Endless Mold, Inc.

ENDLESS MOLD, INC. Endless Mold, Inc. and International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Imple- ment Workers of America (UAW), Petitioner. Case 7-RC-12022 April 19, 1974 DECISION AND CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVE BY CHAIRMAN MILLER AND MEMBERS FANNING AND PENELLO Pursuant to a Stipulation for Certification Upon Consent Election, a secret ballot election was conducted on October 31, 1973, among the employ- ees in the stipulated unit described below. The tally of ballots furnished the parties showed that, of approximately 85 eligible voters, 61 cast valid ballots, of which 41 were for, and 20 against, the Petitioner. There were no challenged ballots. Thereafter, the Employer filed timely objections to conduct affecting the results of the election. On December 17, 1973, the Regional Director issued and served on the parties his Report and Recommendation on Objections recommending that the objections be overruled in their entirety and Petitioner be certified as the exclusive collective- bargaining representative in the stipulated unit. Thereafter, the Employer filed exceptions 1 to the Regional Director'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 labor organization involved claims to represent certain employees of the Employer. 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 constitute an appropriate unit for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9(b) of the Act: All production and maintenance employees, i In the absence of timely exceptions, we issued a Decision and Certification of Representative on January 10, 1974, in which we adopted the Regional Director's recommendation that the Employer's objections be overruled in their entirety and that the Petitioner be certified as the exclusive bargaining representative of the Employer's employees in the unit found appropriate On January 16, 1974, the Employer filed a request for Late Filing of Exceptions and Motion for Reconsideration On January 21, 159 including shipping and receiving employees and truck drivers employed by the Employer at its 500 East Second Street, Rochester, Michigan, facility; but excluding all office clerical employees, tool room employees, managerial employees, guards and supervisors as defined in the Act. 5. The Board has considered the objections, the Regional Director's report, and the Employer's exceptions and brief and hereby adopts the Regional Director's findings, conclusions, and recommenda- tions.2 The Regional Director found that approximately 2 weeks before the election the Petitioner distributed a letter to all employees which stated: "INITIATION FEES-Cost of joining UAW has been waived for all Endless Mold employees."3 The Regional Direc- tor also found that union representatives told employees at three meetings prior to the election that any employee employed by the Employer when the Petitioner was "voted in" would not be required to pay initiation fees. The Regional Director concluded that the Petitioner's waiver did not constitute a basis for setting aside the election, relying on our decision in DIT-MCO, Incorporated, 163 NLRB 1019. At the time of the Regional Director's decision, the Su- preme Court had not yet expressed its views on this issue. We have reviewed this matter in light of the Supreme Court's decision in N. L. R. B. v. Savair Manufacturing Company, 414 U.S. 270 (December 17, 1973), and have concluded that the Petitioner's waiver of initiation fees here does not warrant setting aside the election. In Savair the Supreme Court characterized the waiver of initiation fees as a legitimate interest of the union in eliminating an "artificial obstacle," e.g., the expense of representa- tion, from the employees' free choice in the election. This union interest "can be preserved as well by waiver of initiation fees available not only to those who have signed up with the union before an election but also to those who join after the election." The availability to all employees eligible to vote in the election, whether they should join the union before or after the election, ensures that the waiver has not been conditioned upon support of the union in any form during the election. The absence of such condition avoids the creation of any impression that employees who refrain from supporting the union would be penalized therefor in comparison with those employees who support the union during the electoral campaign. The waiver in the instant case 1974, we granted the Employers motion and revoked our January 10, 1974, Decision and Certification of Representative 2 In the absence of exceptions thereto, we adopt proforma the Regional Director's recommendation to overrule Objections 2 and 3(c), respectively. 3 The letter also stated: "UA W DUES-UAW dues do not begin until you start receiving UAW benefits through a signed contract . 210 NLRB No. 34 160 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD was available to all eligible voters in the election, was optionable before or after the election, and was clearly not conditioned upon the expression of support for the Union in any form during the electoral process.4 We find that the Petitioner's waiver did not interfere with employee free choice in the election and, consequently, that the election should not be set aside. As 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 unit found appropriate. 4 The additional fact that the Union, in its oral waiver of initiation fees, limited the availability of that waiver to only those individuals who were employed when it was "voted in" could not, in our view, be deemed to have affected the election. Whatever the impact of such a limitation , it is clear CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVE It is hereby certified that a majority of the valid ballots has been cast for the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW), 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 with respect to rates of pay, wages, hours of employment, and other terms and conditions of employment. that it would only affect those individuals hired after the election who, in any event, could not have participated in the election and could not have had any effect on its outcome.