Pennsylvania Power & Light Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 29, 1946

66 N.L.R.B. 1391 (N.L.R.B. 1946)

I n the Matter Of PENNSYLVANIA POWER & LIGHT COMPANY and
UTILITY WORKERS UNION OF AMERICA, CIO
Case No. 4-R-1793
SUPPLEMENTAL DECISION
AND
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 29, 1946
On November 20, 1945, the National Labor Relations Board issued
a Decision and Direction of Election 1 in the above-entitled proceed-
ing, finding that certain employees of Pennsylvania Power & Light
Company, Allentown, Pennsylvania, herein called the Company, con-
stituted an appropriate unit and directing that an election be con-
ducted among them to determine whether they desired to be repre-
sented by Utility Workers Union of America, a labor organization
affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, herein called
the CIO, or by Employees Independent Association, herein called
the Independent, or by District 50, United Mine Workers of America,
for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by none.
Pursuant to the Direction of Election, and in accordance with the
rules and regulations of the Board, the Regional Director for the
Fourth Region conducted the election and, on December 29, 1945,
issued and duly served on the parties a Tally of Ballots. indicating
(lie results of the election as follows:
Appropriate number of eligible voters ............. ..... . 4546
Void ballots .................. ....... . . ....... ...... .. 56
Votes cast for Utility Workers Union of America, CIO .. ..... 1837
Votes cast for Employees Independent Association . . . . . 2085
Votes cast for District 50, United Mine Workers of America . . 81
Votes cast against participating labor organizations .......... 61
Challenged ballots . ........... ................ ........... 38
Valid votes counted plus challenged ballots ............ ..... 4102
On January 3, 1946, the CIO filed objections to the conduct of the
election. On February 4, 1946, the Regional Director issued and duly
served on the parties a Report on Objections , finding that the objec-
164 N. L. R. B. 874.
66 N. L. It. B., No. 169.
1391
1392 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
tions did not raise substantial and material issues with respect to the
conduct of the election and recommending that the same be over-
ruled. On February 25, 1946, the CIO filed Exceptions to the Report
on Objections, requesting that the Board direct a hearing on the
issues. On March 7, 1946, the Independent filed a memorandum
brief with the Board.
Pursuant to notice, on March 22, 1946, a hearing was held before
the Board at Washington, D. C., for the purposes of oral argument.
The Company, the CIO, and the Independent appeared and par-
ticipated.
The allegations of interference covered by the CIO's exceptions to
the Regional Director's Report on Objections may be briefly sum-
marized as follows :
(1) That the Company granted a wage increase during the pend-
ency of the representation proceeding;
(2) That the Company suffered the Independent to hold meetings
on company property and to spread election propaganda through the
Company's inter-office messenger service and the Company's bulletin
boards to the prejudice of the CIO; and
(3) That the Company opposed the organization of its employees
by the CIO (a) by its tolerance of, and assistance to, the Independent,
(b) by the letter of its president urging employees to vote and the
resulting large number of votes cast, and (c) by anti-union state-
ments attributed to certain foremen in 1943 and in 1945.
The Company, when brought before the War Labor Board by the
Independent and confronted by a directive respecting wage increases,
announced to its employees in early December that it would negotiate
wage increases in accordance with the directive when the issues in the
pending representation proceeding should be resolved and a bargain-
ing representative certified with whom the Company might nego-
tiate. This conduct on the part of the Company does not, in our
opinion, constitute the granting of a wage increase by an employer
on the eve of an election, which we have found discriminatory and
therefore objectionable in other circumstances. Any meetings held
upon company property by the Independent were held pursuant to
contract rights, and even these meetings were stopped 2 weeks before
the election was held when the Company learned that the CIO
objected to them. Campaign literature was posted by the Independent
on company bulletin boards on space duly rented by the Independent
and was passed through the Company's inter-office messenger service
in accordance with established custom and the contract between the
Company and the Independent. The CIO did not complain of these
known practices before the election, nor did the CIO ever seek to
avail itself of the privileges accorded to the Independent, nor was it
PF; ' N5\ LVXNIA rc»VE1, & LIGHT ('02\I1'AN\ 1393
refused. We have frequently held that an employer may urge its
employees to vote, provided it does not tell them how to vote or other-
wise interfere with the exercise of their free choice in the matter. We
note the hearty approval which the now objecting labor organization
gave to the letter of the Company 's president urging employees to
vote, when it quoted and praised the same in its own pre -election
propaganda among these same employees . We further find little or
no evidence tending to support the other allegations of interference
with the conduct of the election filed by the CIO. having duly con-
sidered the objections , the Regional Director's report thereon, the
exceptions to the report , the evidence submitted in support of the
objections , and the argument presented before its , we conclude that
the objections do not -raise substantial and material issues with re-
,,pect to the conduct of the election . The objections are hereby over-
ruled. Since the Independent was selected by a majority of em-
ployees voting in the election , we will certify the Independent as the
bargaining representative of all employees in the unit heretofore
found to be appropriate for bargaining.
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,
IT Is HERESY CERTIFIED that Employees Independent Association
has been designated and selected by a majority of all employees of
Pennsylvania Power & Light Company, Allentown, Pennsylvania,
excluding confidential secretaries, executives. managerial employees.
and all supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, dis-
charge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of em-
ployees, or effectively recommend such action, as their representative
for the purposes of collective bargaining and that, pursuant to Sec-
tion 9 (a) of the Act, the said organization is the exclusive repre-
sentative 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.
666572-46-69