Laars Engineers, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Oct 31, 1968

173 N.L.R.B. 514 (N.L.R.B. 1968)

514 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Laars Engineers , Inc. and Van & Storage Drivers Local
389, International Brotherhood of Teamsters,
Chauffeurs , Warehousemen & Helpers of America,
Petitioner . Case 31-RC-801
October 31, 1968
DECISION AND CERTIFICATION OF
REPRESENTATIVE
BY CHAIRMAN MCCULLOCH AND MEMBERS
FANNING AND ZAGORIA
Pursuant to a Stipulation for Certification upon
Consent Election approved April 25, 1968, an elec-
tion by secret ballot was conducted on June 6, 1968,
under the direction and supervision of the Regional
Director for Region 31, among the employees in the
stipulated unit described below. At the conclusion of
the election, the Regional Director served upon the
parties a tally of ballots, which showed that, of
approximately 72 eligible voters, 68 cast ballots, of
which 35 were for, and 32 against, the Petitioner, and
1 was challenged. The challenged ballot was insuf-
ficient to affect the results of the election. Thereafter,
the Employer filed timely objections to conduct
affecting the results of the election.
In accordance with the National Labor Relations
Board Rules and Regulations and Statements of
Procedure, Series 8, as amended, the Acting Regional
Director conducted an investigation and, on August
26, 1968, issued and duly served upon the parties his
Report on Objections, in which he recommended that
the Employer's objections be overruled in their
entirety, and that the Petitioner be certified as the
collective-bargaining representative of the employees
in the stipulated unit. The Employer filed timely
exceptions to the Regional Director's Report, and a
brief in support thereof.
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-mem-
ber panel.
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board
finds
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within
the meaning of the Act and it will effectuate the
purposes of the Act to assert jurisdiction herein.
2. The Petitioner is a labor organization claiming
to represent certain employees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists con-
cerning the representation of employees of the
Employer within the meaning of Section 9(c)(1) and
Section 2(6) and (7) of the Act.
4. In accordance with the stipulation of the
parties, we find that the following employees of the
Employer constitute a unit appropriate for the
purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning
of Section 9(b) of the Act:
All production and maintenance employees, ware-
housemen, servicemen, shipping and receiving em-
ployees of the Employer's North Hollywood, Califor-
nia, operation; excluding office clerical employees
and all professional employees, guards and supervisors
as defined in the Act.
5. The Board has considered the Acting Regional
Director's Report, and the Employer's exceptions and
brief, and adopts the Acting Regional Director's
findings, conclusions, and recommendations with the
following modifications
Objection 1: We adopt the Acting Regional Direc-
tor's finding that no evidence was furnished by the
Employer, and none was disclosed by the investiga-
tion, to support the allegation that the Petitioner
made any improper use of the list of names and
addresses furnished by the Employer in accord with
the Board's Excelsior rule.' We similarly adopt the
finding of the Regional Director that it was not an
improper exercise of the Board's authority to require
the Employer to furnish the Excelsior list, and in so
concluding, we expressly reject the Employer's prin-
cipal argument that the Board's promulgation of the
Excelsior rule violated the Administrative Procedure
Act.
Objection 2: We adopt the Acting Regional Direc-
tor's recommendation that the election should not be
set aside because of the Regional Director's failure to
provide bilingual ballots. We note that the Acting
Regional Director's investigation disclosed that only 1
of the 68 employees could not read English, and it is
clear that this employee comprehended and under-
stood the significance of the ballot. Moreover, we
deem it particularly appropriate to point out that the
Employer was put on notice 10 days before the
election that the ballots would be in English only, but
that, nevertheless, no protest was filed by the
Employer, or, in fact, by any other party to this
proceeding. However, in affirming this finding of the
Acting Regional Director, we do not adopt, and
specifically delete, that portion thereof which states
"that the ballot of the one employee would not be
sufficient to affect the result of the election."
Objection 3: The Acting Regional Director found
that there was no persuasive evidence to the effect
that the Petitioner threatened employees that if they
did not vote for the Union, they would be blacklisted
and unable to get a job in union-organized companies.
The Employer contends, in its exceptions, that the
Acting Regional Director refused to honor its request
to present additional witnesses, or their affidavits, to
I Excelsior Underwear Inc , 156 NLRB 1236.
173 NLRB No 90
LAARS ENGINEERS, INC 515
support its "blacklisting" allegation. We find no merit
in this contention since the Employer's exceptions
fail to specify either the identity of the witnesses or
the nature of the evidence it proposes to submit.2
Accordingly, as we have overruled the Employer's
objections, and as the Petitioner has secured a
majority of the valid ballots cast, we shall certify the
Petitioner as the exclusive bargaining representative of
the employees in the appropriate unit.
Chauffeurs, Warehousemen & Helpers of America, has
been designated and selected by a majority of the
employees of the Employer in the unit found
appropriate, as their representative for the purposes
of collective bargaining, and that, pursuant to Section
9(a) of the Act, the said labor organization is the
exclusive representative of all such employees for the
purposes of collective bargaining with respect to rates
of pay, wages, hours of employment, and other terms
and conditions of employment.
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVE
It is hereby certified that Van & Storage Drivers
Local 389, International Brotherhood of Teamsters,
2 The Employer did not except to the Acting Regional Director's
finding with respect to objection 4