Ash Grove Lime and Portland Cement Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Sep 27, 1943

52 N.L.R.B. 884 (N.L.R.B. 1943)

In the Matter of ASH GROVE LIME AND PORTLAND CEMENT COMPANY
and UNITED CEMENT, LIME AND GYPSUM WORKERS INTERNATIONAL
UNION, LOCAL No. 174 AFFILIATED WITH THE A. F. OF L.
Case No. B-5897.-Decided September 27, 1943
Messrs. Ralph E. Svobada, of Omaha, Nebr., and Andrew K. 'Fro-
lics, of Louisville, Nebr., for the Company.
Messrs. Reuben Roe, of Buffalo, Iowa, and Lawrence J. Taub,
of St. Louis, Mo., for the A. F. L.
Mr. William R. Cameron, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon petition duly filed by United Cement, Lime and Gypsum
Workers International Union, Local No. 174, affiliated with the
A. F. of L., herein called the A. F. L., alleging that a question
affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of_
employees of Ash Grove Lime and Portland Cement Company,
Louisville, Nebraska, herein called the. Company, the National Labor
Relations Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due
notice before Margaret L. Fassig, Trial Examiner. Said hearing
was held at Plattsmouth, Nebraska, on August 25, 1943. The Com-
pany and the A. F. L. 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
iulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are
'hereby affirmed. All parties were afforded opportunity to file briefs
with the Board.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the follow-
ing :
52 N. L. R. B., No. 156.
834
ASH GROVE LIME AND PORTLAND CEMENT COMPANY 885
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Ash Grove Lime and Portland Cement Company, a Maine corpo-
ration, has its principal offices at Kansas City, Missouri, and oper-
ates several plants in the States of Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska.
We are here concerned with the Company's plant located at Louis-
ville, Nebraska, where the Company quarries limestone and shale
and is engaged in the manufacture of Portland cement. Approxi-
mately 8 percent of the raw materials used at the Louisville plant are
obtained from points outside the State of Nebraska. Sales amount-
ing to more than $50,000 per year, or approximately 11.56 percent'
of total sales, are made by the Louisville plant to points outside the
State of Nebraska. The Company concedes that it is engaged in
commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
United Cement, Lime and Gypsum Workers International Union,
Local No. 174, is a labor organization, affiliated with the American
Federation of Labor, admitting to membership employees of the Com-
pany.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
On or about May 26, 1943, and at other dates thereafter, the A. F. L.
notified the Company that it claimed to represent a majority of the
Company's employees in the unit which it claimed to be appropriate
and requested a collective bargaining conference. The Company re-
fused to grant recognition to the A. F. L., and desires a determination
by the Board of the question concerning representation.
A statement of the Field Examiner, introduced in evidence, and a
statement of the Trial Examiner read into the record at the hearing,
indicate that the A.F. L. 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.
'The Field Examiner reported that the A . F. L. had submitted 93 application cards,
dated from August 1941 through June 1943 , all of which appear to bear genuine original
signatures . The Trial Examiner stated at the healing that the cards submitted to the
Field Examiner had been checked against 130 withholding tax exemption certificates of
the Company 's employees , covering the Company 's pay roll as of August 24, 1943, but
excluding supervisory and office employees , and that 73 of such cards carried the names
of persons on said pay roll.
886 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The parties agree that all production and maintenance employees
of the Company in its Louisville, Nebraska, plant excluding supervis-
ory employees, constitute an appropriate bargaining unit. The Com-
pany, however, seeks to include, and the A. F. L. to exclude, office em-
ployees. These consist of a chief clerk, shipping clerk, draftsman, two
stenographers, and a janitress. The Company bases its contentions
upon the functional integration of the plant, its common supervision
and pay roll, and centralized handling of labor relationships. The
record discloses that the office employees work in a separate building
at the entrance of the plant, are on a salary basis rather than hourly
paid, receive a longer yearly paid vacation than the plant employees,
and do not punch a time clock. Inasmuch as the work of office em-
ployees, and their interests, are substantially different from those of
the production and maintenance employees, in accordance with our
customary practice we shall exclude office employees from the unit.
We find that all production and maintenance employees of the Com-
pany in its Louisville, Nebraska, plant, excluding office employees
and all supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, dis-
charge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of em-
ployees, or effectively recommend such action, constitute a unit appro-
priate 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
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,
and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, 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 Ash Grove Lime
and Portland Cement Company, Louisville, Nebraska, 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 direc-
tion and supervision of the Regional Director for the Seventeenth
i
ASH GROVE LIME AND PORTLAND CEMENT COMPANY 887
Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Rela-
tions Board, and subject to Article III, Sections 10 and 11, of said
Rules and Regulations ,- among the employees in the unit found appro-
priate in Section IV, above, who were employed 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 temporarily laid off, and including employees
in the armed forces of the United States who present themselves in
person at the polls, but excluding any who have since quit or been
discharged for cause, to determine whether or not they desire to be
represented by United Cement, Lime and Gypsum Workers Inter-
national Union, Local No. 174, affiliated with the American Federa-
tion of Labor , for the purposes of collective bargaining.