Valencia Service Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

May 27, 1952

99 N.L.R.B. 343 (N.L.R.B. 1952)

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VALENCIA SERVICE COMPANY 343
_ As we have overruled the Petitioner's objections and as it appears
from the tally of ballots that the Intervenor has secured a majority of
the valid votes cast in the election, we shall certify the Intervenor as
the collective bargaining representative of the employees in the ap-
propriate unit.
Certification of Representatives
IT Is HEREBY CERTIFIED that Pencil Material Workers' Union No.
20298, AFL, has been designated and selected by a majority of the
employees of the Employer in the unit found appropriate in the De-
nision and Direction of Election herein, as their representative for the
purposes of collective bargaining, and that, pursuant to Section 9 (a)
of the Act, the said organization is the exclusive representative of all
the employees in such unit for the purposes of collective bargaining
with respect to rates of pay, wages, hours of employment, and other
conditions of employment.
VALENCIA SERVICE COMPANY and UNIDAD GENERAL DE TRABAJADORES
D P ERTO Rico , PETITIONER . Case No. 24-RC-252. May 27,1952
Supplemental Decision and Certification of Representatives
On February 9, 1952, pursuant to a Decision and Direction of Elec-
tion issued herein on January 10, 1952,1 an election by secret ballot
was conducted under the direction and supervision of the Regional
Director for the Twenty-fourth Region among the employees of the
Employer in the unit found appropriate in the Decision. Thereafter,
the parties were furnished with a tally of ballots, which shows that of
approximately 16 eligible voters, 5 cast ballots, of which 3 were for
and 2 against the Petitioner.
On February 13, 1952, the Employer filed objections to the conduct
of the election and requested that the election be set aside. There-
after, on April 15, 1952, the Regional Director, pursuant to the
Board's Rules and Regulations, issued and duly served on the parties a
report on objections, in which he found the objections to be without
merit and recommended that the Petitioner be certified as the exclu-
3ive bargaining representative of the employees in the appropriate
unit. The Employer timely filed exceptions to the Regional Direc-
tor's report.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the Act, the Board
has delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three-member
panel. [Members Houston, Styles, and Peterson].
i Not reported in printed volumes of Board decisions.
99 NLRB No. 57.
344 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
The Employer objected to the election on the ground that the Peti-
tioner failed to show that it had the interest and support of at least
30 percent of the employees in the appropriate unit. The Regional
Director, in his report, found the objections without merit because a
petitioning union's showing of interest is not a litigable issue and, in
this case, the Board had administratively determined that the Peti-
tioner's interest showing was adequate.
The Employer, in its exceptions, asserts that the Regional Director
erred in finding that the Board had administratively determined the
adequacy of the Petitioner's showing of interest and, in support of its
contention that the Petitioner's showing was inadequate, points to the
fact that only 3 of the 16 eligible employees voted for the Petitioner.
The Employer also argues, inferentially, that the vote cast was not
representative. We find no merit in these contentions.
As to the adequacy of the Petitioner's interest showing, it is well
established, as indicated by the Regional Director, that a petitioner's
interest showing is an administrative matter, not subject to director
collateral attack by the parties, and the Board administratively deter-
mined that the Petitioner's showing was adequate? As to the repre-
sentative nature of the vote cast, there is no evidence that any of the
eligible employees was denied ample opportunity to participate in the
balloting and the failure of the majority of such employees to exercise
their franchise cannot invalidate the elections We find, therefore,
that the Employer's objections raise no substantial and materiabissues
with respect to the election and we adopt the Regional Director's rec-
ommendation that the objections be overruled.
As we have overruled the Employer's objections and as it appears
from the tally of ballots that the Petitioner has secured a majority
of the valid votes cast in the election, we shall certify the Petitioner
as the collective bargaining representative of the employees in the
appropriate unit.
Certification of Representatives
IT IS HEREBY CERTIFIED that Unidad General de Trabajadores de
Puerto Rico has been designated and selected by a majority of the
employees of the Employer in the unit found appropriate in the De-
cision and Direction of Election herein, as their representative for the
purposes of collective bargaining, and that, pursuant to Section 9 (a)
of the Act, the said organization is the exclusive representative of all
the employees in such unit for the purposes of collective bargaining
with respect to rates of pay, wages, hours of employment, and other
conditions of employment. .
2 Liberty Cork Co., Inc., 96 NLRB 372, and cases cited therein.,
$ S. W. Evans d Son, 75 NLRB 811, 813, and cases cited in footnote 4 _ therein.