ECOLAB PRODUCTION LLCDownload PDFNational Labor Relations Board - Unpublished Board DecisionsOct 1, 202016-RC-264667 (N.L.R.B. Oct. 1, 2020) Copy Citation UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BEFORE THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD ECOLAB PRODUCTION LLC Employer and Case 16-RC-264667 RETAIL, WHOLESALE, AND DEPARTMENT STORE UNION Petitioner ORDER The Employer’s Emergency Request for Stay of Mail Ballot Election is granted. The Employer’s Request for Review of the Regional Director’s Decision and Direction of Election also is granted, as it raises substantial issues warranting review. MARVIN E. KAPLAN, MEMBER WILLIAM J. EMANUEL, MEMBER Dated, Washington, D.C., October 1, 2020. MEMBER McFERRAN, dissenting. I would deny the Employer’s requests for a stay and review of the Regional Director’s decision to order a mail-ballot election due to the threat posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The mechanics of an election, including whether it is to be conducted by mail ballot, lie within the discretion of the Regional Director. See San Diego Gas & Electric, 325 NLRB 1143, 1144 (1998). Here, the Regional Director clearly and rationally considered all the relevant circumstances, including those supporting the Employer’s argument for a manual election, but on balance concluded that a mail-ballot election was warranted in this case. Although individual Board Members might themselves have struck the balance differently were they deciding the case in the first instance, that is not the applicable standard. Applying the correct standard, there is no basis to conclude that the Regional Director “clearly abused” his discretion. National Van Lines, 120 NLRB 1343, 1346 (1958). Accordingly, I dissent. Dated, Washington, D.C., October 1, 2020. LAUREN McFERRAN, MEMBER Copy with citationCopy as parenthetical citation
