National Furniture Manufacturing Co., Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Oct 22, 1953

106 N.L.R.B. 1300 (N.L.R.B. 1953)

1300 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
WE WILL NOT engage in any acts in any manner in-
terfering with efforts of International Brotherhood of
Boilermakers , Iron Ship Builders and Helpers of America,
Local 592 , AFL, to negotiate for, or represent , the em-
ployees in the bargaining unit described above.
Dated ................
VULCAN STEEL TANK CORPORATION,
Employer.
By ....................................................
(Representative ) (Title)
This notice must remain posted for 60 days from the date
hereof, and must not be altered , defaced , or covered by any
other material.
NATIONAL FURNITURE MANUFACTURING COMPANY, INC.
and LOCAL 312, UNITED FURNITURE WORKERS OF
AMERICA, CIO. Case No. 35-RC-740. October 22, 1953
SUPPLEMENTAL DECISION AND CERTIFICATION
OF RESULTS
On August 8, 1952 , pursuant to a Decision and Direction of
Election issued in this case ,' an election by secret ballot was
conducted , under the direction and supervision of the Regional
Director for the Ninth Region, among employees at the Em-
ployer's Evansville , Indiana , plants in the appropriate unit.2
Upon the completion of the election , the Regional Director
duly issued and served on the parties a tally of ballots, which
showed that , of approximately 213 eligible voters, 92 voted
for Petitioner , 107 voted against the Petitioner , and 9 ballots
were challenged . The challenged ballots were not sufficient
in number to affect the results of the election.
On August 13, 1952, the Petitioner filed 9 objections to
conduct affecting the results of the election . On February
11, 1953, the Regional Director issued his report on objec-
tions recommending that objection No. 3 be overruled and
that a hearing be ordered on all issues raised by the remain-
ing 6 objections . On March 9 , 1953, the Board issued an
order adopting these recommendations and directing that
the hearing officer designated for the purpose of conducting
the hearing prepare and cause to be served upon the parties
a report containing resolutions of credibility of witnesses,'
findings of fact , and recommendations to the Board as to
the disposition of the objections.
On April 8 and 9 , 1953, and pursuant to the order of the
Board, a hearing was held before Charles Y. Latimer,
hearing officer.
'issued July 16, 1952 Not reported in printed volumes of Board Decisions.
2 The unit consists of all production and maintenance employees at the Employer's plants
at Evansville, Indiana, including receiving room employees, shipping room employees,
truckdrivers, and watchmen- firemen, but excluding office and clerical employees, pro-
fessional employees, guards, and supervisors as defined in the Act.
106 NLRB No. 228.
NATIONAL FURNITURE MANUFACTURING COMPANY, INC. 1301
On June 23, 1953, the hearing officer issued and caused
to be served upon all parties his report on objections to
election , findings of fact , and recommendations to the Board.
The hearing officer found that , by the certain conduct more
specifically referred to hereinafter , the Employer had in-
terfered with the employees ' free choice of a bargaining
representative in the election of August 8, 1952 . He, therefore,
recommended that the election be set aside.
The Employer has excepted to the hearing officer ' s findings
and recommendations . Based upon the entire record in the
case, we make the following findings:
1. The hearing officer found that the Employer' s president,
Caldemeyer , made a coercive statement to employee Hammer-
stone . The record reveals that the allegedly coercive statement
imputedtothe Employer's president by employe e-Hammerstone,
and which was denied by Caldemeyer, was purportedly made
around the middle of May 1952, nearly 3 months before the
election . In these circumstances , it is unnecessary to resolve the
credibility issue involved because, in any event , the episode in
question is too remote in time in relation to the election date to
warrant consideration as a basis for setting the election aside.3
2. Employee Blanche Godby testified that sometime before
the election she heard the Employer' s president tell employee
Pauline Godby that "he would shut the plant down before he
would let the Union in." Later in the hearing , this witness
testified that Pauline Godby had reported this remark to her,
and, finally, she reverted to her prior version that she had
heard the Employer's president make this statement to
Pauline Godby. The Employer' s president denied making
this statement to Pauline Godby and further stated that he
had never told any employees that he would shut down or go
out of business if they voted for or joined the Union . Because
of the inconsistencies in the testimony of employee Blanche
Godby with respect to this purported incident , we find merit
in the Employer' s exceptions to the hearing officer's credibility
findings , and his findings crediting this testimony of employees
Godby are hereby reversed.4
3. Employee Clem and the Petitioner ' s president, Carl
Hartman , both testified that the Employer' s attorney made a
statement on July 28, 1952 , in the presence of a number of
employees during a conference in the attorney's office to the
effect that " it would not make any difference whether the
Union won the election or not , the Company would not recog-
nize it ." William Block, production manager of the Employer,
testified that the attorney said only that the unit sought was not
"a legal, recognized unit" and the attorney himself testified that
he stated only that the unit was not a recognized and valid unit.
