La Plant-Choate Manufacturing Co., Inc.

In the Matter of LA PLANT-CHOATE MANUFACTURING Co., INC. andl' UNITED FARM -EQU1PlIENT WonKJ 11S ORGANIZING COMMITTEE , LOCAL. 116, AFFILIATED WITH THE C. 1. O. Cam No. R-1390 SUPPLEMENTAL DECISION AND CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES September 19, 1939 On July 28, 1939, the National Labor Relations Board, herein called' the Board, issued a Decision and Direction of Election in the above- entitled case.' The Direction of Election directed that an election by- secret ballot be conducted under the direction and supervision of the- Regional Director for the Eighteenth Region (Minneapolis, Minne- sota) among the production, maintenance, and service employees of- La Plant-Choate Manufacturing Co., Inc., herein called the Company,. who were working or were on vacation or absent because of illness. during the pay-roll period last preceding the date of the Direction of Election, and in addition, among those employees who, although- not actually working, had seniority standing and were on the Com- pany's seniority list at the close of the same pay-roll period, excluding- supervisory and clerical employees and engineering personnel, and any persons who had since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whether or not they desire to be represented for the purposes of collec- tive bargaining by United Farm Equipment Workers Organizing- Committee, Local 116, herein called the United, or by International' Association of Machinists, Harmony Lodge No. 831, herein called the- I. A. M., or by neither. Pursuant to the Direction of Election, balloting was conducted on August 10, 1939. Full opportunity was accorded to all parties to this- investigation to participate in the conduct of the secret ballot and to make challenges. On August 11, 1939, the.Regional Director, acting- pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor Relations Board. 113 N. L. R. B. 1228. 15 N. L. R. B., No. 52. 485 199549-39-vol. 15--32 486 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Rules and Regulations-Series 2, issued his Election Report, copies 'of which were duly served upon the parties. As to the balloting and its results, the Regional Director reported as follows : • 1. Total number eligible___________________________________ 343 '2. Total number of ballots cast_____________________________ 306 :3. Total number of ballots cast for United Farm Equipment Workers Organizing Committee , Local 116, (C. I. O.)____ 139 4. Total number of ballots cast for International Association of Machinists, Harmony Lodge No. 331, (A. F. of L.) ---- 156 5. Total number of ballots cast for neither labor organization 10 6. Total number of blank ballots ___________________________ 1 7. Total number of void ballots _____________________________ 0 8. Total number of challenged ballots _______________________ 0 On August 16, 1939, the United filed with the Regional Director ,objections to the conduct of the ballot and the Election Report. The ,objections alleged that the results of the election do not express the true desires of the employees because of the following intimidation ,and coercion practiced by the Company : (1) After the election was announced, Ben Cady, a foreman, told the employees working under his supervision that if they voted for the United, the Company would know it and they would lose their jobs; (2) Ray Harlan, a foreman, being aware that a number of the men in his department were mem- bers of the United, refused to allow them to vote -until after "some haggling" and then, upon being shown proof to the effect that the Board had ordered the election, reluctantly permitted them.to go to vote; (3) The Company, by two bulletins posted on its bulletin boards -in the plant, one misstating the date of the election, and the other disparaging the United, by meeting with representatives of the I. A. Al. while refusing to meet with representatives of the United, and by "a number of other acts showing favoritism" toward the I. A. M., indulged in unfair practices with the intention of intimidat- ing, coercing, and deceiving the employees and defeating the United -at the election.. No objection was made to the conduct of the ballot by the agents of the Board. Thereafter, the Regional Director, acting pursuant to Article III, 'Section 9, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations- 'Series 2, issued his report on the objections, copies of which were served upon the parties. With respect to the objections the Regional Director reported : (1) Bernard Ditzler, a member of the United employed in Cady's -department, announced to members of the United, at a meeting held July 29, 1939, that Cady had told him and the new employees in the 2 Designated by the United in its objections as Ray Herlan. LA PLANT-CHOATE MANUFACTURING CO., INC. 487 department that if they voted for the United the Company would know it and would lay them