Red Owl Stores, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Sep 28, 1955

114 N.L.R.B. 176 (N.L.R.B. 1955)

176 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
We find that the following employees constitute an appropriate unit
for purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9
(b) of theAct: I
All production and maintenance employeesat the Employer's 16217
Lindbergh Street, Van Nuys, California, plant, including shipping
and receiving department employees, truckdrivers, plant clerical em=
ployees,& engineering aides, junior planners, canning technicians, test
engineers, technical estimators, statistical cost estimators, and time-
study men, but excluding office clerical employees, 'professional' em-
ployees, watchmen, guards, and supervisors as,defined in the Act. ,
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication.]
7 The parties were in agreement as to the composition of the unit.
8 The parties agreed that a secretary , clerk typists , and file clerks in the shop were
plant clerical employees.
Red Owl Stores, Inc., Petitioner and Amalgamated Meat Cutters
and Butcher Workmen of North America, Local 615, A. F. of L.
Case No. 18-RM-180. September 28,1955
DECISION AND DIRECTION
Pursuant to a stipulation for certification upon consent election, an
election by secret ballot was conducted on July 6, 1955, under the direc-
tion and supervision of the Regional Director for the Eighteenth
Region, among the employees in the stipulated unit. Upon conclusion
of the balloting, the parties were furnished with a tally of-ballots
which showed that of approximately 16 eligible voters, 13 east valid
ballots, of which 7 were for, and 6 against, the Union. There were also
three challenged ballots, a number sufficient to affect the results of the
election.
On July 9, 1955, the Union filed timely objections to the conduct of
the election. In accordance with the Rules and Regulations of the
Board, the Regional Director conducted an investigation and on
July 22, 1955, issued and duly served upon the parties his report and
recommendations on objections to conduct of election and challenged
ballots in which he recommended that the objections be overruled, that
the challenge to two of the ballots be sustained, and that the challenge
to the remaining ballot be overruled and this ballot be, opened and
counted. The Union filed timely exceptions to the Regional Director's
report.
Upon the entire record in this case, the ,Board finds :
1. The Employer" is engaged- in commerce within the meaning of
the Act.
2. The labor organization involved claims to represent certain em-
ployee`s of the Employer.
114 NLRB No. 43.
RED OWL STORES, INC. 177
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa-
tion of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section 9
(c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The following employees of the Employer, as the parties stipu-
lated, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bar-
gaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act :
All regular full-time and part-time employees at the Employer's
store in Winona, Minnesota, excluding the store manager, the meat
department manager, temporary and intermittent employees,.profes-
sional employees, guards, and supervisors as defined in the Act.
5. The Union objects to the fact that Andrew Buggs, a hospitalized
employee, was not permitted to vote, although just prior to the elec-
tion, the union representative requested the field examiner to take
Employer and union election observers with him to the hospital for
the purpose of allowing Buggs to cast his ballot. The Regional Direc-
tor found that the Union's request was properly refused because the
election stipulation provided for a manual election to be conducted
in the back room of the Employer's store, and that no timely request
had been made for a mail ballot.
In its second objection, the Union contends that Albert Bartz, who
had-been working on a part-time basis, was eligible to vote, although
he and other part-time employees had been excluded from the eligibil-
ity list by agreement of the parties. The Regional Director found that
Bartz did not appear at the polls, as he might have done had the
Union regarded him as an eligible voter at the time of the election,
and that he was not, therefore, deprived of a ballot.
The Union does not except to the Regional Director's finding that
John Martin and Harold Compton were ineligible to vote, but does
except to his finding that Rufin Rozek was not a guard within the
meaning of the Act and was therefore eligible to vote. According to
the Regional Director, Rozek performed only janitorial and custodial
duties.
The Union's exceptions do not advert to any specific substantial
evidence Which controverts the factual findings of the Regional Direc-
tor. The Board agrees with the recommendations of the Regional
Director for the reasons stated in his report. Accordingly, we hereby
dismiss the Union's objections, sustain the challenges to the ballots of
John Martin and Harold Compton, and overrule the challenge to the
ballot of Rufin Rozek. We shall direct that the latter ballot be opened
and counted.
[The Board ordered that the Regional Director for the Eighteenth
Region shall, within ten (10) days from the date of this Direction,
open and count the ballot of Rufin Rozek and serve upon the parties a
supplemental tally of ballots.]