Aluminum Co. of America

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Oct 11, 1938

9 N.L.R.B. 141 (N.L.R.B. 1938)

In the Matter of ALUMINUM COMPANY OF AMERICA and ALUMINUM
ADMINISTRATIVE `YORKERS UNION, LOCAL 20661, AFFILIATED WITH
A. F. OF L.
Case No. R-985.-Decided October 11, 1938
Aluminum Processing Industry-Investigation of Representatives : controversy
concerning representation of employees : employer questions appropriateness of
unit proposed and majority status of union therein-Unit Appropriate for Col-
lective Baigaining: office and clerical workers, metermen, lead men , routine
chemists , chemists ' assistants , and dust, gas and laboratory technicians, but
excluding executives and department heads, foremen , shift foremen, and assistant
foremen, the yardmaster and assistant yardmaster , research chemists , secre-
taries to all executives and department heads, employees in the cost department,
and the personal chauffeur to president of Company-Representatives : proof of
choice : union membership list-Certification of Representatives: upon proof of
majority representation.
Mr. William J. Avrutis and Mr. Alan F. Perl, for the Board.
Mr. Bruce C. Campbell, of East St. Louis, Ill., for the Company.
Mr. Charlton Ogburn, by Mr. Arthur E. Reyman, of New York
City, for the Union.
Mr. Ivar Peterson, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On July 7, 1938, Aluminum Administrative Workers Union, Local
20661, affiliated with A. F. of L., herein called the Union, filed with
the Regional Director for the Fourteenth Region (St. Louis, Mis-
souri) a petition alleging that a question affecting commerce had
arisen concerning the representation of employees of Aluminum Ore
Company,' East St. Louis, Illinois, herein called the Company, and
requesting an investigation and certification of representatives pur-
'The original petition named the Aluminum Company of America as the employer. It
appears that Aluminum Company of America is not involved in this case , but that the
proper party is Aluminum Ore Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Aluminum Com-
pany of America. At the beginning of the hearing the petition was amended , without
objection, to include Aluminum Ore Company as a party.
9 N. L R. B., No. 24.
141
142 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
suant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat.
449, herein called the Act.
On July 19, 1938, the National Labor Relations Board, herein called
the Board, acting pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the Act and Article
III, Section 3, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regula-
tions-Series 1, as amended, ordered an investigation and authorized
the Regional Director to conduct it and to provide for an appropriate
hearing upon due notice.
On July 27, 1938, the Regional Director issued a notice of hearing,
copies of which were duly served upon the Company and the Union.
Pursuant to the notice, a hearing was held from August 8 through
August 12, 1938, at St. Louis, Missouri, before Theodore R. Bland,
the Trial Examiner duly designated by the Board. The Board, the
Company, and the Union were represented by counsel and partici-
pated in the hearing. Full opportunity to be heard, to examine and
cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing on the
issues was afforded all parties. During the course of the hearing the
Trial Examiner made several rulings on motions and on objections to
the admission of evidence. The Board has reviewed these rulings and
finds that no prejudicial errors were committed. The rulings are
hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Aluminum Ore Company, a Delaware corporation and a wholly
owned subsidiary of Aluminum Company of America, operates a plant
in East St. Louis, Illinois, for the purpose of processing natural
bauxite into alumina (aluminum oxide) and miscellaneous other
products.
The principal raw materials used by the Company, aggregating
over 100,000 tons per year, are bauxite, soda ash, limestone, fluorspar,
sulphuric acid, and coal; all the bauxite and soda ash, which consti-
tute about 80 per cent of the raw materials used, are purchased
outside the State of Illinois and shipped to the East St. Louis plant.
Most of the other raw materials used, comprising about 20 per cent
of the total, are purchased within the State of Illinois.
The total volume of products manufactured at the East St. Louis
plant aggregates over 100,000 tons per year. Ninety-five per cent of
this amount consists of alumina (aluminum oxide), and the remain-
ing 5 per cent is made up of aluminum hydrate, electrolyte, dry
sodium aluminate, and other miscellaneous products. Approximately
95 per cent of the said alumina is shipped outside the State of Illinois.
