§ 1543. Appropriate unit; basis for determination

(a) The Board shall decide in each case whether, in order to assure the employees the fullest freedom in exercising the rights guaranteed by this Act, the unit appropriate for the purpose of collective bargaining is the employer unit, craft unit, plant unit, or a subdivision thereof. However, the Board shall not decide that:

(1) A unit is appropriate for those purposes if the unit includes both professional employees and employees who are not professional employees, unless a majority of the professional employees vote for inclusion in the unit.

(2) A craft unit is inappropriate for those purposes on the ground that a different unit has been established by an earlier determination of the Board unless a majority of the employees in the proposed craft unit vote against separate representation.

(3) A unit is appropriate for those purposes if it includes, together with other employees, an individual employed as a guard to enforce against employees and other persons rules to protect property of the employer or to protect the safety of persons on the employer's premises. However, no labor organization may be certified as the representative of employees in a bargaining unit of guards if it admits to membership, or is affiliated directly or indirectly with an organization which admits to membership employees other than guards.

(b) In determining whether a unit is appropriate for the purposes specified in subsection (a) of this section, the extent to which the employees have organized shall not be controlling. (Added 1967, No. 198, § 7.)