L. Gordon & Son, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jul 31, 1952

100 N.L.R.B. 438 (N.L.R.B. 1952)

438 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
5. Load crew : There are five high school students who work about
21/2 hours a day, 5 days a week, loading the trucks. Both the Peti-
tioner and the Teamsters would include them among the employees
voting. The Employer takes no position. As the members of the
loading crew are regular part-time employees, we find that they have
a sufficient interest to be eligible to votes
[Text of Direction of Elections omitted from publication in this
volume.]
P Cutter Laboratories , 98 NLRB 533.
L. GORDON & SON, INC . and INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF PULP,
SULPHITE AND PAPER MILL WORKERS , AFL, PETITIONER. Case No.
6-RC-1058. July 31,1952
Supplemental Decision and Certification of Representatives
Pursuant to a Decision and Direction of Election issued by the
Board on May 20, 1952.1 an election by secret ballot was held on June
6, 1952, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director
for the Fifth Region, among the employees of the Employer in the
units found appropriate in the Decision. At the close of the election,
the parties were furnished with tallies of ballots showing that in the
L. Gordon & Son, Inc., unit of approximately 93 eligible voters, 93
cast ballots, of which 70 were for the Petitioner, 20 were against the
Petitioner, and 3 were challenged; and in the Stylecraft Division of
L. Gordon & Sons, Inc., unit of approximately 19 eligible voters, 19
cast ballots, of which 7 were for the Petitioner, 5 were against the
Petitioner, and 7 were challenged.
On June 12, 1952, the Employer filed objections to conduct affecting
the results of the election. In accordance with the Rules and Regu-
lations of the Board, the Regional Director investigated the challenged
ballots and the objections. On June 26, 1952, the Regional Director
issued,and served upon the parties his report on objections and chal-
lenges in which he recommended that the challenges be sustained,2 that
the objections be overruled and that the Petitioner be certified. There-
after, the Employer filed timely exceptions to the Regional Director's
report and to his recommendation that the objections be overruled.
i Not reported in printed volumes of Board decisions.
2 The parties agreed, subsequent to the election , that the challenges to the ballots in
the Stylecraft unit, which were sufficient to affect the results of the election , should be
sustained on the ground that the voters challenged were permanently laid off by the
Employer Accordingly, the Regional Director recommended sustaining the challenges to
these ballots and no exceptions were filed to this recommendation.
100 NLRB No. 71.
L. GORDON & SON, INC.- 439
As a basis for its objections, the Employer alleged that a sample
ballot distributed on the day of the election by "organizers and
adherents of the Petitioners" was "misleading on its face and, there-
fore, improper." As stated in the Employer's objections, the ballot
distributed by the Petitioner consisted of single sheets of paper re-
producing the ballot appearing in the notice of election, was marked
"sample" in several places, and contained an X in the "Yes" box
denoting support of Petitioner.
The Regional Director's recommendation that the objection be
overruled was based upon his finding that the "sample ballot" com-
plained of did not bear the name and title of the Board's Regional
Director," and that "it could not reasonably have given the impres-
sion that the Board was officially taking sides in the election."
In its exceptions to the Regional Director's report, the Employer
argues that the rationale of the decided cases 3 "was not limited solely
to the impropriety of the use of the Regional Director's name and title
on a marked facsimile ballot, but also contemplated the question of
total similarity to the official sample ballot." The Employer fur-
ther argues that, under current Board practice, the Regional Di-
rector's name and title do not appear on the sample ballot included
in the notice of election and, therefore, that the ballot distributed by
the Petitioner is identical to the Board's current sample ballot except
for the mark in the "Yes" box.
We do not agree with the Employer's contentions and, upon the
basis of the entire record, we find that the sample ballot as reproduced
and distributed by the Petitioner 4 did not suggest to the voters that
the Board supported or endorsed the Petitioner. We believe that the
ballot distributed by the Petitioner clearly indicated that it was a
"sample" and was thus in the nature of mere campaign propaganda
which did not intimidate, coerce, or mislead the eligible employees in
exercising their free choice in the election. Accordingly, we adopt
the Regional Director's recommendations and overrule the Employer's
objections to the election.
As the tallies of ballots show that the Petitioner has secured a
majority of the valid votes cast, we shall certify it as the exclusive
bargaining representative in the units heretofore found appropriate.
8 Citing Sears Roebuck & Co., 47 NLRB 291 ; Gate City Table Co., Inc., 87 NLRB 1121,
and Am - 0-Krome Company, 92 NLRB 893.
4 The Employer excepted to the failure of the Regional Director to make a finding of
fact with respect to the Employer 's objection that the sample ballot was separately dis-
tributed . We find no merit in this exception. The Employer stated in its objections
that "organizers and adherents of the Petitioner distributed to and circulated among
employees" the sample ballot. Circulation of campaign literature in this fashion , whether
or not attached to or contained in other material, is not misleading or improper.
. 440 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Certification of Representatives
IT IS HEREBY CERTIFIED that International Brotherhood of Pulp,
Sulphite and Paper Mill Workers, AFL, has been selected by a ma-
jority of the employees in Unit 1 and Unit 2 below, as their repre-
sentative for the purposes of collective bargaining and that, pur-
suant to Section 9 (a) of the Act, the said organization is the ex-
clusive representative of all such employees for the purposes of col-
lective bargaining with respect to rates of pay, wages, hours of em-
ployment, and other conditions of employment.
Unit 1: All production and maintenance employees at the Balti-
more, Maryland, plant of L. Gordon & Son, Inc., excluding office cleri-
cal and sales employees, truck drivers, and all supervisors.
Unit 2: All production and maintenance employees at the Balti-
more, Maryland, plant of Stylecraft Division of L. Gordon & Son,
Inc., including assistant foreladies, but excluding office clerical and
sales employees, the forelady, and all other supervisors.
CHAIRMAN HERZOG took no part in the consideration of the above
Supplemental Decision and Certification of Representatives.
CHARLES N. INGRAM AND MARY C. INGRAM, D/B/A CHARLES INGRAM
LUMBER COMPANY and INTERNATIONAL WOODWORKERS OF AMERICA,
CIO, PETITIONER . Case No. 10-RC-1858. August 1,19&
Decision and Direction of Election
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor
Relations Act, a hearing was held before John S. Patton, hearing offi-
cer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from
prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
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 [Members Houston, Styles, and Peterson].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the Act.
2. The labor organization involved claims to represent certain em-
ployees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa-
tion of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section 9
(c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The appropriate unit :
100 NLRB No. 78.