Acme Wire Products Corp.

ACME WIRE PRODUCTS CORP Acme Wire Products Corporation and Dura-Coat, Inc and Miscellaneous Warehousemen, Drivers & Help- ers Local 986, International Brotherhood of Team- sters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen & Helpers of America, Petitioner. Case 21-RC-14359 June 11, 1976 DECISION AND CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVE By MEMBERS FANNING, PENELLO, AND WALTHER Pursuant to a Stipulation for Certification Upon Consent Election, an election by secret ballot was conducted on January 8 and 9, 1976, among the em- ployees in the stipulated unit described below The tally of ballots furnished the parties showed that of approximately 102 eligible voters, 100 cast ballots, of which 65 were for and 32 against the Union, and 3 were challenged The challenged ballots were not suf- ficient in number to affect the results of the election Thereafter, the Employer filed objections asserting that the Union's leaflets prevented a free and un- trammeled choice of the bargaining representative In accordance with the National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations, the Regional Director conducted an investigation and, on February 24, 1976, issued and duly served on the parties his Re- port on Objections wherein he found as follows In support of its objections, the Employer present- ed only one leaflet which was distributed to the em- ployees by the Union on or about October 14, 1975 In that leaflet, it stated that "having representation by the [Union] mean[s] having a written contract" which provides for elimination of merit reviews and a diversity of benefits, including job security, wage in- creases, a variety of health, welfare, and pension ben- efits, sick leave, and more holidays The principal thrust of the Employer's objections to the statements made by the Union is that such representattions are false, fraudulent, materially de- ceptive, and otherwise illegal With respect to the benefits which the Union is alleged to have promised, it is clear that the state- ments made by the Union do not exceed the bounds of privileged campaign propaganda Employees are generally able to understand that a union cannot ob- tain benefits automatically by winning an election, but must seek to achieve them through collective bar- gaining However, assuming arguendo that there were misrepresentations made by the Union in the leaflet, 701 the Employer had almost 3 months before the elec- tion to reply thereto With respect to other material mailed or otherwise conveyed to the employees by the Union, the latter furnished copies thereof to the Regional Director who found nothing therein which would be in con- flict with the Board's guidelines in Hollywood Ceram- ics Company, Inc, 140 NLRB 221 (1962), Modme Manufacturing Company, 203 NLRB 527 (1973), and subsequent cases The Employer filed exceptions which were limited to the Regional Director's disposition of its objec- tions with respect to the leaflet discussed above 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 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 pur- poses of the Act to assert jurisdiction herein 2 The Union is a labor organization claiming to represent certain employees of the Employer 3 A question affecting commerce exists concern- ing the representation of the employees of the Em- ployer within the meaning of Section 9(c)(1) and Sec- tion 2(6) and (7) of the Act 4 The parties stipulated, and we find, that the fol- lowing employees of the Employer constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 8(b) of the Act All production and maintenance employees, coaters, packers and finishers, shipping and re- ceiving employees, warehousemen, and truck- drivers employed by the Employer at its facility located at 12822 Monarch Street, Garden Grove, California, but excluding all other em- ployees, office clerical employees, professional employees, guards, and supervisors as defined in the Act 5 The Board has considered the objections, the Regional Director's report, and the exceptions, and hereby adopts the Regional Director's findings, con- clusions, and recommendations t Accordingly, as the tally shows that the Union ob- tained a majority of the valid ballots cast, we shall certify it as the exclusive bargaining representative of the employees in the unit found appropriate As noted above, the Employer excepted to the Regional Directors dis- position of the objections concerning the leaflet but not as o his findings concerning other campaign material of the Union 224 NLRB No 105 702 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVE men & Helpers of America, and that, pursuant to Section 9(a) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the said labor organization is the exclusive It is hereby certified that a majority of the valid representative of all the employees in the unit found ballots have been cast for Miscellaneous Warehouse- appropriate herein for the purposes of collective bar- men, Drivers & Helpers Local 986, International gaining in respect to rates of pay, wages, hours of Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehouse- employment, or other conditions of employment