Tennessee Copper Company

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jan 26, 1939

10 N.L.R.B. 1433 (N.L.R.B. 1939)

In the Matter of TENNESSEE COPPER COMPANY and A. F. OF L.
FEDERAL UNION No. 21164
Case No. R-574
Mining and Milling Industry-Election: objections to Intermediate Report
on ballot : notice of election held sufcient ; alleged intimidation and threats not
established ; location of polling place held proper-Certi flcatlon of Representa-
tives: after election.
FOURTH SUPPLEMENTAL DECISION
AND
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 26, 1939
On July 23, 1938, the National Labor Relations Board issued a
Second Supplemental Decision and Second Direction of Election 1
in the above-entitled proceeding. The Second Direction of Election,
as amended,2 provided that an election by secret ballot be conducted
within thirty (30) days from October 8, 1938, among all the em-
ployees of Tennessee Copper Company, Copperhill, Tennessee, herein
called the Company, in the Ducktown, Tennessee, basin, who were on
the pay roll of the Company on November 19, 1937, excluding clerical
and supervisory employees, chemists, technical engineers, and those
who had since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whether
they desired to be represented by American Federation of Labor,
herein called the A. F. of L., or International Union of Mine, Mill,
and Smelter Workers, herein called the International, for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining, or by neither.
Pursuant to the Second Direction of Election, as amended, an elec-
tion by secret ballot was conducted under the direction and super-,
vision of the Regional Director for the Tenth Region (Atlanta,
Georgia) on November 4, 1938. On November 7, 1938, the Regional
Director, acting pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 1, as amended, issued
and duly served upon the parties his Intermediate Report on the
ballot.
18 N. L. R . B. 575.
2 8 N L . R. B. 579; 9 N. L. R B. 117.
10N.L. R.B.,No.128.
1433
1434 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
As to the balloting and its results, the Regional Director reported
as follows :
Total number eligible-------------------------------------- 1122
Total ballots cast------------------------------------------ 1020
Total number of ballots cast for American Federation of
Labor--------------------------------------------------- 485
Total number of ballots cast for International Union of Mine,
Mill and Smelter Workers (Affiliated with C. I. 0.) -------- 516
Total number of ballots cast for neither-------------------- 12
Total number of challenged ballots------------------------- 6
Total number of void ballots------------------------------- 0
Total number of blank ballots------------------------------ 1
On November 14, 1938, A. F. of L. Federal Union No. 21164, the
local union of the A. F. of L. engaged in organizing the respondent's
employees, filed with the Regional Director objections to the Inter-
mediate Report upon the ballot. The objections allege in substance
(1) that the Regional Director failed to give the A. F. of L. notice
of the date of election until November 2, 1938, on] y 2 days prior to
the election, and that the A. F. of L. was prejudiced thereby; (2)
that the Committee for Industrial Organization had by threats and
intimidation prevented a number of A. F. of L. sympathizers from
voting; and (3) that the polling place for employees at Copperhill,
where the A. F. of L. was alleged to have predominated, was trans-
ferred from a location near the Copperhill plant, where such em-
ployees had voted in a previous Board election,3 to a point 1 mile
distant, while employees at Ducktown, where the International is said
to have its chief strength, voted near their place of employment, to
the prejudice of the A. F. of L.
With respect to the adequacy of the notice given the A. F. of L.,
it should first be observed that the election finally held on November
4, 1938, was originally directed to be held within twenty (20) days
from July 23, 1938,4 then postponed indefinitely,r, then directed to be
held within thirty (30) days from October 8, 1938, or not later than
November 7, 1938 .6 Copies of each of the Decisions, Directions of
Election, and amendments thereto, were duly served on the A. F.
of L. It is clear therefore, that the fact that an election was to be
held was known for some time, so that whatever advance prepara-
tions were needed could have been made. Furthermore, the Regional
Director has advised us that on October 19, 1938, he telegraphed
George L. Googe, Southern Representative of the A. F. of L. who
signed the original petition in this proceeding, and John Deal and
S Held March 18, 1938 See Second Supplemental Decision and Second Direction of
