NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD

172 THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
as to the appropriate unit or units. It is considered that by according
either union a majority, the employees indicate their preference for
the form of organization adopted by that union. It is on the basis
of the election thus directed that the Board makes its finding, as may
be seen in the language of the Globe case quoted at the beginning of
this section. In this connection Matter of Pacific Gas and Electric
Company 39 is of particular interest. In that case, three rival unions
contended that bus and street railway employees should be included
in one unit without outside or physical workers, while a fourth favored
a separate unit for the former. The Board directed the holding of a
separate election for these employees, with the names of all four unions
on the ballot, and stated :
On the result of these elections will depend the appropriate unit for the purposes
of collective bargaining. If a majority of the employees in the railway
group and in the outside or physical group elect to be represented by the same
union, both groups together will constitute a single unit. If a majority of the
employees in the railway group elects to be represented by the Amalgamated,
then the railway group will constitute a single separate unit. If a majority
of the employees in the railway group elects to be represented by any one of
the three unions other than the Amalgamated, it will become part of a single
unit with the outside or physical group, such a choice by them placing the employees
of the railway group in the larger unit. The question would remain,
however, as to which union represents the larger unit. If the union elected
by the railway group is different from the union elected by a majority of the
employees in the outside or physical group, it will be necessary to determine
•whether either of the two unions has received a majority of the votes cast by
both the railway workers and the physical or outside workers, treating both
groups as a single unit. If neither has received a majority, it will then be
necessary to conduct another election among the railway workers and the
outside or physical workers, as a single unit, to determine which of the unions,
which in these proceedings contend for the larger unit, shall represent the employees
in the unit. If none of the unions receives a majority of the votes cast
by the employees of the railway group in the election directed in the instant
Direction of Elections, but the number of votes cast for the unions claiming the
larger appropriate unit constitutes a majority, the railway group will be treated
as a part of a single unit together with the outside or physical group.
It should also be noted that the holding of separate elections in the
manner above discussed does not necessarily result in a final determination
of the appropriate unit. In Matter of Pacific Greyhound
Line8,40 a petition was filed by a union which alleged that a question
concerning representation had arisen among the bus drivers employed
by the company. Another union claimed that the bus drivers were
part of a larger unit. The Board considered that either contention
could be sustained and stated :
* • • we shall direct an election to be held among the bus drivers employed
by the Company to determine whether they wish to be represented by the
Brotherhood, the Amalgamated, or neither. Upon the results of this election will
depend in part the determination of the unit appropriate for the purposes of
collective bargaining. If the bus drivers choose the Brotherhood, bus drivers
alone will constitute an appropriate unit ; if they choose the Amalgamated, they
will have expressed their preference for a single larger unit consisting of all
the employees. In the absence, however, of any evidence which would warrant
our finding that a question concerning representation has arisen among the
employees other than bus drivers, and in the absence of a petition requesting a
certification of representatives of all the employees in the larger unit, it will not
be necessary at this time to determine the appropriateness of such unit or whether
the Amalgamated has been designated by a majority of the employees in that unit.
le Matter of Pacific Gas and Electric Company and United Electrical .4 Radio Workers
of America, 3 N. L. R. B. 835.
40 Matter of Pacific Greyhound Lines and Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and
Ent:linemen, 4 N. L. R. B. 520.