshew. Accordingly, as the Intervenor has received a majority of the valid votes cast, we shall certify it as the bargaining repre- sentative of the employees in the appropriate unit. [The Board certified International Woodworkers of America, AFL-CIO, Local 10-119, as the designated collective- bargaining rep- resentative of the employees of the Employer in the appropriate unit described in paragraph numbered 2.] 1 Gulf States Asphalt Company, 106 NLRB 1212. Ormet Corporation and Baton Rouge Metal Trades Council, AFL-CIO and United Steelworkers of America, AFL-CIO, Petitioners. Cases Nos. 15-RC-1801 and 15-RC-1802.' Novem- ber 19, 1958 DECISION AND CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES On July 1 and.2, 1958, pursuant to a stipulation for certification upon consent election, an election was conducted under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the Fifteenth Region among the employees in the agreed-upon unit. Following the elec- tion, the Regional Director served upon the parties a tally of ballots which showed that, of approximately 287 eligible voters, 282 cast ballots, of which 130 were for the Metal Trades Council, 55 for the Aluminum Workers,' 90 for the Steelworkers, 5 for no labor organi- zation, and 2 ballots were void. As the results of the election were inconclusive, a runoff election was held on July 29 and 30, 1958, between the Metal Trades Council and the Steelworkers, pursuant to Section 102.70 of the Board's Rules and Regulations, Series 7, as amended. The tally of ballots thereafter furnished the parties showed that of approximately 286 eligible voters, 282 ballots were cast, of which 124 were for the Steelworkers and 158 for the Metal Trades Council. 1 Cases Nos. 15-RC-1801 and 15-RC-1802 were consolidated by the Regional Director prior to the first election. ' Aluminum Workers International Union, AFL-CIO, intervened on the basis of a showing of interest. 122 NLRB No. 30.