Walgreen Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

May 9, 1940

23 N.L.R.B. 683 (N.L.R.B. 1940)

In the Matter Of WALGREEN Co. and WHOLESALE AND CHAIN DRuo
WAREHOIISE EMPLOYEES UNION, LOCAL 21704
Case No. B-1362
Election Ordered: run-off.
SUPPLEMENTAL DECISION
AND
SECOND DIRECTION OF ELECTION
May, 9, 1940
On October 9, 1939, the National Labor Relations Board, herein
called the Board, issued a Decision and Direction of Elections in this
proceeding,' directing that elections by secret ballot be conducted
(1) among certain employees of the warehouse division of the Chicago
warehouse of Walgreen Co., herein called the Company, to determine
whether they desired to be represented for the purposes of collective
bargaining by Wholesale and Chain Drug Warehouse Employees
Union, Local 21704, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor,
herein called Local 21704, or by Chicago Drug Workers Association,
Inc., herein called the Association, or by neither; and (2) among
certain employees of the candy division of the Company's warehouse
to determine whether or not they desired to be represented for the
purposes of collective bargaining by the Association.
Pursuant to the Direction of Elections, two elections by secret
ballot were conducted on October 20, 1939, under the direction and
supervision of the Regional Director for the Thirteenth Region
(Chicago, Illinois). On January 10, 1940, the Regional Director,
acting pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor Relations
Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, prepared and duly served
upon the parties an Election Report, setting forth the results of the
elections.
115 N. L. R. B. 980 . An Amendment to Decision was issued by the Board on October
23, 1939 . 16 N. L . R B. 214.
23 N. L. R. B., No. 62.
683
'684 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
As to the results of the balloting, the Regional Director reported
as follows :
CANDY DIVISION
Total number of employees within the bargaining unit on the
Company's weekly pay roll of October 7, 1939 , and semi-
monthly pay roll of September 30, 1939____________________ 102
Total number of ballots cast________________________________ 86
Total number of ballots cast for the Chicago Drug Workers
Association , Inc------------------------------------------- ,75
Total number of ballots cast against the Chicago Drug Workers
Association , Inc------------------------------------------- 8
Total number of protested ballots ___________________________ 2
Total number of blank ballots_______________________________ 0
Total number of void ballots________________________________ 1
WAREHOUSE DIVISION
Total number of employees within the bargaining unit on the
Company's weekly ' pay roll of October 7, 1939, and the semi-
monthly pay roll of September 30, 1939____________________ 301
Total number of ballots cast_________________________________ 293
Total number of ballots cast for Wholesale and Chain Drug
Warehouse Employees Union, Local 21704__________________ 135
Total number of ballots cast for Chicago Drug Workers Asso-
ciation, Inc----------------------------------------------- 115
Total number of ballots cast for neither labor organization___- 10
Total number of protested ballots___________________________ 31
Total number of blank ballots_______________________________ 0
Total number of void ballots _________________________________ 2
The Regional Director further reported his rulings upon the chal-
lenged ballots in the warehouse-division election and, in view- of
these rulings, reported the final results of the balloting as follows:
WAREHOUSE DIVISION
Total number of employees within the bargaining unit on the
Company's weekly pay roll of October 7, 1939, and the semi-
monthly pay roll of September 30, 1939____________________ 301
Total number of ballots cast_____ ___________________________ 293
Total number of valid ballots cast___________________________ 281
Total number of ballots cast for Wholesale and Chain Drug
Warehouse Employees Union, Local 21704__________________ 137
Total number of ballots cast for Chicago Drug Workers Asso-
ciation , Inc----------------------------------------------- 134
Total number of ballots cast for neither organization ---------- . 10
Total number of challenged ballots___________________________ 31
Total number of challenges overruled_____________
Total number of challenges sustained ________________________ 7
Total number of challenges undecided_______________________ 2
Total number of blank ballots_______________________________ 0
Total number of void ballots________________________________ 3
WALGREEN COMPANY 685
With respect to the candy division, no objections to the conduct
of the ballot or to the Election Report have been filed by any of the
parties.
With respect to the warehouse division, objections to the conduct
of the ballot and to the Election Report have been filed by the Com-
pany-and by the Association, which requests that it be certified as the
exclusive bargaining agent for a single unit consisting of the candy
and warehouse divisions. The Association has also requested a
hearing before the Board for the purpose of oral argument with
respect to its objections. Local 21704, which was reported by the
Regional Director to have received a plurality in the warehouse-divi-
sion election, has requested a run-off election to determine whether
or not the employees in the warehouse division desire to be repre-
