LABOR LAW-NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS ACT-ELECTIONS - WHAT CONSTITUTES A MAJORITY

Three mills, all under the same management and represented by the same bargaining agents, were ordered by the National Labor Relations Board to desist from refusing to bargain with the Textile Workers\u27 Organizing Committee. On application by the board to the court for a decree enforcing the order, the company claimed that the committee was not the lawful bargaining agency at the material dates. The T. W. O. C. had been certified by the board after an election in which a majority of the employees voted and a bare majority of these voted for the committee. In no instance were those voting for the committee a majority of the employees in the appropriate unit. Held, that since there is no express provision in the National Labor Relations Act as to what kind of a majority should control the result of such an election, the general rule should be applied: if a majority of the total number of eligible employees vote, those who do not vote will be considered to assent to the will of the majority of those who do. National Labor Relations Board v. Whittier Mills Co., (C. C. A. 5th, 1940) 111 F. (2d) 474