Admiral Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 25, 1947

72 N.L.R.B. 1330 (N.L.R.B. 1947)

In the Matter of ADMIRAL CORPORATION, EMPLOYER and INTERNATIONAL
ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS DIE AND TOOL MAKERS LODGE No. 113,
PETITIONER
Case No. 13-R-3916.-Decided March 05, 1947
Mr. Otto A. Jabwrek, of Chicago, Ill., for the Employer.
Mr. J. J. Denny, of Chicago, Ill., for the Petitioner.
Mr. Joseph M. Jacobs, by Mr. Jacob N. Gross, of Chicago, Ill., for
the Intervenor.
Mr. Warren H. Leland, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Chicago,
Illinois, on December 19, 1946, before Leon A. Rosell, hearing officer.
The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prej -
udicial error and are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations
Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSTNESS OF THE EMPLOYER
Admiral Corporation, a Delaware corporation with its principal
offices and plants in Chicago, Illinois, is engaged in the manufacture
and sale of radios, radio phonographs, and other electrical equipment.
We are concerned in this proceeding only with the Employer's Knox
-Avenue plant. During the year 1945, the Employer purchased raw
materials valued in excess of $1,000,000, of which more than 50 per-
cent was received at its plants from points outside the State of Illinois.
During the same period, the Employer sold manufactured products
valued in excess of $1,0.00,000, of which more than 80 percent was
shipped from its plants to points outside the State of Illinois.
The Employer admits and we find that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Net.
72 N. L . R. B., No. 239.
1330
ADMIRAL CORPORATION
H. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
1331
The Petitioner is a labor organization claiming to represent em-
ployees of the Employer. 0
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local B-1031,
herein called the Intervenor, is a labor organization affiliated with
the Congress of Industrial Organizations, claiming to represent em-
ployees of the Employer.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
On August 28, 1946, the Petitioner requested recognition as ex-
clusive bargaining agent for certain of the Employer's employees, and
on August 29, 1946, filed the petition in this proceeding. On October
1, 1946) the Employer and the Intervenor executed a collective bar-
gaining agreement embracing all of the Employer's production and
maintenance employees. The Employer and the Intervenor raise
this contract as a bar to an election at this time. We.do not agree.
Since the Petitioner's representation claim was made, and its petition
filed, prior to the execution of the October 1946 contract, that agree-
ment cannot preclude a present determination of representatives.
We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning
the representation of employees of the Employer, within the meaning
of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT ; THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
The Petitioner seeks a unit comprised of employees in the Em-
ployer's tool and die and jig and fixture departments at the Knox
Avenue plant, excluding office and clerical employees, and supervisory
employees. Other than may be inferred from the contract conten-
tions, hereinabove discussed, the Employer and the Intervenor did
not specifically dispute the appropriateness of the unit sought.
The record reveals that the Employer employs approximately 10
workers in its tool and die department and approximately 7 workers
in its jib and fixture department. Each of these departments' is
physically segregated from the production departments. The em-
ployees in these two departments are highly skilled and require long
periods of apprenticeship in order to qualify for their positions. They
do no production work and there is no interchange of personnel be-
tween them and other departments in the plant. We have frequently
found that similar skilled employees constitute a sufficiently cohesive
group to function as a separate appropriate unit? Therefore, absent
a history of collective bargaining to the contrary, we are of the opin-
I See Matter of American Can Company , 61 N. L. R. B. 1061 ; and Matter of Ekco
Products Company (1-R-3302), 72 N. L R B 1058
1332 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
ion that the employees sought by the Petitioner may feasibly consti-
tute a separate appropriate unit. On the other hand, it is apparent
that the employees in this group may also form part of the broader
plant-wide unit presently represented by the Intervenor. Under these
circumstances, we believe that the determination of the proper unit
should depend, in part, upon the desires of the employees themselves.
We shall, therefore, make no final determination of the appropriate
unit at this time, but shall direct that an election be held among the
aforesaid employees to determine their desires respecting this matter.
If a majority of the participating employees select the Petitioner as
their bargaining representative, they will be taken to have indicated
their desire to constitute a separate appropriate unit. If, however,
they select the Intervenor, they will be taken to have indicated' their
desire to become part of the plant-wide unit currently represented by
the Intervenor.
We shall direct that an election be conducted by secret ballot among
the employees in the following voting group who were employed dur-
ing the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direc-
tion of Election herein, subject to the limitations and additions set
forth in the Direction: all employees in the tool and die department,
and jig and fixture department at the Employer's Knox Avenue plant,
excluding office and clerical employees, foremen, assistant foremen,
and all other supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote,
discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of
employees. -
DIRECTION OF ELECTION 2
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with Admiral Corporation, Chi-
cago, Illinois, an election by secret ballot shall be conducted as early
as possible, but not later than thirty (30) days from the date of this
Direction, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Direc-
tor for the Thirteenth Region, acting in this matter as agent for the
National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Sections 203.55 and
203.56, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-
Series 4, among the employees in the unit found appropriate in Sec-
tion IV, above, who were employed during the pay-roll period imme-
diately preceding the date of this Direction, including employees who
did not work during said pay-roll period because they were ill or on
vacation or temporarily laid off, and including employees in the armed
forces of the United States who present themselves in person at the
polls, but excluding those employees who have since quit or been
:Any participant in the election herein may, upon its prompt request to, and approval
thereof by, the Regional Director, have its name removed from the ballot.
ADMIRAL CORPORATION 1333
discharged for cause and have not been rehired or reinstated prior
to the date of the election, to determine whether they desire to be
represented by International Association of Machinists Die and Tool
Makers Lodge No. 113, or by International Brotherhood of Electrical
Workers, Local B-1031, AFL, for the purposes of collective bargain-
ing, or by neither.
CHAIRMAN HERZOG took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision and Direction of Election.
I