sented by Local 21704 for the purposes of collective bargaining.
On April 19, 1940, the Regional Director, acting pursuant to Arti-
cle III, Section 9, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and
Regulations-Series 2, as amended, after investigation of the objec-
tions of the Association and of the Company, issued and served upon
the parties his Report on Objections to Election Report. The Board
has considered _the Election Report, the objections, and the Report
on Objections to Election Report, and finds that the objections relat-
ing to the conduct of the ballot do not raise any substantial or ma-
terial issues. With respect to the objections relating to the Election
Report, the Board finds it unnecessary to pass thereon. A deter-
mination of all objections in a manner most favorable to the Associa
tion would nevertheless leave the Association without a majority,
although it would result in a plurality, for the Association rather than
for Local 21704. In any event, neither of the competing labor organi-
zations has received a majority of the votes cast in the warehouse
division, but a substantial majority of the employees voting desire
to be represented by a labor organization for the purposes of collective
bargaining with the Company. The procedure in run-off elections,
under such circumstances, has been modified by the Board, for reasons
separately stated by a majority of its members, in Matter of R. K.
LeBlond Machine Tool Co., Cincinnati Electrical Tool Co. and Inde-
pendent Employees Organization ,2 so that the ballot shall contain the
names of both labor organizations but no place in which to vote
again for "neither"; the organization receiving the higher number
of votes to be certified as, exclusive bargaining representative. It is,
therefore unnecessary to, and we do not, determine whether the Asso-
ciation or Local 21704 received a plurality of votes cast in the ware-
house division in the original election.
2 22 N. L. R. B. 465
686 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
The Board will accordingly direct a run-off election in which the
employees in the warehouse division will be given the opportunity to
decide whether they desire to be represented by Local 21704 or by the
Association for the purposes of collective bargaining. The request
of the Association for oral argument before the 'Board, and the re-
quest of Local 21704, in so far as it would exclude the Association
from the ballot and limit the election to a determination of whether
or not Local 21704 should be the representative, are hereby denied.
In the Decision and Direction of Elections previously referred to,
the Board said :
We shall certify the union, if any, designated by a majority
of the employees within each election unit as the exclusive repre-
sentative thereof. If the Association should win both elections,
we shall certify it as the exclusive representative of both election
units combined.
The Board accordingly defers the determination of the appropriate
unit or units in this proceeding until the results of the run-off election
in the warehouse division are ascertained.
SECOND DIRECTION OF ELECTION
By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National
Labor Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Rela-
tions Act, 49 Stat. 449, and pursuant to Article III, Sections 8 and
9, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series
2, as amended, it is hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation authorized by the Board
to determine representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining
with Walgreen Co., Chicago, Illinois, an election shall be conducted as
Early as possible but not later than thirty (30) days from the date of
this Second Direction of Election, under the direction and supervision
of the Regional Director for the Thirteenth Region, acting in this
matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board and subject
to Article III, Section 9, of said Rules and Regulations, among the
employees of the warehouse division described in the Direction of
Elections issued October 9, 1939, but excluding those who have since
quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whether they desire to
be represented for the purposes of collective bargaining by Wholesale
and Chain Drug Warehouse Employees Union, Local 21704, affiliated
with the American Federation of Labor, or by Chicago Drug Work-
ers Association, Inc.
WALGREEN COMPANY 687
MR. WILLIAM M. LEISERSON, concurring in part and dissenting in
part :
I hold to my opinion in the R. K. LeBlond S case that the Board
is not authorized by the Act to order a run-off election at all, but
that since the majority does direct one, the ballot should contain only
the names of the two organizations which have been designated by
employees to represent them for collective bargaining, and no place
to vote against a labor organization.
CHAIRMAN MADDEN, concurring in part and dissenting in part :
I think the Board should permit the eligible warehouse-division
employees to vote, as under the former run-off election procedure, for
or against whichever union received a plurality of the votes in the
original election. See my opinion in Matter of R. K. LeBlond Ma-
chine Tool Co., Cincinnati Electrical Tool- Co. and Independent
Employees Organization.4
8 See also my dissenting opinion in Matter of Coos Bay Lumber Company and Lumber
and Sawmill Workers Union Local No. 2573, 16 N. L. R. B. 476.
4 22 N. L. R. B. 465.