NATIONAL LAB RELATIONS BOARD - National Labor Relations ...

18 FIFTH ANNUAL REPORT OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARDMethod of disposition.—The disposition of representation cases didnot differ substantially from the disposition of unfair labor practicecases. The number of Board certifications resulted in a relativelyhigh percentage of representation cases closed after formal action.Hearings were held in 508 representation cases, compared with 255hearings in unfair labor practice cases. Elections were directed 5 in512 representation cases, and decisions issued in 641 cases.Of the total number of representation cases, 73 percent were closedbefore the initiation of formal proceedings. Thirty-six percent ofthe cases closed were disposed of through consent elections, voluntaryrecognition of representatives on the part of employers, or pay-rollchecks to establish bargaining representation. Twenty-seven percentof the cases required formal action, and the bulk of these wereclosed through certification or dismissal by the Board. This relativedistribution among different methods of disposition is descriptive notonly of the total number of cases but also of each separate uniongroup.Representation eleetione—The Board conducted a total of 1,192elections during the year, 676 of these with the consent of both unionsand employers, 516 upon Board direction. 7 The total number ofelections represented an increase of 446 over the number conductedduring the preceding fiscal year; the number of workers eligibleto vote more than doubled over the same period.The increasing importance of elections is further indicated by thefact that more than PO percent of the 590,000 workers eligible tovote cast their ballots. In the preceeding year the fact that 88percent of those eligible to vote cast ballots was heralded as anindication of keen interest among workers in the choice of theirbargaining representatives. Such interest has apparently continued.A total of more than 530,000 valid votes were cast. Seventy percentof these were cast for A. F. of L. or C. I. 0. affiliates ; 3percent were cast for national unaffiliated unions, 9 percent forlocal unaffiliated unions, 10 percent against a single union appearingon the ballot, and 8 percent against all unions (where more thanone union appeared) on the ballot.In 921 elections, representing more than 75 percent of the totalnumber, some form of labor organization was successful. A. F. of L.unions appeared in 734 elections in which 340,000 valid votes were castfor the Federation affiliates. The A. F. of L. won 386 of the elections,polling 70,700 successful votes. Affiliates of the C. I. 0. appeared in692 elections in which they secured 447,000 votes.The C. I. 0. affiliates won a slightly larger percentage of theirelections than did A. F. of L. affiliates, i. e., 407 elections representing59 percent compared with 386 elections representing 53 percent. Thenumber of valid votes cast in favor of C. I. O. affiliates in the electionswon by them, however, was considerably larger than the numberof votes won by the A. F. of L., 314,000 compared with 70,700. Thedifference is partially accounted for by the two very large elections,the Chrysler election involving 50,000 workers and the General5 The number of elections conducted during the year is given in a subsequent paragraph.6 Number of elections does not refer to cases per se, since more than one election maybe held in a given case.7 The number 510 does not refer to the number of cases in which elections were directedduring the year ; it refers to the number of directed elections conducted during the year.