Opinion ID: 390053
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: union election misconduct

Text: 19 Following the Union's victory, Spring City filed an objection to the election based upon two allegations of Union misconduct in the course of the election campaign. Spring City challenged several misrepresentations which appeared in Union campaign literature circulated eight days prior to the election, and also claimed that the actions of Union organizers during the campaign interfered with, restrained and coerced Spring City employees in the exercise of rights guaranteed by § 7 of the National Labor Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. § 157. The Regional Director denied Spring City's objections without a hearing. Spring City here alleges as error not only the denial of the substance of its charges, but also the denial without a hearing. 20 In reviewing the Regional Director's overruling of election objections which charge union misconduct, we are guided by principles well-established in cases far too numerous to cite in detail. The Board enjoys a wide discretion in conducting and supervising representation elections. Summa Corp., v. N.L.R.B., 625 F.2d 293 (9th Cir. 1980); N.L.R.B. v. Masonic Homes of California, 624 F.2d 88 (9th Cir. 1980). We apply the abuse of discretion standard to Board denials of evidentiary hearings on election objections. N.L.R.B. v. Miramar of California, Inc., 601 F.2d 422 (9th Cir. 1979). In order to obtain a hearing on post-election objections, a party must make a prima facie showing of facts that present substantial and material factual issues which, if true, would constitute grounds for the Board to set aside the election. N.L.R.B. v. Masonic Homes, supra. In order for an election to be overturned, the objecting party must present evidence of proscribed conduct which prevented the employees from freely registering their choice of a bargaining representative. Hecla Mining Co. N.L.R.B., 564 F.2d 309, 314 (9th Cir. 1977).
21 On June 19, 1979, eight full days prior to the representation election on June 28, the Union distributed a handbill at the Flagstaff facility which charged, in essence, that an earlier announcement by Spring City that it would be closing its Deming, New Mexico facility was false and that management had made the announcement for the sole purpose of intimidating the employees into voting against union representation at Flagstaff. The handbill asserted that Spring City had earlier attempted the same sort of scare tactic at its Georgia plants and had failed. The Regional Director overruled Spring City's objection because the eight-day interval between publication of the handbill and the election gave the company a sufficient amount of time to respond to any portion of the handbill which it considered inaccurate. 22 Contrary to Spring City's assertions before this court, the presence or absence of an opportunity to respond is a factor which the Regional Director may properly take into account in determining whether to overturn a representation election on the basis of alleged campaign misrepresentations. An election is set aside due to misrepresentations  'only where one party has misrepresented material facts, the other had no opportunity to reply, and the resulting distorted presentation significantly impaired the election process.'  Heavenly Valley Ski Area v. N.L.R.B., 552 F.2d 269, 272 (9th Cir. 1977), quoting N.L.R.B. v. G.K. Turner Associates, 457 F.2d 484 (9th Cir. 1972). See also N.L.R.B. v. Masonic Homes of California, supra. We have recently upheld denial of an evidentiary hearing where the employer made no attempt to dispel alleged misstatements made by union officials eight days prior to a representation election, and the employer presented no evidence that the vote of any employee was actually affected by the misrepresentation. N.L.R.B. v. Calco-Imports-Exports, 621 F.2d 1029 (9th Cir. 1980). Spring City's contention that it lacked a meaningful opportunity to respond is without merit. 23 Another factor not cited by the Regional Director supports the decision. The alleged misrepresentations related to a matter of company policy, and not a matter of union policy. We have held that in such cases the objecting employer should present evidence that the employees were likely to accept uncritically the union's assertion. El Monte Tool & Die Casting, Inc. v. N.L.R.B., 633 F.2d 160 (9th Cir. 1980). We conclude that the Regional Director did not err in overruling Spring City's first objection without an evidentiary hearing.
24 Spring City alleged several specific instances of Union conduct during the election campaign which it claims were sufficient to warrant an evidentiary hearing on its charge of Union coercion. A subsequent investigation by the Regional Director uncovered other potentially coercive acts. The Regional Director nonetheless overruled Spring City's second objection. We review briefly the evidence reflected by the record. 25 An affidavit by Dorothy LeFountain, an office clerk at Flagstaff, related an incident which occurred sometime in mid-April, 1979. LeFountain observed two men, one of whom wore a jacket bearing the Union insignia, enter the plant during working hours and begin inspecting employee time cards. The two men ignored LeFountain's request that they leave, until other male employees intervened. LeFountain was not sure whether cutting room employees could overhear the conversation. LeFountain was not a member of the proposed bargaining unit. 26 A pair of affidavits by employee Josie Vasquez, a member of the bargaining unit, related a series of attempts by union adherents to persuade her to vote for the union. Three weeks prior to the election, employees Maria Hamet and Leonora Rivas came to her home, accompanied by a Union organizer. The organizer allegedly charged the company with cheating the employees, and told Vasquez that the Union could get the company to pay vacation time and sick leave. After a discussion with the organizer, Vasquez accepted a proffered authorization card and some union literature, but immediately threw both in the trash in the presence of the organizer. On June 23, another employee told Vasquez that the company had lied about the Deming closing, but the subject was dropped at Vasquez' request. On June 26, Hamet again came to Vasquez' home and attempted to enlist the aid of her husband and her brother in recruiting her to the Union cause. On June 28, the day of the election, Vasquez was greeted by the same Union representative, who told her that she had to take a card that was offered. When Vasquez refused the card, the organizer's male companion told Vasquez to cool it. Vasquez also stated that every day during the week immediately before the election, someone would place union literature at her work station. 