Ball Brothers Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Oct 12, 1945

64 N.L.R.B. 153 (N.L.R.B. 1945)

In the Matter of B ALL BROTHERS COMPANY and FEDERATION OF GLASS,
CERAMIC & SILICA SAND WORKERS OF AMERICA, C. I. O.
Case No. 8-5853 (9-R-1151)
SECOND SUPPLEMENTAL DECISION
AND
SECOND DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
October 12, 1915
On September 21, 1943, the National Labor Relations Board issued
a Decision and' Direction of Election in the above-entitled proceed-
ing,' and on October 29, 1943, a Certification of Representatives,
wherein • the Board certified Federation of Glass,' Ceramic & Silica
Sand Workers of America, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial
Organizations, herein called the C. I. 0., as the exclusive bargaining
representative of employees of Ball Brothers Company, Muncie,
Indiana, herein called the Company, is a unit theretofore found to be
appropriate for bargaining purposes. On April 28, 1945, the C. I. O.
filed a motion for clarification of the unit covered by 'its certifica-
tion, requesting that the Board reopen the record for further hear-
ing with respect to the proper unit placement of employees work-
ing under school permits and office- cafeteria employees. On June 4,
1945, the Board, having duly 'considered the matter, ordered that
the record in the case be reopened and that a further hearing be
held for- the purposes of adducing additional evidence with respect
to these employees and remanded the case to • the Regional Director
for further hearing.
Pursuant to notice, further hearing was held at Muncie, Indiana,
on July 13 and 27, 1945, before William O. Murdock, Trial Examiner.
The Company and the C. I. O. appeared and participated.2 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 opportunity to file briefs with the Board.
1 52 N. L. R B. 775.
2 Glass Bottle Blowers Association , A. F. of L , also served with notice, did not appear at
the hearing
64 N. L. It. B, No., 31.
153
154 DECISIONS OF" NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Upon, the record made at the reopened hearing and upon the entire
record in this case, the Board makes the following :
SUPPLEMENTAL FINDINGS OF FACT
On October 29, 1943, the Board certified the C. I. O. as.the bar-
gaining representative of ' all employees of all departments in the
Company's Muncie, Indiana, plant, excluding mold makers, mold
repairmen, operators, machine shop employees, bricklayers, chemical
engineers, electrical engineers; draftsmen, mechanical engineers,
watchmen, salaried employees, office and clerical- employees, em-
ployees' working under school permits, superintendents, assistant
superintendents„ foremen, assistant foremen, and other supervisory
employees within the Board's usual definition of that term. The
issues which have presently arisen between the Company and the
C. I. O. concern (1) office cafeteria employees, as to whether these
employees are "office" employees and, as such, excluded from the
unit, and (2), employees working under school permits, as to whether
all such employees are properly excluded from. the unit represented
by the C. I. O. 1
A. Office.cafeteria employees
At the time of,the issuance of the Board's Decision and Direction
of Election and at the time of the issuance of the Certification of
Representatives, noted above, the Company operated Cafeterias No. 1
and No. 2 in its plant for the use of plant employees working on any
'one of the three shifts. The Company also operated a third cafeteria
in the office section of its operations for the use of office' workers and
executives employed therein. The office cafeteria was open only for
lunches and served food more 'appropriate for office workers than for
employees engaged in heavy physical tasks. The office and office
cafeteria employees are under the'general jurisdiction of office man-
agement, but all cafeteria workers are under the same general over-all
cafeteria supervision. The Board's unit finding did 'not' expressly
include or exclude cafeteria employees as such, but the parties at a
preelection conference interpreted the unit description to include
"plant" 'cafeteria 'employees and to exclude, as "office" employees,
"office" cafeteria employees. ' As a result, plant cafeteria' employees
participated, and office cafeteria employees did not participate, in
the election.
In, January' 1945, cafeteria No. 1 -in the plant burned down. The
-Company started rebuilding, but temporarily set up a soup and sand-
wich counter in the plant to serve plant workers who desired a light
lunch and opened the facilities of the office cafeteria to plant workers
who desired a full hot lunch. To take care of the increased work in
I
-BALL BROTHERS COMPANY 155
the office cafeteria, the Company temporarily transferred two or three
cafeteria workers who had formerly served in plant cafeteria No. 1
to the office cafeteria to' serve until cafeteria No. 1 should be rebuilt.
Thereupon the ' C. I. 0. demanded that the Company recognize it-
as the bargaining representative of office cafeteria employees, and the
Company refused.
Since we made no express provision in our unit finding respecting
cafeteria employees, since the parties by agreement included plant
cafeteria employees but excluded office cafeteria employees from vot-
ing in the election which we directed among employees in the residual
production and maintenance unit, and since office cafeteria employees
may well participate in collective bargaining in a general residual
unit if they so desire, we will hold an election among office cafeteria
employees to determine whether or, not they wish to be included in
the residual unit. If a majority of these employees signifies their
desire to be represented by the C. I. 0., we shall deem these employees
part of the residual unit heretofore found to be appropriate and for
which we have designated the C. I. 0. as bargaining representative.
