Veeder-Root Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Nov 29, 1948

80 N.L.R.B. 851 (N.L.R.B. 1948)

In the Matter of VEEDER-ROOT INCORPORATED , EMPLOYER and ROBERT
H. HICKEY, EMPLOYEE , PETITIONER and INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION
OF MACHINISTS , CAPITOL CITY LODGE No. 354, DISTRICT 26, UNION
Case No. 1-RD-28.Decided November 29, 1948
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a decertification petition duly filed, a hearing was held before
a hearing officer of the National Labor Relations Board. The hear-
ing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial
error and are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the National Labor Relations Act.
2. The Petitioner, an employee of the Employer, asserts that the
Union is no longer the representative of the Employer's employees
as defined in Section 9 (a) of the Act.
The Union, an unaffiliated labor organization, was certified by the
Board in December 1945 as the bargaining representative of employ-
ees of the Employer following a consent election.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa-
tion of employees of the Employer, within the meaning of Section 9
(c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.'
i The Employer and the Union entered into a contract on July 25 , 1947 , which provided
that it was to be effective for a period of a year, subject to automatic renewal absent 60-70
days' notice. The Petitioner , on May 24, 1948 , mailed to the Regional Office a letter, sub-,
scribed by more than 30 percent of the employees in the unit involved, stating that only
one-third of the employees in the unit were members of the Union , that the remaining two-
thirds desired no bargaining representative , and that they requested the Board "to conduct
a re-balloting of our group as soon as possible in order that our desires regarding employee
representation may be accurately reflected ." A formal petition was filed on June 21, 1948.
The Union contends that action on the formal petition is barred by the automatic renewal
of the contract , and that the letter of May 24 is not a petition and therefore cannot serve
as the basis of the present proceeding . A letter similar to the letter in question , however,
has recently been held to be an adequate petition and to prevent the operation as a bar of a
contract executed subsequent to the filing of the letter but more than 10 days before the
filing of a formal petition . Matter of Kraft Foods Company, 76 N. L. R. B. 492.
Board Member Murdock would have held that the letter of May 24, which does not meet
all the requisites of a decertification petition under the Board's Rules, should not be treated
as a petition ; but in view of the second Board decision in Advance Pattern Company, 80
N. L. R. B . 29, by which he regards himself bound , he feels that he is precluded from taking
such a position . Accordingly for that reason only, he joins in the decision in this case.
bli N. L It. B , No. 137.
817319-49-vol. 80-55 851
852 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
4. The following employees of the Employer constitute a unit appro-
priate for purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of
Section 9 (b) of the Act :
All draftsmen and tracers in departments 48, 79, and 97 of the
Employer's plant at Hartford, Connecticut, excluding office and
clerical employees, and supervisors as defined in the Act.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with the Employer, an election by
secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later
than 30 days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and
supervision of the Regional Director for the First Region, and subject
to Sections 203.61 and 203.62 of National Labor Relations Board Rules
and Regulations-Series 5, as amended, among the employees in the
unit found appropriate in paragraph numbered 4, above, who were
employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date
of this Direction of Election, including employees who did not work
during said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation or
temporarily laid off, but excluding those employees who have since
quit or been discharged for cause and have not been rehired or rein-
stated prior to the date of the election, and also excluding employees
on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine whether
or not they desire to be represented, for purposes of collective bargain-
ing, by International Association of Machinists, Capitol City Lodge
No. 354, District 26.