Sportcraft Homes

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Nov 30, 1970

186 N.L.R.B. 891 (N.L.R.B. 1970)

SPORTCRAFT HOMES 891
National Mobile Homes , a division of National Homes
Corporation, t/a Sportcraft Homes and Interna-
tional Union of Electrical Radio and Machine
Workers, AFL-CIO-CLC, and its Local 677. Case
12-RC-3527
November 30, 1970
DECISION, ORDER, AND DIRECTION
OF SECOND ELECTION
BY CHAIRMAN MILLER AND MEMBERS
FANNING AND BROWN
Pursuant to a Stipulation for Certification upon
Consent Election executed by the parties on April 21,
1970, an election by secret ballot was conducted on
May 8, 1970, under the direction and supervision of
the Regional Director for Region 12. At the conclu-
sion of the election, the parties were furnished a tally
of ballots which showed that of approximately 100
eligible voters, 95 ballots were cast, of which 35 were
for Petitioner, none were for the Intervenor,' and 55
were cast against the Union. There were 4 challenged
ballots, and I ballot was void. The challenged ballots
are not sufficient in number to affect the results of the
election. Thereafter, the Petitioner filed timely objec-
tions to conduct affecting the results of the election.
In accordance with the National Labor Relations
Board Rules and Regulations, the Acting Regional
Director conducted an investigation, and thereafter,
on July 1, 1970, issued and duly served upon the
parties his Report and Recommendations on Objec-
tions. In this report, the Acting Regional Director
recommended that Objections 2 and 3 be overruled.
However, he recommended that Objection I be
sustained, and that the results of the election be set
aside and a second election be directed. Thereafter,
the Employer filed timely exceptions to the Acting
Regional Director's Report, and the Petitioner filed
exceptions.2
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the
I United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America,
AFL-CIO
2 The Petitioner noted that it was not urging that the issue raised in its
exceptions be resolved if the Board overruled the Employer's exceptions
1 In affirming the Acting Regional Director , we note that the Employer
moved the payday up to Thursday afternoon , the day before the election.
although it had a rule that checks would not be distributed before 2 p in
on Friday, that the employees could reasonably infer from the Employer's
statement accompanying the reduced paycheck that the union dues would
be $7 50 weekly rather than monthly , that in order to receive their full pay
the employees had to sign a statement that they, and not the Union, were
getting the portion of their pay held back by their Employer , and that the
Petitioner and the Intervenor had no reasonable opportunity to reply to the
misrepresentations inherent in the Employer 's conduct These circum-
stances bring this case within the principles of Yazoo Valley Electric Power
Association, 163 NLRB 777, Crown Laundry & Dry Cleaners, Inc. 160
NLRB 746, Peachtree City Warehouse, Inc, 158 NLRB 1031. and The
Trane Company (Clarksville Manufacturing Division), 137 NLRB 1506 cited
by the Acting Regional Director , and we find no merit in the Employer's
exceptions Accordingly, it is not necessary to pass upon Petitioner's
National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the
National Labor Relations Board has delegated its
powers in connection 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 herein.
2. The Petitioner and the Intervenor are labor
organizations claiming 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 have agreed, 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 of the
Employer at its Palm Harbor, Florida, plant,
including back-up men and leadmen, excluding all
office clerical employees, technical employees,
professional employees, guards and supervisors as
defined in the Act.
5. The Board has considered the Acting Regional
Director's Report, the Employer's exceptions thereto,
and the Petitioner's exceptions, and hereby adopts the
Acting Regional Director's findings3 and
recommendations 4 We further find that the Employ-
er's exceptions do not raise material and substantial
issues of fact warranting that a hearing be held. We
shall, therefore, set the election aside and direct that a
new election be held.
ORDER
It is hereby ordered that the election conducted
herein on May 8, 1970, be, and it hereby is, set aside.
[Direction of Second Election-" omitted from
publication.]
exceptions to the Acting Regional Director 's overruling of Objection 2 We
therefore reserve decision on the Acting Regional Director's conclusion
that statements of the Employer's officials to employees that the advent of
a third party would cause a delay in the employees getting things they
wanted contained no threat of reprisal
+ In the absence of exceptions thereto , the Board adopts pro forma the
Acting Regional Director 's recommendation that Objection 3 be overruled
In order to assure that all eligible voters may have the opportunity to
be informed of the issues in the exercise of their statutory right to vote, all
parties to the election should have access to a list of voters and their
addresses which may be used to communicate with them Excelsior
Underwear, Inc, 156 NLRB 1236, N L R B v Wyman -Gordon Company,
394 U S 759 Accordingly, it is hereby directed that an election eligibility
list, containing the names and addresses of all the eligible voters , must be
filed by the Employer with the Regional Director for Region 12, within 7
days after the date of issuance of the Notice of Second Election by the
Regional Director The Regional Director shall make the list available to
all parties to the election No extension of time to file this list shall be
granted by the Regional Director except in extraordinary circumstances
(Continued)
186 NLRB No. 86
892 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
CHAIRMAN MILLER, dissenting:
I think we must proceed with great care in deciding
to set aside elections on the basis of misrepresenta-
tions where there is no other evidence of misconduct
or impropriety. Both employers and unions, in any
sharply contested campaign, frequently resort to
propaganda which is capable of misleading the casual
reader. While a purist might wish that the parties
would confine themselves to totally accurate factual
statements and carefully reasoned, intellectually
sound analyses of the facts, such ivory tower hopes do
not comport with the realities. And I do not believe
that the voters in our elections are so naive as to have
high expectancies of such purity on the part of those
who would woo their adherence and their votes.
I am therefore most reluctant to upset the secret
ballot choice of a majority of employees on the
assumption that the voters are not sufficiently
intelligent to be able to evaluate the content of
propaganda emanating from either a Union or
employer source.
There may be an occasional case where one party or
the other resorts to such excesses that we cannot help
but conclude that even reasonably intelligent voters
would necessarily have been significantly misled. But
this is not such a case, in my view.
I therefore dissent from my colleagues' decision as
to Objection 1. Since I would sustain the Regional
Director in his overruling of Objections 2 and 3, 1
would certify the results of the election herein.
Failure to comply with this requirement shall be grounds for setting aside
the election whenever proper objections are filed