American Brass Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 8, 1942

41 N.L.R.B. 783 (N.L.R.B. 1942)

In the Matter of AMERICAN BRASS COMPANY and INTERNATIONAL UNION
OF MINE, MILL AND SMELTER WORKERS, C. I. O.
Case No. R-3841.-Decided June 8, 1942 .
Jurisdiction : copper and brass products manufacturing industry.
Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question: re-
fusal to accord petitioner recognition ; election necessary.
Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : plant police at one of the Com-
pany's plants. -
Definitions : plant police held employees within the meaning of the Act.
Kene fick, Cooke, Mitchell, Bass c( Letchworth, by Mr. Lyman M.
Bass, of Buffalo, N. Y., for the Company.
Mr. Forrest Emerson and Mr. Neal Eastman, of Buffalo , N. Y., 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 Union of Mine, Mill and
Smelter Workers, C. I. 0., herein called the Union, alleging that a
question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation
of employees of American Brass Company, Buffalo, New York, herein
called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided for
an appropriate hearing upon due notice before Peter J. Crotty, Trial
-Examiner. Said hearing was held at Buffalo, New York, on May 18,
1942. The Company and the Union appeared, participated, and 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.
On May 26 and June 2, 1942, respectively, the Union and the Com-
pany filed briefs which the Board has considered.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
American Brass Company is a Connecticut corporation operating
plants in 'the States of New York, Michigan, Connecticut, and Wis-
• 41 N. L. R. B:, No. 148.
783
784- DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
consin. We are here concerned with the Company's plant at Buffalo,
New York, where it is engaged in the manufacture of copper and
brass products. During 1941 the Company used raw materials at its
Buffalo plant valued in excess of $10,000,000, approximately 90 per-
cent of which was shipped to it from points outside the State of New
York. During the same period the Company manufactured products
at its Buffalo plant valued in excess of $25,000,000, approximately 90
percent of which was shipped out of the State of New York. The
Company admits for the purpose of this proceeding that it is engaged
in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers is a labor
organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations,
admitting to membership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Union, claiming to represent a,majority of the Company's
plant police, has requested the Company to recognize it as the exclusive
representative of such employees. The Company denied this request,
stating that it doubted the appropriateness of a unit composed of plant
police.
A statement of the Regional Director, introduced into evidence
during the hearing, indicates that the Union represents a substantial
number of employees in the unit hereinafter found to be appropriate.'
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 contends that all plant police at the Buffalo plant of the
Company, excluding supervisors, constitute an appropriate unit. The
Company contends that because of the nature of the duties and
responsibilities of the plant police and because of their relation to
the Company, they are a part of the management and that, therefore,
they should not be set up as an appropriate bargaining unit.
The plant police are uniformed and bonded by the city of Buffalo,
New York. They carry firearms and their duties'are.to protect prop-
I The Regional , Director reported that the Union presented 31 membership application
cards bearing 'apparehtly genuine signatures of persons whose names appear on `the Com-
pany's pay roll of May 4 , 1942. There are 32 employees in the unit hereinafter found to-be
approrriate.
AMERICAN BRASS COMPANY 785
erty of the Company and fellow employees and to preserve law and
order. They work on gate duty inspecting all incoming and -outgoing
vehicles and check the identifications of the employees. They also act
as parking lot attendants, watch for fires, and see that employees do
not deface or destroy property. At the present, one of their more
important duties is to prevent sabotage.
We cannot accept the Company's contention that the plant police
are representatives of management. Clearly, the relationship between
the Company and the plant police is that of employer and employee.
We find nothing in the duties of the patrolmen, set forth above, to
warrant us in depriving them of the rights to self-organization and
to collective bargaining guaranteed employees under the Act. We
find that the plant police are employees, within the meaning of Section
2 (3) of the Act and are entitled to all its benefits.
The Company argues that the organization of these employees will
lessen their efficiency because their allegiance would be divided between
the Company and the Union. The Act confers upon employees the
right to self-organization and to bargain collectively through repre-
sentatives of their own choosing.2 We will not infer that under the
circumstances here presented, the effectuation of the policies of the
Act will result in lessened efficiency. We find that all plant police
at the Buffalo plant of the Company, excluding supervisors, constitute
a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining, within
the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.3
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
Direction.
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,
2 See Matter of Yellow Truck & Coach Manufacturing Co and United Organization of Plant
Protection Employees, 39 N L R B 14; Chrysler 'Corporation and United Protective
Workers of America, 36 N L R B 593.
a We are not here confronted with the question of whether plant protection employees
should be included in a single bargaining unit with production employees. The Union
does not seek to combine plant protection employees in the same bargaining unit with pro-
duction employees and in fact another labor organization is presently the contractual
representative of the production employees. Although the Union is also organizing the
production employees it asserts that it will establish separate local organizations for the
two groups of employees.
463892-42-vol 41-50
786 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
and' pursuant to Article III, Section 8, of National Labor Relations
Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, it is hereby
DmEECr D that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with American Brass
Company, Buffalo, New York, 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, under the 'direction and supervision
of the Regional Director for the Third 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
temporarily laid off, but excluding any who have since quit or been
discharged for cause, to determine whether or not they desire to
be represented by International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter
Workers, affiliated with the Congress-of Industrial Organizations, for
the purposes of collective bargaining.
J