Schwartz-Bernard Cigar Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

May 27, 1938

7 N.L.R.B. 503 (N.L.R.B. 1938)

In the Matter of SCHWARTZ-BERNARD CIGAR COMPANY and UNITED
CIGAR WORKERS OF AMERICA, LOCAL No. 1
Case No. R-432
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 27, 1938
On March 18, 1938, the National Labor Relations Board issued a
Decision and Direction of Elections in the above-entitled case and
four related cases. ,, The Direction of Elections directed that cer-
tain elections by secret ballot be held, one of them among all the
employees employed by Bernard Schwartz Cigar Corporation, herein
called the Company, during the pay-roll period next preceding
November 18, 1937, excluding foremen, supervisory personnel, board
members, superintendents, maintenance employees, clerical employ-
ees, those engaged in the office, and those quitting or discharged for
cause before the election, to determine whether or not they desired to
be represented by United Cigar Workers Local Industrial Union No.
24 for the purposes of collective bargaining. On or about April 2,
1938, the Company moved to amend the Decision and Direction of
Elections so as to provide that the employees eligible to vote be those
on the pay roll next preceding the election, instead of those employed
during the pay-roll period referred to in the Direction. The motion
was denied by order of the Board dated April 5, 1938.
Pursuant to the Direction, an election by secret ballot was conducted
on April 7, 1938, between 1: 30 p. in. and 5: 00 p. in., at Detroit, Michi-
gan, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for
the Seventh Region (Detroit, Michigan). On April 12, 1938, the
Regional Director, acting pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of Na-
tional Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 1, as
amended, issued an Intermediate Report on the ballot, which was duly
served upon the parties on April 14, 1938.
On April 19, 1938, the Company filed objections and exceptions to
the ballot, the notice of election, the Intermediate Report, and the
Board's said order dated April 5, 1938, on the following grounds :
16 N. L. R. B. 71.
503
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504 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
That 52 persons employed within the appropriate unit during the
pay-roll period next preceding the election, but not during the pay-
roll period referred to in the Direction of Election, were prevented
from voting; that the notice of election posted in the factory by direc-
tion of the Board's agent, and the caption used on the ballot, each indi-
cated, and led at least some employees to believe, that the Board pre-
ferred them to be represented by a union, and that the law required
them to select an exclusive representative in order to bargain with their
employer; and, finally, that a streetcar strike in Detroit the morning
of the day of the election prevented 33 employees eligible to vote from
reporting for work on that day and from voting.
The Board has examined the ballot and notice of election and finds
that the objections and exceptions relative thereto are without merit.
The Board has also carefully considered the facts alleged in the objec-
tions and exceptions relative to the alleged exclusion from voting of
52 employees and relative to the streetcar strike. It is of the opinion
that the eligibility date selected was appropriate, and that even if the
allegations relative to the streetcar strike are true, they constitute
insufficient reason for setting aside the election. The objections and
exceptions are hereby overruled.
On May 16, 1938, the Company requested an opportunity for oral
argument on the objections and exceptions and on the entire record
in the case. The request is hereby denied.
As to the results of the secret ballot, the Regional Director reported
as follows :
Total number eligible to vote ---------------------------- 346
Total number of votes cast________________________________ 313
Total number of votes cast for the United Cigar Workers
Local Industrial Union No. 24__________________________ 168
Total number of votes cast against the United Cigar Workers
Local Industrial Union No. 24____________________________ 145
Total number of challenged ballots------------------------ None
Total number of blank ballots______________________________ None
Total number of void ballots______________________________ One
By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National
Labor Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor
Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, and pursuant to Article III, Sections 8
and 9, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-
Series 1, as amended,
IT IS HEREBY CERTIFIED that United Cigar Workers Local Industrial
Union No. 24 has been designated and selected by a majority of
the employees of Bernard Schwartz Cigar Corporation, Detroit,
Michigan, excluding foremen, supervisory personnel, board members,
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 505
superintendents, maintenance employees, clerical employees, and
those engaged in the office, as their representative for the purposes
of collective bargaining and that, pursuant to the provisions of Sec-
tion 9 (a) of the Act, United Cigar Workers Local Industrial Union
No. 24 is the exclusive representative of all such employees for the
purposes of collective bargaining in respect to rates of pay, wages,
hours of employment, and other conditions of employment.