TWENTY-SIXTH ANNUAL REPORT - National Labor Relations Board

50 Twenty-sixth Annual Report of the National Labor Relations Board
It pointed out that the "avoidance of pi actices such as that engaged
in here was the very purpose for which the substantial claims rule was
devised"
(2) Timeliness of Rival Petitions
To defeat a contract as a bar, a rival petition must be filed timel
in accordance with the Board's rules 47 Generally, a petition will be
held untimely if (1) filed on the same day a contract is executed, oi
(2) filed prematurely, via, more than 150 days befoie the terminal
date of an outstanding contract," or (3) filed during the 60-day "insulated"
period urunediately preceding that date
In the case of a favorable ruling upon a petitioner's appeal from
a regional director's dismissal of a petition, the filing date of the
original petition is controlling, not the date the Board reinstates the
petition 49 And in the case of a petition amended at the hearing to
exclude categories of "laborers" and "janitors" from the unit, the.
Board rejected the contention that the amendment substantially altered
the unit originally claimed and was therefore untimely, because
the petitioner acted, in part, upon assuiances from the employer and
intervenor that there was no "laborer" classification and that "janitors"
were always excluded from the unit as a matter of practice, and
the amendment did not substantially enlarge the chat acter or size of
the unit
(a) Sixty-day insulated period
The Deluxe Metal iule, barring petitions dining the 60-day pet iod
immediately preceding and including the expiration date of an existing
contract, was adopted to promote industual stability by affording
parties to art expiring contract an opportunity to negotiate a new
agreement without the disrupting effect of rival petitions 5L
In determining the outer limits of the 60-day insulated period
in a particular case, the Board held that a contract for a term from
March 19, 1959, to March 19, 1961, expired on March 18, 1961, and a
petition filed on January 18, 1961, was untimely filed during the insulated
period 52 The Board noted that, in conformity with the genmai
rule of construction, a contract in effect "until' a day certain is
to be construed as not including the date named after the word "until,'
absent a specific expression to the contrary, and the word "to" is
synonymous with the word "until"
a See Twenty fourth Annual Report (1959), pp 29-31
48 See, e g • Mid-Contment Oaf ton Corp, 131 NLRB No 60
49 Phillspa Petroleum Co • 130 NLRB 895
The Marley 00,181 NLRB No 103 See also Twenty-fifth Annual Report (1960), p 34
51 See Twenty-fifth Annual Report (1960), p 34, Tnent3 fourth Annual Report (1959),
pp 30-31
61 Hemisphere Steel Preclude, Inc. 181 NLRB No 13