Formal complaints charging either an employer or a labor organization with unfair labor practices were issued by the General Counsel in 708 cases during fiscal 1950. This was an increase of 14.7 percent over the 617 cases in which complaints were issued during the 1949 fiscal year. In 1950, complaints were issued against employers in 552 cases, and against unions in 156 cases. The complaints against unions constituted 22 percent of all complaints issued. This corresponds approximately to the percentage of cases which were filed against unions. The 1,337 cases in which charges were leveled at labor organizations constituted 23 percent of the 5,809 cases in which unfair practice charges were filed during fiscal 1950. c. Injunctions 18 Section 10 (1) of the amended act requires the agency to seek a Federal district court injunction against a labor organization charged with secondary boycott or certain other specified unfair labor practices whenever there is "reasonable cause to believe" that the charge is true. The act in section 10 (j) confers discretion to seek Federal district court injunctions against either a labor organization or an employer that has been charged in a formal complaint with any other type of unfair labor practice. Injunctions under these sections may run only until the Board issues a final decision in the case. Section 10 (e) and (f) authorizes the Board, after its final decision in a case, to seek a temporary injunction in a United States court of appeals against either an employer or a union to prevent attempts to circumvent or evade the effect of the Board's order while the Board is seeking court enforcement of its decision or the order is awaiting court review. During the 1950 fiscal year, the General Counsel petitioned various Federal courts for a total of 30 injunctions; this compares with 33 injunctions sought during the 1949 fiscal year. Of the injunctions sought during the 1950 fiscal year, 28 were against labor organizations and 2 against employers. Of those sought against labor organizations, 14 were granted, 4 denied, 3 settled, and 1 withdrawn. At the close of the fiscal year, 6 were still pending. Four injunctions were sought against unions under the discretionary provisions of the act. Of these, three were granted, one by consent of the labor organization involved. Of the two injunctions sought against employers, one was granted and one case was settled. The injunction granted against an employer was sought under section 10 (e) of the act to prevent a company from disposing of its assets while proceedings were pending for enforcement of a Board unfair labor practice order against it. 18 The General Counsel's activities in seeking injunctions under sec. 10 (j) and (1) of the act are discussed in greater detail in chapter VII. The injunction sought under sec. 10 (e) is discussed in chapter VIII. 3. Division of Trial Examiners At the beginning of the 1950 fiscal year, the Board's division of trial examiners had a staff of 40 examiners. During the year, it was increased to 51. The trial examiners, who conduct hearings on behalf of the Board in unfair labor practice cases, issued 281 intermediate reports and recommended orders setting forth their findings and recommendations in 350 cases during fiscal 1950.10 This was an increase of 18 percent over 237 reports covering 328 cases issued during the 1949 fiscal year. In addition, trial examiners issued 15 orders of dismissal, which, like intermediate reports, are subject to appeal to the Board Members. In 41 cases, the trial examiner's recommended order was adopted as a Board order because the parties filed no exceptions. Of these cases, 31 involved charges against employers and 10 involved charges against unions. A total of 390 hearings on the evidence in 472 unfair labor practice cases was conducted by the trial examiners. 4. Representation Elections and Results Representation elections conducted by the Board during fiscal year 1950 were marked by two principal changes when compared with those conducted during the preceding year: (1) A substantial increase in the number of employees in the units voting, and (2) an increase in the percentage of employees voting in favor of collective bargaining representation. There also was an increase in the number of elections held. During fiscal 1950, the Board conducted 5,731 representation elections of all types, in which 899,848 employees were eligible to vote. This was an increase of only 1.5 percent over the 5,646 elections held in fiscal 1949, but the number of employees in the voting units represented an increase of 48 percent over the 607,534 employees eligible to vote in the 1949 elections. The number of employees per election in 1950 averaged 157 compared with an average of 107 in 1949. There were 142 elections in voting units which included 1,000 or more employees. In 10 of these elections, more than 10,000 employees were eligible to vote. The largest single voting unit comprised 47,000 employees.20 Of 789,867 employees casting valid ballots in all 1950 representation elections, 653,753, or 83 percent, voted in favor of union representation. This compares with 73 percent in the 1949 elections. 19 In a number of instances, two or more cases were consolidated and evidence on them taken at the same hearing. 20 Southern Bell Telephone Co., Case No. 10-RM-31. Collective bargaining representatives were selected in 4,223 of the 1950 elections, or approximately 73 percent. However, the units selecting representatives comprised 759,038 employees, which was approximately 84 percent of the employees in all voting units. These figures would suggest that labor organizations generally were more successful in obtaining bargaining rights in large units than in small ones. Unions affiliated with the American Federation of Labor won 2,113 representation elections during fiscal 1950. This was 63.8 percent of the 3,312 elections in which A. F. L. unions participated. In fiscal 1949, A. F. L. unions won approximately 62 percent. Unions affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations won 1,222 representation elections during fiscal 1950. This was 57.6 percent of the 2,122 elections in which they participated. In 1949 elections, C. I. O. unions won approximately 55 percent. Unaffiliated unions won 888 representation elections. This was 59 percent of the 1,506 in which they participated. In fiscal 1949, they won approximately 72 percent. 5. Results of Union-Shop Authorization Polls The agency conducted 5,591 polls to determine whether employees wished to authorize their union to negotiate a union-shop contract requiring all employees to join the union as a condition of continued employment. This compared with 15,074 such polls conducted in fiscal 1949. Negotiation of union-shop contracts was authorized by the employees in 5,377 polls, or 96.2 percent of those conducted. A total of 1,072,917 employees was eligible to vote in these polls, and units comprising 1,045,162 employees (97 percent of those eligible) authorized the union shop. Of the 900,866 valid ballots cast, 805,189, or 89.4 percent, voted in favor of the union shop. Unions affiliated with the American Federation of Labor won unionshop authorizations in 3,231 polls, or 95.5 percent of the 3,384 in which they participated. A total of 312,049 employees was eligible to vote in these polls, and the A. F. L. unions polled 251,606 votes. Unions affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations received union-shop authorizations in 1,192 polls, or 97.4 percent of the 1,223 polls in which they participated. In these polls, 594,932 employees were eligible to vote, and the C. I. O. unions polled 434,131 votes. Unaffiliated unions received union-shop authorizations in 954 polls, or 97 percent of the 984 in which they participated. A total of 165,936 was eligible to vote in these polls, and the unaffiliated unions polled 119,452 votes. |