Model Dye Southern, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Nov 23, 1979

246 N.L.R.B. 589 (N.L.R.B. 1979)

MODEL DYE SOUTHERN. IN('
Model Dye Southern, Inc. and International Ladies'
Garment Workers' Union, AFL-CIO, Petitioner.
Case -RC-4676
November 23, 1979
DECISION AND CERTIFICATION OF
RESULTS OF ELECTION
BY MEMBERS PENELLO, MURPHY, AND TRUESDAI.E
Pursuant to authority granted it by the National
Labor Relations Board under Section 3(b) of the Na-
tional Labor Relations Act, as amended, a three-
member panel has considered objections to an elec-
tion' held on May 23, 1979, and the Regional Direc-
tor's report recommending disposition of same. The
Board has reviewed the record in light of the excep-
tions and brief, and hereby adopts the Regional Di-
rector's findings and recommendations only to the ex-
tent consistent herewith.
We find, contrary to the Regional Director, that
the Employer did not interfere with the election by
providing free soda pop and snacks to its employees
on one occasion 5 days before the election.
The incident in question occurred on May 18,
1979, during the regularly scheduled break period for
first- and second-shift employees. The Employer
opened the vending machines and allowed employees
access, without charge, to the machines. Employees
could not recall a time when this had been done in
the past. Except for the foregoing, the Regional Di-
rector found that the Employer did not otherwise en-
gage in objectionable conduct.2 We also note that
I The election was conducted pursuant to a Stipulation for Certification
Upon Consent Election. The tally was: 17 for, and 23 against, the Petitioner:
there were 4 challenged ballots, an insufficient number to affect the results.
No exceptions were filed to the Regional Director's recommendation that
Petitioner's Objections I. 2, 3, and 44(a he overruled.
there is no indication that the use of the vending ma-
chines was a matter of concern to employees or that it
was raised as an issue in the campaign.3
Under the circumstances, we find that granting em-
ployees free access to the vending machines on that
one occasion 5 days befire the election was, at most,
a de minimis benefit that cannot reasonably be found
to have impaired the voting choice of unit employees.
Even if the Employer departed from its past practice
by opening the vending machines, this single action,
unaccompanied by any other objectionable conduct,
does not furnish grounds for setting aside the election.
We therefore overrule Petitioner's Objection 4(b).
Accordingly, as we have overruled all the objec-
tions and as the tally of ballots shows that the Peti-
tioner did not receive a majority of the valid votes
cast, we shall certify the results of the election.
CERTIFICATION OF RESULTS OF ELECTION
It is hereby certified that a majority of the valid
votes have not been cast for International Ladies'
Garment Workers' Union, AFL-CIO, and that said
labor organization is not the exclusive representative
of all the employees, in the unit herein involved
within the meaning of Section 9(a) of the National
Labor Relations Act, as amended.
In support of his recommendation that the election be set aside, even
though the benefits granted by the Employer were of minimal value, the
Regional Director cited Performance Measurements Co.. Inc., 148 NLRB
1657 (1964), and M-l+' Education Corporation, 223 NLRB 495 (1976). How-
ever, we find the Regional )lirector's reliance upon these cases inapposite.
In Performance Measurements. the employer promised employees a $6
shoe allowance, and stated that payment would not be made until after the
election. The Board noted that shoe damage had been a problem of long-
standing concern to employees which the employer chose not to remedy until
just before the election. In M 14' Education, in addition to free lunches and a
first-time, employer-catered Christmas party, the employer also made prom-
ises of benefits, interrogated employees, and instituted a change in the estab-
lished system of evaluating employees which resulted in a general wage in-
crease.
246 NLRB No. 97
589