Sharco Manufacturing Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Dec 23, 1954

110 N.L.R.B. 2112 (N.L.R.B. 1954)

2112 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Accordingly. we will direct that an election be held in the follow-
ing group of employees of the Employer at its New York City
operations:
All motion picture film cameramen who shoot motion pictures and
perform any lighting and/or recording of sound incidental thereto,
excluding all other employees, guards, and supervisors within the
meaning of the Act.
If a majority vote for the Petitioner, they will be taken to have
indicated their desire to constitute a separate unit, which the Board
finds, under the circumstances, to be appropriate for purposes of
collective bargaining, and the Regional Director is instructed to issue
a certification of representatives to the Petitioner for such unit. If
a majority vote for the Intervenor, they will be taken to have indi-
cated their desire to remain a part of the existing appropriate nation-
wide technicians' unit and the Regional Director is instructed to
issue a certification of results of election to that effect.
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication.]
MEMBER PETERSON took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision and Direction of Election.
SCHARCO MANUFACTURING CORP. and FURNITURE WORKERS UNION,
LOCAL 76B, UNITED FURNITURE WORKERS OF AMERICA, CIO,
PETITIONER . Case No. 2-RC-x6843. December 23, 1954
Supplemental Decision , Order, and Second Direction of Election
Pursuant to a Decision and Direction of Election issued herein on
October 12, 1954,1 an election by secret ballot was conducted on No-
vember 4, 1954, under the direction and supervision of the Regional
Director for the Second Region, among employees in the unit found
appropriate by the Board. Following the election, a tally of ballots
was furnished the parties. The tally shows that of 184 votes cast in
the election, 70 were for the Petitioner, 108 were for Upholsterers
International Union of North America, by its Agents, Local 601,
Home Decorative Union, AFL (herein referred to as the AFL), 1
for Allied Crafts Union, Independent (herein referred to as the
Independent), 2 were void, and 3 were challenged. The challenged
ballots are not sufficient in number to affect the results of the election.
On November 9, 1954, the Petitioner filed timely objections to the
conduct affecting the results of the election. The Regional Director
investigated the objections and, on November 30, 1954, duly served
1 Not reported in the printed volumes of Boaid Decisions and orders
110 NLRB No. 267.
SCHARCO MANUFACTURING CORP. 2113
upon the parties a report on objections, in which he recommended
that the Petitioner's objection concerning the AFL's distribution of
leaflets containing altered reproductions of the Board's official secret
ballot before the election be sustained and that the election be set
aside.' Thereafter the AFL filed timely exceptions to the Regional
Director's report.
Having duly considered the matter,' the Board finds as follows :
The Petitioner objects to the election on the ground, among others,
that on the day of and preceding the election the AFL distributed a
leaflet to the employees which contained a copy of what purported
to be the Board's official secret ballot. The ballot was not marked
"sample" as is the facsimile on the Board's notice of election, and
differed from the facsimile in the following respects : (1) There was
an "X" marked in the box for the AFL; (2) the vertical lines sepa-
rating the boxes of all four choices were missing; (3) the legend "Do
no sign this ballot. Fold and drop in the ballot box" was translated
into Spanish; and (4) immediately following this translation there
appeared the words "VOTE POR EL LOCAL 601 AFL."
In opposing the Regional Director's recommendation, the AFL con-
tends that the ballot did not purport to be a copy of the Board's offi-
cial secret ballot and was clearly distinguishable both by the manner
of its reproduction and the contents thereon. In view of the fact that
the ballot was designated "OFFICIAL SECRET BALLOT" and
differed from the Board's official secret ballot only in the respects de-
tailed above, we find this contention to be without merit. As stated
by the Board in its recent decision in Allied Electric Products, Inc.,'
a purported reproduction of its official ballot which has been altered
for campaign purposes in a partisan manner necessarily tends to sug-
gest Board approval of the material thereon. Thus, in that decision
the Board decided that in the future it would not permit the repro-
duction of any document purporting to be a copy of the Board's offi-
cial ballot other than one completely unaltered in form and content
and clearly marked sample on its face. The Board also decided that
upon objection validly filed, it would set aside the results of any elec-
tion in which the successful party had violated this rule.
The AFL further contends that the Petitioner and the Independent
also distributed altered copies of the official ballot and argues that the
rule enunciated in the Allied Electric Products, Inc., case was not
2 In view of his finding and recommendation with respect to the AFL' s use of an altered
reproduction of the Board's official ballot, the Regional Diiector found it unnecessary to
pass upon any of the Petitioner' s other objections
s The Petitioner' s request for oral ai gument is denied because, in our opinion, the
record, the report on objections , and exceptions adequately present the issues and posi-
tions of the parties
4 109 NLRB 1270. See also Tube Reducing Corporation , 110 NLRB 1080 , Bachmann
Uxbridge Worsted Corporation (Uxbridge Mill ), 110 NLRB 1195.
338207-55-v of 110-134
2114 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
intended to apply in a situation wherein the objecting party has "un-
clean hands." Assuming that the Petitioner and Independent also
distributed altered copies of the Board's official ballot, although the
Regional Director found to the contrary, we find, for the reasons set
forth in The Wilmington Casting Company case.' that interference
by one party does not neutralize the interference by another party.
Accordingly, we find, in agreement with the Regional Director, that
by circulating the marked ballots on the day of and before the elec-
tion, the AFL interfered with the employees' free choice in the elec-
tion, and we shall, therefore, direct that the election be set aside and
a new election ordered.
[The Board set aside the election held on November 4, 1954.]
[Text of Second Direction of Election omitted from publication.]
5 110 NLRB 2114.
THE WILMINGTON CASTING COMPANY and INTERNATIONAL UNION,
UNITED AUTOMOBILE, AIRCRAFT & AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENT WORK-
ERS OF AMERICA (UAW-CIO), PETITIONER . Case No. 9-RC-2101.
December 03, 1951
Supplemental Decision , Order, and Second Direction of Election
Pursuant to a Decision and Direction of Election issued herein on
January 18, 1954,1 an election by secret ballot was conducted on Febru-
ary 5, 1954, under the direction and supervision of the Regional
Director for the Ninth Region, among the employees in the unit found
appropriate by the Board. Following the election, a tally of bal-
lots was furnished to the parties. The tally showed that 47 ballots
were cast for, and 52 against, the Petitioner.
On February 10, 1954, the Petitioner filed timely objections to
conduct affecting the results of the election. The Regional Director
investigated the objections and on May 5, 1954, duly served upon the
parties a report on objections in which he found merit in certain of
the objections and recommended that the election be set aside. The
Employer filed timely exceptions to this report.
After having duly considered the matter, the Board, on June 8,1954,
issued an order directing a hearing on all factual issues raised by the
objections and exceptions. Pursuant to that order, a hearing was held
on July 20, 21, and 22, before Caroll L. Martin, hearing officer. The
hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial
error and are hereby affirmed.
On October 1, 1954, the hearing officer issued his report on objec-
tions to election and exceptions, recommending that the election be set
i Not reported in printed volumes of Board Decisions and Orders.
110 NLRB No. 266.