American France Line, et al.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

May 8, 1939

12 N.L.R.B. 766 (N.L.R.B. 1939)

In the Matter of AMERICAN FRANCE LINE, et al. and INTERNATIONAL
SEAMEN'S UNION OF AMERICA
Case No. R-157
SUPPLEMENTAL DECISION
AND
ORDER
May 8, 1939
On July 16, 1937, the National Labor Relations Board, herein
called the Board, issued a Decision and Direction of Elections in
the above-entitled case.' The Direction of Elections directed that
elections be held among the unlicensed seamen, with the exception
of certain specified groups, employed by 52 named steamship lines,
to determine whether they wished to be represented for the purposes
of collective bargaining by International Seamen's Union of Amer-
ica, herein called I. S. U., or National Maritime Union of America,
herein called N. M. U., for the purposes of collective bargaining.
On August 16, 1937, the Board issued an Amendment to Decision
and Supplemental Decision 2 in which the Board provided, inter
alia, that a third space should be included on the ballots so that
employees who wished might indicate that they did not desire either
of the named organizations to represent them.
On September 11, 1937, the Board issued a Decision 8 on a motion
which had been filed by I. S. U. asking that the elections be delayed
pending the completion of a current reorganization of I. S. U. The
Board granted the motion in part, by postponing the elections for
one week; by providing that the name of the reorganized union, if
submitted to the Board within one week, should be substituted for
I. S. U. on the ballots; and by further providing that in the event
the changed name was not submitted within the one-week period
there should be substituted for "International Seamen's Union of
America" on the ballot, "International Seamen's Union of America,
or its successor affiliated with the American Federation of Labor."
13N.L R. B. 64.
2 3 N. L. R. B. 74.
' 3 N. L R B. 76
12 N. L. R. B., No. 82.
766
AMERICAN FRANCE LINE ET AL. 767
On September 17, 1937, the Board issued a Supplemental Decision
and Direction of Elections 4 in which elections were ordered in nine
additional lines. Petitions concerning the employees of these com-
panies had been included in the case originally, but no elections
had been ordered in these lines in the Decision of July 16, 1937,
because of certain defects in the record. The Directions of September
17, 1937, were also qualified by the Board's Decisions of August 16
and September 11, 1937.5
No change of name for I. S. U. having been submitted to the
Board within the allotted time, elections were begun on September
18, 1937, in most of the companies. As the election was completed
in each line an Intermediate Report, setting forth the results of the
balloting, was issued by the Regional Director for the Second Region,
and thereafter the Board issued a certification of one or the other
organization chosen by a majority of employees in the line, or in
the event a majority chose neither organization dismissed the petition.
At the present time such certifications or dismissals by the Board
have been issued in all but 11 of the 61 lines in which elections were
directed to be held.6 In conformity with the provisions of the De-
cision of September 11, 1937, the ballots and the certifications which
were issued , used the designation "International Seamen's Union
of America, or its successor affiliated with the American Federation
of Labor."
A question having subsequently arisen concerning the identity
of the successor union to I. S. U., a hearing was held before the
Board on May 9, 1938, for the purpose of determining whether or
not a successor to I. S. U. had been established. As a result of
this hearing, the Board on May 25, 1938, issued a Supplemental
Decision and Amendments to Certifications of Representatives 7 stat-
ing it had been determined that the American Federation of Labor
had granted exclusive jurisdiction to American Federation of Labor
Seamen 's Union No. 21420, herein called No. 21420, to replace the
43 N. L. R. B. 80.
6 The Board has issued many other decisions in this case , none of which are relevant to
the issues to be disposed of here.
6 The 11 lines In which no certification or dismissal order has been issued are :
Calmar Steamship Corporation.
Cosmopolitan Shipping Company, Inc.
Isthmian Steamship Company.
Ore Steamship Corporation.
Panama Railroad Company Steamship Line
Sabine Transportation Company, Inc.
South Atlantic Steamship Company
Southgate Nelson Company.
C. H. Sprague & Son, Inc.
Sun Oil Company.
Waterman Steamship Corporation.
7 7 N. L. R. B. 439
768 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
jurisdiction formerly vested in the Atlantic and Gulf Districts of
I. S. U. The Board, in conformity with this finding, directed that
the ballots in any line where the election had not yet begun or in
any line in which it was necessary for any reason to hold another
election, should use the name "American Federation of Labor Sea-
men's Union No. 21420" in place of "International Seamen's Union
of America, or its successor affiliated with the American Federation
of Labor." At the same time the Board amended the certifications
which had been issued in every line in which the election had been
won by I. S. U., or its successor affiliated with the American Fed-
eration of Labor,8 to designate No. 21420 as the collective bargain-
ing representative of the employees of that line.
On June 7 and 28, and November 10 and 15, 1938, I. S. U. peti-
tioned the Board alleging that no successor union to I. S. U. had
been properly established by the American Federation of Labor, and
requesting the Board to hold a further hearing in which I. S. U.
might establish this fact for the purpose of revocation of the amend-
ments of May 25, 1938. As the determination of this question would
have required the Board to investigate the internal affairs of the
American Federation of Labor, the Board in conformity with its
consistent practice of refusing to interfere in jurisdictional disputes,
denied each of the motions. On December 14, 1938, I. S. U. peti-
