NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD

48 THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
employees in the choice of organizations which are to represent them
in collective bargaining their employers and their approval of
the democratic crevice of secret ballot to ascertain their choice.
These 1,152 elections in which 394,558 workers were eligible to
vote represent a large increase in the use of the election machinery of
the Board over the preceding year, during which period the Board
conducted 265 elections in which 181,424 workers were eligible to
vote.
The great majority of requests for investigation and certification
of representatives were made by trade unions affiliated with the
American Federation of Labor or the Committee for Industrial
Organization Almost every trade union and every industry was
represented in these cases. Of the 343,587 valid votes cast,9 67.8
percent were cast in favor of trade unions, 14.4 percent in favor of
unaffiliated unions, and 17.8 percent were cast against all types of
labor organizations. Included in the votes cast against all labor
organizations, were 5,359 cast "for neither" organization when two
or more unions appeared on a ballot.
Trade unions, which are affiliates of either the A. F. of L. or
the C. I. 0., won 816 of the 1,152 elections. Unaffiliated national
unions won 45 elections and unaffiliated local unions won 84. 9 The
number of elections lost by all forms of labor organizations was 207,
which includes 13 tie votes.
Methods of conducting the elections were usually shaped to• meet
the needs of individual cases. In consent elections an attempt was
made to secure an agreement regarding all the details of the election.
In this manner, the parties determined the proper bargaining unit,
the form of ballot, the polling place, the tune of the election, the
eligibility list, the method of tallying, and other similar details. In
those cases where elections were ordered by the Board, the Board
decided what the bargaining unit should be and usually directed that
employees on the pay roll on a certain date should be eligible to
vote. The regional director in whose region the case originated was
empowered by the Board's direction of election to conduct the election
and to arrange the necessary details.
In almost 6all cases election notices were posted and distributed
several days before the date of the election. These notices contained
full details about the election, setting forth the time and place of
polling, the purpose of the election, and a copy of the ballot to be
used. This enabled the employees to become familiar with the procedure
to be followed and avoided much confusion and delay at the
polling places. Usually each party had watchers and tellers present
at the polling places, and these representatives signed certificates
before the ballots were counted stating that the elections were conducted
properly and fairly. This had the effect of eliminating many
objections which, although without merit, might otherwise have been
made by the losing party regarding the conduct of the elections, and
were particularly useful in thecase of consent elections.
Table XXI shows the regional breakdown of the elections conducted
by the Board.
7 Second Annual Report of the N. L. R. B., ch. VII, p. 30.
8 Valid votes cast equal total votes cast less votes challenged, blank or void.
9 See Table XXI for definitions.