B. F. Goodrich Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jan 5, 1945

59 N.L.R.B. 1477 (N.L.R.B. 1945)

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In the Matter of B. F. GOODRICH COMPANY (COPOLYMER PLANT) and
INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF PAINTERS, DECORATORS AND PAPER.
HANGERS OF AMFARICA, LOCAL UNION #118
In the Matter of B. F . GOODRICH COMPANY SYNTHETIC RUBBER PLANT
and FALLS CITY CARPENTERS' DISTRICT COUNCIL, A. F. of L.
Cases Nos. 9-R-1581 and 9-R-1599 respectively.-Decided January
5,19J^6
Mr. C. D. Russell, of Akron, Ohio, for the Company.
Messrs. Herman Cohen and A. Shoubaechler, of Louisville, Ky., for
the Carpenters.
Messrs. Herman Cohen and E. H. Carver, of Louisville, Ky., for the
Painters.
Mr. E' T. Rion, Jr., of Louisville, Ky., for the Rubber Workers.
Miss Frances Lopinsky, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon petitions duly filed by International Brotherhood of Painters,.
Decorators and Paper Hangers of America, Local Union #118, herein
called .the Painters, and by Falls City Carpenters' District Council,
herein called the Carpenters, alleging that questions affecting com-
merce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of B. F.
,Goodrich Company (Copolymer Plant) ,1 Louisville, Kentucky, herein
called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided
for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before James A. Shaw,
Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Louisville, Kentucky, on
November 10, 1944. The Company, the Carpenters, the Painters, and
United Rubber Workers of America, C. I. 0., Local 253, herein called
the Rubber Workers, 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
1478 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
error and are hereby affirmed. All parties were afforded an oppor-
tunity to file briefs with the Board.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
B. F. Goodrich Company is a New York corporation, with its prin-
cipal office and place of business in Akron, Ohio. It is engaged in the
manufacture, sale, and distribution of a variety of rubber and syn-
thetic rubber products and operates several plants in various parts,of
the United States. The Copolymer Plant, or synthetic rubber plant,
is located in Louisville, Kentucky, and is the only plant involved in
this proceeding. It is engaged in the manufacture of synthetic rubber
for tires and tubes.
During the 12-month period preceding the hearing, the Company
purchased for use at its Louisville plant, raw materials of a value in
excess of $1,000,000, approximately 30 percent of which was purchased
from points outside the State of Kentucky. During the same period
the value of its finished products was in excess of $2,000,000, approxi-
mately 100 percent of which was shipped to points outside the State
of Kentucky.
The Company admits for the purposes of this proceeding only, that
it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor
Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
International Brotherhood of Painters, Decorators and Paper
Hangers of. America, Local Union #118, and Falls City Carpenters'
District Council, both affiliated with the American Federation of
Labor, are labor organizations admitting to membership employees of
the Company.
United Rubber Workers of America, Local 253, affiliated with the
Congress of Industrial Organizations, is a labor organization admit-
ting to membership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company has refused to grant recognition to the Painters or
to the Carpenters as the exclusive bargaining representative of certain
of its employees contending that the employees who would comprise
the units requested by these unions are already covered by a contract
between the Company and the Rubber Workers which was executed
after the Rubber Workers had been certified by the Board as the- exclu-
sive representative of these and other employees. The contract re-
B. F. GOODRICH COMPANY 1479
ferred to was signed November 24, 1943, for a term of 1 year, subject
to automatic renewal as of any subsequent October 25. The Car-
penters and the Painters each requested recognition in September
1944. The contract is therefore no bar to a present determination of
representatives.
A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the
hearing, indicates, that the Carpenters, and the Painters each repre-
sents a substantial number of employees in the unit which it claims
to be appropriate.'
We find that questions affecting commerce have 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 DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
The Carpenters requests a unit of all journeymen carpenters and ap-
prentices employed by the Company; the Painters requests a unit of
all-painters and sign painters so employed. The Company and the
CIO-contend that the requested units are inappropriate because both
carpenters and painters are presently represented by the CIO which
was certified, September 6, 1943, as the exclusive bargaining repre-
sentative of a unlit of employees of the Company including carpenters
and painters.3
The Company's plant at Louisville was constructed in the year
1942, and began operation in November of that year. During the early
part of 1943, various craft unions filed petitions with the Board for
certification under. Section 9 (c) of. the Act, and after hearing, de-
-termination and elections directed by the Board, the Board certified
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local Union No.
369, herein called the IBEW, as the exclusive representative of elec-
tricians, and International Brotherhood of Firemen and Oilers, Local
320, A. F. L., herein called the Firemen & Oilers, as the exclusive rep-
resentative of the firemen and,-oilers working within the Louisville
plant.4 Thereafter, the International Association of Machinists,
2 The Field Examiner reported that the Carpenters submitted 14 authorization cards,
11 of which bore signatures of persons listed on the Company ' s pay roll of September 16,
1944 , which contained the names of 13 employees in the unit requested by the Carpenters,
and that the cards were dated , 1 in August 1 943, 12 in September 1943, and 1 undated
The CIO submitted 5 authorization cards dated August 1944 , bearing signatures of persons
whom the Carpenters would include in the unit it claims to be appropriate
The Painters submitted 14 authorization cards , 13 of which bore signatures of persons
listed on the Company ' s pay roll of August 19, 1944 , which contained the names of 16
employees in the unit requested by the Painters the cards were dated , 6 in September
1943, 7 in the month of April through August 1944, 1 undated The CIO submitted 10
authorization cards undated , but signed , according to the CIO , subsequent to June 1944,
bearing signatures of persons whom the Painters would include in the unit it claims to be
appropriate.
8 The ceitification was issued pursuant to an election directed by the Board in Matter
of B F. Goodrich Company ( Copolymer Plant ), 51 N L R B. 872.