27 An affidavit by Fern Luna, a quality control supervisor at Flagstaff, stated that on June 27 she observed through a glass door several Union organizers who were handing out campaign literature to employees leaving the plant at the close of the work day. Luna observed one man whom she believed to be a Union organizer hold a camera up to his eye as if he were taking pictures of everyone who was leaving the plant. She also observed at about the same time one Union organizer attempt to hand literature to a female employee who ignored the organizer. Rather than give up, the organizer persisted and began walking backwards in front of the employee, blocking her path when she attempted to pass. The organizer did not relent until the employee crossed the street. 28 Rick Jones, a cutting room supervisor, stated that on June 26 he observed several Union organizers passing out literature at the end of the shift. The resulting congestion forced the departing employees to exit four or five abreast. One female organizer had a camera in her hand and made several motions as if to take pictures of the employees. Jones stuck his head out the door and asked the organizers to step back to the public driveway and off company property. While the organizers complied, Jones reported that they almost immediately returned to their original position five to six feet away from the exit doors. Fifteen minutes later, an employee approached Jones and asked if Jones could get those damned people away from the door. Jones related that on five or six different occasions that week he asked the organizers to step back, and that each time they would resume their original positions after he left. 29 Salomon Castillo, Flagstaff plant manager, described in general terms the pattern of literature distribution. Beginning approximately two months before the election, anywhere from two to five organizers would position themselves on company property approximately six feet in front of the doorway. The organizers at first appeared approximately twice a week. As election time grew nearer, the organizers showed up on an almost daily basis. Sometimes the delay in leaving the plant would last up to five minutes because of the congestion resulting from the organizer's activities. Castillo also asked the organizers to step back a few feet to the public driveway on several occasions, only to have his request ignored after he left. On June 24, as he was leaving the plant with two company officials, Castillo was sarcastically asked by one of the female organizers if she was on company property. Apparently, some unit employees were near enough to have overheard the organizer's comments. The affidavit of Josie Vasquez corroborates Castillo's observation of considerable congestion and delay caused by literature distribution. 30 Irene Espino, a sewing room supervisor at Flagstaff, related that an employee approached her approximately two weeks prior to the election and asked if she could leave via the rear entrance so as to avoid the organizers and their literature. Espino replied that she could not because the rear entrance was reserved for truck loading only. No other employee complained to Espino. 31 Spring City argues that these affidavits raise substantial and material issues of fact regarding Union coercion of employees. Spring City contends that the acts described individually and collectively demonstrate coercive action on the part of the Union. According to Spring City, the Union's distribution methods were more serious than a simple trespass. Spring City cites the instances wherein certain employees complained of the Union's activities, and the incident wherein one employee's path was blocked as she walked from the plant to the street as evidence of the coercive impact which the Union campaign tactics carried. Spring City also cites a number of other incidents, including the taking of employee pictures as they left, and further points to the Union's misuse of its subpoena power. We have considered the record and each of the incidents, and find no merit to Spring City's contentions. 32 An objecting party who claims that campaign tactics in a representation election were so coercive as to require overturning the election faces a heavy burden. The question is whether the coercive conduct so influenced potential voters that a free choice by employees was impossible. N.L.R.B. v. Masonic Homes of California, supra, 624 F.2d at 90. The critical element which is lacking in Spring City's presentation is evidence that any employee felt so coerced by the Union's activities that he or she was unable to exercise a free choice at the polls. 33 None of the activities alleged was so inherently intimidating that we are free to presume coercive effect. The record reflects an election campaign marked by Union conduct which was uniformly aggressive, sometimes overbearing, and occasionally obnoxious. The Union's tactics did not, however, involve any violence, threat of violence, or vandalism. No overt threat of reprisal appears in the record, and we find no subtle threats implied. This is not a case such as N.L.R.B. v. Masonic Homes, supra, wherein employee fears of union reprisal appeared in the record, nor a case such as N.L.R.B. v. Hale Manufacturing, 602 F.2d 244 (2d Cir. 1979), wherein, on the day of the election, an act of violence was directed toward an employee who had made remarks disparaging the union. That many of the employees at Spring City found the Union's tactics distasteful and irritating is clear. The recorded, however, is devoid of any indication of intimidation. The only affidavit authored by a unit employee, that of Josie Vasquez, discloses no feeling of coercion. While the taking of employee photographs might in some instances rise to an implied threat of reprisal, we see no evidence here to support such a conclusion. In sum, we find that none of the individual incidents appearing in this record would have justified overturning the election. 7 34 We also reject Spring City's argument that the Union's disregard of its requests to stay off company property demonstrated to the employees the company's inability to stand up to the Union. No evidence suggests that any employee so viewed the incidents. Also, Spring City offers no explanation why it was powerless to stop the Union from trespassing. There is similarly no merit to Spring City's contention that the alleged misuse of subpoenas at the unit determination hearing also put the company in a bad light in front of the employees. 35 Finally, we reject Spring City's argument that the cumulative impact of each of the incidents alleged requires us to find improper coercion. We heed the admonition of Melrose-Wakefield Hospital Assn. v. N.L.R.B., 615 F.2d 563 (1st Cir. 1980) that totality arguments in this context should be approached cautiously. The First Circuit requires detailed evidence of the pattern the activity formed and its influence on the election. Id. at 570. There certainly was no such detailed showing here. We decline to hold that the aggregation of the Union's legal, if not entirely ethical, activities indicated any degree of employee coercion. 36 We hold that the Regional Director did not abuse his discretion in overruling Spring City's objections without an evidentiary hearing.