F. A. Smith Manufacturing Co., Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jul 18, 1947

74 N.L.R.B. 544 (N.L.R.B. 1947)

In the Matter of F. A. SMITH MANUFACTURING Co., INC., EMPLOYER
and UNITED ELECTRICAL, RADIO AND MACHINE WORKERS OF AMERICA,
C. I. 0., PETITIONER
Case No. 3-R-1-305.-Decided July 18, 1947
Mr. Francis X. Helgesen, for the Board.
Nixon, Hargrave, Middleton, d Devaus, by Mr. V. Clyde O'Brien,
of Rochester, N. Y., for the Employer.
111r. Hugh Harley, Jr., of Rochester, N. Y., for the Petitioner.
111r. Morton B. Spero, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
ORDER
On June 25, 1946, United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers
of America, C. I. 0., herein called the Petitioner, filed with the Re-
gional Director of the Third Region (Buffalo, New York), a petition
-alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning
the representation of certain employees of F. A. Smith Manufacturing
,Co., Inc.," Rochester, New York, herein called the Employer, and
requesting an investigation and certification of representatives pur-
suant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act. On July
8, 1946, the Employer and the Petitioner executed a "STIPULATION
FOR CERTIFICATION UPON CONSENT ELECTION."
On July 31, 1946, pursuant to the above Stipulation and in accord-
ance with the Rules and Regulations of the Board, an election by secret
ballot was conducted among employees in the stipulated unit, to deter-
mine whether or not they desired to be represented by the Petitioner.
Upon the conclusion of the election, a Tally of Ballots was furnished
the parties. The Tally shows that, of the 447 eligible voters, 429 cast
ballots, of which 189 were for the Petitioner, 225 were against the
Petitioner, 12 were challenged, and 3 were void.
On August 2, 1946, the Petitioner filed a number of objections to the
.conduct of the election, requesting that the election be set aside. On
December 31, 1946, the Regional Director, following an investigation,
1 The name of the Employer appears above as amended at the hearing
74 N L R. B., No. 102.
544
F. A. SMITH MANUFACTURING Co., INC. 545
issued and duly served upon the parties a Report on Objections, in
which lie found that the objections raised substantial and material is-
sues and recommended that a hearing be held on the said objections.
And, on January 8, 1947, the Employer filed exceptions to the Report
on Objections. Thereafter, on March 19, 20, and 21, 1947, a hearing on
the issues in this case was held at Rochester, New York, before John
H. Dorsey, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the
hearing are free from prejudicial error, and are hereby affirmed.
The objections filed by the Employer allege, in substance, that
before the election, the Employer, by anti-union acts and statepients
,of its agents, by causing coercive and threatening anti-union literature
to be issued and distributed among its employees, and by discriminat-
ing against the adherents of the Petitioner in the application of its
no-solicitation rule, prevented the free choice by its employees of
their bargaining representative.
The Petitioner adduced considerable testimony at the hearing with
respect to these allegations, while the Employer, on its part, adduced
testimony calculated to show that the election herein represented the
free and uncoerced choice of its employees. We find it unnecessary,
however, to pass upon the merits of the contentions of the parties.
Under all the circumstances of the case, including the fact that almost
a year has now elapsed since the holding of the election, we do not
believe that any practical purpose would be served even were we to
vacate and set aside the election at the present time. Accordingly,
we shall dismiss the petition without prejudice to the filing of a new
petition.2
ORDER
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining, and upon the entire record in the
case,
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the petition for investigation and certi-
fication of employees of F. A. Smith Manufacturing Co., Inc., Roches-
ter, New York, filed by United Electrical, Radio and Machine Work-
ers of America, C. I. O., be, and it hereby is, dismissed without
prejudice.
2 We find it unnecessary , in view of the foregoing , to pass on the Employer ' s request for
oral argument made subsequent to the hearing.