American Sheet Metal Works

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jul 23, 1941

33 N.L.R.B. 750 (N.L.R.B. 1941)

In the Matter of AMERICAN SHEET METAL WORKS and STEEL WORKERS
ORGANIZING COMMITTEE , LOCAL 2179, AFFILIATED WITH THE CONGRESS
OF INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATIONS
Case No. R-2633.-Decided July ,3,1941
Jurisdiction : sheet metal products fabricating industry.
Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question: Com-
pany questions -union's majority in alleged appropriate unit ; expired con-
tract no bar to election ; election necessary ; current pay roll.
Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : all inside production and main-
tenance employees of sheet metal shop, excluding foremen, supervisory and
office personnel, and also excluding a journeyman and an apprentice.
Mr. Samuel Lang, of New Orleans, La., for the Company.
Mr. J. Bouche, of New Orleans, La., for the Union.
Mr. Charles W. Schneider, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On April 14, 1941, Steel Workers Organizing Committee, Local
2179, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, herein
called the Union, filed a petition with the Regional Director for the
Fifteenth Region (New Orleans, Louisiana) alleging that a question
affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of em-
ployees of American Sheet Metal Works, New Orleans, Louisiana,
herein called the Company, and requesting an investigation and certi-
fication of representatives pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the National
Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On May
21, 1941, 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 Regulations -Series
2, as amended, ordered an investigation and authorized the Regional
Director to conduct it and to provide for an appropriate hearing upon
due notice.
On June 4, 1941, the Regional Director issued a notice of hearing,
copies of which were duly served upon the Company and the Union
33 N. L . R. B., No. 131.
750
AMERICAN SHEET METAL WORKS 751
and also upon Sheet Metal Workers International Association, Local
No. 11, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, herein called
the Sheet Metal Workers. Pursuant to notice, a hearing was held
on June 12, 1941, at- New Orleans, Louisiana, before Charles A. Kyle,
the Trial Examiner duly designated by the Chief Trial Examiner.
The Company and the Union were represented by counsel and partici-
pated in the hearing. Sheet Metal Workers did not appear. 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 Nearing the Trial Examiner made several
rulings on motions and on objections to the admission of evidence.
The Board has reviewed the rulings of the Trial Examiner 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
American Sheet Metal Works is a corporation having its office
and plant in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is engaged in the fabrica-
tion, sale, and distribution of sheet-metal products. The principal
raw materials used in connection with the operations of the Company
are steel, copper, aluminum, lumber, paint, and hardware. The
Company uses annually raw materials to the, value of $75,000, 95
per cent of which are purchased outside the State of Louisiana. It
produces annually finished products valued in excess of $175,000,
approximately 75 per cent of which are shipped outside the State
of Louisiana.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
Steel Workers Organizing Committee, Local 2179, is a labor organ-
ization , affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations,
admitting to membership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
About April 9, 1941, the Union requested the Company to recog-
nize it as the statutory representative of the Company's employees.
The Company expressed its willingness to bargain with any accred-
ited representative of its employees but questioned the Union' s major-
ity and further stated that it had by a contract expiring April 18,
1941, recognized Sheet Metal Workers as bargaining agent for some
of its employees.' A report of the Regional Director admitted into
1 The contract having expired , it does not constitute a bar to an election at this time.
752 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR -RELATIONS BOARD
evidence discloses that the Union represents a substantial number of
employees in the alleged appropriate Unit .2
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
The Union's petition requests an appropriate unit composed of
all the Company's production and maintenance employees, excluding
supervisory and office personnel. The Company takes no position
with reference to the scope of the appropriate unit.
The Company fabricates, erects, and installs all kinds of sheet-
metal products. The fabrication is performed by employees work-
ing inside the plant or shop; erection and installation by a group of
employees working away from the shop. The work is largely hand-
skilled.
On April 19, 1940,, the Company and the Sheet Metal Workers
entered into a contract which expired April 18, 1941. The original
agreement purported to establish a closed shop but by amendment of
April 20, 1940, the "manufacturing end" of the Company's business
was excluded from its operation. Sheet Metal Workers declined to
define that provision, but the Company has interpreted it to exclude
inside employees and operated on that understanding, throughout the
life of the contract.
At the hearing the Union stated that the appropriate unit should
consist of the inside production and maintenance employees, exclud-
ing foremen, supervisory and office personnel, and a journeyman
sheet-metal worker, Robert Schuler, and an apprentice, L. Boettner,
employed inside the shop. The Sheet Metal Workers did not appear
to offer objections to the unit proposed by the Union. The exact na-
2 The Regional Director reports that the Union submitted 71 authorization cards all
appearing to bear genuine original signatures and dated between March 1 and April 14,
1941 . Sixty -three of the signatures are the names of persons on the Company's April
25, 1941, pay roll. There are approximately 103 employees in the alleged appropriate
unit Sheet Metal workers submitted no evidence of representation among the Com-
pany's employees.
AMERICAN SHEET, METAL WORKS 753
ture of the work performed by the journeyman and apprentice is
not disclosed by the record. Since the Union desires their exclusion
and they are members of the Sheet Metal Workers who were appar-
ently covered by the Sheet Metal Workers' contract, as amended, it
may be inferred that there is a closer connection between their work
and that of the sheet-metal workers on the outside than is made clear
in the record. For these reasons we shall exclude them from the unit.
We find that all inside production and maintenance employees of
the Company, excluding foremen and supervisory and office personnel,
and further excluding the journeyman, Robert Schuler, and the ap-
prentice, L. Boettner, constitute a unit appropriatE for the purposes
of collective bargaining, and that said unit will insure to the em-
ployees of the Company the- full benefit of their right to self-organi-
zation and to collective bargaining and otherwise effectuate the policies
of the Act.
VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We find that the question which has arisen concerning the repre-
sentation of employees of the Company can best be resolved by an
election by secret ballot. In accordance with our usual practice we
shall direct-that the employees of the Company eligible to vote in the
election shall be those in the appropriate unit employed by the Com-
pany during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of
the Direction of Election herein, subject to such limitations and addi-
tions as are set forth in the Direction hereinafter.
Upon the basis of the above findings of fact and upon the entire
record in the case, the Board makes the following :
CONCLUSIONS or LAW
1. A question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the rep-
resentation of employees of American Sheet Metal Works, New Or-
leans, Louisiana, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2
(6) and (7) of the Act.
2. All inside production and maintenance employees of the Com-
pany, excluding foremen and supervisory and office personnel, and
further excluding the journeyman, Robert Schuler, and the appren-
tice, L. Boettner, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of
collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the
Act.
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 Re-
lations Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 8, of National Labor
754 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, it is
hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation authorized by the Board
to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining
with American Sheet Metal Works, New Orleans, Louisiana, an elec-
tion by secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible but not
later than thirty (30) days from the date of this Direction of Elec-
tion, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director
for the Fifteenth 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 all inside production and
maintenance employees of American Sheet Metal Works, New Or-
leans, Louisiana, who were employed by it during the pay-roll period
immediately preceding the date of this Direction, including 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 foremen and
supervisory and office personnel, the journeyman, Robert Schuler,
and the apprentice, L. Boettner, and employees who have since quit
or been discharged for cause, to determine whether or not they desire
to be represented by Steel Workers Organizing Committee, Local
,2179, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations for
the purposes of collective bargaining.