The John R. Crocker Co.

852 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD The John R. Crocker Company and Local 782, United Association of Journeymen and Ap- prentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry of the United States and Canada, AFL-CIO, Peti- tioner. Case 5-RC-5574 July 27,1967 DECISION ON REVIEW, ORDER, AND CER- TIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVE BY CHAIRMAN MCCULLOCHAND MEMBERS BROWN ANDJEIVKINS Pursuant to a Decision and Direction of Election issued by the Regional Director for Region 5 of the National Labor Relations Board, an election was conducted under his supervision on June 22, 1966, among the employees in the unit found appro- priate.' At the conclusion of the election, the parties were furnished with a tally of ballots which showed that of approximately 18 eligible voters, 18 cast ballots, of which 9 were for, and 8 against, Peti- tioner with 1 challenged ballot. Thereafter, the Peti- tioner filed timely objections to the results of the election. As the challenged ballot was determinative of the results of the election, and as Petitioner had filed timely objections to the election, the Regional Director, in accordance with the National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations and State- ments of Procedure, Series 8, as amended, con- ducted an investigation and, on September 1, 1966, issued and served upon the parties his Supplemen- tal Decision, wherein he overruled, in their entirety, Petitioner's objections, overruled Petitioner's chal- lenge to the ballot of Edward L. Pridgen, and directed that Pridgen's ballot be opened and counted. Thereafter, on September 20, 1966, Peti- tioner filed with the Board exceptions to Supple- mental Decision of the Regional Director, which the Board construes as a Request for Review. Peti- tioner's exceptions were limited to the Regional Director's determination as to the challenged ballot.2 On December 5, 1966, the National Labor Relations Board issued an Order granting Peti- tioner's request for review and directing that a hearing be held for the purpose of taking evidence to resolve the issue raised by the challenge to the ballot of Pridgen. The Employer then filed a motion for reconsideration which was opposed by Peti- tioner and which, on January 6, 1967, the Board denied. Pursuant to the Board's Order, a hearing was held on January 19, 1967, before Jessie L. Butler, Hearing Officer. All parties participa ted in the hear- ing and were given full opportunity to examine and cross-examine witnesses and to introduce evidence bearing on the issues. On February 27, the Hearing Officer issued and duly served upon the parties his report and recommendation on challenged ballot. In his report, the Hearing Officer found that on the date of the Board election, and for sometime prior thereto, Edward L. Pridgen possessed and exer- cised supervisory authority, and recommended that the challenge to Pridgen's ballot be sustained. Thereafter, the Employer filed timely exceptions to the Hearing Officer's Report and a motion for reconsideration of the order granting the request for review. Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the Na- tional Labor Relations Board has delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three- member panel. The Board has reviewed the rulings of the Hear- ing Officer made at the hearing and finds that no prejudicial error was committed. The rulings are hereby affirmed. The Board has considered the Re- gional Director's Supplemental Decision, the Peti- tioner's request for review, the Hearing Officer's report, the Employer's-exceptions thereto, the Em- ployer's motion for reconsideration, and the entire record in the case, and hereby adopts the Hearing Officer's findings and recommendations. In support of its present motion for reconsidera- tion of our Order granting review and directing a hearing to resolve the issue as to the supervisory status of Pridgen, the Employer argues that this whole procedure violates the rule of the Board's Decision in Cruis Along Boats, Inc., 128 NLRB 1019. We disagree. Unlike the situation in Cruis Along, we find that the parties did not stipulate that Pridgen is not a su- pervisor. Thus, the parties here did not address themselves to the question whether Pridgen's responsibility was characterized by any statutory indicia of supervisory status but merely stipulated that Pridgen worked in a job classification which was included in the unit. On the facts presented, we accordingly conclude that the challenge to Pridgen's ballot properly raised the issue of his su- pervisory status. As we have sustained the challenge to the ballot of Pridgen, and as the Petitioner received a majority of the valid ballots cast in the election, we shall cer- tify it as the representative of the employees in the unit found appropriate. I All plumbers, pipefitters, heating mechanics, and laborers employed by the Employer within the States of Maryland , Delaware, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, excluding office clerical employees, guards, professional employees, and supervisors as defined in the Act , as amended. 2 Petitioner, while not agreeing with or accepting the Regional Director's findings with regard to its objections , did not seek review of the Regional Director's rulings on the objections. 166 NLRB No. 100 ORDER JOHN R. CROCKER CO. 853 It is hereby ordered that the Employer's second motion for reconsideration be, and it hereby is, denied. CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVE It is hereby certified that Local 782, United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry of the United States and Canada, AFL-CIO, has been designated and selected by a majority of the employees of the Employer in the appropriate unit as their repre- sentative for the purposes of collective bargaining, and that, pursuant to Section 9(a) of the Act, as amended , the said labor organization is the exclu- sive representative of all employees in such unit for the purposes of collective bargaining with respect to rates of pay, wages , hours of employment, and other conditions of employment. 308-926 0-70-55