Opinion ID: 567686
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Company's Allegations

Text: 14 The Company alleged that Union agents threatened employees with loss of their pension rights if they failed to support the Union in the election. But the only evidence the Company proffered to the regional director was one supervisor's statement that an employee had told him that, if the Company won the election, the employee might lose his pension rights. The supervisor also stated that the employee had not indicated that anyone connected with the Union had told him that he might lose his pension rights. Moreover, when interviewed by the regional director, the employee stated that no one had ever told him that if the Union lost the election he would lose his pension rights . See Respondent's App. at 8. In short, substantial evidence supports the Board's decision to overrule this objection. The Company presented no evidence that in any way demonstrates that the alleged threats either were made by the Union or interfered with the results of the election. 15 The Company also points to provisions in the Union's constitution and bylaws that allegedly require the forfeiture of pension rights if an employee works for a non-union employer (which the Company contends it would be considered if it lost the election). In its brief, the Company occasionally suggests that the mere existence of these provisions is sufficient to invalidate the election. The Company contends that because these provisions were in effect during the critical period before the election and because at least one employee knew about them, the election must be set aside. In other portions of its brief, the Company appears to recognize that the existence of such provisions must be communicated to employees in order to vitiate an election. In any event, the Company has pointed to no case in which the Board has overturned an election absent a showing that the threat--be it oral or written--was disseminated to employees. 3 That the Board would require the party challenging the results of an election to demonstrate more than a technical violation is hardly surprising: the Board is not required to treat employees as if they were bacteria on a petri dish that must be kept free from contamination. Lovejoy Indus., 904 F.2d at 402. Rather, the Board utilizes its expertise to determine how much misconduct is too much misconduct to guarantee that the result of the election truly reflects the choice of the employees. The Board, as we have indicated above, thus evaluates an objection to an election to determine whether the evidence establishes interference with employee free will such that the election should be overturned. Van Leer, 841 F.2d at 785. 16 Here, however, we believe that the Company has failed to demonstrate that any employee actually knew of the pension provisions. In fact, the Company can point to the testimony of no employee who has stated that he was aware of these provisions. Because the Company has not proffered specific evidence from or about any employee from which it reasonably could be inferred that the provisions tended to coerce employees, we must reject the Company's challenge. See NLRB v. Service Am. Corp., 841 F.2d 191, 195 (7th Cir.1988). The Company has not shown that the pension provision provoke[d] reasonable concern among employees that their jobs would be in jeopardy if they did not vote for Union representation. Van Leer, 841 F.2d at 787. Simply put, the Company has not proffered any evidence to show that any employee was even cognizant of the allegedly illegal provisions, much less intimidated or coerced by their mere existence, and absent a showing of a nexus between those provisions and the election campaign, the Company's assertion must be rejected. Petitioner's Br. at 10-11.
17 The Company contended that Union agents threatened employees with the loss of employment opportunities if they failed to support the Union in the election. One employee stated that he heard a Union steward tell a group of employees that, if the Union did not win the election, the Union would blackball the employees from working in any union shops in the area. The employee named two other unit employees who were present and a non-unit employee and another unit employee who he thought might have been present at the time. The employee who indicated that he overheard the steward's statement also stated that he did not tell any other employees that the steward made the alleged threat. Another employee stated that he heard a rumor from other employees that if the Union lost the election, the employees would be blackballed from working in other union shops in the Chicago area. That employee also stated that no one from the Union ever told him that it would blackball employees if it lost the election. 18 In overruling this objection, the Board assumed that the union steward was an agent of the Union. But the Board found that the statement regarding blackballing did not constitute objectionable conduct because the threat was made approximately two months prior to the election, the threat was never renewed, and the threat was never disseminated among unit employees. See Respondent's App. at 27. In short, the Board determined that the Company did not present evidence of enough misconduct to warrant an evidentiary hearing; substantial evidence supports this determination. As the Board noted, there was a considerable period of time between the steward's statement and the election, 4 and the Company failed to show that the threat was ever renewed near the time of the election. 5 Moreover, the alleged threat does not appear to have been disseminated. 6 Substantial evidence thus supports the Board's decision to overrule this objection.
19 The Company had a practice of requesting union credentials when it hired an electrician. The Union would then issue credentials that would allow the individual to work with other union members. The company charged that the Union made representations to it about the criteria for various credentials but, contrary to those representations, gave undeserved credentials to workers in order to induce them to vote for the Union. The regional director interviewed the workers and the union officials. On the evidence presented, the Board overruled this objection, holding that the evidence could not support the conclusion that the three apprentices were offered their cards in exchange for supporting the Union in the election. Rather, the evidence shows that the apprentices were issued 'B' apprentice cards by the [Union] based on the past practice between the parties. Respondent's App. at 16. 20 Substantial evidence supports the Board's determination. The Company has not presented evidence that the Union issued apprentice cards outside of the normal course of business in order to influence the vote in the election. St. Francis Fed'n of Nurses & Health Professionals v. NLRB, 729 F.2d 844, 850 (D.C.Cir.1984). In fact, after reviewing the evidence presented to the regional director, it appears that the apprenticeship cards were issued as soon as the Union became aware that the apprentices had been employed for more than one year and that this was the Union's normal practice. Therefore, because there was no change in the status quo with regard to employee benefits, the Union's issuance of the apprenticeship cards did not interfere with the election. See Gossen Co. v. NLRB, 719 F.2d 1354, 1356 (7th Cir.1983).
21 With respect to each of these allegations, the Company also contends that the regional director erred by resolving credibility disputes on the basis of his ex parte interviews. According to the Company, the regional director impermissibly relied on his interviews to draw inferences and resolve substantial and material factual issues. However, as we have already noted, a hearing is required only when the objecting party raises substantial and material factual issues. To meet this burden, the objecting party must allege misconduct sufficient to set aside the election under the substantive law of representation elections and proffer 'specific evidence from or about specific people.'  NLRB v. Service Am. Corp., 841 F.2d 191, 195 (7th Cir.1988) (quoting NLRB v. Douglas County Election Membership Corp., 358 F.2d 125, 130 (5th Cir.1966)). Here, however, the Company has proffered no specific evidence of conduct sufficient to set aside the election. Indeed, our review of the record indicates that the hearing officer accepted as true the Company's allegations, but considered these allegations insufficient to set aside the election. The Company's contention that employees feared losing their pension rights was accepted as true, but found insufficient to warrant an evidentiary hearing because these employee fears were not attributable to any statement made by the Union; the Company's contention that a union steward threatened employees with blackballing was accepted as true, but found insufficient to invalidate the election because these threats were temporally distant from the election and had not been disseminated to other employees; the Company's allegation that the Union issued apprenticeship cards was accepted as true, but found insufficient to overturn the election because these cards were issued pursuant to established practice. In short, the regional director did not make credibility determinations in recommending to the Board that the Company's objections be overruled. Rather, the regional director merely evaluated the significance of the Company's objections and determined that the alleged misconduct did not raise substantial and material issues of fact. Given our deferential review of the Board's decision not to hold a hearing, we cannot say that the Board's decision is not supported by substantial evidence. See Lovejoy Indus., Inc., 904 F.2d at 400 (There may be 'substantial' evidence behind the regional director's action even though a court with the power of de novo review would have found the decision wanting.).