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 143
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
Aluminum Administrative Workers Union, Local 20661, is a labor
organization affiliated with the American Federation of Labor. It
admits to membership office and clerical workers, chemists, technicians,
analysts, and certain foremen and subforemen in,the production and
maintenance departments of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
In June 1937, representatives of the Union met with the personnel
relations manager of the Company for the purpose of securing recogni-
tion of the Union as the sole bargaining agent for administrative
employees. The Union was unofficially so recognized, but when a pro-
posed collective bargaining agreement was presented in the fall of
1937 the Company requested postponement of negotiations because at
that time another labor organization was active in the plant. In May
1938 when the Union again sought a contract, the Company questioned
the appropriateness of the unit which the Union claimed and also
questioned the Union's contention that it had been designated as the
sole bargaining agent.
We find that a' question has arisen concerning the representation
of employees of the Company.
IV. THE EFFECT OF THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION UPON
COMMERCE
We find that the question concerning representation which has
arisen, occurring in connection with the operations of the Company
described in Section I above, has a close , intimate, and substantial'
relation to trade, traffic, and commerce among the several States, and
tends to lead to labor disputes burdening and obstructing commerce
and the free flow of commerce.
V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
In its petition the Union claimed that "all office-and clerical workers,
exclusive of department heads and their assistants; all meter men,
exclusive of foremen; all routine chemists, chemists' assistants; dust,
gas and laboratory technicians, exclusive of department heads, shift
foremen, and research chemists; all subforemen and those foremen
who do not have an assistant in the production and maintenance de-
partments" constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective
bargaining.
The initial differences between the Company and the Union with
,regard to the appropriate unit were adjusted by mutual concessions
during the course of the hearing. The parties drew up a list of all
the employees which the Union had originally claimed should be
included in the 'appropriate. unit and by agreement indicated which
of these employees were to be excluded. .In addition-, about eight or•
144 NATIONAL LABOI. BI;LATIONS BOARD
nine lead men, or working group leaders, were included 'in the unit.
At the conclusion of the hearing the Union amended its petition to
conform to the above agreement. In general, the employees so ex-
cluded fall into two groups : so-called confidential employees and
supervisory employees.
The confidential employees which the parties would exclude from.
the unit include secretaries to officials and department heads, all em-
ployees in the cost department, the personal chauffeur to the president
of the Company, and one clerk, W. E. Lawson, in the operating
department. The Company contended, and the Union agreed, that
secretaries to executives are closely connected with the management
and perform duties of a confidential nature. Employees in the cost
department compile data showing the cost, in terms of labor and
materials, chargeable to each product made in the plant, as well as
the cost of construction and mechanical work. The cost data enables,
the Company to determine the most efficient methods in the use of
labor and materials. It was agreed, therefore, that the information
acquired by employees in this department is of a confidential nature.
The, personal chauffeur to the president is subject to call at all times
and, it appears, has little in common with other employees of the
Company.
W. E. Lawson, a clerk in the operating department who by agree-
ment was excluded from the unit, assists in arranging the working
schedules of employees in the operating department and also does
special work for the plant foreman. The nature of the special duties
does not appear. Lawson assists J. P. Wesley, another clerk in the
operating department, in arranging working schedules. By agree-
ment, Wesley was included in the unit. Their duties appear to be
similar-, with the exception of the special work Lawson performs for
the plant foreman. Since the nature of these special duties is not
shown and in the absence of other evidence warranting the exclusion,
we will include Lawson in the unit.
, Thus with the exception of Lawson, the clerk in the operating
department, it would appear that the employees which the Union and
the Company would exclude from the appropriate unit are engaged
in duties of a confidential nature. Ordinarily we should examine
closely into the duties of such employees in order to determine
whether the nature of their duties so identifies their interests with the
management that their inclusion in a unit with other employees would
be inappropriate. In the present case, however, the parties agree that
such employees should be excluded, and with the exception of the
clerk in the operating department described above, we see no reason
to deviate from the agreement of the parties.
