Weyerhaeuser Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Feb 7, 1980

247 N.L.R.B. 978 (N.L.R.B. 1980)

DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Weyerhaeuser Company and Highway & Local Motor
Freight Employees Local Union No. 667, affiliated
with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters,
Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of Ameri-
ca, Petitioner. Case 26-RC-5960
February 7, 1980
DECISION AND CERTIFICATION OF
REPRESENTATIVE
BY CHAIRMAN FANNING AND MEMBERS
PENELLO AND TRUESDALE
Pursuant to authority granted it by the National
Labor Relations Board under Section 3(b) of the
National Labor Relations Act, as amended, a three-
member panel has considered an objection to an
election held on May 10, 1979,' and the Hearing
Officer's report recommending disposition of same.
The Board has reviewed the record in light of the
exceptions and brief, and hereby adopts the Hearing
Officer's findings2 and recommendation.
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVE
It is hereby certified that a majority of the valid
ballots have been cast for Highway & Local Motor
Freight Employees Local Union No. 667, affiliated
with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters,
Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America,
and that, pursuant to Section 9(a) of the National
Labor Relations Act, as amended, the said labor
organization is the exclusive representative of all the
employees in the following appropriate unit for the
The election was conducted pursuant to a Stipulation for Certification
Upon Consent Election. The tally was 37 for, and 32 against, Petitioner; there
were 5 challenged ballots.
On March 12, 1979, Petitioner filed a petition seeking a representation
election at the Employer's West Memphis facility. The Regional Director
approved a Stipulation for Certification Upon Consent Election on April I I,
1979, and the election was held on May 10, 1979. Petitioner challenged five
ballots and filed timely objections to conduct affecting the results of the
election. These objections were later withdrawn. The Employer also filed
timely objections to conduct affecting the results of the election, which the
Regional Director investigated. Pursuant to this investigation, the Regional
Director issued a Report on Challenges and Objections in which he
recommended that one challenge be sustained. thus rendering the remaining
four challenges nondeterminative, and that, of the Employer's seven objec-
tions, only Objection I be sent to a hearing. In Weyerhaeuser Company. 244
NLRB 1153 (1979), Member Penello dissenting, the Board considered and
rejected the Employer's exceptions to the Regional Director's report, and
adopted the Regional Director's recommendations as to the challenges and
purposes of collective bargaining with respect to rates
of pay, wages, hours of employment, and other terms
and conditions of employment:
All production and maintenance employees,
including the quality control technician, janitor,
shipping assistant, warehouse and trash truck-
drivers, order clerks and plant inspectors em-
ployed at the Company's West Memphis, Arkan-
sas, location. Excluded: All office clerical em-
ployees, guards, watchmen and supervisors as
defined in the Act.
MEMBER PENELLI.O, concurring in part and dissenting
in part:
I agree with the majority's decision to accept the
Hearing Officer's recommendation that Objection 1 be
overruled. However, I cannot accept their decision to
issue a Certification of Representative. As I noted in
my partial dissent in the Board's previous Decision
and Direction in this case,' substantial and material
factual issues exist concerning the Employer's Objec-
tions 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. These objections allege that
Petitioner threatened unit employees with violent
reprisals should they attempt to cross any picket lines
established by Petitioner. For the reasons set forth in
my dissenting opinion in Hickory Springs Manufactur-
ing Company, 239 NLRB 641 (1978), I would find
that such threats, if made, constitute objectionable
conduct warranting setting aside the election. Given
the Board's failure to direct a hearing on those issues
and to determine that, contrary to the Employer's
allegations, no such conduct occurred which tainted
the atmosphere of the election and rendered a free
choice improbable,4 I cannot join in the issuance of the
Certification of Representative in this case.
objections. Pursuant to this order, a hearing was held on October 23, 1979, to
consider Employer's Objection I.
We wish to clarify two points in the Hearing Officer's report. First, since
the Hearing Officer's treatment of N.L.R.B. v. Sayair Manufacturing Co.. 414
U.S. 270 (1973). could be construed as excluding examination of post-petition
conduct, we note that this restriction does not exist. The standard set forth in
Savair applies to pre- and post-petition conduct. See N.L.R.B. v. Savair
Manufacturing Co., supra, and Gibson's Discount Center. A Division of
Scrivner-Boogaart, Inc., 214 NLRB 221 (1974). Second. in recommending
that the Employer's objection be overruled, the Hearing Officer concluded
that the objection was "insufficient to raise material or substantial issues
affecting the results of the election." The proper standard to be applied in
cases involving objections to conduct affecting the results of an election is
whether the conduct reasonably tends to interfere with the employees'
freedom of choice in the election, a standard which we find has not been
satisfied herein. See The Liberal Market. Inc., 108 NLRB 1481 (1954).
' Weyerhaeuser Company, 244 NLRB 1153 (1979).
'See General Shoe Corportion, 77 NLRB 124 (1948).
247 NLRB No. 147
978