Ohmite Manufacturing Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Aug 31, 1943

52 N.L.R.B. 346 (N.L.R.B. 1943)

In the Matter of OHMITE MANUFACTURING COMPANY and UNITED MINE
Woiu xis OF AMERICA, DISTRICT 50
Case No. R-5428
SUPPLEMENTAL DECISION
AND
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
August 31, 1943
On June 24, 1943, the National Labor Relations Board issued a
Decision and Direction of Election in the above-entitled proceeding.'
Pursuant to the Direction of Election, an election by secret ballot
was conducted on July 22, 1943, under the direction and supervision
of the Regional Director for the Thirteenth Region (Chicago, Illinois).
On May 12,1943, the Regional Director, acting pursuant to Article III,
Section 10, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regula-
tions-Series 2, as amended, issued and duly served upon the parties
an Election Report.
As to the balloting and its results, the Regional Director reported
as follows :
Approximate number of eligible voters_______________________ 803
Total ballots cast__________________________________________ 640
Total ballots challenged ---------------------------- ____ 50
Total void ballots --------------------------------- -------- 3
Total valid votes counted___________________________________ 587
Votes cast for District 50, United Mine Workers of America____ 330
Votes cast against District 50, United Mine Workers of America- 257
Thereafter, on July 28, 1943, the Company filed objections to the
election substantially as follows :
1. That the voters eligible to participate in the election were de-
prived of a free choice in the election because the Union distributed
leaflets which falsely and fraudulently represented to the employees
that the National Labor Relations Board desired and recommended
that the employees vote in favor of the Union.
2. That the employees eligible to vote were misled, by fraudulent
statements, to vote in favor of the Union.
1 50 N L. R B. 815.
52 N. L. R. B., No. 47.
346
-OHMITE MANUFACTURING COMPANY 347
Following an investigation of the objections, on August 19, 1943, the
Regional Director issued and duly served on the parties a Report on
Objections in which he found the objections of the Company to raise
no substantial or material issue with respect to the conduct of the
ballot or the Election Report.
Thereafter, on August 24, 1943, the Company requested a hearing
before the Board at Washington, D. C., for the purpose of oral argu-
ment on the objections. Since the objections are founded wholly upon
the circulation of printed matter by the Union and such printed mat-
ter has been examined by the Board, the request is hereby denied.
The objections raised by the Company relate chiefly to written
charges of the Union with respect to wages and working conditions
of the employees and were published for the most part prior to the
issuance of the Decision and Direction of Election herein. It is not
the function of the Board in a representation case, to determine the
truth or falsity of such charges. The employees to whom they were
directed are able to evaluate their accuracy by observation and experi-
ence. The Board has examined the fascimile ballots distributed by
the Union. Obviously they are designed to persuade the employees to
vote for the Union. Six employees assert that the facsimiles misled
them to the belief that the Board desired employees to vote for the
Union. That anyone was so misled is difficult to believe. The official
Notice of Election was posted in conspicuous places throughout the
Company's plants for several days prior to the election. The Notice
fully informed the employees as to the choice they were offered and
emphasized the secrecy of the ballot. Marked facsimile ballots are
commonly used in elections to persuade the voter to prefer one choice
over another and we do not agree that such practice is fraudulent.
We find that the objections of the Company raise no substantial or
material issue with respect to the conduct of the ballot or to the Elec-
tion Report, and they are hereby overruled.
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National Labor
Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act,
and pursuant to Article III, Sections 9 and 10, of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended,
IT is HEREBY cERTI ED that District 50, United Mine Workers of
America has been designated and selected by a majority of all em-
ployees of Ohmite Manufacturing Company at its Chicago plant in-
cluding janitors and janitresses, maintenance men, and toolroom and
machine shop employees, but excluding working supervisors, plant
expediters, office expediters, the works manager, the general manager,
plant superintendents, assistant plant superintendents, general fore-
348 DrOLSMONS OF NA(PIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOM)
men, clerical employees, office employees, armed guards, timekeepers,
engineers, model makers and experimental machinists in the labora-
tory, time-study engineers, and the matron counsellor, as their repre-
sentative for the purposes of collective bargaining, and that pursuant
to Section 9 (a) of the Act, the said organization is the exclusive rep-
resentative of all such employees for the purposes of collective bar-
gaining with respect to rates of pay, wages, hours of employment, and
other conditions of employment.
CHAIRMAN Mmms took no part in the consideration of the above
Supplemental Decision and Certification of Representatives.