B. F. Goodrich Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Nov 13, 1945

64 N.L.R.B. 794 (N.L.R.B. 1945)

In the Matter of B. F . GOODRICH COMPANY and UNITED RUBBER
WORKERS OF AMERICA, CIO
Case No. 16-B-1444.-Decided November 13,1945
Mr. C. D. Russell, of Akron, Ohio, and Messrs. Walter E. Head and
Robert M. Schlemmer, both of Miami, Okla., for the Company,
Mr. Andrew Thorpe, of Miami, Okla., for the Union.
Mr. David V. Easton, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by United Rubber Workers of America,
CIO, herein called the Union, alleging that a question affecting com-
merce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of B. F.
Goodrich Company, Miami, Oklahoma, herein called the Company,
the National Labor Relations Board provided for an appropriate
hearing upon due notice before William J. Scott, Trial Examiner.
Said hearing was held at Miami, Oklahoma, on September 14, 1945.
The Company and the Union 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 error and are hereby affirmed. All parties were afforded
an opportunity 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, a New York corporation with its princi-
pal place of business at Akron, Ohio, is engaged in the manufacture
of automobile tires and tubes throughout the United States. We are
concerned herein solely with its plant at Miami, Oklahoma. Approx-
imately 75 percent of the raw materials used at the Miami, Oklahoma,
64 N. L. R. B., No. 140.
794
B. F. GOODRICH COMPANY 795
plant is shipped from points outside the Commonwealth of Oklahoma,
and in excess of 50 percent of its finished products is shipped to points
outside the Commonwealth of Oklahoma.
The Company concedes that it is engaged in commerce at its Miami,
Oklahoma, plant, within the meaning of the National Labor Relations
Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
United Rubber Workers of America, affiliated with the Congress
of Industrial Organizations, is a labor organization admitting to
membership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company has refused to grant recognition to the Union as the
exclusive bargaining representative of the employees at its Miami,
Oklahoma, plant, until the Union has been certified by the Board in an
appropriate unit.
A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the
hearing, indicates that the Union represents a substantial number of
employees in the unit hereinafter found 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 requests a unit consisting of all production and mainte-
nance employees of the Company's Miami, Oklahoma, plant, in-
cluding cafeteria employees, but excluding office and clerical em-
ployees, timekeepers, plant protection employees, professional and
technical employees and all supervisors and foremen with supervisory
authority. The Company concedes the appropriateness of the
Union's proposed unit, except insofar as it includes cafeteria em-
ployees. The cafeteria is located in the main building. There are
18 cafeteria workers. Their functions are to prepare and serve food
to the employees of the plant. They are hourly paid, have the same
work week, pay day and timekeeper as the other employees in the
proposed unit. Cafeteria workers have frequently been included in
production and maintenance units.2 We see no valid reason for
excluding the cafeteria employees and they will be included.
' The Field Examiner reported that the Union submitted 216 application cards which,
except for 15 undated cards, bore dates in February , March, April , May, June, July and
August , 1945. The Company did not furnish a pay roll until the hearing, and this pay
roll shows that there are 474 employees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.
7 Matter of Norwalk Tire & Rubber Company, 57 N. L . R. B. 1520 ; Matter of Celanese
Corporation of America, 60 N. L . R. B. 1144.
796 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
We find that all production and maintenance employees of the
Company's Miami, Oklahoma, plant, including cafeteria employees,
but excluding office and clerical employees, timekeepers, plant protec-
tion employees, professional and technical employees, and all super-
visory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, disci-
pline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or ef-
fectively recommend such action, constitute a unit appropriate 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 Elec-
tion 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 Rela-
tions Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of the National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, as 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, Miami, Oklahoma, an election by secret ballot shall be
conducted as early as possible, but not later than sixty (60) days from
the date of this Direction, under the direction and supervision of the
Regional Director for the Sixteenth Region, acting in this matter as
agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Ar-
ticle III, Sections 10 and 11, 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 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 and have not
been rehired or reinstated prior to the date of the election, to determine
whether or not they desire to be represented by United Rubber Work-
ers of America, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organiza-
tions, for the purposes of collective bargaining.
MR. GERARD D. REILLY took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision and Direction of Election.