12. Employers were given the opportunity to file petitions to determine representatives under section 9 (c) of the Act in situations where the employer is confronted with rival claims from labor organizations claiming to represent a majority of employees in the unit or units claimed to be appropriate.13 A detailed description is given of the matters required to be set forth in such petitions.14

13. Post-election procedure was clarified and the report of the agent conducting the election upon objections made to the conduct thereof is now served upon the parties and the Board.15

On January 27, 1940, the Rules were further amended to include an entirely new article prohibiting practice before the Board of former employees of its Washington and field offices within certain limits set forth.16 On the same date another amendment was made, granting parties the right to file briefs with the Board a matter of right, not subject to permission of the Board.17

An additional amendment became effective on March 13, 1940. This related to the filing of briefs on proposed findings of fact, proposed conclusions of law, and proposed order of the Board. Parties were given the right to file briefs thereon without seeking permission of the Board.18

The above amendments of January 27 and March 13, 1940, were, on April 10, 1940, published by the Board in consolidated form with those effective on July 14, 1939 (Series 2) under the title of "Rules and Regulations-Šeries 2 as amended." Copies of these Rules may be obtained from the Board in Washington or from any of the Board's regional offices.

1a Idem, art. III, sec. 1 (F. R. No. 203.01).

14 Idem, art. III, sec. 2 (b) (F. R. No. 203.2).

15 Idem, art. III, sec. 9 (F. R. No. 203.9).

16 Series 2-as amended, Rules and Regulations, art, VII, secs. 1 and 2 (F. R. Nos. 207.1 and 207.2).

17 Idem, art. II, sec. 35 (F. R. No. 202.35).

18 Idem, art. II, sec. 37 (F. R. No. 202.37).

IV. STATISTICAL RECORD OF BOARD ACTIVITY 1

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A. CASE LOAD AND DISPOSITION OF ALL CASES HANDLED DURING 1939-40

Case load. At the beginning of the fiscal year 4,113 cases involving approximately a million and a half workers 2 were pending, either awaiting action in the regional offices or being handled at a later stage of Board activity. This number was slightly higher than a comparable figure for the preceding year. The number of new cases received, however, declined between the two years by approximately 700. A total of 6,177 new cases were received, involving somewhat more than 1,000,000 workers.

Sixty-four percent of the new cases, 3,934, were unfair labor practice cases and 36 percent, 2,243, were representation cases. The former group has always been more numerous, but in the past year the proportions shifted, giving increasing weight to representation cases. In the preceding year these cases represented 33 percent of all new cases, contrasted with 36 percent in the past year. Furthermore, the number of unfair labor practice cases decreased 15 percent between the two fiscal years, in terms both of cases and workers involved, but representation cases decreased only 2 percent.

The statistical record is presented largely in terms of the 4 types of complainants and petitioners who come before the Board: Affiliates of the A. F. of L., affiliates of the C. I. O., unaffiliated unions,3 and individual persons, including workers who file unfair labor practice charges and employers who file petitions for certification of bargaining representatives. Prior to the past fiscal year there were no employer petitioners. Amendment of the Board's Rules and Regulations in July 1939 making it possible for employers to petition the Board under prescribed conditions introduced a new group of cases. During the 1 year's experience, however, only 74 employer petitions, involving 12,000 workers, were received by the Board. This number represents only 1 percent of the total number of cases received and only 1 percent of the total number of workers involved.

A. F. of L. affiliates were responsible for the largest single group of cases, numbering 2,933. The cases of C. I. O. affiliates were fewer in number, 2,201, but these involved more than half a million workers, compared with the 450,000 workers involved in Federation cases. Unaffiliated unions continued to present a relatively small number of cases. The 486 cases in this group involved only 98,000 workers, considerably less than the 210,000 involved in a similar number of

1 The detailed tabular record of Board cases is found on pp. 20-30. See Contents for list of tables.

2 Throughout this discussion the number of workers involved in Board cases is given as a rounded figure.

3 Including national and local unions. The national unions are those which represent more than one plant or company, in contrast with the local union which represents only one plant or company.

cases received during the preceding fiscal year. Individual persons presented 558 cases involving 51,000 workers.