If, however, a majority of these employees does not designate the
C: I. 0. as bargaining representative, we shall make no finding with
respect to the appropriate unit for office cafeteria employees at this
time. Employees eligible to vote in the election among office cafeteria
workers shall be employees permanently assigned to the office cafeteria
and shall not include employees temporarily transferred from plant
cafeteria No. 1 who will be reassigned to plant cafeteria No. 1, without
loss of seniority, as soon as this section of the Company's plant can
be reopened:
B. Employees working under school permits
In our Decision and Direction of Election, noted above, we expressly
excluded from the residual unit found to be appropriate, and hence
from participation in the election, "employees, working under school
permits." The C. I. O: contends that the exclusion of all these em-
ployees is wrong and that the error should be corrected.
Under State law all persons under 18 must secure a school or work-
ing permit to gain employment, and there are some legal limitations
put upon the nature and conditions of their employment. Employees
working under school permits in the Company's plant fall within
one of the three following groups : (1) employees under 18 ,who have
completed the eighth grade and do not desire further schooling and
who work full time at the Company's plant, (2) employees under 18
who go to school and who regularly work in the Company's plant
after school hours and on Saturday during the regular school year
and daring the summer vacations; and (3) employees under 18 who
156 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
work in the Company's plant only during the summer vacation as
seasonal employees and who do not work during the ,regular school,
year.3 The C. I. O. would include in the unit employees in group 1.
Although employees in group 1 are limited in the kind of work which
they may by law perform, the Company does not raise any serious
objection to their inclusion in the bargaining unit with other regular
production and maintenance employees. The C. I. O. would include,
and the Company would exclude, employees in group 2. A substan-
tial number of employees in group 2 work approximately 25 hours
per week during the school year, and full time during the summer
months. The Company and the C. I. O. generally agree-that employees
in Group 3 are seasonal employees and that the'approaching end of -
their working season renders insubstantial any interest these em-
ployees have in the working conditions at the plant. The Company
does not expect to retain in its employ students under 18 years of age
when college students over the age of 18 become available for employ-
ment at the. close of the war duration period. At the time of the
further hearing in this proceeding there were 309 'employees working
under school permits. Of this number, at least 55 had signified an
intention not to return to school in the fall. During the 1944-45
winter season, 17 school permit employees worked part time and
attended school, and 29 worked full time at the Company's plant.
We find that the blanket exclusion of employees working under
school permits from our original unit finding was erroneous. Em-
ployees working under school permits who have a substantial interest
in working conditions at the plant should have a part in its bargaining
program. Employees under 18 who work full time at the Company's
plant and employees -under 18 who, after school and on Saturdays, may
work approximately 25 hours per week should not be denied the right
of collective bargaining if they choose to exercise that-right. Since
employees working under school permits did not have any oppor-
tunity to participate in the-election which we previously directed-,
we shall hold a new election among them. Those eligible to vote in
the election shall be employees under 18 who work full time at the
Company's plant and employees under 18 who work regularly at the
Company's plant after school and on Saturdays, but excluding em-
ployees under 18, who, as seasonal employees, work only during, the
summer vacation. If a majority of employees voting in the election
selects the C. I. O. as their bargaining representative, we shall amend
our certification of representatives to include employees under 18 in
3 In our original decision , we erroneously assumed that the term "working under school
permits" substantially identified employees in group 3 ; and, on this basis, we found that
the short remaining period of their summer employment , at the time of the issuance of our
decision on September 21, justified their exclusion from the unit and from the election
among the Company's employees at that time: -
BALL' BROTHERS COMPANY 157
these categories in the residual unit represented by the C. I. O. If,
however, a majority of them voting does not designate the C. I. O. as
bargaining representative, we shall make no finding with respect to
the unit appropriate for these employees.
Employees eligible to vote in the separate elections which we shall
now direct shall be office cafeteria employees and employees working
under school permits, respectively 'described above, who were em-
ployed `during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of
the issuance of the Second Direction of Elections herein, subject to
the li>.iiitations and additions set forth in the Direction.
SECOND 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 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 Ball Brothers Com-
pany, Muncie, Indiana, separate elections by secret ballot shall be con-
ducted 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 Eleventh 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 Regulations, among
employees in the groups described below, 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 includ-
ing 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 rein-
stated prior to the date of the elections, to determine whether or not
they desire to be represented by Federation of Glass, Ceramic & Silica
Sand Workers of America, C. I. 0., for the purposes of collective
bargaining :
(a) All office cafeteria employees, excluding plant cafeteria employ-
ees temporarily assigned to the office cafeteria and all supervisory
At the time of our original Decision and Direction of Election in this proceeding, the
Board had closed its Eleventh Regional Office at Indianapolis , Indiana. The original peti-
tion was thus filed in the Ninth Regional Office , the jurisdictional limitations of which were
extended to cover the territory in which the Company's plant lies , and the proceeding was
allotted a Ninth Regional case number appropriate for a case arising therein The Board
has recently reopened its Eleventh Regional Office and the case now properly comes within
the Eleventh Region , to the Regional Director of which this case was, by our amended order
of June 11, 1945, remanded for further investigation The case will retain its Ninth
Regional number foi purposes of identity.
158 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or
otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or effectively
recommend such action; and
(b) All employees working under school permits, including employ-
ees who work full time at the Company's plant and employees who
regularly work part time during the school year, but excluding seasonal
employees and all supervisory employees with authority to hire, pro-
mote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status
of employees, or effectively recommend such action.
A