Tac Industries, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Aug 23, 1977

231 N.L.R.B. 554 (N.L.R.B. 1977)

DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Tac Industries, Inc. and Sheet Metal Workers
International Association, AFLCIO, Local No.
18, Petitioner. Case 16-RC-7381
August 23, 1977
DECISION AND CERTIFICATION OF
REPRESENTATIVE
BY CHAIRMAN FANNING AND MEMBERS
MURPHY AND WALTHER
Pursuant to authority granted it by the National
Labor Relations Board under Section 3(b) of the
National Labor Relations Act, as amended, a three-
member panel has considered objections to an
election held February 18, 1977,1 and the attached
Regional Director's report recommending disposi-
tion of same. The Board has reviewed the record in
light of the exceptions and brief, and hereby adopts
the Regional Director's findings 2 and recommenda-
tions.
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVE
It is hereby certified that a majority of the valid
ballots have been cast for Sheet Metal Workers
International Association, AFL-CIO, Local No. 18,
and that, pursuant to Section 9(a) of the Act, the
foregoing labor organization is the exclusive repre-
sentative of all the employees in the following
appropriate unit for the purpose of collective
bargaining with respect to rates of pay, wages, hours
of employment, and other terms and conditions of
employment:
All regular full-time production and maintenance
employees including welders, installer-welders,
laborers, layout employees, installers, and helpers
employed by the Employer at its facility at 601
Burlington Road, Saginaw, Texas, but excluding
all other employees including office clerical
employees, guards, watchmen, leadmen, and
supervisors as defined in the Act.
I The election was conducted pursuant to a Stipulation for Certification
Upon Consent Election. The tally was: II for, and 2 against, the Petitioner:
there were no challenged ballots.
2 The Employer does not deny that it knew before the election of the
alleged pro-Petitioner sympathies of two of its directors, but complains only
of the length of time it had to respond to these directors. In all the
circumstances, including the Employer's admitted knowledge of these
directors' sentiments, we conclude that it has not been shown that the
conditions for an election here were destroyed by any actions of these
directors and, accordingly, we affirm the Regional Director's overruling of
the Employer's objections.
231 NLRB No. 100
APPENDIX
REPORT ON OBJECTIONS
Pursuant to a Stipulation for Certification Upon Consent
Election approved on February 4, 1977, an election by
secret ballot was conducted on February 18, 1977, under
the direction and supervision of the Regional Director in
the following appropriate bargaining unit.
INCLUDED: All regular full-time production and
maintenance employees including welders, instal-
ler-welders, laborers, lay-out employees, instal-
lers, and helpers employed by the Employer at its
facility at 601 Burlington Road, Saginaw, Texas.
EXCLUDED: All other employees including office
clerical employees, guards, watchmen, leadmen,
and supervisors as defined in the Act.
Upon conclusion of the election the parties were served
with a Tally of Ballots reflecting the election results as
follows:
Approximate number of eligible voters ...... . 14
Void ballots ................... 0
Votes cast for Petitioner ........... 11
Votes cast against participating labor
organization ......... ..... ... 2
Valid votes counted .. .. .. .. . . .... 13
Challensed ballots ............... . 0
Valid votes counted plus challenged ballots ... . 13
Challenges are not sufficient in number to affect the results
of the election. A majority of the valid votes counted plus
challenged ballots has been cast for Sheet Metal Workers
International Association, AFLCIO, Local No. 18.
On February 25, 1977, the Employer timely filed
objections to conduct affecting the results of the election
and immediately served copies on all parties to the
proceeding.
Pursuant to Section 102.69(c) of the Board's Rules and
Regulations, Series 8, as amended, the undersigned has
conducted an investigation of the objections, and having
duly considered all the evidence submitted by the parties
and otherwise disclosed by the investigation, hereby issues
this report and recommendations.
The Objections
1. On February 14, 1977, Edwin L. Smith, Jr., and
Aughty B. Shelton III were present at and during
a union meeting held at the home of Edwin L.
Smith, Jr., and participated in the meeting.
2. Edwin L. Smith, Jr., and Aughty B. Shelton III are
each owners of 20 percent of the capital stock of
TAC Industries, Inc., and they are each active
members of the Board of Directors of TAC
Industries, Inc. As such they participate in the
formation and administration of labor policy of
TAC Industries, Inc.
554
TAC INDUSTRIES
3. Edwin L. Smith, Jr., and Aughty B. Shelton III
participated in the preelection union meeting of
February 14, 1977, and encouraged those present
to vote for the union.
4. Petitioner by encouraging or permitting said
persons to be present at or participating in said
preelection union meeting created the appearance
of a conflict of interest on the part of the said
Smith and Shelton and perpetrated a fraud on the
prospective voters.
5. As a result of the foregoing the laboratory condi-
tions under which said election should have been
conducted were destroyed and said election does
not reflect the free and untrammeled wishes of
the persons who voted therein. In view of the
foregoing said election should be vacated and set
aside and a new election conducted in which
laboratory conditions are maintained.
The Investigation
In support of the objections the Employer submitted
several notarized statements from employees who state that
a meeting was held at the home of Edwin L. Smith, Jr., and
that Aughty B. Shelton III was also present during the
meeting and both participated in the meeting encouraging
those present to vote for the union. In addition, the
Employer submitted the notarized statement of Stephen C.
Jones, vice president of the Employer, wherein Jones states
that Shelton and Smith are each active members of the
board of directors of the Employer and as such they
participate in the formulation and administration of labor
policy of the Employer as well as each owning 20 percent
of the capital stock of the corporation.
In addition, Jones states the alleged conduct of Smith
and Shelton in encouraging employees to vote for the
union was contrary to the expressed position of the
Employer and created a false and misleading atmosphere
which perpetrated a fraud on the prospective voters.
However, the investigation revealed that the Employer had
knowledge of the pro-Petitioner sympathies and activities
of Smith and Shelton before the election. More specifically
the investigation established that on the day following the
meeting at the home of Smith, i.e., February 15, 1977, Carl
Jones, president of the Employer, addressed the assembled
employees and orally stated to the employees that he was
aware that the meeting had occurred at Smith's house. It
further appears that Carl Jones stated to the employees
that they were being used by Smith and Shelton in a
vengeful fashion in a dispute between Smith and Shelton
on the one hand and Carl Jones and Steve Jones on the
other hand.
It is clear that the Employer had knowledge of the
alleged objectionable conduct of Smith and Shelton at least
three days before the election. No showing was offered or
made to establish that this was not a reasonable period of
time for the Employer to disavow the activities of Smith
and Shelton and take appropriate steps to dissipate their
alleged objectionable conduct. Accordingly, the Employer
may not now invalidate the election because of the alleged
misconduct of its own shareholders. See Decatur Transfer &
Storage, Inc., 178 NLRB 63; Talladega Cotton Factory, Inc.,
91 NLRB 470.
Summary
Based on the foregoing, it is recommended all the
objections be overruled and that the Petitioner be certified
as collective-bargaining representative in the unit as
described in the Stipulation for Certification Upon Con-
sent Election.
555