Disposition of all cases, total.-Of the 10,290 cases on docket during the fiscal year, 72 percent were closed during the same period. In terms of number of workers involved the percentage was 59. During the preceding year, when the number of cases on docket was substantially the same, 62 percent of them were closed. These closed cases represented 42 percent in terms of workers involved. The increase in Board activity is also evident in absolute figures. The number of cases closed during the past year, 7,354, exceeded the number for the preceding year by almost 1,000, and the number of workers increased similarly. Of the total number of cases closed, 3,284 were A. F. of L. cases and 2,881 were C. I. O. cases; the latter group, however, involved almost twice as many workers, 800,000, compared with 492,000.

An overwhelming proportion of all cases closed during the past fiscal year, as in previous years, were disposed of before any kind of formal action was taken, i. e., before the issuance of a complaint in unfair labor practice cases and before the issuance of a notice of hearing in representation cases. Only 17.1 percent of all cases closed were involved in formal proceedings. The percentage in terms of workers involved was considerably higher (26.7 percent), chiefly because of the large number of workers affected by certifications for collective bargaining representatives.

Of the 6,098 cases closed before formal action, 2,805 were settled, representing 38 percent of the total number of cases closed; 1,244 cases representing 17 percent were dismissed; and 2,020 cases representing 28 percent were withdrawn by the complainant or petitioner. The bulk of the remaining 1,256 cases closed during the year were disposed of through certification of bargaining representatives or through compliance with a Board decision or court order.

This general distribution of cases by methods of disposition does not differ noticeably from the patterns of earlier years. The majority of cases brought before the Board are settled informally without the issuance of a complaint or notice of hearing. Relatively few cases are disposed of between the time that formal action is initiated and a final Board decision is reached. Approximately two-thirds of the cases involved in formal proceedings and disposed of during the past year were not finally closed until after a Board or court decision.

At the end of the fiscal year, on June 30, 1940, there were a total of 2,936 cases pending, involving roughly 1,000,000 workers. On the same date in 1939, 4,113 cases, involving 1,500,000 workers, were pending. Approximately three-quarters of the cases pending in June 1940 were unfair labor practice cases; the exact division was 2,172 unfair labor practice cases and 764 representation cases.

Disposition of all cases, by types of petitioner and complainant. The disposition of cases by types of petitioner and complainant did not differ from the over-all patterns. The majority of the 3,284 A. F. of L. cases closed during the year, involving 72 percent of workers involved, were closed before formal action. Only 14 percent of the cases became involved in formal proceedings; the largest number of

with the certification of bargaining representatives. Half of the A. F. of L. cases, numbering 1,487 and affecting approximately onefourth of workers involved, were settled informally.

The pattern of disposition for the 2,881 C. I. O. cases closed during the past fiscal year differed from that for A. F. of L. cases only by the appearance of a relatively large number of cases closed after formal action. This difference is accounted for by the number of C. I. O. cases in which compliance was secured only after court action. The percentage of all cases closed in this category was 2.8, contrasted with 4.6 percent for C. I. O. affiliates. The C. I. O. percentage was even larger in terms of workers involved, i. e., 7.3.

B. UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICE CASES

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Types of unfair labor practices.-Unfair labor practice cases arise under section 8 of the act, which states that five enumerated practices on the part of employers shall be considered "unfair": (1) Înterfering with, restraining, or coercing employees in the exercise of their right to self-organization; (2) dominating or interfering with the formation or administration of any labor organization; (3) discriminating against employees for membership in any labor organization; (4) discriminating against employees for filing charges or giving testimony under the act; and (5) refusing to bargain collectively with duly chosen labor representatives.

