Big Three Industrial Gas & Equipment Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Apr 2, 1970

181 N.L.R.B. 912 (N.L.R.B. 1970)

912 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Big Three Industrial Gas & Equipment Co. and Oil,
Chemical and Atomic Workers International
Union , AFL-CIO, Petitioner . Case 23-RC-3298
April 2, 1970
SUPPLEMENTAL DECISION AND
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVE
BY CHAIRMAN MCCULLOCH AND MEMBERS
FANNING AND BROWN
Pursuant to a Decision and Direction of Election
issued by the Regional Director, dated July 14,
1969, an election by secret ballot was conducted on
August 20, 1969, under the direction and supervision
of the Regional Director for Region 23, in units
found appropriate. At the conclusion of the election,
parties were furnished tallies of ballots which
showed the following results:
The tally of ballots in unit I showed that there
were approximately 30 eligible voters and that 33
ballots were cast, of which 14 were for, and 8
against, the Petitioner, and 11 were challenged.
The tally of ballots in unit II showed that there
were approximately 25 eligible voters and that 26
ballots were cast, of which 11 were for, and 4
against, the Petitioner, and I1 were challenged.
The tally of ballots in unit III showed that there
were approximately 16 eligible voters and that 13
ballots were cast, of which 6 were for, and 2 against,
the Petitioner, and 5 were challenged
Inasmuch as the challenged ballots were sufficient
in number to affect the results of the election, after
investigation and pursuant to Section 102.67 of the
Board's Rules and Regulations, the Regional
Director issued an Order Directing Hearing for the
purpose of determining the status of the individuals
who cast challenged ballots. A hearing was held on
October 6, 7, and 8, 1969, in Beaumont , Texas,
before Robert S. Breaux, Hearing Officer. All
parties appeared and participated at the hearing.
Full opportunity to be heard, to examine and
cross-examine witnesses, and introduce evidence
bearing on the issues was afforded all parties.
On December 4, 1969, the Hearing Officer issued
and served upon the parties his report on challenged
ballots in which he found that:
Unit I. (Beaumont, Texas) Wayne Blanchard,
Ruben B. Green, Jr., and Donald Klutts were
ineligible voters based upon the stipulation of the
parties, salesman B. O. McKelvy and J. B. Stinson
do not have sufficient community of interests to
warrant their inclusion in the production and
maintenance unit, W. R. Shannon, Henry A.
Bertrand, and Nelene LaFour should be excluded as
office clericals and James E. Dougherty, Jr. and
John W. Banken are supervisors within the meaning
of the Act, and recommended that the challenges to
their ballots be sustained. He further found that
James Randell Sonnier was an employee, and that
he was eligible to vote in the election
Unit II. (Orange, Texas) Sam H. Williams, B. R.
Scherry, Robert L. Lyle, Tommy Ford, Elvin
Fuselier, Dwayne B. Hermann, Sr , Leonard Orebo,
Thomas E Sonnier, and Dewey Von Chance were
ineligible voters based upon the stipulation of the
parties, and recommended that the challenges to
their ballots be sustained. He also found, based on
the parties' stipulation, that Jerry J Broussard and
Eloyd Coroway were eligible voters.
Unit III. (Lake Charles, Louisiana) Donald A.
Granger, James E. Guillory, Barney C Quinn, and
William T. Shamblin do not have a sufficient
community of interest with production and
maintenance employees to warrant their inclusion
and Dennis Wheatley is a supervisor within the
meaning of the Act, and recommended that the
challenges to their ballots be sustained
The Employer filed timely exceptions to the
Hearing Officer's Report
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the
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.
The Board has reviewed the Hearing Officer's
rulings made at the hearing and finds that no
prejudicial error was committed. The rulings are
hereby affirmed. The Board has considered the
Hearing Officer's Report, the Employer's exceptions
thereto, and upon the entire record in this case,
hereby adopts the Hearing Officer's findings and
recommendations.'
As we have sustained the challenges to the ballots
of Wayne Blanchard, Ruben B. Green, Jr., Donald
Klutts, B. O. McKelvy, 'J. B. Stinson, W. R.
Shannon, Henry A Bertrand,' Nelene LaFour,
James E. Dougherty, Jr, and John W. Banken in
unit I; Sam H Williams, B. R. Scherry, Robert L.
Lyle, Tommy Ford, Elvin Fuselier, Dwayne B.
Hermann, Sr., Leonard Orebo, Thomas E. Sonnier,
and Dewey Von Chance in unit II, and Donald A.
Granger, James E. Guillory, Barney C Quinn,
William T. Shamblin,' and Dennis Wheatley in unit
III, and the revised tally of ballots shows that the
Petitioner has received a majority of the valid votes
cast in each of the respective units, we shall certify
the Petitioner as the collective-bargaining
representative of the employees in each of the
appropriate units.
in our opinion the Employer's exceptions raise no substantial or
material issues of fact or law which warrant reversal of the Hearing
Officer's recommendations However, in adopting the Hearing Officer's
recommendations we do not rely on his finding that employees considered
James E Dougherty to be their boss Similarly , in the case of Dennis
Wheatley, we do not rely on testimony in which he admitted holding
himself out as the assistant plant manager
We hereby correct the inadvertent reference to "Blanchard " rather than
to Henry A Bertrand appearing in the third paragraph at page 5 of the
Hearing Officer's Report
'We agree with the Hearing Officer's finding that Guillory , Quinn,
Granger, and Shamblm, who are all employees of the NOWSCO division,
do not have a sufficient community of interest with production and
maintenance employees to warrant their inclusion insofar as they spend
181 NLRB No. 157
BIG THREE INDUSTRIAL GAS & EQUIPMENT CO.
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVE
It is hereby certified that Oil, Chemical and
Atomic Workers International Union , AFL-CIO,
has been designated and selected by a majority of
the employees of the Employer in the units
heretofore found appropriate as their representative
for the purposes of collective bargaining , and that,
pursuant to Section 9(a) of the National Labor
Relations Act, as amended , the said labor
organization is the exclusive representative of all
913
employees in such units located at Beaumont and
Orange, Texas, and Lake Charles, Louisiana, for
the purposes of collective bargaining with respect to
rates of pay, wages, hours of employment, and other
terms and conditions of employment.
virtually all of their time away from the Big Three production facility, they
have separate supervision and distinct wage scales, hours, and working
conditions , and the only evidence of interchange between NOWSCO and
Big Three employees was that there have been four instances of transfer
between the two divisions