The Mead Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 22, 1971

189 N.L.R.B. 190 (N.L.R.B. 1971)

190 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
The Mead Corporation, Harriman Division and Inter-
national Association of Machinists and Aerospace
Workers, AFL-CIO, Petitioner and Local 12281,
and International Union of District 50, Allied and
Technical Workers of the United States and Cana-
da. Case 10-RC-8419
March 22, 1971
DECISION AND CERTIFICATION OF
REPRESENTATIVE
BY CHAIRMAN MILLER AND MEMBERS
FANNING AND BROWN
Pursuant to a Stipulation Upon Certification for
Consent Election, as amended and approved by the
Regional Director for Region 10, an election by secret
ballot was conducted among certain employees of the
Employer as set forth in said stipulation. At the
conclusion of the election the parties were furnished a
tally of ballots which showed that of approximately
107 eligible voters, 106 cast valid ballots of which 56
were for the Petitioner, and 50 for the Intervenor. No
ballots were challenged. Thereafter, the Intervenor
filed timely objections to conduct alleged to have
affected the results of the election.
Pursuant to the National Labor Relations Board
Rules and Regulations, Series 8, as amended, the
Acting Regional Director conducted an investigation
of the timely oijections. Thereafter, on January 7,
1971, he issued and duly served on the parties his
report on the foregoing objections in which he
recommended that they be overruled. On January 22,
1971, the Intervenor filed timely exceptions to the
Acting Regional Director's Report on Objections.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the
National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the
National Labor Relations Board has delegated its
powers in connection with this case to a three-member
panel.
Upon the entire record in this case the Board finds:
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within
the meaning of the Act and it will effectuate the
purposes of the Act to assert jurisdiction herein.
2. The Petitioner and Intervenor are labor organi-
zations claiming to represent certain employees of the
Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concern-
ing the representation of employees of the Employer
1 Chairman Miller would remand for a hearing on Objection 4, wherein
it is alleged that Petitioner interfered with the election through the conduct
of its agent in campaigning at or near the polling area . Although the
evidence relative to this incident is in conflict , that offered in support of
this objection shows that Petitioner 's agent approached an employee
entering the polling area to vote and urged him to vote for the Petitioner
In the opinion of the Chairman, the Board 's longstanding policy requiring
that elections be set aside because of electioneering in the polling area is to
within the meaning of Section 9(c)(1) and Section 2(6)
and (7) of the Act.
4. We find, in accord with the stipulation of the
parties, that the following employees constitute an
appropriate unit for the purposes of collective
bargaining within the meaning of Section 9(b) of the
Act.
All production and maintenance employees of the
Employer at its Harriman, Tennessee, operation,
excluding all office and plant clerical, quality
control, technical, administration, executive and
research employees, engineers, draftsmen, profes-
sional employees, guards, and foremen, and all
other supervisors as defined in the Act.
5. The Board has considered the Acting Regional
Director's Report, the Intervenor's exceptions there-
to, and the entire record in this case, and hereby
adopts the Acting Regional Director's findings,
conclusions, and recommendations.'
We agree with the Regional Director that the
conduct alleged by the Employer in Objection 4,
standing alone, is without merit. The circumstances
are as follows: At 2 p.m. on November 25, 1970, at the
beginning of the second polling session, the represent-
atives of the various parties left the polling area at the
direction of the Board agent, only seconds before the
Board agent opened the polls. Intervenor's Represent-
ative Floyd Mills exited the polling area (recreation
room) door just ahead of Petitioner's Representative
Harry F. Duncan. The Board agent verbally declared
the polls open just as the representatives were going
through the door, where one unit employee, R. G.
Walker, was standing. According to Mills, Petitioner's
Representative Duncan grasped employee Walker's
hand as Walker entered through the door and said,
"Don't forget to vote for the IAM. You know what I
told you about the pension and we'll take care of
that." Walker then continued into the polling area
and voted. No other eligible voters, other than the two
union election observers, were present in the polling
area at the time of the alleged remarks. Duncan had
"no recollection" of the incident. In view of the fact
that Walker's vote is not, in any event, dispositive of
the election results, we agree with the Acting Regional
Director that this single incident is not sufficient to
warrant setting aside the election.
Accordingly, we have overruled the objections and
as the tally shows that the Petitioner has obtained a
majority of the valid ballots cast, we shall certify it as
be enforced strictly, and, by its very nature, should be applied to all such
conduct, whether or not the violation of the rule would have a discernible
impact upon the results The evidence offered by the Intervenor in support
of its objection, if true, shows a violation of the above policy and requires a
second election Accordingly, it is the Chairman 's opinion that a material
issue of fact exists under Objection 4 which could only' be resolved through
a hearing
189 NLRB No. 36
THE MEAD CORPORATION 191
the exclusive collective -bargaining representative of
the employees in the appropriate unit.
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVE
It is hereby certified that International Association
of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, AFL-CIO,
has been designated and selected by a majority of the
employees of the Employer in the appropriate unit as
their representative for the purposes of collective
bargaining and that pursuant to Section 9(c) of the
Act, the said labor organization 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 terms and
conditions of employment.