Opinion ID: 185101
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Timing of the election

Text: 24 The Regional Director ordered that the representation election be held in November 1997, rejecting the Company's request that it be delayed until the next seasonal peak in August 1998. The Company contends that failure to delay the election was an unexplained break with the Board's past practice. We reject the Company's challenge because holding the election prior to the seasonal peak was both reasonable and fully consistent with the Board's precedent. 25 As the Regional Director noted, the Board has in the past declined to postpone elections in facilities having seasonal peaks where production operations continue throughout the year. For example, in Baugh Chemical Co., 150 NLRB 1034 (1965), the employer had 40 year-round employees and, during its seasonal peak, hired 40 additional employees. See id. at 1035. The Regional Director had ordered that the election be delayed about nine months until the next seasonal peak, but the Board reversed: 26 Unlike the seasonal industry cases where production operations are carried on only during a certain portion of the year, on a seasonal basis, here the Employer is engaged virtually in year-round production operations. Further, the number of employees in the Employer's year-round complement is substantial compared to the number in the complement employed during peak operations. In circumstances such as these a postponement of the election until a seasonal peak would in our opinion, unduly hamper year-round employees in the enjoyment of their rights under the Act. We believe, therefore, that it will best effectuate the purposes of the Act to direct an immediate election herein. 27 Id. at 1035-36. As in Baugh Chemical Co., the employer's facility in this case operates throughout the year with a substantial number of permanent production employees. Although the ratio of seasonal to permanent employees is of course greater at the seasonal peak, the number of employees who work throughout the year at the Sitka facility is significant. Therefore, the Board's determination that the purposes of the Act would best be effectuated if the permanent employees at the Sitka facility were allowed to vote for or against representation without significant delay was neither an abuse of discretion nor inconsistent with past practice.