Electro Cube, Inc.

504 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Electro Cube, Inc. and Van Storage, Drivers, Packers, Warehousemen & Helpers, Local 389, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehouse- men & Helpers of America, Petitioner. Case 21- RC-12609 October 4, 1972 DECISION AND CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVE By CHAIRMAN MILLER AND MEMBERS FANNING AND JENKINS Pursuant to a Stipulation for Certification Upon Consent Election executed by the parties on April 5, 1972, an election by secret ballot was held on May 4, 1972, under the direction and supervision of the Re- gional Director for Region 21, among the employees in the bargaining unit set forth in the stipulation. At the conclusion of the election, the parties were fur- nished a tally of ballots, which showed that, of ap- proximately 60 eleigible voters, 59 cast ballots, of which 31 were for the Petitioner, 28 against the Peti- tioner, and 0 were challenged. Thereafter, the Em- ployer filed timely objections to conduct affecting the results of the election. Pursuant to the National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations and Statements of Procedure, Series 8, as amended, the Acting Regional Director for Region 21 conducted an and, on June 22, 1972, issued and duly served on the parties his Report on Objections, in which he recommended that the objec- tions be overruled in their entirety and that the Peti- tioner be certified as bargaining representative of the employees involved. Thereafter, the Employer filed timely exceptions to the Regional Director's report. Pursuant to the provisions of Secion 3(b) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the Na- tional Labor Relations Board has delegated its au- thority in this proceeding to a three-member panel. Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds: 1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act and it will effectuate the poli- cies of the Act to assert jurisdiction herein. 2. The Petioner is a labor organization which claims to represent certain employees of the Employ- er. 3. A question affecting commerce exists concern- ing the representation of certain employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section 9(c)(1) and Section 2(6) and (7) of the Act. 4. The parties stipulated, and we find, that the following employees of the Employer constitute a unit appropriate for the purpose of collective bargaining within the meaning of the Act: All production and maintenance employees and shipping and receiving employees, excluding all other employees, office clerical employees, guards, professional employees and supervisors as defined in the Act, located at 1710 South Del Mar Avenue, San Gabriel, California. 5. The Board has considered the Regional Di- rector's report and the Employer's exceptions thereto, and as the exceptions raise no material or substantial issues of fact or law which would warrant reversal or require a hearing, we hereby adopt the Regional Director's findings and recommendations. In concur- ring with the Regional Director that Objection 1 does not raise any such substantial or material issues, we do not rely solely on the fact that no evidence has been submitted or discovered as to Petitioner's re- sponsibility for the posting of a "Vote Teamsters" sign near the Board's directional sign pointing the way to the polls on election day. We also rely on the facts that the sign was some 40 feet distant from the polling area, that there is no evidence that any partisan prop- aganda was permitted in the polling area supervised by the Board agent, and that the likelihood of any voter believing the sign was Board-sponsored or en- dorsed merely because it was near the directional sign is remote. Under these circumstances we have con- cluded that while we do not condone the conduct of whoever was responsible for the sign's presence, the necessary neutrality of the Board's function in con- ducting the election cannot be said to have been placed in substantial jeopardy under all of the circum- stances. Accordingly, as the tally of ballots shows that the Petitioner has received a majority of the valid ballots cast, we shall certify it as the exclusive bargaining representative 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 Van Storage, Drivers, Pack- ers, Warehousemen & Helpers, Local 389, Interna- tional Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen & Helpers of America, and that, pur- suant to Section 9(a) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the said labor organization is the exclusive representative of all the employees in the unit found appropriate herein for purposes of collec- tive bargaining in respect to rates of pay, wages, hours of employment, or other conditions of employment. 199 NLRB No. 73