Climax Molybdenum Co.

508 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD If employees have any questions about this notice or whether Local 612 is com- plying with its provisions, the employees may communicate with the Board's Re- gional Office at 1203 City Federal Building, 2026 Second Avenue, N., Birmingham, Alabama, Telephone No. 323-8011. Climax Molybdenum Company and Office Employees Inter- national Union, Local No. 5, and Local No. 410, AFL-CIO, Petitioners. Case No. 30-RC-1037. March 26, 196. DECISION AND ORDER AMENDING CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES On June 15, 1955, pursuant to a stipulation for certification upon consent election, a representation election was held among the Em- ployer's plant clerical and office clerical employees at its Climax, Colorado, plant. As a result of this election, the Board on June 23, 1955, certified Office Employees International Union, Local No. 5, AFL-CIO, as the exclusive bargaining representative of the aforemen- tioned employees. 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 McCulloch and Members Leedom and Brown]. On December 1, 1963, Local 5 and Local 410, Office Employees In- ternational Union, AFL-CIO, Joint Petitioners herein, filed the in- stant request to amend the certification to designate Local 410 in place of Local 5 as the certified representative of the above employees. In this request, Local 5 and Local 410 allege, in substance, that : (1) the Employer currently recognizes Local 5 as representative of its em- ployees and there is a collective-bargaining agreement now in effect between the Employer and Local 5, effective from January 1, 1963, to November 1, 1965; (2) the impassable terrain in winter makes it dif- ficult to reach the Employer's plant from the Denver, Colorado, head- quarters of Local 5 and because of this factor and the, relative fre- quency of grievances, a gradual autonomy has been achieved by the employees in the Climax unit and they have elected their own officers and executive board members and have adopted a constitution; (3) in August 1963, a separate local at the Climax plant was chartered as Local 410 by the International; and (4) Local 410 has the same officers as the Climax unit of Local 5. In its objections, filed on December 20, 1963, to the above request to amend the certification,, the Employer contends that Local 410 is a new and separate legal entity from Local 5, and that the request to amend presents a question concerning representation which can be resolved only by the filing of a representation petition. We find no merit in the Employer's objections to the Petitioners' request which is 146 NLRB No. 61. MILK DRIVERS & DAIRY EMPLOYEES LOCAL 584, ETC. 509 before us. The allegations contained in the request, not denied by the Employer, establish in our view that Local 410 is a continuation of the certified representative herein. Thus, both Locals 5 and 410 are locals of the same International; Local 410 was chartered in order to make it possible for the employees at the Climax plant to be repre- sented more effectively ; the chartering of Local 410 and the transfer of representative status from Local 5 to Local 410 was approved by the International and by both Locals 5 and 410; 1 and Local 410's officers are the same as those of the autonomous Local 5 unit at the Climax plant. In these circumstances, we find that the requested substitution of Local 410 for Local 5 as certified representative of the employees in the unit would insure to these employees a continuity of their present organization and representation and we shall therefore grant the peti- tioner's request.' Such amendment of the certification is not, how- ever, to be considered as a new certification or a recertification. [The Board amended the Certification of Representatives issued to Office Employees International Union, Local No. 5, AFL-CIO, in Case No. 30-RC-1037 by substituting therein "Office Employees In- ternational Union, Local No. 410, AFL-CIO" for "Office Employees International Union, Local No. 5, AFL-CIO."] I The Employer does not contend , and there is no indication in the documents filed with the Board , that the employees involved do not wish to be represented by Local 410. 2 Bushnell Steel Company, 96 NLRB 218 . See also United States Plywood Corporation, 98 NLRB 1330 . Although Chairman McCulloch concurred in Gulf Oil Company, 135 NLRB 184, he believes that the instant case is distinguishable . In Gulf, the Board denied the motion to substitute Local 826 , International Union of Operating Engineers, for Local 715 of the same International as certified representative of the employees involved . In that case, however, the employees in the involved unit apparently had theretofore been repre- sented by their own local and the motion sought to transfer the certification to an amalgamated local. Under those circumstances , the Board found that the substitution of Local 826 as representative of the employees would have resulted in a complete loss of identity of the certified Local 715 , without insuring to the employees in the unit a con- tinuity of their existing representation . Here, on the other hand , the certified local is an amalgamated local and the petitioners seek to transfer the certification to a local which would represent only the Climax employees . In this context, it is clear that the requested substitution would afford the employees involved representation by a successor local which both is identified with their specific unit grouping and has a continuing identification with their prior representative. Milk Drivers and Dairy Employees Local Union No. 584, Inter- national Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehouse- men and Helpers of America and Old Dutch Farms, Inc., Charging Party. Case No. 2-CC-800. March Vii, 1964 DECISION AND ORDER On October 9, 1963, Trial Examiner Owsley Vose issued his Decision in the above-entitled proceeding, finding that the Respondent had engaged in and was engaging in certain unfair labor practices and 146 NLRB No. 62.