General Housing Industries, Inc.

24 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD General Housing Industries, Inc. and International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, AFL-CIO, Petitioner. General Housing Industries, Inc. and International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, AFL-CIO; United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, Carpenters District Council of Western Pennsylvania, AFL-CIO.' Cases 6-RC-5713 and 6-RM-439 May 22, 1972 DECISION AND CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVE BY MEMBERS FANNING, JENKINS, AND KENNEDY Pursuant to a Stipulation for Certification Upon Consent Election, an election by secret ballot was conducted on October 8, 1971, under the direction and supervision of the Acting Regional Director for Region 6, the results of which showed that none of the choices on the ballot had received a majority of the valid votes cast. No objections having been filed, a runoff election was conducted on October 28 among the employees in the stipulated unit. At the conclusion of the election, the parties were furnished with a tally of ballots which showed that, of approximately 181 eligible voters, 140 ballots were cast, of which 78 were for Laborers' International Union of North America, Laborers' District Council of Western Pennsylvania, AFL-CIO; 2 61 were cast for United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, Carpenters District Council of Western Pennsylvania, AFL-CIO; 3 there was 1 challenged ballot and 1 void ballot. The challenged ballot was not sufficient in number to affect the results of the election. Thereafter, on November 4, 1971, the Carpenters filed timely objections to conduct affect- ing the results of the election. On November 30, the Carpenters withdrew all objections except Objection 3. The Regional Director conducted an investigation and on December 3, 1971, issued his Order Directing Hearing on Objections and Notice of Hearing in which he found that the investigation disclosed that the objection raised substantial and material issues which could best be resolved by a hearing and ordered that a hearing be held as to Objection 34 I The Laborers' International Union of North America , Laborers' District Council of Western Pennsylvania, AFL-CIO, was permitted to intervene based on its showing of interest. 2 Hereinafter referred to as the Laborers 7 Hereinafter referred to as the Carpenters " Objection 3 Information was passed out from the office either the day before or the 197 NLRB No. 8 before a Hearing Officer, who would prepare recommendations to the Board. Following such a hearing, on January 18, 1972, the Hearing Officer issued his Report on Objections to Election in which he recommended that Carpenters Objection 3 be sustained and that the election be set aside. Thereafter, the Laborers filed timely excep- tions to the Hearing Officer's report. Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the National Labor Relations Board has delegated its authority in this proceeding to a three-member panel. Upon the entire record in this proceeding, the Board finds: 1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act and it will effectuate the purposes of the Act to assert jurisdiction herein. 2. The Laborers and Carpenters are labor organi- zations claiming to represent certain employees of the Employer. 3. A question affecting commerce exists concern- ing the representation of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Sections 9(c)(l) and 2(6) and (7) of the Act. 4. The parties stipulated, and we find, that all production and maintenance employees and truck- drivers of the Employer's Milesburg, Pennsylvania, facility, but excluding all other employees, office clerical employees and guards, professional employ- ees and supervisors as defined in the Act, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9(b) of the Act. 5. The Board has reviewed the rulings made by the Hearing Officer at the hearing and finds that no prejudicial error was committed. The rulings are hereby affirmed. The Board has considered the Hearing Officer's report, the Laborers exceptions, and the entire record in this proceeding5 and hereby directs that a Certification of Representative be issued for reasons stated below. The Laborers excepted to the Hearing Officer's recommendation that Carpenters Objection 3 be sustained and that the Board set aside the election because there was a substantial likelihood that a rumor that laid-off employees would be recalled to work if the Laborers won the election affected the results of the election. Prior to the runoff election which was conducted on October 28, the Employer, on October 15, laid off approximately 80 employees who remained laid off day of the election that if the Laborers won the election all employees would be recalled back to work on Monday 5 The Laborers request for oral argument is denied , since in our opinion the record, including the transcript, exhibits, and exceptions, adequately presents the issues and the positions of the parties GENERAL HOUSING INDUSTRIES, INC. until the week following the election. The Hearing Officer concluded that a rumor that the laid-off employees would be recalled if the Laborers won the election was widespread among the employees eligible to vote in the election, but that the rumor was not attributable to the Employer or any of the parties. He further found that this rumor was in the nature of a promise of a benefit to the laid-off employees as it was a promise of a return to work if the Laborers won the election and that it was also a promise of a benefit to those employees working as it would mean better job security to them if the Laborers won the election. Finally, the Hearing Officer concluded that in all the circumstances of the case, including the fact that there were also wide- spread rumors which favored the Carpenters, there was a substantial likelihood that the rumor favoring the Laborers affected the outcome of the election, and, therefore, he recommended that Objection 3 be sustained and that the election be set aside. We disagree. We believe the Hearing Officer gave insufficient weight to the fact that there were numerous conflict- ing and contradictory rumors circulating among the electorate as to the possible consequences of victory for either Union. Thus, it was rumored both that if the Laborers won the election laid-off employees would be immediately recalled to work, and that the plant would shut down. It was also rumored that if the Carpenters won the election such a decision would result in the recall of the laid-off employees and that, without the Carpenters label on its product, the Employer would be unable to sell its products. The record reveals that none of these rumors can be attributed to any of the parties to the election and 25 ' that, although each of the rumors had considerable currency, none of them, judging by employee response in the form of questioning of agents of the parties, gained substantial ascendancy over the others. Absent attachment of responsibility for the circulation of any or all of the rumors to agents of the parties, and in the absence of any background facts or circumstances likely to give more weight to rumors favoring one Union than the other, we find that none of the rumors was likely to have had any substantial impact on the voting decision of the employees. In our judgment, the rumors stand revealed to the employees as nothing more than election propaganda capable of being evaluated as such by the employees, and the various rumors neutralized and dissipated the possible coercive impact of the others.6 Accordingly, as the tally shows that the Laborers has obtained a majority of the valid ballots cast, we shall certify it as the exclusive bargaining representa- tive of the employees in the appropriate unit. CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVE It is hereby certified that a majority of the valid ballots have been cast for Laborers' International Union of North America, Laborers' District Council of Western Pennsylvania, AFL-CIO, and that, pursuant to Section 9(a) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the said labor organiza- tion is the exclusive representative of all the employees in the unit found appropriate herein for the purposes of collective bargaining in respect to rates of pay, wages, hours of employment, or other conditions of employment. 6 Cf Staub Cleaners, Inc, 171 NLRB 332, 333