The Electric Auto-Lite Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jan 10, 1941

28 N.L.R.B. 1186 (N.L.R.B. 1941)

In the Matter of THE ELECTRIC AUTO-LIVE COMPANY (BUCKEYE
BUMPER DIVISION) and UNITED AUTOMOBILE WORKERS OF AMERICA,
LOCAL 402, AFFILIATED WITH C: I. O. '
Case No. R-1899
SUPPLEMENTAL DECISION
AND
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
a
January 10, 1941
Oh July 31 , 1940, the National Labor Relations Board, herein called
the Board , issued its Decision and Direction of Election in the above-
entitled proceeding.' Pursuant to the Direction of Election,' an
election by secret ballot was conducted on August 29, 1940, under4the
direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the Ninth
Region ( Cincinnati , Ohio ). The election results were as follows:
Number of alleged eligible voters--_-------------------------- 378
Number of ballots placed in ballot box----------------------- 350
Number of unchallenged ballots for United Automobile Workers
of America . Local 402 , C I. 0 --------------------------- 173
Number of unchallenged ballots for United Automobile Workers
of America, Local 657, A F. of L ------------------------ 160
Number of unchallenged ballots for neitherr ---------------- 13
Number of challenged ballots-------------- ------- 4
Number of blank ballots -------------------------------------- 0
Number of spoiled ballots----------------------------------- 0
On or about September 21, 1940, the parties to the proceedings, The'
Electric Auto-Lite Company (Buckeye Bumper Division) herein called
the Company, United Automobile 'Workers of America, Local 402
(CIO), herein called the U. A. W.-C. I. 0., United Automobile Work-
ers of America, Local 657 (A. F. of L.) herein called the U. A. W:-A. F.
of L., and agents of the Board entered into a Stipulation for Certifica-
tion Upon Consent Run-oft Election. The stipulation provided, in sub-
stance, that the parties waived any right to an election report or to rul-
ings upon the challenges in the originalielection, that they consented to
a run-off election to be conducted under the supervision of the Regional
Director in accordance with the terms of the stipulation, that the
Board might certify as exclusive bargaining agent the labor organi-
i'2°i N L R B 1276
28 N L. R. B, No. 159.
1186
THE ELECTRIC AUTO-LITE COMPANY 1187
zation obtaining - a majority of valid votes cast in the run-off election,
and that, for the purposes of certification, the record before the Board
should consist , in substance , of the Decision and Direction of Election
issued July, 31, 1940, and the formal documents, transcripts, and' ex-
hibits upon which it was based, ,the stipulation, Notice of Run-off
Election, a Run-off Election Report of the Regional Director, Ob-
jections, if any, to the Regional Director's Report, the Regional Direc-
tor's Report on Objections, if any, and any subsequent orders or
reports of the Regional- Director made pursuant to the terms of the
stipulation.
With respect to the terms of the run-off election, the stipulation
provided that the unit appropriate for collective bargaining was
the one so found by the Board in the Decision and Direction of Elec-
tion of July 31, 1940, that the "employees eligible to vote in such
run-off election should be those whose names appear upon the payroll
list submitted by the Company in the election held on August 29.
1940," with ,the addition of four named employees, and that only
the U. A. W.-C. I. O. and the U. A. W.-A. F. of L. should appear
on the ballot. .
Pursuant to the stipulation, a- run-off election was conducted
under the supervision of the Regional Director on September 26, 1940.
On September 27, 1940, the Regional Director issued and duly served
upon the parties his,Election Report.
As to, the balloting and its results, the Regional Director reported
as follows :
Number of'alleged eligible voters- ___________________ 372
Number of ballots placed in ballot box ______________________ 361
Number of unchallenged ballots for United Automobile
Workers of America , Local 402, C. I. 0----------------------- 181
Number of unchallenged ballots for United Automobile
Workers of America , Local 657, A. F. of L _________________ 179
Number of spoiled ballots___________________________________ 1
On September 30, 1940, the U. A. W.-A: F. of L. filed its Excep-
tions to Election Report and Motion for Appeal and Review. On
November 9, 1940, the Regional Director issued and duly served
upon the parties his Report on Objections to Election Report. On
December 6, 1940, the U. A.,W.-A. F. of L. filed with the Board a-
.brief in opposition to the Regional Director's Report on Objections.
On December 17, 1940, pursuant to notice, a hearing was held before
the Board in Washington, D. C., for the purpose of oral argument
on the objections to the Election Report.- The Company, the U.
A. W.-C. I. 0., and the U. A. W.-A. F. of L. were represented and
presented argument.
