B. F. Goodrich Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Apr 16, 1946

67 N.L.R.B. 358 (N.L.R.B. 1946)

In the Matter of B. F. GOODRICH COMPANY (COPOLYMER PLANT) and
PIPE FITTERS LOCAL No. 522, A. F. OF L.
Case No. 9-R-2013.-Decided April 16, 1946
Mr. G. if. Wilson, of Louisville, Ky., for the Company.
Mr. Harold Cohen, of Louisville, Ky., for the A. F. of L.
Mr. Robert E. ,S'uuff, of Akron, Ohio, and Mr. Edward Wertz, of
Louisville, Ky., for the C. I. O.
Mr. Jerome J. Dick, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by Pipe Fitters Local No. 522, A. F. of L.,
herein called the A. F. of L., alleging that a question affecting com-
merce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of B. F.
Goodrich Company (Copolymer Plant), Louisville, Kentucky, herein
called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided
for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before Harold M. Weston,
Trial Examiner . The hearing was held at Louisville, Kentucky, on
February 20, 1946. At the hearing, the Trial Examiner granted the
motion of United Rubber, Cork, Linoleum and Plastic Workers of
America, C. I. 0., herein called the C. I. O., to intervene in the pro-
ceeding. The Company, the A. F. of L., and the C. I. O. appeared
and participated. All parties were afforded full opportunity to be
heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evi-
dence bearing on the issues. At the hearing, the C. I. O. moved to
dismiss the proceeding on various grounds. For reasons stated in
Sections III and IV, infra, the motion to dismiss is denied. The Trial
Examiner 's rulings 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 following :
FINDINGS Or 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
67 N. L. R B., No. 50.
358
B. F. GOODRICH COMPANY 359
the manufacture, sale, and distribution of a variety of rubber and
synthetic rubber products, and operates several plants in various parts
of the United States. The Company's Copolymer Plant in Louisville,
Kentucky, is solely involved in this proceeding. At this plant the
Company manufactures synthetic rubber for tires and tubes. During
the year 1945, the Company used raw materials at its Copolymer
Plant exceeding $1,000,000 in value, more than 30 percent of which
was shipped from points outside the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
During the same period, the Copolymer Plant's finished products
exceeded $2,000,000 in value, all of which was shipped to points out-
side the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
11. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
Pipe Fitters Local No. 522, is a labor organization affiliated with
the American Federation of Labor, admitting to membership em-
ployees of the Company.
United Rubber, Cork , Linoleum and Plastic Workers of America
is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial
Organizations , admitting to membership employees of the Company.
III. TIIE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
On or about January 4, 1945, the Company and the C. I. O. entered
into a contract containing the following termination clause:
This Agreement shall be in effect for the year ending January
4, 1946, and for like yearly periods thereafter unless notice of
intention to terminate or revise such Agreement is given in writ-
ing by any of the parties hereto at least thirty (30) days prior to
the expiration date. If such notice further sets forth that either
party hereto desires to place in effect for the succeeding year a
revised Agreement, then it shall be the duty of the parties hereto
to confer for the purpose of negotiating such a revised agreement.
Thereafter, on or about November 27, 1945, the A. F. of L. advised
the Company that it desired recognition as the exclusive bargaining
representative for all of the Company's welders and temperature
control men. The Company replied that it could not accord the recog-
nition sought because of its contracts with other labor organizations.
On December 3, 1945, the A. F. of L. filed its original petition herein,
which averred that a unit of welders and temperature control men
was appropriate. However, on January 5, 1946, it discovered that
the employees it sought to represent were classified by the Company
as instrument repairmen. Accordingly, the A. F. of L. corrected the
360 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
error in its original petition by filing 'an amended petition on January
10, 1946, alleging as appropriate a grouping of instrument repairmen
A and B, and instrument repairmen trainees.
Asserting that the unit set forth in the original petition varies from
the unit described in the amended petition, and that the amended peti-
tion was filed after the 1945 effective date of the automatic renewal
clause in its agreement with the Company, the C. I. O. contends that
this contract constitutes a bar to the present proceeding. But it is
apparent from the record that the terms "temperature controlmen"
and "instrument repairmen" are virtually synonymous. Moreover, it
is clear that the Company was fully aware when the A. F. of L. made
its rival claim to representation and filed its original petition, that this
organization desired to represent the instrument repairmen. Thus,
inasmuch as the assertion of the claim and the filing of the original
petition antedated the 1945 operative date of the automatic renewal
clause in the agreement between the Company and the C. I. 0., we
find that this contract does not preclude a present determination of
representatives.'
A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the hear-
ing, indicates that the A. F. of L. represents a substantial number of
employees in the unit it alleges 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 DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
As already indicated the A. F. of L. seeks a unit composed of
instrument repairmen A, instrument repairmen B, and instrument
repairmen trainees employed at the Company's Copolymer Plant in
Louisville, Kentucky, excluding supervisory employees. On the other
hand, the C. I. O. contends that this unit is inappropriate in view
of the past bargaining history at the plant. The Company takes a
neutral position on this issue.
