Overland Hauling, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Dec 13, 1967

168 N.L.R.B. 870 (N.L.R.B. 1967)

870 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Overland Hauling, Inc., Employer -Petitioner and
Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen & Helpers
Local Union No . 385, affiliated with the Interna-
tional Brotherhood of Teamsters , Chauffeurs,
Warehousemen and Helpers of America, Peti-
tioner . Cases 12-RM-153 and 12-RC-2872
December 13, 1967
DECISION, ORDER, AND DIRECTION OF
SECOND ELECTION
BY MEMBERS BROWN, JENKINS, AND ZAGORIA
Pursuant to a Stipulation for Certification upon
Consent Election executed by the parties and ap-
proved by the Regional Director on August 23,
1967, an election by secret ballot was conducted on
September 1, 1967, under the direction and super-
vision of the Regional Director for Region 12,
among the employees in the stipulated unit. At the
conclusion of the election, the parties were
furnished with a tally of ballots which showed that
of approximately 36 eligible voters, 28 cast valid
ballots, of which 7 were for, and 21 were against,
the Petitioner, and 8 were challenged. The chal-
lenged ballots were not sufficient in number to af-
fect the results of the election. Thereafter, the Peti-
tioner filed timely objections to conduct affecting
the results of the election.
In accordance with the National Labor Relations
Board Rules and Regulations, Series 8, as amended,
the Regional Director conducted an investigation
and, on October 5, 1967, issued and duly served
upon the parties his Report on Objections in which
he recommended that objections 1, 2, 3, and 4 be
overruled in their entirety, that the withdrawal of
objections 6 and 7 be approved, that objection 5 be
sustained; that the election be set aside, and that a
second election be directed. Thereafter, the Em-
ployer filed timely exceptions to the Regional
Director's Report.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the
National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the Na-
tional Labor Relations Board has delegated its
powers in connection with this case to a three-
member panel.
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board
finds:
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within
the meaning of the Act and it will effectuate the pur-
poses of the Act to assert jurisdiction herein.
2. The Petitioner is a labor organization claiming
to represent certain employees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists con-
cerning the representation of the employees of the
Employer within the meaning of Section 9(c)(1) and
Section 2(6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The parties stipulated, and we find, that the
following employees constitute a unit appropriate
for the purpose of collective bargaining within the
meaning of Section 9(b) of the Act:
All employees of Overland Hauling, Inc., at its
Ocoee, Florida, facility excluding office cleri-
cal employees, salesmen , guards and super-
visors as defined in the Act.
5. The Board has considered the Regional
Director's Report and the Employer's exceptions
thereto, and hereby adopts the Regional Director's
findings and recommendations,' with the following
observations.
In adopting the Regional Director's recommen-
dation concerning Petitioner's objection 5, we note
that this objection relates to the manner of posting
the official Notice of Election furnished by the Re-
gional Director. Although posted by the Employer
in the drivers' ready room and Employer's shop
area, this was done in such a way that the section of
the Notice entitled "Rights of Employees" was
turned underneath the remaining portion of the
Notice and, therefore, was not visible to the em-
ployees eligible to vote. The Board recently revised
the official Notice of Election form to include the
expanded "Rights of Employees" section. As ap-
pears from the official notice form itself, this revi-
sion was adopted for the purpose of alerting em-
ployees to their rights under the Act and in order to
warn unions and management alike against conduct
impeding fair and free elections. The manner in
which the Employer posted the Notice herein was
a patent attempt to minimize the effect of the
Board's Notice. The Employer thereby denied the
employees access to information deemed necessary
to the conduct of an election and thus interfered
with the laboratory conditions essential for a free
expression of preference by the voters. Ac-
cordingly, we find that the Employer, by its con-
duct, prevented a fair and free election, and we shall
set the election aside and direct a second election.
ORDER
It is hereby ordered that the election conducted
on September 1, 1967, be, and it hereby is, set
aside.
[Direction of Second Election2 omitted from
publication.]
I to the absence of exceptions thereto, we adopt pro forma the Regional
Director's recommendations that Petitioner's objections 1, 2, 3, and 4, be
overruled. We note that objections 6 and 7 were withdrawn by the Peti-
tioner.
2 An election eligibility list, containing the names and addresses of all
the eligible voters, must be filed by the Employer with the Regional
Director for Region 12 within 7 days after the date of issuance of the
Notice of Second Election by the Regional Director The Regional
Director shall make the list available to all parties to the election No ex-
tension of time to file this list shall be granted by the Regional Director ex-
cept in extraordinary circumstances. Failure to comply with this require-
ment shall be grounds for setting aside the election whenever proper ob-
jections are filed. Excelsior Underwear Inc., 156 NLRB 1236.
168 NLRB No. 115