04/08/2024: Regions Order Three More Elections
04/08/2024: Regions Order Three More Elections
More applications of Oakwood Healthcare and American Steel.
Northwestern Corporation, 18-RM-332507 (Regional Election Decision). The Regional Director applied Oakwood Healthcare to determine that distribution operation controllers were not supervisors and therefore could be included in the petitioned-for unit. In this case, the controllers were alleged to be supervisors because they have the authority to assign work. But the Regional Director found the controllers do not assign employees to a place, time or significant overall duties. The field supervisors make those assignments. The step-by-step switching instructions given by controllers merely direct the order of discrete tasks within the overall assignment made by field supervisors, which is insufficient under Oakwood Healthcare to establish assignment authority.
E. Tetz & Sons, Inc., 02-RC-335619 (Regional Election Decision). The Regional Director applied American Steel to determine that the petitioned-for unit was appropriate. Under American Steel, a petitioned-for unit is appropriate if the employees: (1) share an internal community of interest; (2) are readily identifiable as a group based on job classifications, departments, functions, work locations, skills, or similar factors; and (3) are sufficiently distinct from excluded employees. Here the employees (1) share an internal community of interest based on similar job functions and duties related to manufacturing concrete sand and aggregates, and they share a common supervisor, (2) are readily identifiable as a group based on their job classifications, integrated job functions, shared work location and skills, and (3) are sufficiently distinct from the scale house attendant, who performs a different function with different skills and does not regularly interact with the unit employees.
TerrAscend USA Services, LLC, 07-RC-338193 (Regional Election Decision). This is a straightforward direction of a union election where no legal issues appear to have been raised.