Borden, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 30, 1970

184 N.L.R.B. 396 (N.L.R.B. 1970)

396 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Borden , Inc., Dairy & Services Division and Truck
Drivers & Helpers Local Union No. 728 , affiliated
with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters,
Chauffeurs , Warehousemen & Helpers of Amer-
ica, Petitioner . Case 10-RC-7883
June 30, 1970
DECISION AND CERTIFICATION OF
REPRESENTATIVE
BY MEMBERS FANNING , MCCULLOCH, AND JENKINS
Pursuant to a Stipulation for Certification Upon
Consent Election, an election by secret ballot was
conducted by the Regional Director for Region 10
on September 19, 1969, among the employees in
the agreed -upon unit at the Employer's Savannah,
Georgia, operation . At the conclusion of the ballot-
ing, the parties were furnished a tally of ballots,
which showed that of approximately 30 eligible
voters, 16 cast valid ballots for and 13 cast valid
ballots against the Petitioner, 1 cast a challenged
ballot, and none cast void ballots. The challenged
ballot was insufficient to affect the results of the
election . Thereafter, the Employer filed timely ob-
jections to conduct allegedly affecting the results of
the election.
In accordance with the National Labor Relations
Board Rules and Regulations and Statements of
Procedure, Series 8, as amended, the Regional
Director investigated the issues raised by the objec-
tions, and, on October 27, 1969, issued and duly
served on the parties his Report on Objections, in
which he found and concluded that the objections
were without merit, and recommended that they be
overruled in their entirety and that the Petitioner
be certified. Thereafter, the Employer filed timely
exceptions to the report and a brief in support of its
exceptions, requesting the Board to sustain the Em-
ployer's objections and order a new election, or, in
the alternative, order a hearing on the objections.
The Board determined that the issues raised by the
Employer's Objections I and 2 could best be
resolved at a hearing. Accordingly, on February 11,
1970, the Board issued an Order Directing Hearing
with respect to Employer's Objections 1 and 2. A
hearing was held on March 11, 1970, at Savannah,
Georgia, before a duly designated Hearing Officer,
for the purpose of receiving evidence to determine
the issues raised by the Employer's Objections 1
and 2, which are:
"1. Local 738 [sic], IBT, by its representatives
and agents , warned and threatened employees of
Borden, Inc., Dairy & Services Division, that they
would retaliate against said employees and/or that
184 NLRB No. 43
they would lose their jobs if they voted against the
Teamsters in the September 19, 1969 election.
"2. By these and other acts and conduct Team-
sters Local 738, but [sic ] its representatives and
agents improperly interferred [sic] with and af-
fected the results of the election."
After the hearing , the Hearing Officer concluded
and found that the Employer's Objections I and 2
were insufficient to raise material or substantial is-
sues affecting the results of the election, and he
recommended to the Board that said objections be
overruled. Thereafter, the Employer filed timely ex-
ceptions to the Hearing Officer's report.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the
Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connec-
tion 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 herin.
2. The Petitioner is a labor organization claiming
to represent certain employees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists con-
cerning the representation of the employees of the
Employer 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 unit is appropriate for the
purposes of collective bargaining within the mean-
ing of Section 9(b) of the Act.
All employees of the Employer working in the
truck, plant, shipping department, and cabinet
maintenance employed at the Savannah, Geor-
gia, plant and all ice cream salesmen, milk
retail salesmen and milk wholesale route
salesmen , utility relief employees located at
Savannah, Statesboro, Vidalia, Glennville, and
Claxton, Georgia, excluding all other em-
ployees located at Savannah, Statesboro,
Vidalia, Glennville, and Claxton, Georgia, in-
cluding territory salesmen, wholesale superin-
tendent, wholesale ice cream supervisors,
wholesale milk supervisors, retail milk super-
visors, head shipping department clerk, office
employees, clerical employees, professional
employees, technical employees, guards, and
supervisors as defined in the Act.
5. At the hearing, the Employer presented one
employee witness, Stevens, who testified that fellow
employees Strickland, on the day before the elec-
tion, and White, at a union meeting attended by 15
to 20 employees about 10 days before the election,
made the respective statements, "if things didn't go
right, they [the employees] would lose their jobs,"
and "if we didn't all stick together, we would lose
our jobs."
BORDEN , INC. 397
White denied making the statement attributed to
him, and further denied that he was ever given any
authority by the Union to act in any official capaci-
ty. Union Business Agent Collis testified that he
never gave White any instructions during the cam-
paign, and that he attended all the union meetings
for the employees and never heard White make the
alleged statement. The Hearing Officer, on the
basis of conflicts in the testimony of employee
Stevens, discredited his testimony and credited the
testimony of employee White and Business Agent
Collis
As to the statement allegedly made by employee
Strickland, Stevens testified that, during the day be-
fore the election, Strickland talked with him and
told him to pass the word to the other employees
that "if things didn't go right, they would lose their
jobs." Before the election the next morning,
Stevens told this to employees Hill, Williams, and
Murphy. Strickland denied telling or requesting
Stevens to talk with other employees or making this
statement to any employees himself. The Hearing
Officer credited the testimony of Strickland.
The Hearing Officer found that there was no
evidence adduced that Strickland and White were
acting upon instructions or request of the Petitioner
or that the Petitioner either authorized or con-
doned any of the questioned conduct. He further
found that the probative evidence presented and
adduced does not show that the alleged threats
were made , and, if made , they did not interfere
with the reasonable standards for a fair election.
After careful consideration of the record, we see
no basis for reversing the Hearing Officer's credi-
bility determinations. In view of this conclusion, it
is unnecessary to consider his findings with regard
to the agency status of White and Strickland, since,
even if they were acting as agents of the Petitioner,
it has been found that they did not make the state-
ments attributed to them. We therefore adopt the
findings and recommendations of the Hearing Of-
ficer and overrule the objections in their entirety.
Accordingly, as the Petitioner received a majori-
ty of the valid votes cast, we shall certify it as the
representative of the employees in the appropriate
unit.
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVE
It is hereby certified that Truck Drivers & Hel-
pers Local Union No. 728, affiliated with the Inter-
national Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs,
Warehousemen and Helpers of America, has been
designated and selected by a majority of the em-
ployees in the unit found appropriate herein as
their representative for the purposes of collective
bargaining, and that, pursuant to Section 9(a) of
the Act, the said labor organization is the exclusive
representative of all employees in such unit for the
purposes of collective bargaining with respect to
rates of pay, wages, hours of employment, and
other terms and conditions of employment.