Bedford Gear & Machine Products, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board DecisionsDec 11, 1964

150 N.L.R.B. 1 (N.L.R.B. 1964)

Bedford Gear & Machine Products , Inc. and International Union, United Automobile , Aerospace and Agricultural . Implement Workers of America , AFL-CIO, Petitioner. Case No. 8-RC- 5481. December 11, 1961 DECISION AND ORDER DENYING MOTION Pursuant to an. agreement among the Employer, Petitioner, and Intervenor, Bedford Gear Employees Association, a stipulated con- sent election was held on April 17, 1964, among the employees of the Employer in the appropriate unit. Thereafter, on April 24,1964, the Intervenor, having received a majority of the valid votes cast in the election, was certified as the representative of the above employees. On August 24, 1964, a motion for amendment of certification was filed with the Board by the recording secretary of the Intervenor re- questing the Board to change the name of the Intervenor in the certifi- cation to "Bedford Gear Unit of Local 70, International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural. Implement Workers of America (UAW), AFL-CIO." In support of the request, the mo- tion asserted that : (a) After due notice, a special meeting was held on August 9, 1964, attended by 77 of the 99 members of the Inter- venor, at which 53 members voted for, and 24 against, affiliation with Petitioner, and thereafter, affiliation was accepted by the Petitioner. (b) On August 10, the director of region 2 of the Petitioner requested recognition by the Employer of Local Union No. 70, UAW, as the successor to the Intervenor, but the Employer declined recognition. Thereafter, the Employer and the president of the Intervenor filed separate oppositions to the motion for amendment of certification on the grounds, inter alia, that it represents the effort of a splinter group to obtain certification of the Petitioner after it lost the election con- ducted herein; that the Intervenor is not defunct, but rather that a substantial number of employees still support the Intervenor; that the Intervenor is still a party to a contract extension agreement with the Employer pursuant to which checked-off dues continue to be col- lected from the members of the Intervenor; and that the Intervenor is currently engaged in negotiating a new collective-bargaining agree- ment with the Employer. On November 6, a supplement to the motion for amendment of cer- tification was filed by the newly elected officers of the Intervenor stat- ing, in substance, that the former president of the Intervenor was not authorized to oppose the motion, and that the newly elected officers 150 NLRB No. 3. 1 2 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD would continue to bargain with the Employer as the Bedford Gear Employees Association until the certification is amended by the Board, as requested in the motion. It is clear from the above-described circumstances that the motion for amendment of certification constitutes an attempt to raise a ques- tion of representation. However, such a question can be resolved only by the timely filing of a petition and a secret ballot election among the employees concerned, and not by a motion to amend the certification.' Indeed, as the Board pointed out in the Gulf Oil case, granting such a motion in circumstances such as this would in effect result in the cer- tification of the very union which less than a year before had been re- jected by a majority of the employees. In accord with well-established Board policy, therefore, we shall deny the motion. [The Board denied the motion for amendment of certification.] MEMBERS FANNING and JENKINS took no part in the consideration of the above Decision and Order Denying Motion. i Gulf Oil Corporation, 109 NLRB 861; cf. Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Com- pany, 144 NLRB 419. International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local No. 1081, and its agents, including officers A. D. Bentley, Steve Paulos, Mike Churich, and William K. Groves and Utah Copper Divi- sion , Kennecott Copper Corporation and International Asso- ciation of Machinists , Lodge 568 Utah Copper Division , Kennecott Copper Corporation ' and Inter- national Association of Machinists , Lodge No. 568, AFL-CIO Utah Copper Division , Kennecott Copper Corporation and Inter- national Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local Union No. 1081 , AFL-CIO Utah Copper Division , Kennecott Copper Corporation and Inter- national Union of Mine , Mill and Smelter Workers, for itself and on behalf of its Local 485. Cases Nos. 27-CD-45, R-2719 (20-R-834), R-0723 (20-R-838), and R-5114 (20-R-839). De- cember 11, 1964 DECISION AND DETERMINATION OF DISPUTE AND DECISION AND ORDER CLARIFYING AND AMENDING CERTIFICATIONS The proceeding in Case No . 27-CD-45 arises under Section 10(k) of the Act following charges filed by Utah Copper Division , Kennecott 1 The name of the Employer appears as amended at the hearing. 150 NLRB No. 4.