Bernardin Bottle Cap Co., Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 23, 1945

60 N.L.R.B. 1459 (N.L.R.B. 1945)

In the Matter of BERNARDIN BOTTLE CAP Co., INC. and UNITED ELEO-
TRICAL, RADIO & MACHINE WORKERS OF AMERICA, C. I. O.
Case No. 11-R-761.-Decided March 23, 1945
Mr. Isidor Kahn, of Evansville , Ind., for the Company.
Mr. James Payne , of Evansville , Ind., for the Union.
Mr. Jack Mantel , of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by United Electrical, Radio & Machine
Workers of America, C. I. 0., herein called the Union, alleging that a
question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation
of employees of Bernardin Bottle Cap Co., Inc., Evansville, Indiana,
herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board
provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before Clifford
L. Hardy, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Evansville,
Indiana, on February 21, 1945. The Company and the Union ap-
peared 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 opporunity 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 TILE COMPANY
Bernardin Bottle Cap Co., Inc., an Indiana corporation, has its
principal office and place of business in Evansville, Indiana, where it
is engaged in the manufacture of metal caps for bottles, fruit jars,
and other canning devices. During the past year, the. Company pur-
chased raw materials, consisting of sheet metal, rubber compounds,
paints, and enamels, amounting in value in excess of $100,000, of
GO N. L. R. B., No. 250
1459
1460 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
which 50 percent was shipped to the plant from points .outside the
State of Indiana. During the same period, the Company's sales of
finished products were valued in excess of $500,000, of which 60 per-
cent was shipped to points outside the State of Indiana.
We find that the Company is engaged in commerce within the mean-
ing of the National Labor Relations Act.
H. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America, affiliated
with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, is a labor organiza-
tion admitting to membership employees of the Company.
III. THE-QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
On January 19, 1945, the Union notified the Company by letter that
it represented a majority of its employees and requested recognition
as exclusive bargaining representative. On January 20, 1945, the
Company replied that it would not grant such recognition, since it
.did not believe that the Union represented a majority of the employees.
A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the hear-
ing, indicates that the Union represents a substantial number, of em-
ployees 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 Company and the Union are in agreement that all production
and maintenance employees, including the storekeeper and watchmen-
firemen,2 but excluding timekeepers, office and clerical employees, group
leaders, and all other supervisory employees, constitute an appropriate
unit. The patties are in dispute concerning the master mechanic and
draftsmen. The Company would include both classifications, whereas,
the Union would exclude them from the unit.
The master mechanic, whose duties are to adjust, repair, and set up
machinery, is employed in the composition lining department. He
receives the same pay, ;performs the same duties, and is under the same
supervision as the other mechanics in the department. Because of
his superior mechanical ability, the master mechanic gives instructions
to other men with whom he works, but exercises no supervisory au-
thority. In view of the foregoing, we shall include him. ,
'The Board agent reported that the Union submitted - 79 authorization cards and that
there are 163 employees in the appropriate unit
2 These employees perform no monitorial duties, and are neither militarized nor
deputized.
BERNARDIN BOTTLE CAP CO., INC. _ 1461
The Company employs two draftsmen who are referred to as com-
bination- draftsmen-engineers. They have no supervisory authority.
The duties performed-by the draftsmen consist of observing mechan-
ical difficulties, making specifications and drawings, and redesigning
machinery to suit the specifications and drawings which they create.
They are on a separate pay roll from the production and maintenance
employees ; they do not punch a time clock; they receive an annual
vacation with pay although production workers do not. One drafts-
man has had 2 years of college training. Since the record discloses
that the draftsmen perform duties of a highly specialized technical
nature, and have no functional interest in common with the produc-
tion workers, we shall exclude them from the unit.
We find that all production and maintenance employees of the
Company, including the storekeeper, the master mechanic, and watch-
men-firemen, but excluding group leaders, timekeepers, draftsmen, of-
fice and clerical employees, foremen, assistant foremen and all other
supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge,
discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or
effectively 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 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 Bernardin Bottle
Cap Co., Inc., Evansville, Indiana, 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 Eleventh Region, acting in this mat-
ter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to
Article III, Sections 10 and 11, of said Rules and Regulations, among
1462 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
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 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 or not they desire to be represented
by United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America, C. I. 0.,
for the purposes of collective bargaining.