In previous years, charges of discrimination in violation of section 8 (3) have been the most numerous type of unfair labor practice alleged in cases before the Board. During the past year this type of charge continued to be the most important numerically. Out of 2,902 cases pending at the beginning of the year, 2,131 involved charges of discrimination under section 8 (3); 1,233 cases involved charges of refusal to bargain collectively; 710 involved charges of company domination; 70 involved charges of discrimination for filing charges or giving testimony under the Act.

The five charges appeared in various combinations, the most numerous of which was 8 (1) and 8 (3), including 1,004 cases. An additional 616 cases involved charges of discrimination together with charges of refusal to bargain collectively. Alleged refusal to bargain collectively was the issue in an additional 377 cases, involving only charges 8 (1) and 8 (5). Charges of company domination in the formation of labor organizations were involved in 184 cases; 277 additional cases involved both charges of discrimination and domination. Various combinations of charges were found in the few remaining cases pending June 30.

The distribution of these 5 types of charges among the 3,934 unfair labor practice cases received during the year was very much the same as the distribution found among the pending cases. Charges of discrimination in violation of section 8 (3) appeared in 2,671 cases. Charges of refusal to bargain collectively, the second most numerous group, appeared in less than half this number, in 1,253 cases. Allegations of company domination appeared in 452 cases, and the special type of discrimination under section 8 (4) appeared in 45 cases.

All charges include 8 (1),

More than 50 percent of the 3,934 cases received during the year involved charges of discrimination alone, under sections 8 (1) and 8 (3). Charges of discrimination and refusal to bargain collectively appeared in 443 cases; charges of refusal to bargain collectively appeared alone in 697 cases. Company domination was alleged in 176 cases; charges of discrimination under section 8 (3) together with charges of company domination were involved in 164 cases. A relatively large number of cases, 330, involved charges under section 8 (1) alone.

The distribution of charges pending at the beginning of the fiscal year and of charges received during the year for the different regions did not diverge from the over-all patterns described above.

Number of cases closed.-During the fiscal year there were 6,836 unfair labor practice cases on docket, involving approximately 1,500,000 workers. Sixty-eight percent of these cases, 4,664 involving 870,000 workers, were closed during the year. The closed cases were distributed among the different types of complainant as follows: 2,091 A. F. of L. cases involving 300,000 workers, 1,877 C. I. O. cases involving almost half a million workers, 203 unaffiliated union cases involving 36,000 workers, and 567 cases of individual persons involving 23,000 workers. The ratio of number of cases closed in each group to the total number of cases on docket for the respective group was fairly stable, ranging from 63 to 79 percent. The percentage for A. F. of L. affiliates was 71, for C. I. O. affiliates 63, for unaffiliated unions 67, and for individual persons 79. The percentages were almost uniformly lower in terms of workers involved. Method of disposition. The manner of disposition for all unfair labor practice cases and for each group of cases according to type of complainant was substantially similar to the disposition of all cases brought before the Board. More than 85 percent of all unfair labor practice cases, in terms both of number and of workers involved, were closed before formal action. Only 11 percent of the cases involved formal proceedings. In contrast with the large numbers of cases closed before formal action-1,854 A. F. of L. cases, 1,558 C. I. O. cases, 175 unaffiliated union cases, and 546 cases of individual persons-only a few hundred complaints were issued. Hearings were held in only 255 cases, and intermediate reports were issued in only 189 cases; 310 cases were transferred from the regional offices to the Washington office for Board decision. Of the 530 decisions and orders issued during the year, 132 were based upon stipulations agreed to by the parties in the case.

Among the four groups of complainants, the proportion of cases closed before formal action ranged from 83 to 96 percent of all cases closed within each group. Almost half of the A. F. of L. cases closed during the year were settled informally before issuance of a complaint; 35 percent of the C. I. O. cases were disposed of similarly; in both cases the percentage was less in terms of workers involved. More than one-quarter of the cases in each group were withdrawn; in terms of workers involved the proportions were substantially less for C. I. O. cases and cases of individuals.

Although formal proceedings were relatively unimportant in a numerical sense in the disposition of cases, a conspicuous number