Lane-Wells Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 4, 1948

77 N.L.R.B. 1051 (N.L.R.B. 1948)

In the Matter of LANE-WELLS COMPANY, EMPLOYER and OIL WORKERS
INTERNATIONAL UNION, C. I. 0., PETITIONER
Case No. 21-RC-66.-Decided June 4, 1948
DECISION
AND
ORDER
- Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before a hearing
officer of the National Labor Relations Board. The hearing officer's
rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are
hereby affirmed. _
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the National Labor Relations Act.
2. The labor organization involved claims to represent employees
of the Employer.
At the hearing the Employer moved to dismiss the petition on the
ground that the Petitioner was acting in behalf of its Local 128, which
was not in compliance with Section 9 (f), (g), and (h) of the Act.
The hearing officer reserved the motion for ruling of the Board. It
appears that Local 128 itself took the initial step to raise a question
of representation by writing the Employer a letter requesting recog-
nition, although the petition herein was later filed by the Interna-
tional. After the hearing the International filed its brief, naming
Local 128 in the caption I and stating, in part, as follows :
"It is important to scrutinize the fact that the employees within
this Unit are disbursed [sic] through the state of California, spe-
cifically the Los Angeles Basin, the area in the vicinity of Bakers-
field, Ventura, Coalinga, and Santa Maria.
"This International Union operates Local Unions in each of
these vicinities; therefore, it would have been impractical and
not appropriate for each of the Local Unions in these vicinities to
file in behalf of these employees, regardless of whether they are
qualified to file or not. The International Union, acting in behalf
of these several Local Unions, has filed in behalf of the employees
1 The caption reads as follows : In the Matter of LANE-WELLS COMPANY and OIL
WORKERS INTERNATIONAL UNION-CIO Local No. 128.
77 N. L. R. B., No. 168. 1051
1052 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
of the employer, and the International Union is qualified under
the Act to represent these people." [Italics supplied.]
In these circumstances, we conclude that the Petitioner, despite the
fact that it filed the petition and asked in its brief to be the certified
bargaining agent, is in reality acting in behalf of Local 128. Accord-
ingly, the Employer's motion to dismiss is granted because of the
Local's failure to comply with the filing requirements of the Act 2
Upon the basis of the entire record in this case, the National Labor
Relations Board hereby orders that the petition filed in the instant
matter be, and it hereby is, dismissed.
2 We distinguish this case from Matter of Warshawsky and Company, 75 N. L. R. B.
1291 ; Matter of Lion Oil Co., 76 N L. R. B. 506; and Matter of Granite Textile Mills, Inc.,
76 N. L . R. B. 613. In none of the cited cases did the record show, as it does here, that
the international union petitioner was attempting to secure a Board certification for the
benefit of its non-complying local.