The parties also agreed to exclude 64 foremen, shift foremen, and
assistant foremen, and the yardmaster and assistant yardmaster. All
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 145
these employees have duties of a supervisory nature in the various
departments. However, the parties agreed to include three foremen,
and one assistant foreman in the stores department, four engine fore-
men, and one boiler-room foreman. These nine employees have super-
visory duties. No evidence was introduced to explain why they should
be included while the other foremen were excluded. We see no reason
for including them, and we will, therefore, exclude from the unit the
foremen and assistant foreman in the stores department, the engine
foremen, and the boiler-room foreman along with the other super-
visory employees enumerated above.
The employees within the classifications described above and with
the exceptions there noted, who comprise the administrative staff of
the Company, may properly constitute an appropriate bargaining-
unit. These employees are eligible to membership in the Union and
were excluded from the unit of production and maintenance,
employees which we determined to be appropriate on August 16,-
1938 .2
We find that office and clerical workers, metermen, lead men,-
routine chemists, chemists' assistants, and dust, gas and laboratory
technicians employed by the Company, excluding executives and
department heads, foremen, shift foremen, and assistant foremen,
the yardmaster and assistant yardmaster, research chemists, secre-
taries to all executives and department heads, employees in the cost
department, and the personal chauffeur to the president, constitute
a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining and that
said unit will insure to employees of the Company the full benefit of
their right to self-organization and to collective bargaining and;
otherwise effectuate the policies of the Act.
VI. TIIE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
On July 7, 1938, there were about 123 employees in The unit which
we have found to be appropriate. As of August 12, 1938, the time
of the hearing, this number had decreased to 117 due to the fact that
five employees had been laid off and one had quit.
The Union introduced in evidence a list of its membership, com-
piled from individual application slips which were produced at the
hearing. A comparison of this membership list with the names of
the, employees in the unit which we have found to be appropriate,
shows that, as of August 12, 1938, 77 employees of the Company
within the appropriate unit were members of the Union. The Com-
pany does not question the majority status of the Union.
We find that the Union has been designated and selected by a
majority of the employees in the appropriate unit as their representa-
2 See Matter of Aluminum Ore Company and Aluminum Workers Union No 18780, A. P.
ofL,8N L R. B. 914
146 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
tive for the purposes of collective bargaining . It is, therefore, the
'exclusive representative of all the employees in such unit for the
purposes of collective bargaining , and we will so certify.
Upon the basis of the above findings of fact and upon the entire
record in the case, the Board makes the following :
CONCLUSIONS OF LAw
1. A question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the repre-
sentation of employees of Aluminum Ore Company, East St. Louis,
Illinois, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6)
and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act.
2. The office and clerical workers, metern,en, lead men, routine
chemists, chemists' assistants, and dust, gas, and laboratory techni-
cians employed by the Company, excluding executives and depart-
ment heads, foremen, shift foremen, and assistant foremen, the yard-
master and assistant yardmaster, research chemists, secretaries to all
-executives and department heads, employees in the cost department,
and the.personal chauffeur to the president, constitute a unit appro-
priate for the purposes of collective bargaining, within the meaning
of Section 9 (b) of the National Labor Relations Act.
3. Aluminum Administrative Workers Union, Local 20661,.is_.the
exclusive representative of all the employees in such unit for the
purposes of collective bargaining, within the meaning of Section 9 (a)
of the National Labor Relations Act.
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National
Labor Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Rela-
tions Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 8, of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 1, as amended,
IT IS HEREBY CERTIFIED that Aluminum Administrative Workers
Union, Local 20661, has been designated and selected by a majority
of the office and clerical workers, metermen, lead men, routine chem-
ists, chemists ' assistants , and dust, gas, and laboratory technicians
employed by Aluminum Ore Company, East St. Louis, Illinois,
excluding executives and department heads, foremen, shift foremen,
and assistant foremen, the yardmaster and assistant yardmaster,
research chemists, secretaries to all executives and department heads,
employees in the cost department, and the personal chauffeur to the
president, as their representative for the purposes of collective bar-
gaining and that, pursuant to the provisions of Section 9 (a) of the
Act, Aluminum Administrative Workers Union, Local 20661, is the
exclusive representative of all'such employees for the purposes of col-
lective bargaining in respect to rates of pay, wages, hours of employ-
ment, and other conditions of employment.