Blue Ridge Stone Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 9, 1947

74 N.L.R.B. 1 (N.L.R.B. 1947)

In the Matter of BLUE RIDGE STONE CORPORATION, EMPLOYER and
AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR AND AFFILIATES, PETITIONER
Case No. 5-R-9564.-Decided June 9, 1947
Cooke, Hazelgrove cC Shackelford, by Messrs. W. P. Hazelgrove
and W. A. Dickinson, of Roanoke, Va., for the Employer.
Messrs. J. R. Miller and A. B. Barber, of Richmond, Va., for the
Petitioner.
Miss Mmiel J. Levor, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
ORDER
Upon petition duly filed, the National Labor Relations Board, on
November 21, 1946, conducted a prehearing election among the em-
ployees of the Employer in the alleged appropriate unit to determine
whether or not they desired to be represented by the Petitioner for
the purposes of collective bargaining.
At the close of the election, a Tally of Ballots was furnished the
parties. The Tally shows that there were approximately 78 eligible
voters and that 75 of the eligible voters cast valid ballots, of which
36 were for the Petitioner. 37 were against the Petitioner, and 2 were
challenged.
Thereafter, a hearing was held at Roanoke, Virginia, on February
19, 1947, before Charles B, Slaughter, hearing officer. The hearing
officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error
and are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations
Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER
Blue Ridge Stone Corporation, a Virginia corporation, operates
a stone quarry at Blue Ridge Springs, Virginia, where it quarries
stone. The Employer purchases supplies, consisting of coal, powder,
dynamite, machinery, tools, electricity, and gasoline, totaling approxi-
74 N L. R. B.. No. 1.
1
2 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
mately 25 percent of the value of the sales of crushed stone, of which
35 to 40 percent is shipped from points outside Virginia. During the
year 1945, the Employer's sales of crushed stone amounted to approxi-
mately $380,000, of which 21/2 percent was shipped to points outside
Virginia. The Employer sold approximately 91/2 percent of its
crushed stone to Norfolk & Western Railroad and 26 percent to Vir-
ginia Department of Highways for use in the construction of State
highways.
We find, contrary to the contention of the Employer, that it is en-
gaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Rela-
tions Act.'
H. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
The American Federation of Labor and its affiliates are labor or-
ganizations, claiming to represent employees of the Employer.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Employer refuses to recognize the Petitioner as the exclusive
bargaining representative of employees of the Employer until the
Petitioner has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit.
We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning
the representation of employees of the Employer, within the meaning
of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. TIIE APPROPRIATE UNIT
We find, in accordance with the agreement of the parties, that all
production and maintenance employees of the Employer at its quarry
at Blue Ridge Springs , Virginia , excluding clerical employees and
all supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge,
discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or
effectively recommend such action , constitute a unit appropriate for
the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section
9 (b) of the National Labor Relations Act.
V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
The prehearing election was conducted in a voting group identical
with the unit found appropriate in Section IV, above. As noted above,
the Tally of Ballots indicated that 36 ballots were cast for the Peti-
tioner, 37 against the Petitioner, and two ballots were challenged by
1 Matter of Alabama Marble Company, 71 N L R B. 275, Matter of Tampa Transit Lanes,
Inc, 71 N L R. B. 742 , N L. R B. V Iloltzille Iced Cold Stogy ale Co et at, 148 F. (2d)
168 (C. C A 9).
BLUE RIDGE STONE CORPORATION 3
the Board representative because the names of the employees casting
them did not appear upon the pay roll. The validity of the challenged
ballots, are, therefore, determinative of the election result.
Upon the Regional Director's decision to hold a prehearing elec-
tion, the Field Examiner informed the Employer that employees were
eligible to vote if on the Employer's pay roll for the "pay-roll period
ending immediately prior" to November 26th. The Employer replied
that it would furnish such a pay roll and that the pay roll described
was that of November 21. Accordingly, the Notice of Election stated
that employees appearing on the "pay roll for the pay period ending
November 21" would be eligible to vote.
Less than 1 hour before the scheduled election, the Employer, fur-
mshing the pay roll, informed the Field Examiner that the last pay
roll before November 26 was in fact the pay-roll period ending No-
vember 17, and that November 21, the date noted above, was the day
that the employees received this pay. It was not until shortly before
the election, at the polling place, that the Petitioner was informed
of the mistake in dates, but it was not informed that the Employer
had hired two employees on November 21, although the Employer's
representative was apprised of that fact. The Petitioner made no
objection at that time with respect to the mistake in dates. The two
employees hired on November 21 presented themselves at the polls;
and were challenged by the Board's representative because their names
did not appear upon the pay roll furnished by the Employer.
The Petitioner contends that these challenged ballots should be
opened and the votes counted, or, in the alternative, that a new elec-
tion should be directed, on the ground that the Petitioner was preju-
diced by lack of notice of the mistake made with respect to the pay-roll
date used to determine eligibility. The Employer contends that the
challenges should be sustained and that the election should stand,
on the ground that the pay-roll date used was, in fact, the date set by
the Regional Director and that to disregard this determinative fact
would be a reversal of all Board precedent.
Inasmuch as the pay roll used, November 17, reflects, in fact, "the
pay-roll period immediately prior" to November 26, and since the two
employees who cast challenged ballots could not have been eligible
unless a pay roll after the November 26th date set by the Regional
Director had been used, the mistake in dates was not material to their
eligibility and the Petitioner was not actually prejudiced thereby.
Moreover, the mistake was admittedly made in good faith. In view
of the foregoing, we find no reason to depart from our usual practice
of making the pay-roll date set by the Board's representative deter-
minative of eligibility to vote. Accordingly, we find that the chal-
4 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
lenged voters were not eligible to vote and we shall sustain the
challenges.
Since the results of the election held before the hearings show that
a majority of the eligible employees voting have not selected the Peti-
tioner as their bargaining representative, we shall dismiss the petition
filed herein.
ORDER
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the petition filed by the American Federa-
tion of Labor and Affiliates for investigation and certification of rep-
resentatives of employees of Blue Ridge Stone Corporation, Blue
Ridge Springs, Virginia, be, and it hereby is, dismissed.