Sabine Towing & Transportation Co., Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Oct 14, 1976

226 N.L.R.B. 422 (N.L.R.B. 1976)

422 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Sabine Towing & Transportation Co., Inc. and Russell
D. Haynes and William T. Mayo
Sabine Towing & Transportation Co., Inc. and Seafar-
ers International Union of North America , Atlantic,
Gulf, Lakes and Inland -Waters District , AFL-CIO,-
Petitioner. Cases 23-CA-4996, 23-CA-5403, and
23-RC-3606
October 14, 1976
SUPPLEMENTAL DECISION AND ORDER
BY CHAIRMAN MURPHY AND MEMBERS JENKINS
AND PENELLO
On June 16, 1976, the National Labor Relations
Board issued a Decision, Order, and Direction of
Third Election in the above-entitled proceeding.'
Thereafter, on July 9, 1976, the Petitioner filed a mo-
tion for reconsideration requesting that the Board re-
consider its decision with respect to: (a) overruling
Petitioner's objection that a list of certain persons,
prepared by the Employer,, was utilized to determine
who was entitled to board its vessel, the Trinity, for
the purpose of voting in a Board-conducted elec-
tion;' and (b) the Board's order-that an Excelsior list
be made available to the parties herein only within 7
days after the issuance of a Notice of Third Election
by the Regional Director.'
We adhere to our original determination that Re-
spondent's use of a guard and a list of off-duty em-
'224 NLRB 941
2 In par. 7 of our Decision, Order, and Direction of Third Election, we
referred to the list used by the Employer 's guard to determine who was
permitted to board the Trinity as an eligibility list The list, however, was a
list of employees not on duty aboard any of the Employer's vessels.
3 We find no merit in Petitioner 's motion for reconsideration relating to
the filing of the Excelsior list We find Petitioner 's asserted reasons as to the
inappropriateness of the traditional 7-day period for the filing of the Excel-
sior list to be unpersuasive . In the absence of any compelling reason to
deviate from our customary procedure , we shall adhere to our well-estab-
lished policy of directing the filing of the Excelsior list within 7 days of the
issuance of a Notice of Third Election by the Regional Director
ployees to determine who was permitted to board the
Trinity did not establish favoritism for Sabine Inde-
pendent Seamen's Association over -the., Petitioner.
However, upon due= reconsideration of our previous
decision relating to Petitioner's objection to Respon-
dent's use of such a list, we find merit in the
Petitioner's,position that this was objectionable con-
duct.
We find that Respondent's conduct was a serious
and improper interjection into the Board's, election
processes., In effect, Respondent, in posting the guard
with the list--of off-duty employees, was arrogating to
itself the right to determine unilaterally Who should
cast ballots-challenged or unchallenged-at any
given location. These are questions for the Board
agent to resolve,_ and the Board has held that any
individual who presents himself at the polls has a
right to cast at least a challenged ballot ( unless in a
category specifically excluded by the Board in a deci-
sion).4 Further, any individual has a right to assert
his claim to the right to- vote directly to the Board
agent. More importantly, -though, no party has a
right to prejudge that claim or prevent the individual
from presenting it to the Board agent.
Thus, we find that. Respondent' s utilization of the
guard and off-duty employee list was improper con-
duct which prevented employees from asserting their
right to vote to the Board agent conducting the elec-
tion. Accordingly, we find that this objectionable
conduct is a further basis for setting aside the second
election held in February 1974, and directing a third
election as provided in the underlying decision here-
in.
ORDER
It is hereby ordered that the Petitioner's motion
be, and it hereby is, granted with respect to the Em-
ployer's use of the off-duty employee list to de-
termine who was entitled to board its vessel to vote
in the Board-conducted election, and our previous
decision is modified in accordance with this Order.
4Jat Transportation Corp, 131 NLRB 122, 125 (1961)
226 NLRB No. 68