off. Ditzler also remarked at this meet- ing that if he had reported Cady to the Company, Cady would have been discharged. When interviewed on August 24, 1939, Ditzler was reluctant to discuss the incident and described it differently than he had in his report to the United meeting. Ditzler told the Board's agent that Cady had said to him shortly before the election, "I hate to see the C. I. O. get in here, for the first thing that will happen is there will be a strike. I would like to see it stay the way it has been the last 2 years." Ditzler said that he had voted for the United in the election and had not been influenced by Cady's alleged remarks. Cady denied having made any statements to any employees which expressed hostility to the United; (2) Employees were given permission, in a "Special Bulletin" posted by the Company, to leave their work to vote in the election without loss of pay. In Harlan's department all but one of the em- ployees voted on company time. All these but two left their work to vote without asking Harlan's permission. Two employees specifically. requested Harlan's permission to leave the department. Harlan states that he was preoccupied when they approached him and that he had them wait 2 or 3 minutes while he referred to the aforesaid company bulletin. Upon ascertaining that it. was proper to permit the employees to vote on company time, Harlan allowed the two em- ployees leave for that purpose; (3) On August 4, 1939, the Company posted on its bulletin boards in the plant the erroneous announcement that the election would be held at the Federal Building on August 12. Roy E. Choate, the Com- pa.ny's president, explained that this mistake was due to inaccurate information given to him by an I. A. M. officer. On August 9, the Company posted a bulletin which correctly announced the time and place of the election. Also on August 9, the Company posted a bulle- tin containing the following statement, "Whoever writes the C. I. O. bulletins either does not get the facts or ignores them." Choate ex- plained that this bulletin was posted in reply to a handbill distributed by the United several days previously, in which the United had made a derogatory statement about the Company which the Company con-' sidered to be false. The Company's acts of alleged favoritism toward the I. A. M. have been done in accordance with a contract entered into by the I. A. M. and the Company in April 1938, which recognizes the I. A. M. as the exclusive representative of the Company's employees for the purposes of collective bargaining, and which is still in effect.3 6 This contract , which was entered into more than 11 months before the petition for investigation and certification of representatives was filed, is discussed in the Decision and Direction of Election , 13 N. L. R. B. 1228. 488 DECISION'S OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD The only objection which appears, on investigation, to have any merit, is that relating to the statement alleged to have been made by Cady. Assuming that Cady did make the statement attributed to him by Ditzler, it was, as Ditzler described the episode to the Board's agent, a remark addressed to Ditzler only, and it did not deter him from voting for the United in the election. While we have frequently held that statements such as this, made by supervisory employees, con- stitute interference with and restraint and coercion of employees in the exercise of their rights under the Act, in view of the isolated nature of this incident and in the absence of some showing that it affected the result of the election, we find that no substantial or material issue has been raised with respect to the conduct of the ballot. The objec- tion is hereby overruled. The Board has considered the other ob- jections and the Regional Director's report thereon and finds that they raise no substantial or material issues with respect to the conduct of the ballot. They, also, are hereby overruled. CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National Labor Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Rela- tions Act, and pursuant to Article III, Sections 8 and 9, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, IT IS IJEBEBY CERTIFIED that International Association of Machin- ists, Harmony Lodge No. 831, has been designated by a majority of the production, maintenance, and service employees of La Plant-Choate Manufacturing Co., Inc., Cedar Rapids, Iowa, exclusive of supervisory and clerical employees and engineering personnel, as their representa- tive for the purposes of collective bargaining, and that pursuant to the provisions of Section 9 (a) of the National Labor Relations Act, International Association of Machinists, Harmony Lodge No. 831, is the exclusive representative of all such employees for the purposes of collective bargaining in respect to rates of pay, wages, hours of em- ployment, and other conditions of employment.