Election in this proceeding , 8 N. L R . B. 575.
' 8 N L. R. B. 575.
58 N L R. B. 579.
0 9 N L R. B. 117.
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 1435
J. P. Chastain, president and secretary respectively of A. F. of L.
Federal Union No. 21164 advising them that the election would be
held on November 4, 1938. The Regional Director further reports
that on October 21, 1938, the "Copper City Advance," published in
Copperhill and circulated throughout the district, carried a news
item relating to the election on page 1 and an inside advertisement
,clearly announcing the date ; that on October 27, 1938, the "Knox-
ville Labor News," sponsored by the A. F. of L., carried on page 1
an article referring to the election, and elsewhere a story by James
F. Barrett, A. F. of L. organizer, further advising that an election
would be held November 4, 1938; that on October 28, 1938, the "Cop-
per City Advance" carried on page 5 a half-page advertisement
headed "To the Employees of the Tennessee Copper Company,"
signed by Barrett, and relating to the election; and that on October
31, 1938, the "Knoxville News-Sentinel," a daily newspaper circulated
in the vicinity of the Company's mines, published an article announc-
ing the election as planned for November 4, 1938.
It thus appears that the A. F. of L. had ample notice of the election
and that the notice was publicized in the vicinity of the Company's
mines and mills in time to apprise the employees of the date. The
A. F. of L. has submitted 3 affidavits made by employees who state
that they did not know that an election was planned, that they failed
to vote in the election of November 4, 1938, and that had they been
advised of the election they would have voted for the A. F. of L.
Since the International received a plurality of 31 votes over the A.
F. of L., and a majority of those voting, the votes of these three
could not have altered the result. The A. F. of L. also submitted a
protest to the election signed by 164 employees stating that "many
of the employees did not know the election was being held [on No-
vember 4, 1938] and they were deprived of their rights of casting-
their votes for the proper bargaining agency. The final notice was
put up Nov. 2nd at noon...." This protest does not allege that
the signers themselves had no advance knowledge of the election or
that they failed to vote. It does not, therefore, state any matter
tending to impeach the result of the election. The objection based
on the alleged insufficiency of the notice is hereby overruled.
The A. F. of L. furnished no particulars in support of its objection
based on the alleged intimidation and threats practiced by the Inter-
national, and the Regional Director has reported that after investi-
gation he has found no person so threatened or intimidated. This
objection is therefore overruled.
As to the location of the polling place for Copperhill employees,
the Regional Director has reported that the structure known as the
Copperhi]l "gate house," one of the polling places in a previous elec-
1436 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Lion, was demolished in June 1938 and consequently unavailable, and
that Copperhill employees cast their ballots at the county building
in Copperhill where Polk County and Copperhill municipal elections
are customarily conducted. The location of the polling places was
not specified in the Second Direction of Election, as amended, and
accordingly was left to the discretion of the Regional Director. We
are of the opinion that he exercised his discretion properly, and we
overrule the objection of the A. F. of L. relating to the location of the
polling place. -
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National La-
bor Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations
Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 8, of National Labor Rela-
tions Board Rules and Regulations-Series 1, as amended,
IT IS HEREBY CERTIFIED that International Union of Mine, Mill,
and Smelter Workers has been designated and selected by a majority
of all the employees of Tennessee Copper Company, Copperhill, Ten-
nessee, in the Ducktown, Tennessee, basin, excluding clerical and
supervisory employees, chemists, and technical engineers, as their rep-
resentative for the purposes of collective bargaining and that, pur-
suant to the provisions of Section 9 (a) of the National Labor Rela-
tions Act, International Union of Mine, Mill, and Smelter Workers
is the exclusive representative of all such employees for the purposes
of collective bargaining in respect to rates of pay, wages, hours of
employment, and other conditions of employment.
MR. DONALD WAKEFIELD SMITH took no part in the consideration of
the above Fourth Supplemental Decision and Certification of
Representatives.