Colgate-Palmolive Peet Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Feb 16, 1953

102 N.L.R.B. 1405 (N.L.R.B. 1953)

COLGATE-PALMOLIVE PEET COMPANY 1405
rule set forth in the Columbia University case is and should be con-
trolling here.
Unlike the majority, we do not believe that the commercial aspects
of the research activities of the Institute's Cooperative Wind Tunnel
project are sufficient to warrant our asserting jurisdiction in the light
of what we consider the intimate relation between these activities and
the admitted educational purposes of the Institute itself. For these
reasons, we would dismiss the petition.
COLGATE-PALMOLIVE PEET COMPANY and INTERNATIONAL CHEMICAL
WORKERS UNION , LOCAL #15, AFL, PETITIONER . Case No. 35-RC-
644. February 16, 1953
Supplemental Decision, Certification of Representatives, and
Order
On May 15, 1952, pursuant to the Board's Decision and Direction of
Elections 1 issued on April 23, 1952, elections by secret ballot were
conducted by the Regional Director for the Ninth Region among
employees in the respective voting groups to determine whether or not
said employees desired the Petitioner to represent them for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining.
Upon the conclusion of the elections, tallies of the ballots were
furnished the parties hereto in accordance with the rules and regula-
tions of the Board. The tallies show : (1) That of approximately 20
eligible voters in voting group A,2 19 cast ballots, of which 14 were for
the Petitioner and 5 against the Petitioner, and there were no chal-
lenged ballots; (2) that of approximately 26 eligible voters in the
professional voting group B,s 7 cast ballots for inclusion with non-
professional employees, 17 cast ballots against inclusion with the non-
professional employees, and there were 2 challenged ballots; (3) that
of the approximately 26 eligible voters in voting group B, 11 cast
ballots for the Petitioner, 13 cast ballots against the Petitioner, and
there were 2 challenged ballots; and (4) that of approximately 2
eligible voters in voting group C,4 2 cast ballots against the Petitioner.
198 NLRB No. 193.
3 This voting group was composed of all analysts , inspectors , and the special investigator
and material inspector in the Employer 's laboratory at Jeffersonville , Indiana , excluding
clerks, secretaries and stenographers , chemical engineers, and supervisors as defined in
the Act.
" This group was composed of the senior , associate, and junior chemists in the Employer's
laboratory at Jeffersonville, Indiana, excluding clerks , secretaries and stenographers, chem-
ical engineers , and supervisors as defined in the Act.
4 This group was composed of the 2 dishwashers in the Employer 's laboratory at Jeffer-
sonville , Indiana, excluding all professional and nonprofessional laboratory employees,
clerks, secretaries and stenographers , chemical engineers , all other employees , and super-
visors as defined in the Act.
102 NLRB No. 143.
1406 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Thereafter, the Petitioner filed timely objections to conduct affect-
ing the results of the elections in respect to voting group B only,
alleging that approximately 35 of the 45 employees in voting groups
A and B were granted wage increases on Wednesday, May 14, 1952,
the day before the elections. Thereupon, in accordance with the
Board's Rules and Regulations, the Regional Director conducted an
investigation and issued and duly served upon the parties his report
on objections to election, in which he recommended to the Board that
a hearing be held on the said objections. Inasmuch as no exceptions
had been filed by any of the parties to the Regional Director's report,
the Board decided to adopt the Regional Director's recommendation.
Pursuant to notice, a hearing was held on September 17, 1952, before
Charles Y. Latimer, hearing officer. All parties appeared and par-
ticipated. The Board 5 has reviewed the rulings made by the hearing
officer and finds that no prejudicial error was committed. The rulings
are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board makes the following
supplemental findings of fact :
Prior to March 1951 the Employer gave merit increases each year
to various employees in all its plants. In 1951 the Employer adopted
the policy of giving merit increases every 6 months to various em-
ployees at all its domestic plants 6 On July 3, 1951, the Wage and
Hour Division of the Labor Department approved the policy.
The last previous increases at the Jeffersonville, Indiana, plant,
the only plant involved herein, were given in October and November
1951. The Employer also gave merit increases at the same time to
various employees at its 3 other domestic plants; no labor organiza-
tion was then seeking to represent such other employees. On May 12,
13, and 14, 1952, pursuant to its new policy, the Employer notified 18
employees in voting group B at Jeffersonville that each was being
given a merit increase; and 7 employees in voting group A at Jeff er-
sonville were similarly notified. At about the same time various
employees at the Employer's other domestic plants received merit
increases.
The Petitioner contends that the granting of these increases just
before the election constituted interference with the election and,
standing alone, is a sufficient ground to warrant setting the election
aside. We do not agree. In similar cases, the Board has declined to
set aside an election on the basis of a wage increase granted in con-
formity with an employer's past practice, when the employees in-
5 Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the National Labor Relations Act, the
Board has delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three-member panel
[Chairman Herzog and Members Styles and Peterson]
9 The Employer has four domestic plants located in the following cities : Jersey City,
New Jersey , Kansas City, Kansas ; Berkeley, California ; and Jeffersonville, Indiana.
COLGATE-PALMOLIVE PEET COMPANY 1407
volved might normally have anticipated such an increase, and when the
relationship between the increase and the election was no more than
temporal coincidence. Because the increases herein were granted in
accord with the Employer's merit increase policy of 1951, at a time
when the employees involved might normally have expected such an
increase, and as the Employer was, during the same period, increasing
the wages of employees not involved in any representation proceeding,7
we believe that the principles set forth in the United Screw & Bolt
case are controlling here." Accordingly, we find the Petitioner's
objections to be without merit, and they are hereby overruled.
Because the tallies show that the Petitioner has received a majority
of the valid votes cast by the employees in voting group A, we find
that these employees constitute an appropriate unit and we shall
certify the Petitioner as their exclusive bargaining representative.
Because the Petitioner did not secure a majority of the valid votes
cast by employees in voting groups B and C, and the challenged bal-
lots cannot affect the results of the elections, we shall dismiss the peti-
tion with respect to these employees.
The following employees of the Employer constitute a unit appro-
priate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning
of Section 9 (b) of the Act:
All analysts, inspectors, and the special investigator and material
inspector at the Employer's laboratory at Jeffersonville, Indiana, ex-
cluding clerks, secretaries and stenographers, chemical engineers, and
supervisors as defined in the Act.
Certification of Representatives
It IS HEREBY CERTIFIED that International Chemical Workers Union,
Local #15, AFL, has been designated and selected by a majority
of the employees in the unit herein found appropriate, as their repre-
sentative for the purposes of collective bargaining, and that, pursuant
to Section 9 (a) of the Act, the said organization is the exclusive repre-
sentative of all such employees for the purposes of collective bargain-
ing with respect to rates of pay, wages, hours of employment, and other
conditions of employment.
Order
IT Is HEREBY ORDERED that the petition with respect to the employees
in voting groups B and C be, and it hereby is, dismissed.
i Volney Felt Mills, Inc., 70 NLRB 908.
8 United Screw & Bolt Corporation, 91 NLRB 916; Eisner Grocery Corporation, 93
NLRB 1614; cf. Le Rol Corporation, 101 NLRB 55.