All-Steel-Equip Co., Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 17, 1945

60 N.L.R.B. 1308 (N.L.R.B. 1945)

In the Matter of ALL-STEEL-EQUIP COMPANY, INC. and INTERNATIONAL
TEAMSTERS, CHAUFFEURS, SALES DRIVERS & HELPERS LOCAL 423,
INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS, CHAUFFEURS, WARE-
HOUSEMEN & HELPERS OF AMERICA, A. F. OF L.
Case No. 13-R-0811.Decided March 17, 1945
Fyffe & Clarke , by Mr. Albert J. Smith, of Chicago , Ill., for the
Company.
Mr. Howard Metzger, of Aurora, Ill., for the Union.
Mr. Louis Cokin , of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon petition duly filed by International Teamsters, Chauffeurs,
Sales Drivers & Helpers Local 423, International Brotherhood of
Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen & Helpers of America, A. F.
of L., herein called the Union, alleging that a question affecting com-
merce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of All-
Steel-Equip Company, Inc., Aurora, Illinois, herein called the Com-
pany, the National Labor Relations Board provided for an appro-
priate hearing upon due notice before Robert T. Drake, Trial Ex-
aminer. Said hearing was held at Chicago, Illinois, on February 12,
1945. The Company and the Union appeared at and participated in
the hearing.,, All parties were afforded full opportunity to be heard,
to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence
bearing on the issues. The Trial Examiner's rulings made at the
hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. All
parties were afforded opportunity to file briefs with the Board.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following:
'Although Intei national Association of Machinists, A F. L , herein called the I. A M.,
and International Brotherhood of Blacksmiths , Drop Forgers ' and Helpers , A. F of L.,
herein called the Blacksmiths, were served, with Notice of Hearing, they did not move to
-Intervene in this proceeding
60 N. L. R B , No. 225.
1308
ALL-STEEL-EQUIP COMPANY, INC.
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
1309
All-Steel-Equip Company, Inc., is an Illinois corporation operat-
ing two plants at Aurora, Illinois, where it is engaged in the manu-
facture of sheet metal products. During 1944 the Company purchased'
materials valued in excess of $100,000, over 50 percent of which was
shipped to it from points outside the State of Illinois. During the
same period the Company sold products valued in excess of $150,000,
over 50 percent of which was shipped to points outside the State of
Illinois.
The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
International Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Sales Drivers & Helpers Local
423, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehouse-
men & Helpers of America, is a labor organization affiliated with the
American Federation of Labor, admitting to membership employees
of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
On December 7,1944, the Union requested the Company to recognize
it as exclusive collective bargaining representative of the outside truck
drivers. The Company refused this request.
On December 13, 1943, the Company entered into a joint contract
with the I. A. M. and the Blacksmiths covering all employees of the
Company as well as the employees claimed herein by the Union. The
outside truck drivers were covered under the portion of the agreement
administered by the Blacksmiths. Just prior to December 13, 1944,
the I. A. M. and the Blacksmiths notified the Company 'of their desire
to negotiate separate contracts. No new contract had been signed at
the date of the hearing. The I. A. M. and the Blacksmiths have ceded
jurisdiction over the employees here concerned, but the Company chal-
lenges the appropriateness of including them in .a separate unit as re-
quested in the Union's petition..
A statement of a Field Examiner of the Board, introduced into evi-
dence at the hearing, indicates that the Union represents a substantial
number of employees in the unit hereinafter found to be appropriate.'
2 The Field Examiner reported that the Union submitted an affidavit of union member-
ship records showing that two employees are dues paying members of the Union. There
are two employees in the appropriate unit. -
1310 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning
the representation of employees of the Company, within the meaning
of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Union asks for a unit of all outside truck drivers employed by
the Company, excluding supervisors, shipping room foreman, loaders,
and production and maintenance employees. The Company is op-
posed to the inclusion of these employees in a unit separate from that
of its other employees.
The Company employs two truck drivers, one of whom drives a
light pick-up automobile handling mail between the, post office and
the Company's two plants and also a heavy duty truck transporting
raw materials between the plant and finished materials to and from
the railroad yards. The other truck driver hauls processed materials
between the two plants.
The record thus clearly shows that the truck drivers are not directly
concerned with the production of goods and that the unit requested
by the Union is well-defined and readily distinguishable from the pro-
duction and maintenance group. We must also take into considera-
tion that the Blacksmiths, which heretofore represented the employees
involved, has relinquished jurisdiction over them. Insofar as the
record is concerned, it must be assumed that the Blacksmiths is neither
willing nor constitutionally able to bargain for these employees in the
future, so that dismissal of the present petition would deprive them
of an opportunity to designate a new bargaining representative.
We find that all outside truck drivers of the Company, excluding
loaders, production and maintenance employees, the shipping room
foreman, and all other supervisory employees with authority to
hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in
the status of employees, or effectively recommend such action, consti-
tute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining,
within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We shall direct that the question concerning representation which
has arisen be resolved by means of an election by secret ballot among
the employees in the appropriate unit who were employed during the
pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direction of
Election herein, subject to the limitations and additions set forth in
the Direction.
ALL-STEEL-EQUIP COMPANY, INC.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National Labor
Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations
Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor Rela-
tions Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3 as amended, it is hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with All-Steel-Equip
Company, Inc., Aurora, Illinois, an election by secret ballot shall be
conducted as early as possible, but not later than sixty (60) days from
the date of this Direction, under the direction and supervision of the
Regional Director for the Thirteenth Region, acting in this matter as
agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Article
III, Sections 10 and 11, of said Rules and Regulations, among the em-
ployees in the unit found appropriate in Section IV, above, who were
employed during the pay-roll period immediately 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 any who have
since quit or been discharged for cause and have not been rehired or
reinstated prior to the date of the election, to determine whether or
not they desire to be represented by International Teamsters, Chauf-
feurs, Sales Drivers & Helpers Local 423, International Brotherhood
of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen & Helpers of America, A. F.
of L., for the purposes of collective bargaining.