Sunshine - 50 Care Centers, Inc.,

86 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Sunshine - 50 Care Centers, Inc., Hilton Convalescent Home Division and Nursing & Convalescent Home Employees Division of Local 79, Service Employees International Union, AFL-CIO, Petitioner. Case 7-RC-12548 March 25, 1975 DECISION AND CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVE All full-time and regular part-time employees em- ployed by the Employer at its facility located at 3161 Hilton, Ferndale, Michigan, including nurses aides, orderlies, housekeeping aides, main- tenance employees, laundry aides and kitchen em- ployees; but excluding office clerical employees, registered nurses, professional employees, licensed practical nurses, guards and supervisors as defined in the Act. BY MEMBERS FANNING, PENELLO, AND KENNEDY Pursuant to authority granted it by the National Labor Relations Board under Section 3(b) of the Na- tional Labor Relations Act, as amended, a three-mem- ber panel has considered objections to an election held August 22, 1974,' and the Regional Director's report recommending disposition of same. The Board has re- viewed the record in light of the exceptions and brief, and hereby adopts the Regional Director's findings and recommendations. CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVE It is hereby certified that a majority of the valid ballots have been cast for Nursing & Convalescent Home Employees Division of Local 79, Service Em- ployees International Union , AFL-CIO, and that, pur- suant to Section 9(a) of the Act the foregoing labor organization is the exclusive representative of all the employees in the following appropriate unit for the purposes of collective-bargaining with respect to rates of pay, wages, hours of employment , or other condi- tions of employment: I The election was conducted pursuant to a Stipulation for Certification Upon Consent Election. The tally was. 24 for, and 13 against, the Petitioner; there was I challenged ballot, an insufficient number to affect the results MEMBER KENNEDY, dissenting: I would direct a hearing on Objection 2. In his_re- port, the Regional Director finds that the Board agent on three occasions left the'polling area with the ballot box unsealed. The Employer in its exceptions asserts that during the Board agent's three absences, the un- marked ballots were left lying on a table in the polling area. If the Employer's assertions are true, the election should be set aside. In my recent dissent in Benavent & Fournier, Inc., 208 NLRB 636 (1974), I pointed out that it has been a cardinal principle of the Board that unmarked ballots remain in the sole possession and custody of the Board agent at all times. In the absence of such a rule, the possibility of fraudulent voting presents a distinct threat to the Board's election process. It could well be that in many cases, depending upon the ingenuity or guile of the perpetrator, fraudulent voting could be undetected. The Regional Director states in his report that there is no evidence of tampering with the ballot box. Where it appears that unauthorized persons have had access to both unmarked ballots and an unsealed ballot box, it is obviously unnecessary to tamper with the ballot box. I adhere to the view that the Board's standards of conducting elections should not be low- ered to permit the abandonment of both ballots and ballot box to others. 217 NLRB No. 14