Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Feb 23, 1944

54 N.L.R.B. 1587 (N.L.R.B. 1944)

In the Matter of ALLIS-CHALMERS MANUFACTURING COMPANY, SUPER-
CHARGER WORKS , and INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF FIREMEN &
OILERS, LOCAL 125, A. F. L.
In the Matter of ALLIS-CHALMERS MANUFACTURING COMPANY, SUPER-
CHARGER WORKS, and INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS,
DISTRICT No. 10, A. F. L.
Cases Nos. 13-R-2064 and 13-R-2101 respectively.-Decided
February 23, 1944
Messrs. John L. Waddleton and William J. McGowan, of Milwau-
kee, Wis., for the Company.
Mr. Howard A. Plank, of Chicago, Ill., and Mr. Walter H. Schmidt,
of Milwaukee, Wis., for the Firemen & Oilers.
Messrs. George Gratz, David J. Tisher, and Claire N. Smith, of
Milwaukee, Wis., for the I. A. M.
Mr. W. O. Sonneinann, of Milwaukee, Wis., and Mr. Harold Chris-
toffel, of West Allis, Wis., for the C. I. O.
Mr. William C. Baisinger, Jr., of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon petitions and amended petitions duly filed by International
Brotherhood of Firemen & Oilers, Local 125, A. F. L., herein called the
Firemen & Oilers, and International Association of Machinists, Dis-
trict No. 10, A. F. L., herein called the I. A. M.,1 respectively, alleg-
ing that questions affecting commerce had arisen concerning the
Iepresentation of employees of the Supercharger Works of Allis-
Chalmers Manufacturing Company, at Greenfield, Wisconsin, herein
called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board consolidated
1 The I. A M. filed a written document in Case No 13-R--2064, in which it specifically
waives any right to intervene and disclaims any interest in said proceeding . The Fire-
men & Oilers filed a similar waiver and disclaimer of interest in Case No. 13-R-2101,
These documents are incorporated in the record of these proceedings.
54 N L . R. B., No. 256.
1587
1588 DECISICNS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
the cases and provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice
before John R. Hill, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Mil-
waukee, Wisconsin, on December 21 and 22, 1943. The Company,
the Firemen & Oilers, the I. A. M., and Local 248, United Automobile,
Aircraft & Agricultural Implement Workers of America, C. I. O.,
herein called the C. 1. 0., appeared and participated. All parties were
afforded full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine
witnesses, to introduce evidence bearing on the issues, and to file briefs
with the Board. The Trial Examiner's rulings made at the hearing
are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following:
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Company is a Delaware corpora-
tion which operates a number of manufacturing plants in several
States of the United States. These proceedings concern- only the
Company's operation at Greenfield, Wisconsin, known as the Super-
charger Works, at which the Company is engaged in the manufacture
of superchargers for airplanes. During the year 1943 the Company
purchased for use at its Supercharger Works raw materials consisting
of iron, steel, copper, and aluminum valued in excess of 1 million
dollars, of which approximately 90 percent was shipped to the Com-
pany from points outside the State of Wisconsin. During the same
period the Company sold over 1 million dollars worth of finished
products each month, all of which was shipped to points outside the
State of Wisconsin. The Company admits that at its Supercharger
Works it is engaged in commerce. within the meaning of the National
Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
International Brotherhood of Firemen & Oilers, Local 125, is a labor,
organization affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, admit-
ting to membership employees of the Company.
International Association of Machinists, District No. 10, is a labor
organization affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, ad-
mitting to membership employees of the Company.
Local 248, United Automobile, Aircraft & Agricultural Implement
Workers of America, is a labor organization affiliated with the Con-
gress of Industrial Organizations, admitting to membership em-
ployees of the Company.
I
ALLIS-CHALMERS MANUFACTURING COMPANY 1589
III. THE QUESTIONS CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
By letter dated September 22, 1943, the Firemen & Oilers requested
the Company to recognize it as the exclusive bargaining representa-
tive of the employees within an alleged appropriate bargaining unit.
On or about September 29, 1943, the I. A. M. made a similar request
of the Company with respect to certain other employees of the Super-
charger Works who, it alleged, comprise an appropriate bargaining
unit. In each instance the Company refused to accord such recogni-
tion unless and until the Union requesting recognition is certified by
the Board.
Statements prepared by the Regional Director, as supplemented by
statements made at the hearing by the Trial Examiner, indicate
that the Firemen & Oilers represents a substantial number of employees
in the Unit hereinafter found to be appropriate in Case No. 13-R-2064,
and that the I. A. M. represents a substantial number of employees
in the unit hereinafter found to be appropriate in Case No. 13-R-2101.2
We find that questions affecting commerce have arisen concerning
the representation of employees of the Company within the mean-
ing of Section 9 (c) and Section 2,(6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNITS
Contentions of the parties
The Firemen & Oilers requests a bargaining unit comprised of all
employees of Department 25 of the Company's Supercharger Works,
known as the Maintenance Department, excluding clerical employees,
the superintendent, foremen, and assistant foremen.
