Endless Mold, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Apr 19, 1974

210 N.L.R.B. 159 (N.L.R.B. 1974)

ENDLESS MOLD, INC.
Endless Mold, Inc . and International Union, United
Automobile , Aerospace and Agricultural Imple-
ment Workers of America (UAW), Petitioner.
Case 7-RC-12022
April 19, 1974
DECISION AND CERTIFICATION OF
REPRESENTATIVE
BY CHAIRMAN MILLER AND MEMBERS
FANNING AND PENELLO
Pursuant to a Stipulation for Certification Upon
Consent Election, a secret ballot election was
conducted on October 31, 1973, among the employ-
ees in the stipulated unit described below. The tally
of ballots furnished the parties showed that, of
approximately 85 eligible voters, 61 cast valid ballots,
of which 41 were for, and 20 against, the Petitioner.
There were no challenged ballots. Thereafter, the
Employer filed timely objections to conduct affecting
the results of the election.
On December 17, 1973, the Regional Director
issued and served on the parties his Report and
Recommendation on Objections recommending that
the objections be overruled in their entirety and
Petitioner be certified as the exclusive collective-
bargaining representative in the stipulated unit.
Thereafter, the Employer filed exceptions 1 to the
Regional Director's report.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the
National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the
National Labor Relations Board has delegated its
authority in this proceeding to a three-member panel.
Upon the entire record in this proceeding, 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 herein.
2. The labor organization involved claims to
represent certain employees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concern-
ing the representation of certain employees of the
Employer within the meaning of Section 9(c)(1) and
Section 2(6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The parties stipulated and we find that the
following employees constitute an appropriate unit
for the purposes of collective bargaining within the
meaning of Section 9(b) of the Act:
All production and maintenance employees,
i In the absence of timely exceptions, we issued a Decision and
Certification of Representative on January 10, 1974, in which we adopted
the Regional Director's recommendation that the Employer's objections be
overruled in their entirety and that the Petitioner be certified as the
exclusive bargaining representative of the Employer's employees in the unit
found appropriate On January 16, 1974, the Employer filed a request for
Late Filing of Exceptions and Motion for Reconsideration On January 21,
159
including shipping and receiving employees and
truck drivers employed by the Employer at its 500
East Second Street, Rochester, Michigan, facility;
but excluding all office clerical employees, tool
room employees, managerial employees, guards
and supervisors as defined in the Act.
5. The Board has considered the objections, the
Regional Director's report, and the Employer's
exceptions and brief and hereby adopts the Regional
Director's findings, conclusions, and recommenda-
tions.2
The Regional Director found that approximately 2
weeks before the election the Petitioner distributed a
letter to all employees which stated: "INITIATION
FEES-Cost of joining UAW has been waived for
all Endless Mold employees."3 The Regional Direc-
tor also found that union representatives told
employees at three meetings prior to the election that
any employee employed by the Employer when the
Petitioner was "voted in" would not be required to
pay initiation fees. The Regional Director concluded
that the Petitioner's waiver did not constitute a basis
for setting aside the election, relying on our decision
in DIT-MCO, Incorporated, 163 NLRB 1019. At the
time of the Regional Director's decision, the Su-
preme Court had not yet expressed its views on this
issue . We have reviewed this matter in light of the
Supreme Court's decision in N. L. R. B. v. Savair
Manufacturing Company, 414 U.S. 270 (December 17,
1973), and have concluded that the Petitioner's
waiver of initiation fees here does not warrant setting
aside the election. In Savair the Supreme Court
characterized the waiver of initiation fees as a
legitimate interest of the union in eliminating an
"artificial obstacle," e.g., the expense of representa-
tion, from the employees' free choice in the election.
This union interest "can be preserved as well by
waiver of initiation fees available not only to those
who have signed up with the union before an election
but also to those who join after the election." The
availability to all employees eligible to vote in the
election, whether they should join the union before
or after the election, ensures that the waiver has not
been conditioned upon support of the union in any
form during the election. The absence of such
condition avoids the creation of any impression that
employees who refrain from supporting the union
would be penalized therefor in comparison with
those employees who support the union during the
electoral campaign. The waiver in the instant case
1974, we granted the Employers motion and revoked our January 10, 1974,
Decision and Certification of Representative
2 In the absence of exceptions thereto , we adopt proforma the Regional
Director's recommendation to overrule Objections 2 and 3 (c), respectively.
3 The letter also stated : "UA W DUES-UAW dues do not begin until
you start receiving UAW benefits through a signed contract .
210 NLRB No. 34
160 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
was available to all eligible voters in the election, was
optionable before or after the election, and was
clearly not conditioned upon the expression of
support for the Union in any form during the
electoral process .4 We find that the Petitioner's
waiver did not interfere with employee free choice in
the election and, consequently, that the election
should not be set aside.
As the Petitioner has received a majority of the
valid ballots cast, we shall certify it as the exclusive
bargaining representative of the employees in the
unit found appropriate.
4 The additional fact that the Union , in its oral waiver of initiation fees,
limited the availability of that waiver to only those individuals who were
employed when it was "voted in" could not, in our view , be deemed to have
affected the election . Whatever the impact of such a limitation , it is clear
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVE
It is hereby certified that a majority of the valid
ballots has been cast for the International Union,
United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural
Implement Workers of America (UAW), and that,
pursuant to Section 9(a) of the National Labor
Relations Act, as amended, the said labor organiza-
tion is the exclusive representative of all the
employees in the unit found appropriate herein for
the purposes of collective bargaining with respect to
rates of pay, wages, hours of employment , and other
terms and conditions of employment.
that it would only affect those individuals hired after the election who, in
any event , could not have participated in the election and could not have
had any effect on its outcome.