Pacific Gas and Electric Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Apr 28, 1950

89 N.L.R.B. 938 (N.L.R.B. 1950)

In the Matter of PACIFIC GAS AND ELECTRIO COMPANY, EMPLOYER
and INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS, AFL,
PETITIONER
Case No. 20-RC-144
SUPPLEMENTAL DECISION
ORDER
AND
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
April W,1950
Pursuant to a Decision and Direction of Elections issued by the
Board herein on November 29, 1949,1 elections by secret ballot were
conducted on January 25, 1950, under the direction and supervision
of the Regional Director for the Twentieth Region, among the em-
ployees in the voting groups previously described? Thereafter, tallies
of ballots were furnished the parties. The tallies show:
Voting Group One
Approximate number of eligible voters-------------------- 12, 211
Void ballots--------------------------------------------
Votes cast for International Brotherhood of Electrical
52
Workers, AFL---------------------------------------- 6,749
Votes cast for Utility Workers Union of America, CIO------ 2,550
Votes cast against participating labor organizations-------- 241
Valid votes counted------------------------------------- 9,540
Challenged ballots--------------------------------------- 266
Valid votes counted plus challenged ballots--------------- 9,806
' 87 NLRB 257.
2 Voting group one was comprised , in general , of all employees in the physical or outside
forces of the Employer. Voting group two consisted of estimators, among whom the
Board directed a separate election to determine whether they desired to be included in
a unit with the physical employees.
89 NLRB No. 118.
938
PACIFIC GAS AND ELECTRIC COMPANY 939
Voting Group Two
Approximate number of eligible voters-------------------- 218
Vold ballots -------------------------------------------- 0
Votes cast for International Brotherhood of Electrical
Workers, AFL3---------------------------------------- 89
Votes cast for Utility Workers Union of America, CIO ------- 3
Votes cast against participating labor organizations-------- 108
Valid votes counted------------------------------------- 200
Challenged ballots--------------------------------------- 1
Valid votes counted plus challenged ballots---------------- 201
Subsequently, the CIO filed timely Objections to the Conduct of
Election and to Conduct Affecting Results of Election. Thereafter,
in accordance with the Board's Rules and Regulations, the Regional
Director investigated the objections. On March 10, 1950, the Regional
Director issued and duly served upon the parties his Report on Objec-
tions, recommending that the objections be overruled. The CIO filed
timely exceptions to the Report on Objections.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the National Labor
Relations Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with
this case to a three-member panel [Chairman Herzog and Members
Houston and Reynolds].
The objections of the CIO are, in substance, as follows :
1. The ballots sent by mail were delivered to the Employer "in
bulk" for distribution to eligible employees instead of being sent to the
employees' home addresses.
2. Mail ballots sent to employees in the care of the Employer were
delivered to employees by AFL representatives or supervisory em-
ployees, who required employees to mark the ballots in their presence,
and who also required employees to return the marked ballots to the
Employer's representatives or the' AFL representatives for return
mailing to the Board.
3. Upon receipt of mail ballots at various company locations, ballots
were placed inside open mail bins or open mail distribution boxes
and were made accessible to and were received by persons other than
those to whom they were addressed.
4. No ballots were mailed to the homes or other personal addresses
of employees eligible to vote.
5. The voting groups in which the elections were held were improper.
6. In the manual voting, Board agents did not require the showing
of any identification of the persons presenting themselves for balloting.
7. The persons who acted as observers for the Company were em-
ployees eligible to vote and members of the AFL.
e Hereinafter referred to as AFL.
e Hereinafter referred to as CIO.
940 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
8. Certain ballot boxes arrived at the Board's Regional Office with
the seals broken and contained a lesser number of ballots than should
have been present.
9. Mail ballots were not checked or verified for the authenticity of
signatures.
Turning to the first and fourth objections, relating to the forward-
ing of mail ballots addressed to the individual employees in care of
the Employer, the CIO excepts to the Regional Director's conclusion
that this method did not prejudice any party, on the ground that the
CIO had not previously agreed to such method. However, as we have
frequently held, the method of conducting an election is within the
discretion of the Regional Director 5 and here the evidence clearly
reveals that such discretion was not abused by the method of address-
ing ballots 6 Accordingly, we find no merit in these objections.
With respect to the second and third objections, the Regional Di-
rector found that the mail ballots were delivered to the eligible em-
ployees through the Employer's normal mail distribution system;
that there was no showing that any ballots had been marked by any
individuals other than eligible voters, or that influence was exerted
upon any eligible voters by representatives of any party as to the
manner in which the ballots should be marked. While the CIO, in its
exceptions, claims generally that such method of distribution violated
the secrecy of the ballot, permitted the exertion of influence, and re-
sulted in prejudice to its organization, there was no persuasive evidence
offered to support such allegations and the method adopted was clearly
reasonable under the circumstances.. Therefore, we find no merit in
these objections.'
With respect to the fifth objection raising the question of the pro-
priety of the voting groups in which the elections were directed, this
question has been fully litigated heretofore and no matters not pre-
viously considered by the Board have been advanced by the CIO. We
also find this objection to be without merit.