The I. A. M. contends that all employees of Department 19 of the
Company's Supercharger Works, known as the Tool Room, includ-
ing indentured apprentices, but excluding clerical employees, the
2 The following table summarized the Regional Director 's statement as supplemented
by the statement made by the Trial Examiner at the hearing with respect to the authoriza-
tion evidence submitted to them :
Designations submitted*
Names on
current employ-
ment records
covering unit
in question
Names on valid
designations
appearing on
employment
records
13-R-2064
Firemen & Oilers----------------------------------------- 79 103 81
C I 0--------------------------------------------------- 77 103 713-R-2101
Machinists----------------------------------------------- 186 215 155
0.1.0 ------------------ --------------------------------103 215 47
'All the designations bore apparently genuine signatures.
1590 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
superintendent, general foremen, foremen, and assistant foremen, con-
stitute an appropriate bargaining unit.
The C. I. O. denies the appropriateness of the units sought by the
Firemen & Oilers and the I. A. M., contending that all production
and maintenance employees of the Company's Supercharger Works
constitute an appropriate bargaining unit. However, the C. T. O.
is not seeking certification on this basis at the present time.
The Company takes a neutral position with respect to the appro-
priate unit except to contend that the indentured apprentices em-
ployed in Department 19 should not be included in any bargaining
unit, since they are minors hired by the Company under individual
contracts of employment.
The operations of the Company's Supercharger Works
The Supercharger Works consists of 4 separate buildings which
house the Company's operations. These units are designated as Plant
1, Plant 2, the Forge Shop, and the Garage. Plants 1 and 2, each
-of which is comprised of a machine shop and an assembly division,
are approximately 200 yards apart, but are connected by an
enclosed passageway. The Supercharger Works is a self-contained
integrated manufacturing unit and all the parts used in the finished
product are manufactured within the plant itself. For accounting
purposes each department is designated either as a production or a
non-production department. There are approximately 12 non-pro-
duction departments; it appears that many of these departments are
known by titles descriptive of their functions, and, in addition, the
(Company has designated each one by number. The service depart-
ments, sometimes referred to as the maintenance group , are under
the supervision of a general superintendent and comprise the follow-
ing numbered non-production departments :
5-------------------------------------------- Small Tools
13 and 213----------------------------------- Sanitation
19-------------------------------------------- Tool Room
25-------------------------------------------- Maintenance
29 and 229----------------------------------- Lubrication
32--------------------------------------- ---- Yard
40-------------------------------------------- Electrical
As to the unit proposed by the Firemen & Oilers:
Department 25 is located in Plant 1, adjacent to the production
lines, and functions as a departmental unit engaged in the repair and
maintenance of buildings and equipment of the Works. While the
duties of the employees in Department 25 require them to work in
all sections of the Works, they remain under the supervision of De-
partment 25 at all times . The occupational classifications of em-
ALLIS-CHALMERS MANUFACTURING COMPANY 1591
ployees in Department 25 are machine repairmen, forge repairmen,
plumbers, carpenters, and millwrights. There are no other employees
within these categories employed elsewhere in the Works. 'The func-
tion of the machine repairmen and forge repairmen is primarily one
of maintenance of the production machinery. The other classifica-
tions of employees in this department perform maintenance and re-
pair work related to their particular trade. For the reasons stated
infra, we conclude that the employees in Department 25 constitute
an appropriate bargaining unit.
As to the unit proposed by the I. A. M.:
Department 19, the Tool Room, is located adjacent to Department
25, from which it is separated by a steel fence. The general function
of the Tool Room is the manufacture and repair of jigs, dies, fixtures,
and gauges used in the production departments of the Works. The
employees of the Tool Room perform all of their work by means of
machines located within the department and work outside of the Tool
Room only in case of an emergency. These employees range from
skilled to semi-skilled workers. The experience required ranges from
6 to 8 weeks' training to an apprenticeship of 4 years. Their rates
of pay are comparable to those of production employees possessing
equivalent skills. Although some of the work done in the Tool Room
is similar to production work, it is dissimilar in that it is not repet-
itive as in the production work. For reasons hereinafter stated,
we conclude that the employees of the Tool Room constitute an ap-
propriate bargaining unit.
The I: A. M. and the Company disagree with respect to the inclusion
of indentured apprentices in the machinists' unit. There are eight
indentured apprentices employed in the Tool Room of the Super-
charger Works. These employees are minors employed by the Com-
pany under contracts of indenture between the Company and the par-
ents or guardians of the minors, subject to the approval of the In-
dustrial Commission of Wisconsin. The duties and minimum wages
of these employees are determined by the contract. The apprentice-
ship extends for 4 years, during which time the Company agrees to
teach the apprentice a particular trade. The apprentices are trans-
ferred from one machine to another within the Tool Room, but never
to other departments. The record indicates that the I. A. M. has bar-
gained for indentured apprentices in a number of similar machine
shop plants in the Milwaukee area for over 8 years. In collective
bargaining contracts covering employees in other plants of the Com-
pany indentured apprentices have been excluded by agreement of the
parties. The record in the instant case indicates that the I. A. M.
represents each of the indentured apprentices presently employed in
the Tool Room of the Supercharger Works. The question of the pro-
1592 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
priety of including indentured apprentices in a bargaining unit has
previously been decided by the Board in the Vilter cases For reasons
stated in the cited case, we shall include the indentured apprentices
in the machinists' unit.