4 See Matter of B F. Goodrich Company ..(.Copolymer Plant ), 49 N L R B. 152.
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their respective crafts, the CIO requesting a unit comprising all pro-
duction and maintenance employees except those then represented by
the IBEW and by the Firemen. These petitions were consolidated
for the purposes of hearing. After hearing, the Board directed self-
determination elections among the machinists and the steamfitters in
the Company's plant,5 and subsequently certified the IAM and the
Steamfitters in the units which had requested, and the CIO in the
residual unit.
Although, as above-stated, production began in the Louisville plant
in November 1942, peak production and employment was not reached
until March 1944. At the time of the second hearing, above-men-
tioned, July 7, 1943, there were seven carpenters and two painters
employed by the Company. All of the carpenters and at least one
of the painters were at that time members of their respective craft
organizations, but neither organization was given notice of the pend-
ency of the proceedings, and neither, therefore, was present at the
hearing. Immediately following the election, the carpenters com-
plained to the Carpenters that their union had not had a place on the
ballot. The Carpenters then requested recognition,6 which was de-
nied it by the Company for the reason that the CIO had been certified
in a unit including carpenters. Within 60 days after the certification
of the CIO, the Company increased the number of painters it em-
ployed from 2 to 11. These called upon the Painters for representa-
tion, and the Painters, thereupon, requested recognition from the
Company as their exclusive representative. The request was denied.
Although subsequently a number of carpenters and painters volun-
tarily joined the CIO, and all have received benefits thro>1gh,,CIO
representation, the carpenters never selected a steward, and neither
painters nor carpenters have presented any grievances through' the
channels of the CIO machinery. Just prior to the possible renewal
of the CIO's contract, the Carpenters and the Painters again re-
quested recognition as the exclusive representative of members of
their crafts within the plant. The number of carpenters employed
by the Company has practically doubled since the election in 1943.
The number of painters has increased eight-fold since that-time.
' Matter of B. F. Goodrich Company (Copolymer Plant), 51 N. L. R. B. 872.
The Carpenters explained that it had no notice of the election or hearing preliminary
thereto, and that it had made no attempt to secure recognition -prior to the complaint,of
its members because the complement of carpenters In the plant had not yet reached what
it then believed would be 50 percent of the full complement.
groups requested. They rely' mainly upon the prior determination
of the Board and the history of bargaining following that determina-
tion as well as the alleged custom in the industry, to establish their
contention that the requested units are inappropriate. Although
operations in the Company's plant are sufficiently integrated to war-
rant representation upon a plant-wide basis, the Board has hereto-
fore found that craft units, as such, are not inappropriate bases for
bargaining in the plant. As for the prior determination of the
Board, it was made at a time when the Carpenters and Painters, al-
though entitled to notice, did not receive it,' and at a time when only
one-half of the Carpenters and only one-eighth of the Painters needed
by the Company had been employed.8 Both groups asserted a right
to separate representation as soon as they were apprised of the sit-,
uation. At the first oportunity both filed petitions with the Board
to establish separate units.
Under all these circumstances, we are of the opinion that carpen-
ters and painters may be appropriately included in the residual unit
represented by the CIO, or may be appropriately represented in sep-
arate units of their own, and that the determination of the unit issue
with respect to these employees should depend, in part, upon the
desire of such employees to be expressed in the elections hereinafter
directed in the voting groups set out below. Consequently, we shall
make no final determination of the unit or units at this time, but shall
defer the determination pending the results of said elections.
Accordingly, we shall direct that the questions concerning repre-
sentation which have arisen, be resolved by elections among the em-
ployees in the following voting groups, who were employed during
the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direction
of Elections herein,, subject to the limitations and additions set forth
in the Direction. There shall be excluded from each voting group
all supervisory, employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge,
discipline or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees or
effectively recommend such action. The voting groups shall comprise :
(1) All journeymen carpenters and apprentices.
(2) All painters and sign painters.
See Matter of United Boat Service , 55 N. L . R. B. 671 ; Matter of Davis d Furber
Machine Co., 59 N. L. R. B..1328.
See Matter of Bethlehem Steel Company ( Boston Yards ), 39 N. L R. B 1230, Matter
of Goodyear Aircraft Corp., 45 N. L. R. B. 369; Matter of St. John' s River Ship Building
Co., 59 N. L. R. B. 35.
1482 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
If these employees select the craft organization which has jurisdiction
over them, they will have indicated their desire to be represented in
a separate unit or units for the purposes of collective bargaining; any
group that selects the CIO, will have indicated its desire to remain
within the larger unit presently represented by the CIO.
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
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 9 of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, ds amended, it is
hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with B. F. Goodrich
Company (Copolymer Plant), Louisville, Kentucky, elections 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 Ninth Region, acting
in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and
subject to Article III, Sections 10 and 11, of said Rules and Regu-
lations, among the employees in the voting groups hereinafter set
forth who were employed, during the pay-roll period immediately
preceding the date of this Direction, including employees who did
not work during the 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 employees who have since quit or been dis-
charged for cause and have not been rehired or reinstated prior to
the date of the election, and excluding all supervisory employees with
authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect
changes in the status of employees or effectively recommend such
action :
(1) All ' journeymen carpenters and apprentices to determine
whether they desire to be represented by Falls City Carpenters' Dis-
trict Council, A. F. of L., or by United Rubber Workers of America,
CIO, Local 253, for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither.
(2) All painters and sign painters to determine whether they desire
to be represented by International Brotherhood of Painters, Decora-
tors and Paper Hangers of America, Local #118, A. F. of L., or by
United Rubber Workers of America, CIO, Local 253, for the purposes
of collective bargaining, or by neither.