The Grand Union Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Oct 2, 1973

206 N.L.R.B. 258 (N.L.R.B. 1973)

258 DECISIONS OF,NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
The Grand Union Company S & G Distributors, Inc.
and Freight Drivers, Warehousemen and Helpers
Local Union 390, an affiliate of International Broth-
erhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen
and Helpers of America, Petitioner. Case' 12-
RC-4351
October 2, 1973
DECISION ,AND CERTIFICATION OF
REPRESENTATIVE
By CHAIRMAN MILLER AND MEMBERS FANNING
AND PENELLO
Pursuant to a Stipulation for Certification Upon
Consent Election approved by the Regional Director
on May 14, 1973,1 an election by secret ballot was
conducted in this case on June 12 and 13 under the
direction and supervision of the Regional Director for
Region 12 among the employees in the stipulated unit.
At the conclusion of the balloting the parties were
furnished with a tally of ballots that showed of ap-
proximately 168 eligible voters 153 cast valid ballots,
of which 85 were for, and 50 against, the Petitioner.
There were 18 challenged ballots which are not deter-
minative.
On June 20 the Employer filed timely objections to
conduct affecting the results of the election.
In accordance with the National Labor Relations
Board Rules and Regulations, Series 8, as amended,
the Regional Director conducted an investigation and
on July 16 issued and duly served on the parties his
Report on Objections and Recommendation to the
Board in which he found that the objections were
without merit and recommended that they be over-
ruled. Thereafter, the Employer filed timely excep-
tions to the Regional Director's report and
recommendations.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the
National Labor Relations Act, as amended, the Na-
tional Labor Relations Board has delegated its au-
thority in this proceeding 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 pur-
poses of the Act to assert jurisdiction herein.
2. The Petitioner is a labor organization claiming
to represent certain employees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concern-
ing the representation of the employees of the Em-
ployer within the meaning of Section 9(c)(1) and
Section 2(6) and (7) of the Act.
' All events herein are in 1973
4. As stipulated by the parties, the following em-
ployees constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes
of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section
9(b) of the Act:
All warehouse employees, truckdrivers, load-
ers and warehouse clerical employees 'em-
ployed by the Employer or S & G Distributors,
Inc., in the Employer's Florida distribution
center at 950 S. E. 12 Street, Hialeah, -Florida,
5701 N. W. 35 Avenue, Miami, Florida, 501 N.
E. 183 Street, Miami; Florida, and 3555 N. W.
77 Avenue, Miami, Florida; excluding all of-
fice clerical employees, managerial employees,
confidential employees, guards, and supervi-
sors as defined in the Act.
5. The Board has considered the Regional
Director's report, the Employer's exceptions, and the
entire record in this case, and hereby adopts the find-
ings, conclusions and recommendations of the Re-
gional Director,2 with the following modifications in
rationale.
Objection 1 was based on the following statements
in a letter sent to employees by the Petitioner 7 and
8 days prior to the election:
You will not be required to pay any dues or
initiation fees until you accept a contract nego-
tiated by a committee of your selection. In a
"Right to Work State" you do not have to pay
dues or initiation fees to be represented by the
Teamsters Union. Those employees that sign
Union Cards prior to acceptance of a contract
will pay $8.00 initiation fees and the dues
based on the attached schedule per month.
We agree with the Regional Director that the above
statements amounted to campaign propaganda which
the employees could readily evaluate. Furthermore,
the waiver of dues and fees until contract time would
not constitute a basis for setting aside an election.
DIT-MCO, Incorporated, 163 NLRB 1019. The above
statement as to dues requirements in a "Right-to-
Work" State is susceptible of different interpretations,
one of which is truthful, that employees in a "Right-
to-Work" State in general cannot be required to pay
dues and initiation fees. Under Hollywood Ceramics,
140, NLRB 221, 224, this would not constitute objec-
tioable conduct.
The Employer's exceptions assert that the state-
ment contains a promise of benefit that employees
who join the Union before contract time will be treat-
ed more favorably by the Union than those who join
later. As there was no evidence offered that the regu-
2 The Employer's exceptions, in our opinion, raise no material or substan-
tial issues of fact or law which would warrant reversal of the Regional
Director's recommendations or require a hearing.
In the absence of exceptions , we adopt, pro forma, the Regional Director's
overruling of Objection 3.
206 NLRB No. 46
THE GRAND UNION CO. 259
lar fees and dues were other than those specified in the
Union's letter, we find no merit in the Employer's
contention . Plastic Fabricating Co., Inc., 179 NLRB
533; Lazarra Products, Inc., 178 NLRB 204.
As the tally shows that the Petitioner has obtained
a majority of valid votes cast, we shall certify the
Petitioner as a collective-bargaining representative of
the employees in the appropriate unit.
- CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVE
It is hereby certified that a majority of the valid
ballots have been cast for Freight Drivers, Ware-
housemen and Helpers Local Union No. 390, an affil-
iate of International Brotherhood of Teamsters,
Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America,
and that, pursuant to Section 9(a) of the National
Labor Relations Act, as amended, the said labor orga-
nization is the exclusive representative of all the em-
ployees in the unit found appropriate herein for the
purposes of collective bargaining in respect to rates of
pay, wages, hours of employment, or other conditions
of employment.