The U. A. W.-A. F. of L. objects to the conduct of the election
and the Election Report, in substance , upon the following grounds :
413597=42-vo1 28 76
1188 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
(1) that the Decision and Direction of Election of July 31, 1940,
excluded certain employees from the appropriate unit and excluded
from the election employees hired since February 3, 1940, the date
used to determine eligibility to vote in the election; (2) that the
U. A. W.-C. I. 0. had electioneered on the day of the election
and its observers had engaged in improper activities; (3) that seven
eligible employees, claimed by the Company to be ineligible to vote,
were excluded from the eligibility list and were. not allowed to vote;
and (4) that a person not an employee was allowed to vote. In his
report on Objections, the Regional Director stated in substance.
that the objections raised no substantial or material issue with regard
to the conduct of the election or the Election Report because.: (1)
the issue respecting the appropriate unit and the date used to de-
termine eligibility had been previously considered and determined by
the Board in its Decision and Direction of Election, and had been
agreed to by all parties in the stipulation; (2) that both the U. A. W.-
C. I. 0. and the U. A. W.-A. F. of L. had engaged in electioneering
on the day of, the election, and that an investigation disclosed no
improper activity on the part of the observers to the election; (3)
that with respect to the persons allegedly eligible to vote whose
names were omited from the list of eligible voters in' the run-off
election, only six names in fact were omitted,' that the six persons
involved were not eligible to vote by the express terms of the stipu-
lation because they were not employees of the Company at the time
of the run-off election, that prior to the run-off election, all parties
were informed of, and agreed to, the facts showing that the -six
persons involved were not employees of the Company, and that three
of the six persons presented themselves to vote at, ,the election, at
which time the observers for all the parties agreed that each of the
three persons was not eligible to vote; 3 and (4) that the person
allegedly not an employee who was allowed to vote was not-chal-
lenged at the time she appeared to vote, and was at the time of the
election an employee of the Company eligible to vote.
2 The U A. W.-A F. of L. alleged in its exceptions that seven names were omitted. The
seventh - person is Earl Gardner . The Regional Director's report, which is not contested
in this respect, states that the name of Earl Gardner at first erroneously appeared on the
list as Carl Gardner , and that it was corrected prior to the election so that in the list used
at the election , Earl Gardner was in fact included in the eligibility list.
a One of the persons involved , Kenneth Burnside , after attempting to vote went to the
personnel office of the Company to determine why he was no longer an employee He was
apparently informed that lie had failed to report for work within the 3-day limit required
by the Company. Burnside stated that through a mistake, he had not received the notice
to return to work and a company official informed him that in that event he could return
to work as soon as he could arrange to leave the employment which he then had with an-
other- company Burnside did not, however, return to the polls , thereafter , or attempt to
vote . No challenge was made to his exclusion at the time he did present himself to vote.
In any event , since his vote would not affect the outcome of the election , the incident raises
no substantial or material question with respect to the conduct of the ballot or the Election
Report
THE ELECTRIC AUTO-LITE COMPANY 1189
With respect to the first , third, and fourth points , we have not
been offered anything specific, which , if proved , would justify dis-
agreement with the Regional Director's findings and recommenda-
tion. With respect to the second point, we do not believe that
the.charges of misconduct against the U. A. W.-C. I. 0., are of such
character as to warrant further investigation . We find that the
Exceptions , to the Election Report filed by the U. A. W.-A. F. of L.
raise no-substantial or material question with respect to the conduct
of the ballot or the Election Report, and its Motion for Appeal and
Review is hereby denied.
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, 49 'Stat. 449, and pursuant to Article III, Sections 8
and 9, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-
Series 2, as. amended, `
IT IS HEREBY CERTIFIED that United `Automobile Workers of
America, Local 402, affiliated with C. I. 0., has been designated and
selected by a majority of all hourly paid' production and mainten-
ance employees and piece workers of, The Electric Auto-Lite Com-
pany (Buckeye Bumper Division) Springfield, Ohio, excluding office
and factory clerical employees, foremen, assistant foremen, and other
employee's having the right to hire and,discharge, the chief inspector,
checkers, watchmen, and powerhouse employees, as their representa-
tive- for the purposes of collective bargaining, and that pursuant
to Section 9 (a) of the National Labor Relations Act, United Auto-
mobile Workers of America, Local 402, affiliated' with C. I. 0., is
the exclusive representative of all such employees for the purposes
of collective bargaining with respect to rates of pay, wages, hours
of employment, and other conditions of employment.
MR. WILLIAM, M. LEISERSoiV, dissenting :
The eligible list of voters in this election was made up of , em-
ployees who were on a pay roll in February - 1940. While it is true
that the parties agreed to a run-off election based. on this same pay
roll, it is also true that 150 additional employees have been hired
since that time. There is a question in,my mind also as to whether
all of the seven employees who were on the February pay roll were
properly dropped from the eligible list and denied the right to'
vote. It appears that at least one of them, Burnside, and, possibly
another, Seelenbinder, who was alleged to have been on leave of
absence, and perhaps others, would have been entitled to vote had
their cases been fully investigated.
Under these' circumstances, I am of the opinion that the better
practice would be to order a new election based on a current pay-
roll date. ,