The Employer excepted to the hearing officer's crediting of the
3Calvine Cotton Mills, Inc., 98 NLRB 843, 845; Vulcan Tin Can Co., 97 NLRB 180, 183-184.
4 We have held that inconsistencies in the credited testimony of a witness constitute grounds
for reversal of a Trial Examiner 's credibility findings. Salant & Salant, Inc ., 92 NLRB 417,
466
1302 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
testimony of Clem and Hartman with respect to this alleged inci-
dent. We do not find it necessary to determine the credibility
is sue involved because the statement imputed to the Employer's
attorney by Clem and Hartman was, in any event, merely an ex-
pression of the Employer's legal position, which we find would
not warrant our setting aside the election.I
Between July 28 and August 6, 1952, the Employer mailed
a series of ' letters to its employees . The contents of only
two of these letters, those of July 30 and August 2, are in
issue in the present proceeding . The pertinent part of the
July 30 letter is as follows:
Meeting the demands published by this CIO Union will
force this Company to shut down or move out of the city. A
rate of $ 5 per hour means nothing if there is no one on the
job. American Fork and Hoe Company moved out of Evans-
ville and Evansville Casket Company shutdown . . .
BE SURE TO VOTE "NO" and prevent a strike which
this Union is sure to get if they win the National Labor
Relations Board election.
The Employer's letter to its employees of August 2'is as
follows:
You should know what various union's have done in
this area:
1. Jasper Desk Company in Jasper, Indiana. Seven
months strike. Over 100 separate acts of violence. Cars
turned over. Over 400 men kept out of work. Many
strikers were never allowed back to the factory.
2. Imperial Desk
Nine weeks or more out on a strike . Got nothing but
empty pocket books and debts.
3. Period Table, Henderson, Kentucky 30 days strike.
Union pickets beat up men. 30 Union men arrested for
turning over autos and beating people up.
4. EMPLOYEES AT CRADDOCK AND KARGES BY A
2 TO 1 VOTE REFUSED TO LET THESE ROUGH PEOPLE
GET CONTROL OF THEM.
5. Employees at Evansville Casket Company did not
know what would happen so they voted this Union in.
WHAT HAPPENED?
The plant shut down, went out of business. Please don't
let this Union get control of you and force you and me
to have all this trouble.
VOTE "NO" FRIDAY MORNING
The hearing officer found that the Employer's letters of
July 30 and August 2 to its employees, considered alone,
5 To the extent that Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, 90 NLRB 935, is inconsistent
herewith , that case is hereby overruled.
DAN DEE CENTRAL OHIO CORPORATION 1303
were privileged under Section 8 (c) of the Act , but that
taken in context with other activities on the part of the
Employer these letters exceeded the privilege of free speech;
that , in any event , Section 8 (c) of the Act does not prevent
the Board from finding in a representation case that an
expression of views , whether or not protected by Section
8 (c), has interfered with the employees ' free choice in an
election so as to require that such election be set aside; and
that the Employer had by these letters interfered with the
employees ' free choice in the election of August 8.
The Employer excepted to the hearing officer's findings
with respect to its letters of July 30 and August 2, conten-
ding that : ( 1) The letters were merely answering the Pe-
titioner ' s "sales campaign "; (2) the letters were privileged
under Section 8 (c) of the Act ; and (3 ) they, therefore, did
not interfere with the employees ' free choice of a bargaining
representative in the election.
We find merit in the Employer ' s exceptions . We agree
with the hearing officer that , standing alone, the aforesaid
letters were privileged under Section 8 (c) 'of the Act. More-
over, we do not find that such letters , even if considered in
their context , interfered with the employees ' freedom of
choice . In any event, we would not , in appraising the effect
of such letters , regard as material any independent coercive
conduct by the Employer . We, therefore , find that these
letters do not warrant setting aside the election.
In view of our above findings , we hereby overrule the
Petitioner ' s objections to conduct affecting the results of
the election . As the Petitioner failed to secure a majority
of the valid ballots cast , we shall certify the results of the
election.
[The Board certified that a majority of the valid ballots
was not cast for Local 312, United Furniture Workers of
America , CIO, and that the said labor organization is not
the exclusive representative of the employees of the Employer
in the unit heretofore found by the Board to be appropriate]
Member Murdock took no part in the consideration of the
above Supplemental Decision and Certification of Results.
DAN DEE CENTRAL OHIO CORPORATION and TRUCK DRIV-
ERS UNION LOCAL 413, INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD
OF TEAMSTERS, CHAUFFEURS, WAREHOUSEMEN &
HELPERS OF AMERICA, AFL, Petitioner . Case No. 9-RC-
2035 . October 23, 1953
DECISION AND ORDER
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National
Labor Relations Act, a hearing was held before Morgan C.
Stanford , hearing officer . The hearing officer's rulings made
at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby
affirmed.
106 NLRB No. 227.