Opinion ID: 419828
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The Reasonable Good Faith Doubt Issue

Text: 32 Premium argues that it properly refused to bargain because it had a good faith doubt that the Union represented a majority of the employees in the bargaining unit. 33 Once a union has been certified or recognized, it enjoys a presumption of continued majority status. NLRB v. Edjo, Inc., 631 F.2d 604, 606-07 (9th Cir.1980). This presumption is irrebuttable for a reasonable time, usually one year, and is rebuttable thereafter. Id.; Pioneer Inn Associates v. NLRB, 578 F.2d 835, 838 (9th Cir.1978). A successor employer may rebut the presumption and refuse to bargain with the previously-recognized union only if he can show that the union in fact no longer represents a majority of the members of the bargaining unit, or that he has a reasonable good faith doubt of majority support. NLRB v. Edjo, Inc., 631 F.2d at 607; NLRB v. World Evangelism, Inc., 656 F.2d 1349, 1354 (9th Cir.1981). 34 A good faith doubt must be reasonable and supported by objective considerations. 12 2] NLRB v. Silver Spur Casino, 623 F.2d 571, 579 (9th Cir.1980), cert. denied, 451 U.S. 906, 101 S.Ct. 1973, 68 L.Ed.2d 294 (1981); NLRB v. Cornell of California, Inc., 577 F.2d 513, 515-16 (9th Cir.1978). In this circuit, the evidence presented to establish reasonable good faith doubt, individually or cumulatively, must unequivocally indicate that union support had declined to a minority. Silver Spur Casino, 623 F.2d at 579, quoted in N.T. Enloe Memorial Hospital v. NLRB, 682 F.2d 790, 794 (9th Cir.1982). 13 Evidence which raises only an ambiguous inference of loss of majority support is not sufficient. Enloe Memorial Hospital, 682 F.2d at 795. No single equivocal factor is enough to raise a reasonable doubt. See NLRB v. Tahoe Nugget, Inc., 584 F.2d 293, 305 (9th Cir.1978), cert. denied, 442 U.S. 921, 99 S.Ct. 2847, 61 L.Ed.2d 290 (1979). 35 As the objective basis of a good faith doubt, Premium relies on the knowledge of its president, Racicot, that at least four members of the Union had requested withdrawal cards. Based on his own experience when he obtained a withdrawal card upon becoming a superintendent, Racicot concluded that the request for withdrawal cards meant that the employees no longer wished to be represented by the Union. 36 The fact that four employees asked for withdrawal cards is, at best, equivocal. As the Board points out, a request for a withdrawal card might merely indicate that the employee did not wish to pay Union dues at a time when future employment was uncertain. Even if a request for withdrawal indicated that the employee no longer wished to be a member of the Union, it does not necessarily indicate that he no longer wished to be represented by it. Majority support requires only that a majority of the unit desires representation by the union. N.T. Enloe Memorial Hospital v. NLRB, 682 F.2d at 795. Union support does not require union membership. Sahara-Tahoe Corporation v. NLRB, 581 F.2d 767, 772 (9th Cir.1978), cert. denied, 442 U.S. 917, 99 S.Ct. 2837, 61 L.Ed.2d 284 (1979). See NLRB v. Vegas Vic, Inc., 546 F.2d 828, 829 (9th Cir.1976), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 818, 98 S.Ct. 57, 54 L.Ed.2d 74 (1977); Terrell Machine Company v. NLRB, 427 F.2d 1088, 1090 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 398 U.S. 929, 90 S.Ct. 1821, 26 L.Ed.2d 91 (1970). 37 The evidence presented by Premium does not unequivocally indicate that a majority of employees no longer wished representation by the Union. The Board's decision that Premium failed to provide an adequate objective basis for a reasonable good faith doubt is supported by substantial evidence.