tioned the Board alleging that the seamen employed on the lines
in which the elections had been won by I. S. U., or its successor,
do not wish to be represented by No. 21420, and requesting a further
hearing "of the question of whether the bargaining agents [the
seamen] elected shall represent them or whether the American Fed-
eration of Labor may at will, change this representation without
the knowledge and consent of the men."
On: October 28 and December 3, 1938, and on February 27, 1939,
representatives of the American Federation of Labor filed petitions
with the Board alleging that No. 21420 has been dissolved and that
Seafarers International Union of North America is the successor
union to I. S. U. and No. 21420 and requesting a hearing and amend-
ments to our proceedings in conformity with these facts. The Board
denied the petition of October 28, 1938, but has taken no action on
the petitions of December 3, 1938, and February 27, 1939, which will
be dealt with herein.
$ These lines are :
A. H. Bull Steamship Company.
Colonial Navigation Company.
Eastern Steamship Lines, Inc.
Merchants & Miners Transportation Company, Inc
Mississippi Shipping Company.
Ocean Steamship Company of Savannah.
Seas Shipping Company, Inc.
AMERICAN FRANCE LINE ET AL . 769
The petitions requesting investigations and certifications of rep-
resentatives were filed in this case by I. S. U., then affiliated with
the American Federation of Labor, in June 1937; the elections were
begun in September 1937. Each of the original certifications in
lines where the election was won by I. S. U. or its successor, was
issued more than one year ago. The last date on which the Board
certified N. M. U., the other organization appearing on the ballot,
as collective bargaining representative for one of the lines involved
in this case, was April 18, 1938. In view of the conflicting claims
and the length of time which has elapsed since these certifications
were issued, we will deny the petition filed by I. S. U. on December
14,1938, and the petitions filed by the American Federation of Labor
on December 3, 1938, and February 27, 1939, in so far as they request
amendments to our prior certifications. If any question concerning
representation currently exists in any of these lines, it may be raised
by the filing of a new petition requesting an investigation and cer-
tification of representatives.
During the period within which these elections have been held
Cosmopolitan Shipping Company, Inc., Southgate Nelson Company,
and C. H. Sprague & Son, Inc., have been engaged in the operation
of vessels owned by the United States Maritime Commission. The
elections have never been completed in these lines because of the
problem, not yet resolved, as to whether they are excepted from the
jurisdiction of the Board.9 The election among the seamen employed
by Panama Railroad Company Steamship Line has not been held
because the Board has been informed that this line is operated
directly by a branch of the United States Government and accord-
ingly comes within the exception above referred to.
No election has ever been held among the employees of Sabine
Transportation Company, Inc., because of an injunction entered in
a District Court of the State of Texas, which prevented the holding
of the election.
Prior to the beginning of balloting or at some stage during the
election prior to a certification or dismissal by the Board, charges
have been filed alleging the employer has engaged in certain unfair
labor practices which would or might affect the results of the elec-
tions in Calmar Steamship Corporation, Isthmian Steamship Com-
pany, Ore Steamship Corporation, South Atlantic Steamship Com-
pany, Sun Oil Company, and Waterman Steamship Corporation.
Upon receiving such charges, the Board has delayed further ballot-
ing until such time as the charges have been disposed of and in none
of these lines has an election been completed.
Y The Act excludes from the definition of "employer," and thus from the Board's jurisdic-
tion, "the United States, or any State or political subdivision thereof," Section 2 (2).
770 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
The petition in each of these lines in which the election has not
been completed is based upon the necessary allegation that a question
concerning representation existed at the time the petition was filed.
In view of the length of time which has elapsed since these petitions
were filed, there is no basis for presuming that such a question now
exists in any of these lines. For this reason we shall dismiss the
petition in each line in which the Board has not previously issued
a certification or dismissed the petition, without prejudice to the
right of any employee or the representatives of any employees to file
a new petition requesting an investigation and certification of rep-
resentatives in any line in which such a question still exists. Since
we will dismiss these petitions, it becomes unnecessary for us to
resolve the conflicting claims of I. S. U. and the American Federa-
tion of Labor in so far as they pertain to the future conduct of elec-
tions in these lines.
ORDER
By virtue of Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act,
49 Stat. 449, and pursuant to Article III, Section 8, of National
Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 1, as amended,
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the petitions requesting investigations
and certifications of representatives of the unlicensed seamen em-
ployed by Calmar Steamship Corporation, Cosmopolitan Shipping
Company, Inc., Isthmian Steamship Company, Sabine Transporta-
tion Company, Inc., South Atlantic Steamship Company, Southgate
Nelson Company, Sun Oil Company, Panama Railroad Company
Steamship Line, Ore Steamship Corporation, C. H. Sprague & Son,
Inc., and Waterman Steamship Corporation, be, and they hereby are,
dismissed ; and
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the petition filed by International
Seamen's Union on December 14, 1938, and the petitions filed by the
American Federation of Labor on December 3, 1938, and February
27, 1939, be, and they hereby are, denied.