Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Aug 22, 1942

43 N.L.R.B. 600 (N.L.R.B. 1942)

In the Matter of ALLIS-CHALMERS MANUFACTURING COMPANY and
INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD- or FIREMEN & OILERS, LOCAL 125
(AFL)
Case No. R-4131.Decided August X, 1942
Jurisdiction : supercharger manufacturing industry.
Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question: re=
fusal to accord petitioner recognition until certified by the Board ; election
necessary.
Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : powerhouse employees at one of
Company's plants, with specified, inclusions and exclusions; stipulation as to.
Mr. Clarence A. Meter, for the Board.
Mr. John L. Waddleton, of West Allis, Wis., for the Company.
Mr. Howard A. Plank, of Chicago, Ill., and Mr. Walter H. Schmidt,
of Milwaukee, Wis., for the Union.
Mr. David Karasick, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon petition and amended petition duly filed by International
Brotherhood of Firemen & Oilers, Local 125, affiliated with the Amer-
ican Federation of Labor, herein called the Union, alleging that a
question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation
of employees of Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Company, Milwaukee,
Wisconsin, herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations
Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before
Stephen M. Reynolds, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on August 10, 1942. The Board, the Com-
pany, and the Union appeared and participated.' 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.
I United Automobile Workers of America, Local 248, affiliated with the Congress of
Industrial Organizations , although served with notice, did not appear.
43 N. L. R. B., No. 85.
600 ^
ALLIS-CHALMERS MANUFACTURING COMPANY 601
Upon the,entire record in the case, the Board makes the following:
FINDINGS OF FACT
I.-THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Company, a Delaware corporation,
operates a plant at Greenfield and .West Allis, Wisconsin, known as
Supercharger Plant No. 1, where it is engaged in the manufacture of
superchargers. The Company's purchases of raw materials amount to
approximately $1,000,000 per month, of which 90 percent is derived
from States other than Wisconsin. The Company's sales of finished
products amount to a minimum of $1,000,000 per month, all of which
represents shipments to States other than Wisconsin. The'Company
concedes that it is engaged in commerce' within the meaning`of the
National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
International Brotherhood of Firemen & Oilers, Local 125, affiliated .
with,the American Federation of Labor, is a labor organization ad-
mitting to membership, employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company will not recognize or bargain with the Union unless
it is certified by the Board.
A statement of the Regional Director, introduced in evidence at the
hearing, shows that the Union represents a substantial number of
employees in the-unit hereinafter found appropriate.2
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
We find, in accordance with a stipulation of the parties,. that the
powerhouse employees of Allis-Chalmers Supercharger Plant No. 1,
at Greenfield and- West Allis, Wisconsin, including all operating en-
2 The Regional Director reported that the Union presented 15 cards which designated
the Union as the collective bargaining representative of the signers ; that the cards so
submitted , all of which bore apparently - genuine original signatures , were dated between
March 10 and July 9, 1942 ; and that the names appearing on 13 of the cards also
appeared on the pay roll of the Company which contained the names of 17 persons
employed in the powerhouse of Supercharger Plant No. 1. The 17 persons listed on the
Company's pay roll included one foreman and two assistant foremen. At the time of
the hearing , the Company employed 22 persons in the powerhouse of Supercharger Plant
No. 1, but the record does not show how many of these 'persons are within categories
which are excluded from the unit hereinafter found to be appropriate.
602 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
gineers, firemen, assistant firemen, oilers, coal and ash handling and
incinerator employees, and employees engaged in full time in the main-:
tenance of powerhouse equipment and, the entire cooling and heating
distribution system, but excluding the chief engineer, the assistant
chief engineers, foremen, assistant foremen, feed-water- chemist, grad-
-,uate,student .apprentices, indenture apprentices, and cooperative stu-
dent apprentices, constitute 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 an election by secret, ballot among the em-
ployees 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 Direc-
tion.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested `in theNational Labor
Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act,
and pursuant to Article III, Section 8, of National Labor Relations
Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, 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 at its Supercharger Plant No. 1, located at
Greenfield and West Allis, Wisconsin, 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 of Election, under the direction 'and
supervision, of the-Regional Director for the Twelfth, Region, acting
in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and
subject to Article III, Section 9, of said Rules and Regulations, among
the employees 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 any such employees who did not work
during said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation or in
the active military service or training of the United States, or tem-
porarily laid off,,but excluding any who have since quit or been dis-
charged for cause, to determine 'whether or not they desire to be repre-
sented by International Brotherhood of Firemen & Oilers, Local 125,
affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, for the purposes of
collective bargaining.
CHAIRMAN Maas took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision and Direction of Election.