The instrument repairmen are skilled employees whose jobs require
about 2 years of training. They service instruments that regulate
temperature, pressure, and flow. Forming a separate section of the
maintenance department, they work under a separate supervisor, and
report for work at their own shop which is physically separated from
the plant proper. Instrument repairmen spend half their time in
i See Matter of Craddock-Terry Shoe Corp , 55 N. L. R. B. 1406 ; Matter of Portland
Lumber Mills, 56 N L. R. B. 1336
2 The Field Examiner reported that the A. F. of L. submitted cards bearing the names
of eight employees listed on the Company's pay roll of December 7, 1945, and that
the cards are dated October and November 1945 The C I 0 submitted no cards, rely-
ing on its contract with the Company as evidence of its interest.
There are approximately nine employees in the unit alleged by the A. F. of L. to be
appropriate.
B. F. GOODRICH COMPANY 361
their shop and the remainder of their time making necessary repairs
in various parts of the plant itself.
In 1943, pursuant to an election held by direction of the Board;
the C. I. O. was certified as the bargaining representative of the
Company's production and maintenance employees, exclusive of elec-
tricians and firemen and oilers ,4 machinists and journeymen steam-
fitters and pipefitters,l office clericals, plant protection employees and
supervisory employees." There was no question raised as to the pro-
priety of including the instrument repairmen in the unit. The C. I. O.
and the Company then entered into a contract, dated November 24,
1943, covering the employees in this unit. During 1944, the C. I. O.
actively bargained for the instrument repairmen, and succeeded in
securing for them an increase in wages which was approved by the
National War Labor Board. In addition, two of the instrument
repairmen were C. I. O. shop stewards at various times during that
year. Subsequently, the C. I. O. and the Company entered into a
new contract, dated January 4, 1945, containing a maintenance of
membership provision.' Shortly thereafter, however, the instrument
repairmen withdrew from the C. I. O. under a 15-day escape clause
in the contract, and since that time no instrument repairman has been
a shop steward and no instrument repairman has availed himself of
the grievance procedure set forth in the contract.
In view of the brief history of collective bargaining preceding the
withdrawal of the instrument repairmen from the C. I. 0.; the with-
drawal itself; and the further fact that the instrument repairmen
constitute a well-defined, skilled and functionally cohesive group,
physically segregated and under separate supervision, we are of the
opinion that these employees may be bargained for as a separate unit.
We are also of the opinion, however, that the instrument repairmen
may continue to be bargained for as part of the production and main-
tenance unit, considering that they were treated as included within
this comprehensive grouping and that their work is somewhat related
to that of the production employees. We shall, therefore, defer our
4 Matter of B. F. Goodrich Company ( Copolymer Plant ), 51 N. L. R. B. 872.
4 International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers , Local Union No 369, A F. of L..
and International Brotherhood of Firemen and Oilers, Local No 320, A F . of L, had
already been certified by the Board as the representatives of the Company ' s electricians
and firemen and oilers, respectively . See Matter of B. F Goodrich Company (Copolymer
Plant ), 49 N L R B 152
1 International Association of Machinists , and United Association of Journeymen Steam-
fitters and Steamfitters Helpers, A F. of L, the immediate predecessor of the A. F. of L.,
were certified by the Board as the representatives of the Company's machinists and jour-
neymen steamfitters and pipefitters, respectively , at the time the C I. O . was certified as
the representative of the employees in its unit
6In 1945, the Board directed "Globe" elections among the Company's carpenters and
painters , and later certified International Brotherhood of Painters , Decorators and Paper
Hangers of America, Local Union No . 118, A F of L , and Falls City Carpenters ' District
Council; A . F. of L , respectively , as the representatives of these employees.
7 It is this agreement which was raised as a bar ( see Section III, supra).
362 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
determination of the appropriate unit. Such determination shall rest,
in part, upon the desires of the instrument repairmen as reflected by
the results of the election we hereinafter'direct.
We shall direct that the question concerning representation which
has arisen be resolved by an election by secret ballot among instrument
repairmen A, instrument repairmen B, and instrument repairmen
trainees employed by the Company at its Copolymer Plant, Louisville,
Kentucky, 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, who were employed
during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direc-
tion of Election herein, subject to the limitations and additions set
forth in the Direction.
If the instrument repairmen vote for the A. F. of L. they will be
taken to have indicated a desire to be bargained for as a separate appro-
priate unit. If they vote for the C. I. O. they will be taken to have
indicated a desire to continue to be bargained for as part of the produc-
tion and maintenance unit now represented by that organization.
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 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 (Copolymer Plant), Louisville, Kentucky, 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 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 Regula-
tions, among employees in the voting group described 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 those employees 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 they desire to be represented by Pipe
Fitters Local No. 522, A. F. of L., or by United Rubber, Cork, Linoleum
and Plastic Workers of America, C. 1. 0., for the purposes of collective
bargaining, or by neither.