Waterbury Companies, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 29, 1951

93 N.L.R.B. 1011 (N.L.R.B. 1951)

WATERBURY COMPANIES, INCORPORATED
WATERBURY COMPANIES, INCORPORATED and LOCAL 651, PROGRESSIVE
METALWORKERS COUNCIL, INDUSTRIAL UNION OF MARINE AND SHIP-
BUILDING WORKERS OF AMERICA, CIO, PETITIONER. Case No. 1-RUi-
1937. March 29, 1951
Decision and Direction -
Pursuant to a stipulation for certification upon consent election,
executed December 13, 1950, an election by secret ballot was conducted
January 10, 1951, under the direction and supervision of the Regional
Director for the First Region, among certain employees of the Em-
ployer. At the conclusion of the election, the parties were furnished
with a tally of ballots which showed that of approximately 598 eligible
voters, 273 voted for the Petitioner, 269 against. Three void ballots
were cast and 4 ballots were challenged.
On January 17, 1951, the Employer filed a document entitled "Ob-
jections to election and challenge of ballot cast," copies of which had
been served on the Petitioner, in which it alleged that an ineligible
employee, Maurice Bergeron, voted unchallenged, because the Em-
ployer's observers were unaware that he was not the Bergeron whose
name appeared on the eligibility list. The Employer's sole objection
was that the inclusion of Maurice Bergeron's ballot in the tally of
valid ballots cast may have affected the results of the election.
After an investigation the Regional Director on February 1, 1951,
issued a combined report on the objection and on the ballots challenged
at the election. He found that Maurice Bergeron was, in fact, ineli-
gible to vote, but recommended that the Employer's objection be over-
ruled because it constituted a post-election challenge.
Three of the four challenges, those to the ballots of Amenda Cham-
paigne, Mary Malacusky, and Joseph M. Assif, were made by the
Board agent on the ground that the names of these persons did not
appear on the list of eligible employees. The Regional Director
found that all three were employees of the Employer who had been
temporarily laid off before the time when the eligible list was made
up, but that they had been recalled and were at work on the day of
the election and consequently entitled to vote.
The fourth ballot, that of Giovanni Brunetti, had been challenged
by. the Petitioner on the ground that Brunetti was a supervisor and
consequently not entitled to vote. The Regional Director found that
Brunetti was merely a lead man without the authority of a supervisor
and therefore entitled to vote. Accordingly, the Regional Director
recommended that the challenges to all four ballots be overruled and
that the ballots be opened and counted.
93 NLRB No. 186.
1012 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
In its exceptions filed February 6, 1951, the Employer asserts that
opening and counting the ballots challenged at the election, as recom-
mended by the Regional Director, would expose the four employees
concerned to the hazard of coercion and would constitute a violation
of the secrecy of the ballot guaranteed by the Act. The Board 1
finds no merit in this contention.2 As there are no exceptions to the
Regional Director's finding that these employees were eligible to vote,
we adopt this finding and shall direct that their ballots be opened
and counted. As the result of this. count may determine the results
of the election, we shall make no ruling, at this time, on the Em-
ployer's exception to the Regional Director's recommendation that its
objection as to the vote of Maurice Bergeron be overruled.3
Direction
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives, for the
purposes of collective bargaining with Waterbury Companies, Incor-
porated, Waterbury, Connecticut, the Regional Director for the First
Region shall, pursuant to the Rules and Regulations of the National
Labor Relations Board, within ten (10) days from the date of this
Direction open and count the challenged ballots of Amenda Chain-
paigne, Mary Malacusky, Joseph M. Assif, and Giovanni Brunetti,
and shall thereafter prepare and cause to be served upon the parties
a supplemental tally of ballots, including therein the count of these
challenged ballots.
i 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 [ Chairman Herzog and
Members Houston and Reynolds]
'Estee Bedding Company, 73 NLRB 825.
3 Pending the issuance of the supplemental tally we shall make no disposition of the
motion of Local 1251 UAW, CIO that it be substituted for Local 651 PMC-IUMSwA-CIO
as Petitioner.
VICTOR CHEMICAL WORKS and INTERNATIONAL CHEMICAL WORKERS
UNION, A. F. L. Cases Nos. 10-CA-7092, 10-CA-820, and 10-CA-
889. March, 30,1951
Decision and Order
On October 27, 1950, Trial Examiner Stephen S. Bean issued his
Intermediate Report in the above-entitled proceeding, finding that
the Respondent had engaged in and was engaging in certain unfair
labor practices and recommending that it cease and desist therefrom
and take certain affirmative action, as set forth in the copy of the
Intermediate Report attached hereto. Thereafter, the Respondent
93 NLRB No. 188.