The Supercharger Works has been in operation only since June 1942.
With the exception of the Power House employees, who are presently
represented by the Firemen & Oilers under a collective bargaining con-
tract with the Company, there has been no previous history of collec-
tive bargaining with respect to the employees of the Supercharger
Works. For the past 2 years, the C. I. O. has made an abortive effort
to organize these' employees on an industrial basis. The record does
not disclose how soon the C. I. O. will be in a position to request cer-
tification on this basis. Neither the I. A. M. nor the Firemen & Oilers
has extended its organization beyond the department which it claims
constitutes an appropriate unit.
Upon,the basis of the above facts, and upon the entire record .in
these proceedings, we conclude that the employees of Department 25
and the employees of Department 19, respectively, constitute identifi-
able groups of workers to whom collective bargaining should be made
an immediate possibility. Our findings in this respect, however, will
not preclude a later determination at another stage of self-organiza-,
tion that a more comprehensive unit is appropriate. Accordingly,
we find that each of the groups of- employees of the Company's Super-
charger Works described below constitutes a unit appropriate for the
purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section. 9
(b) of the Act: 4 -
1. All employees in Department 25, the maintenance department,
excluding clerical employees, the superintendent, foremen, assistant
foremen, and any other supervisory employees with authority to hire,
promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status
of employees, or effectively recommend such action;
2. All employees in Department 19, the Tool Room, including in-
dentured apprentices, but excluding clerical employees, the superin-
tendent, general foremen, foremen, assistant foremen, and any other
supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, dis-
cipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or ef-
fectively recommend such action.
s Matter of Vilter Manufacturing Company, 44 N. L. R B. 232. In the cited case, the
Board said : We are of the opinion that the contracts of indenture and the laws of the
State of Wisconsin will not interfere with the processes of collective bargaining. In any
event, the apprentices are employees who may designate collective bargaining representa-
tives within the meaning of Sections 2 (3) and 9 ( a) of the Act " See also Matter of
Ampco Metal, Inc., 28 N. L. It. B. 1227.
4 See Matter of Gardner-Richardson Co., 52 N. L. It. B. 1260, and Matter of Kentucky
Fluorspar Co., 52 N. L. It. B. 227.
ALLIS-CHALMERS MANUFACTURING COMPANY
V. THE DETERMI*ATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
1593
We shall direct that the questions concerning representation which
have arisen be resolved by elections by secret ballot among the employ-
ees in the appropriate units who were employed during the pay-roll
period immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Elections
herein, subject to the limitations and additions set forth in the
Direction.
Although the C. I. O. indicated at the hearing that it did not desire
to participate in any elections which might be directed among the em-
ployees within the units proposed by the Firemen & Oilers and the
I. A. M., since it submitted evidence indicating that it represents em-
ployees within these groups , we shall afford it a place on the ballots
in the elections which we hereinafter direct, but shall , upon request
made within 7 days from the date of issuance of this Decision, with-
draw its name from said ballots.
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National
Labor Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Re-
lations Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3; it is hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Allis-Chalmers
Manufacturing Company, Supercharger Works, Greenfield , Wiscon-
sin, separate elections 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 Di-
rector for the Thirteenth Region, acting in this matter as agent for
the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Article III, Sec-
tions 10 and 11, of said Rules and Regulations , among the employees
in the units described below , who were employed during the pay-roll
period immediately preceding the date of this Direction , including in
each unit 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 em-
ployees who have since quit or been discharged for cause and have
not been rehired or reinstated prior to the date of the election :
(1) All employees in Department 25, the maintenance department,
of the Company 's Supercharger Works, excluding clerical employees,
the superintendent , foremen, assistant foremen, and any other super-
visory employees with authority to hire, promote , discharge , discipline,
1 594 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
or otherwise effect changes in` the statug of employees, or effectively
recommend such action, to determine whether they desire to'be repre-
sented by International Brotherhood of Firemen & Oilers, Local 125,
A. F. L., or by Local 248, United Automobile, Aircraft & Agricultural
Implement Workers of America, C. I. O:, for the purposes of collective
bargaining, or by neither;
(2) All employees in Department 19, the Tool Room, of the Com-
pany's Supercharger Works, including indentured apprentices, but
excluding clerical employees, the superintendent, general foremen,
foremen, assistant foremen, and any other supervisory employees with
authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect
changes in the status of employees, or effectively recommend such
action, 'to determine whether they desire to be represented by Inter-
national Association of Machinists, District No. 10, A. F. L., or by
Local 248, United Automobile, Aircraft & Agricultural Implement
Workers of America, C. I. 0., for the purposes of collective bargain-
ing, or by neither.
11