In support of its sixth objection, the CIO contends that the Regional
Director erred in not requiring all voters to present identification
before voting, asserting that this failure resulted in an opportunity
for unauthorized persons to vote. The evidence is uncontradicted
that, by agreement of the parties, voters were requested to bring means
of identification so that identity could be established if desired by any
c Texas-inspire Pipe Line Company, 88 NLRB 631 ; E. I. du Pont de Nemours and
Company, 79 NLRB 345.
e Of the 3,799 mail ballots sent out , 82.8 percent were returned in time to be counted.
Moreover , it would have been impractical to have mailed the 2 , 132 employees of the
general construction department their ballots at their home addresses for these voters
are continually in the field.
7 See Stonewall Cotton Mills , 78 NLRB 28.
PACIFIC GAS AND ELECTRIC COMPANY 941
,of the parties ; and that observers were afforded the right to challenge
voters in cases of doubtful identity . Moreover , the CIO has failed to
, cite the names of any individuals who thus cast unauthorized ballots.
As there is no evidence that the CIO was in any way prejudiced by
the manner of voting , we reject this objection.
As to the seventh objection , although it appears that certain em-
ployees selected by the Employer as its observers were members of the
Petitioner, there was no evidence adduced by the CIO that these indi-
viduals conducted themselves improperly during the elections, and,
contrary to the contention of the CIO , such selection , under Section
203.61 of the Board's Rules and Regulations , is obviously not per se
-coercive . Accordingly , we find no merit in this objection."
We similarly find no merit in the CIO 's position with respect to
the eighth objection , namely that as two ballot boxes arrived at the
Board's offices with the gummed seals broken, other boxes may have
been tampered with, and the outcome of the election affected thereby.
The CIO does not deny that one of its representatives examined
the boxes in question before they were opened and agreed with the
other parties that any tampering with the contents would have been
difficult, if not impossible , and that the boxes should be opened and the
,ballots counted.3 Thus , the CIO has failed to adduce any persuasive
evidence that the contents of these boxes , or of any others, were
improperly handled.
Finally, referring to the verification of the authenticity of signa-
tures on mail ballots , raised by objection nine , representatives of the
-CIO and of the other parties checked, the signatures on all mail ballots
and the CIO has failed to submit any evidence to support its conten-
tion that unauthorized persons voted. We find this objection likewise
to be without merit.1e
In view of the foregoing , and upon consideration of all the evi-
dence submitted, we find that none of the objections of the CIO raises
:substantial or material issues with respect to the conduct of the elec-
tions. Consequently , we hereby deny the motion of the CIO to set
aside these elections. As previously mentioned, the Board, in its
Decision and Direction of Elections , made no final determination of the
appropriate unit, but stated that such determination would depend
8 See The Ann Arbor Press, 88 NLRB 391.
9 Even assuming that all the ballots contained in these two boxes had been deemed
cast for the AFL and deducted from its total and a new tally issued , the results of the
elections would have remained the same . Coopersville Cooperative Elevator Company,
73 NLRB 480.
10 In its exceptions , the CIO further contends that the Regional Director failed to con-
duct an adequate investigation of its objections . As the CIO failed to adduce any per.
suasive evidence to substantiate such contention , we find it to be without merit.
942 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
in part upon the results of the elections among the employees in the.
voting groups.
The results show that the AFL was selected as the collective bar-
gaining representative in voting group one which comprised all em-
ployees in the physical or outside forces of the Employer. In voting
group two , consisting of estimators , no collective bargaining repre-
sentative has been selected and in accordance with the Board's prior
Decision herein, such employees shall be excluded from the unit of
physical employees and the petition , insofar as it relates to estimators,
shall be dismissed.
Upon the basis of the entire record in the case, the Board makes
the following :
SUPPLEMENTAL FINDINGS OF FACT
We find that all employees in the Employer's physical and outside
forces , as described more fully in voting group one of the Board's
Decision in this case , excluding estimators , constitute a unit appropri-
ate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of
Section 9 (b) of the Act, as amended.
As the Tally of Ballots relating to voting group one shows that a
majority of all the ballots cast were for the AFL, we shall certify that
organization as the collective bargaining representative of the em-
ployees in the unit.
ORDER
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the petition for certification of representa-
tives of employees filed by Petitioner herein be, and it hereby is,
dismissed insofar as it pertains to the employees in voting group two.
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
IT IS HEREBY CERTIFIED that International Brotherhood of Electrical
Workers, AFL, has been designated and selected by a majority of
the employees of Pacific Gas and Electric Company , in the unit found
by the Board to be appropriate in the section entitled "Supplemental
Findings of Fact," above, as their representative for the purposes of
collective bargaining; and that, pursuant to Section 9 (a) of the Act,
the said organization is the exclusive representative of all the em-
ployees in such unit -for the purposes of collective bargaining with
respect to rates of pay , wages, hours of work, and other conditions of
employment.