The Muter Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

May 21, 1953

104 N.L.R.B. 1101 (N.L.R.B. 1953)

THE MUTER COMPANY 1 101
THE MUTER COMPANY and WAREHOUSE & MAIL ORDER
EMPLOYEES UNION, LOCAL NO. 743, INTERNATIONAL
BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS , CHAUFFEURS, WARE-
HOUSEMEN & HELPERS, A . F.L., Petitioner . Case No.
13-RC-2772 . May 21, 1953
SECOND SUPPLEMENTAL DECISION AND ORDER
On January 29, 1953, pursuant to the Board ' s Supplemental
Decision and Order , ' an election by secret ballot was con-
ducted under the direction and supervision of the Regional
Director for the T"irteenth Region among certain of the
Employer's employees , to determine whether or not they wished
the Petitioner to represent them in collective bargaining. A
tally of ballots furnished the parties after the election showed
that of approximately 490 eligible voters, 450 cast valid
ballots, of which 190 were for and 260 against the Petitioner.
On February 5, 1953, the Petitioner filed timely objections
alleging that the Employer had engaged in improper conduct
which affected the results of the election . On February 27,
1953, the Regional Director issued his report on objections,
in which he recommended that the objections filed by the
Petitioner be overruled and that the Board certify the results
of the election . The Petitioner has filed exceptions to the
Regional Director ' s report.
The Petitioner based its objections primarily upon the ground
that on January 26, 1953, the Employer ' s president addressed
the employees about the election over the plant ' s public-
address system during working hours . Two days after that
speech, or the day before the election , the Petitioner sent
the Employer the following telegram to which the Employer
did not reply'
This is to advise you that in the event you choose to
use Company premises and time for the purposes of
spea$ing to your employees against this Union, we are
hereby requesting the same opportunity to reply and
present our case under equal circumstances.
The Petitioner does not assert that the Employer ' s speech of
January 26 was in itself coercive , nor does it assert that it
was unaware of that speech when it sent its telegram of
January 28 . Nevertheless , the Petitioner urges that the rule
laid down by the Board in Metropolitan Auto Parts , Incor-
porated,' should be applied here , and the election should be
set aside because the Employer did not afford the Petitioner
an opportunity to reply in the plant to the speech of January
26. Like the Regional Director we reject this contention.
The Petitioner ' s telegram was sent 2 days after the Employer's
speech and requested an opportunity to reply in the event the
Employer should " choose" to speak to the employees on
1101 NLRB 287.
2 99 NLRB 401.
104 NLRB No 144.
1 102 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
company time. It is clear, therefore, that the Petitioner's
telegram referred only prospectively to any future speech
that might be made, and not to the one which the Employer
had made 2 days before the telegram was sent . As the Em-
ployer made no speech after the telegram was dispatched,
the contingency upon which the Petitioner based its request
did not occur.
Accordingly, we find that the Petitioner's objections to the
election raised no substantial or material issue and we hereby
overrule them. As we have overruled the Petitioner's ob-
jections, and as the talley of ballots shows that no collective-
bargaining representative has been chosen, we shall dismiss
the petition.
ORDER
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the petition filed herein be,
and it hereby is, dismissed.
Chairman Herzog took no part in the consideration of the
above Second Supplemental Decision and Order.
FOUNDRY MANUFACTURERS' NEGOTIATING COMMITTEE,
CONSISTING OF BOWLER FOUNDRY; THE CLEVELAND
PUNCH & SHEAR WORKS CO., CITY FOUNDRY DIVISION;
THE CUYAHOGA FOUNDRY COMPANY; FULTON FOUNDRY
& MACHINE CO.; THE HILL ACME COMPANY; INTERNA-
TIONAL FOUNDRY COMPANY; MEECH FOUNDRY, INC.;
STANDARD ALLOY COMPANY, INC.; CRUCIBLE STEEL
CASTING COMPANY; MADISON FOUNDRY COMPANY and
INTERNATIONAL UNION, UNITED AUTOMOBILE, AIR-
CRAFT & AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENT WORKERS OF
AMERICA, CIO, Petitioner . Case No . 8-RC-1854 . _ May 21,
1953
SUPPLEMENTAL DECISION AND CERTIFICATION
OF REPRESENTATIVES
On February 19, 1953, pursuant to a Decision and Direction
of Election' issued by the Board on February 5, 1953, an
election by secret ballot was conducted under the direction
and supervision of the Regional Director for the Eighth Region,
among the employees of the Employer in the unit found appro-
priate in the Decision. Upon completion of the election, a tally
of ballots was issued and duly served by the Regional Director
upon the parties concerned. The tally reveals that of approxi-
mately 975 eligible voters, 447 cast ballots for the Petitioner;
428 cast ballots for the Intervenor, International Molders &
Foundry Workers Union of North America, Local 218, AFL;
1 Unpublished.
104 NLRB No. 141.