Allis Chalmers Manufacturing Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Feb 6, 1953

102 N.L.R.B. 1135 (N.L.R.B. 1953)

ALLIS CHALMERS MANUFACTURING COMPANY 1135
WE WILL bargain collectively upon request with the above -named union
as the exclusive representative of all employees in the bargaining unit de-
scribed herein with respect to rates of pay, hours of employment , or other
conditions of employment and, if an understanding is reached , embody
such understanding in a signed agreement . The bargaining unit is :
All employees including operators or engineers , linesmen , meter read-
ers, meter installers and testers , and the clerk in the warehouse, em-
ployed at our Scott City and Syracuse , Kansas, plants, exclusive of
"right of way" purchasers , office clerical employees , professional em-
ployees, and supervisors as defined by the Act.
WE wILL offer to all employees who went on strike on or about September
12, 1951, immediate and full reinstatement to their former or substantially
equivalent positions , without prejudice to their seniority or other rights
and privileges , and make them whole for any loss of pay they may have
suffered as a result of our refusal to reinstate them upon application. These
employees are Clint Clark, Harry V. Messenger , John L . Halfman, Fay
Wicker, Alvin Rictor , Floyd Charles Gregory , Ralph Siegrist , and William
N. Horlick.
All of our employees are free to become, remain , or to refrain from becoming
^or remaining members in good standing in NATIONAL UNION OF OPERATING EN-
GINEERS, LOCAL No. 646, AFL, or any other labor organization , except to the
extent that this right may be affected by an agreement in conformity with
Section 8 ( a) (3) of the Act.
WHEATZAND ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE, INC.,
Employer.
By --------------------------------------------
(Representative ) (Title)
Dated ----------------------------------
This notice must remain posted for 60 days from the date hereof and must not
be altered , defaced, or covered by any other material.
ALLIS CHALMERS MANUFACTURING COMPANY WEST ALLIS PLANT)
and LOCAL 248, INTERNATIONAL UNION, UNITED AUTOMOBILE, AIR-
CRAFT & AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENT WORKERS OF AMERICA, CIO1
PETITIONER. Case No. 13-RC-2947. February 6, 1953
Decision and Order
Upon a, petition duly filed, a hearing was held before Joseph Cohen,
hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are
free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds:
1. Allis Chalmers Manufacturing Company is a Delaware corpora-
tion engaged, among other things, in the manufacture of farm equip-
ment, earth moving equipment, road grading equipment, industrial
type machinery, and electrical equipment. Its main office is at West
Allis, Wisconsin. At the West Allis plant, involved in this proceed-
102 NLRB No. 116.
1136 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
ing, the Employer is engaged in the manufacture of farm equipment,
industrial type heavy equipment, and electrical equipment. It has
10 other plants, 5 of which are engaged mainly in the production of
farm equipment. During 1951 the Employer purchased $25,000,000
worth of goods from outside the State of Wisconsin and sold $200,-
000,000 worth of goods to purchasers located outside the State.
The Employer admits, and we find, that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the Act.
2. The labor organizations involved claim to represent employees
of the Employer.
3. The alleged question concerning representation :
The Intervenor, International Brotherhood of Firemen and Oilers,
Local 125, AFL, was certified in July 1948 as the exclusive bargain-
ing agent for the Employer's powerhouse employees. The Petitioner
seeks to add these employees to its existing production and mainte-
nance unit. The Intervenor contends that its 5-year contract, ex-
piring July 1, 1955, is a bar to this proceeding. Both the Employer
and the Intervenor contend that 5-year agreements are the common
practice within the farm equipment industry?
The Intervenor introduced evidence to show that of the Employer's
11 plants, 9 are covered by 5-year contracts, 5 with the Petitioner's
own International, the UAW-CIO. At the West Allis (main) plant,
the Employer has 5-year contracts with 5 international unions, affil-
iated both with the CIO and the AFL, including the Petitioner.
The president of the petitioning local himself testified that various
locals of the UAW-CIO had 5-year contracts in various plants of
International Harvester and Ford Motor Company, both major
producers of farm equipment.2 In 1951, the U. S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics made a selective analysis of contract duration in 188 large
agreements, each covering 5,000 employees. Three of the 4 major
producers of agricultural machinery had 5-year contracts 8 covering
some 38,000 employees. As a considerable portion of the industry
is covered by contracts of similar term, we do not consider the 5-year
term unreasonable 4 Accordingly, we shall dismiss the petition.
1 The Employer would waive the contract as a bar if the Board would require the
Petitioner , if it won an election , to abide by the terms of the Intervenor's contract during
its term. The Board does not determine the effect to be given a contract under such
circumstances in a proceeding of this sort . Interstate Brick Company, 91 NLRB 1428.
2 The witness was not familiar with the length of the UAW-CIO contracts with other
principal farm equipment manufacturers , such as Massey Harris Co, Caterpillar Co., J. I.
Case, and John Deere Co., but agreed to furnish this Board with copies of all agreements
of the UAW-CIO with the major farm equipment manufacturers . The Petitioner has
failed to furnish this data , which , although it might be helpful , is not essential to our
determination.
8International Harvester, Deere & Co., and Allis -Chalmers . The contract terms were
inferred from the termination dates of the contract.
' See General Motors Corporation, Detroit Transmission Division , 102 NLRB 1140.
BENDIX PRODUCTS DIVISION 1137
Order
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the petition herein be, and it hereby is,
dismissed.
BENDIX PRODUCTS DIVISION, BENDIX AVIATION CORPORATION and.
INTERNATIONAL UNION, UNITED PLANT GUARD WORKERS OF AMER-
ICA, AND AMALGAMATED PLANT GUARD LOCAL No. 7, U. P. G. W. A.,
PETITIONERS . Case No . 13-RC-3060. February 6,1953
Decision and Order
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before Allen P. Haas,
hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing
are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. The motions
to dismiss by the Employer and Intervenor, which the hearing officer
referred to the Board, are hereby granted, for reasons set forth in
paragraph numbered 3, below.
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. Bendix Aviation Corporation, a Delaware corporation, is
engaged in the manufacture of aircraft fuel systems and landing
gear components and automotive brakes, vacuum power devices per-
taining to brakes for heavy and passenger vehicles, and automotive
power-steering devices and other vehicular motor parts. The
Employer does not manufacture complete autos and is not a subsidiary
of an automobile manufacturer. It sells brakes to automobile man-
ufacturers 1 and competes with automobile manufacturers who also
produce such parts.2 It is the sole producer of a vacuum power device
for brakes of passenger vehicles, supplying that product to certain
automobile manufacturers.3 It sells aircraft components to General
Motors Corporation and the U. S. Air Forces. The corporation
has five divisions in different parts of the country, including Bendix
Aviation Corporation, in South Bend, Indiana, involved herein. The
Employer annually purchases and sells over $1,000,000 worth of goods
outside the State of Indiana.
The Employer admits, and we find, that it is engaged in. commerce
within the meaning of the Act.
1 Including General Motors Pontiac , Oldsmobile , and Chevrolet Divisions ; Ford Motor
Company ; Nash Motor Company ; Packard Motors ; Hudson Motor Company ; Kaiser-
Fraser Motor Company ; Willys Motor Company.
2 Including General Motors Morraine Division , which manufactures brakes ; Chrysler,
which manufactures its own brakes ; Budd Wheel Company ; Kelsey -Hayes ; Wagner Elea
tric Company.
8 Packard , Lincoln, and Oldsmobile Division of General Motors.
102 NLRB No. 114.