United Hydraulics Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jul 26, 1973

205 N.L.R.B. 62 (N.L.R.B. 1973)

62 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
United Hydraulics Corporation and International
Union , United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricul-
tural Implement Workers of America , UAW, Local
411, Petitioner . Case 18-AC-27
July 26, 1973
DECISION ON REVIEW AND ORDER
BY CHAIRMAN MILLER AND MEMBERS KENNEDY
AND PENELLO
On October 3, 1972, the Acting Regional Director
for Region 18 issued a Decision and Order Granting
Petition for Amendment of Certification in the above-
entitled proceeding, amending a previously issued
certification by substituting the name of the Petitioner
for that of Independent Employees Union of United
Hydraulics Corporation, herein referred to as the In-
dependent. Thereafter, in accordance with Section
102.67 of the National Labor Relations Board's Rules
and Regulations and Statements of Procedure, Series
8, as amended, the Employer filed a timely request for
review of the Acting Regional Director's Decision on
the grounds that he made factual findings which are
clearly erroneous, that he departed from officially re-
ported precedents, and that the National Labor Rela-
tions Board should reconsider the policy which the
Acting Regional Director applied in this case. The
Employer also requested oral argument.
By telegraphic order dated March 7, 1973, the
Board granted the Employer's request for review. The
Employer thereafter filed a brief on review.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the
National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the Na-
tional Labor Relations Board has delegated its au-
thority in this proceeding to a three-member panel.
The Board has reviewed the entire record in this
case with respect to the issues under review, including
the brief on review, and makes the following find-
ings: I
Upon separate petitions in Cases 18-RC-8647 and
18-RC-8652, filed by the Independent and the
Petitioner's parent, referred to herein as the UAW, the
1 Employer's request for oral argument is hereby denied, since the record
and brief adequately present the issue under review
cases were consolidated and an election held on June
16, 1971, in a unit of the Employer's production and
maintenance employees at the Waverly, Iowa, opera-
tion. The UAW received the least number of votes in
the election and as no choice on the ballot received a
majority of the valid votes cast, a runoff election be-
came necessary. In the runoff election held on July 19,
the Independent received a majority and was certified
on August 5, 1971, as the exclusive representative of
the employees in the unit. Subsequently, the Employ-
er and the Independent entered into a 3-year collec-
tive-bargaining agreement which has an expiration
date of September 20, 1974.
Without detailing all of the facts found by the Act-
ing Regional Director, of critical significance to our
decision on review is that the Independent voted to
affiliate with the UAW at a special membership meet-
ing held on May 30, 1972, and the instant petition was
filed on June 28, 1972, less than a year after the runoff
election resulting in the Independent's certification.
The Employer contends that the Acting Regional
Director's amendment of the certification is unwar-
ranted, and it urges the Board to adopt the views of
the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in American Bridge
Division, United States Steel Corporation v. N. L. R. B.,
457 F.2d 660 (1972), under which the instant petition
would be dismissed.
However, we find it unnecessary to reach the
Employer's arguments, as we believe the requested
amendment is barred under the rule of the Board's
Decision in Gulf Oil Corporation, 109 NLRB 861.
Were we to grant the amendment in the circumstanc-
es of this case we would, for all practical purposes, be
overturning the results of the recent 1971 Board elec-
tion proceeding in which the UAW, the Petitioner's
parent organization, was rejected by a majority of the
Employer's employees in a secret ballot. Such a deci-
sion would in our opinion subvert the policies of the
Act.2
Accordingly, we shall dismiss the petition.
ORDER
It is hereby ordered that the petition filed herein be,
and it, hereby is , dismissed.
2 Gulf Oil Corporation , supra, Bedford Gear & Machine Products, Inc, 150
NLRB 1, and The Bunker Hill Company, 197 NLRB 334
205 NLRB No. 20