Smith Rice Mill, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 8, 1950

88 N.L.R.B. 959 (N.L.R.B. 1950)

In the Matter of SMITH RICE MILL, INC., AND DEWITT BONDED WARE-
HOUSE COMPANY, EMPLOYERS and FEDERAL LABOR UNION, No. 23415,
AFL, PETITIONER
Case No. 32-RC-106
SUPPLEMENTAL DECISION
AND
ORDER
March 8,1950
Pursuant to a Decision and Direction of Election issued by the Na=
tional Labor Relations Board on May 5, 1949,1 an election by secret
ballot was conducted on October 13, 1949, under the direction and
supervision of the Regional Director for the Fifteenth Region among
the employees in the unit found appropriate in said Decision. At the
close of the election the parties were furnished a Tally of Ballots. The
tally reveals that of approximately 94 eligible voters, 68 ballots were
cast, of which 31 were for the Petitioner, 36 against the Petitioner, and
1 was challenged.
On October 20, 1949, the Petitioner filed objections to conduct of the
Employers affecting the results of the election. Thereafter, on Janu-
ary 18, 1950, following an investigation, the Regional Director issued
and duly served upon the parties his Report on Objections. The Re-
gional Director, upon the facts recited in his Report, found merit in
part of the Petitioner's objections and recommended that the election
be set aside and a new election be conducted. The Employers duly
filed exceptions to the Regional Director's Report on Objections. The
essential facts are not in dispute, and no hearing is required.2
The Petitioner in its objections alleges that the Employers: (1)
After the Board had issued its Decision, increased the number of their
employees by adding an additional shift and terminated such shift
immediately prior to the.election, retaining thereafter certain of the
employees of the new shift; and (2) distributed to their employees
183 NLRB 380.
= 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 Reynolds and Murdock].
88 NLRB No. 184.
959
960 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
a letter and a circular containing threats and misstatements designed
to coerce their employees, thereby preventing the employees from ex-
ercising a free choice in the selection of a bargaining representative.
The Regional Director, in his Report, found no merit in the first ob-
jection and recommended that the Board overrule this objection. As
no exceptions were filed to this finding, we adopt the recommendation
of the Regional Director and hereby- overrule the Petitioner's first
objection.
As to the Petitioner's second objection, the Report of the Regional
Director shows that on October 13, 1949, just before the election, an
undated circular from the Employers was personally handed to the
employees. The Regional Director found that statements contained
in the circular interfered with the employees' free selection of a bar-
gaining representative. In support of this conclusion, the Regional
Director, relying upon the language of the last paragraph of the
circular,' avers that the circular carried the connotation that an
employee to be considered' loyal should vote "No" in the election and,
conversely, that if an employee voted for the Union, he would be
considered as not possessing the requisites for his job, i. e., liking the
job and loyalty to the boss. Thus, the implication which may reason-
ably be drawn from this circular was that an employee who voted for
the Petitioner would not be continued in his job.
The Regional Director recommended that the election be set aside.
We agree. The afore-mentioned circular, distributed to the employees
shortly before the election, was coercive in character and so closely
related in time to the election as to have had a probable effect upon the
action of the employees at the polls. It therefore constituted inter-
ference with the employees' free choice in the selection of a bargaining
representative 4 We therefore sustain the Petitioner's second objec-
tion and shall set aside the election of October 13, 1949. We shall
direct a new election at such time as the Regional Director advises us
that circumstances permit a free choice in the selection of bargaining
representative by the employees concerned herein.
' The last paragraph of the circular reads as follows :
If you do not like your boss , you should be working somewhere else. If you like-
your job, you should be loyal to the boss. A vote of "No" in the coming election will
be a vote of confidence in your boss and will mark you as a loyal employee of the Smith
Rice Mill, Inc.
We find no merit in the Employers ' contention that the objectionable statements are
protected under Section 8 (c) of the Act and under the First Amendment to the Constitution
of the United States , as they are not limited to the expression of views, argument, or
opinion but are coercive in character.
SMITH RICE MILL, INC.
ORDER
961
It is ordered that the election held on October 13, 1949, among the
employees of Smith Rice Mill, Inc., and DeWitt Bonded Warehouse
Company, of DeWitt, Arkansas, be, and it hereby is, set aside.
MEMBER REYNOLDS, dissenting :
I do not agree with my colleagues that the language of the circular
objected to may be construed to contain a threat that employees who
vote for the Union will lose their jobs. Accordingly, I would overrule
the Petitioner's second objection and dismiss the petition herein on
the ground that the Petitioner failed to secure a majority of the valid
votes cast in the election.