Borg-Warner Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jan 27, 1947

72 N.L.R.B. 289 (N.L.R.B. 1947)

111 the Matter of NORGE DIVIsioN , BORG-WARNER CORPORATION, RANGE
PLANT, EMPLOYER and LOCAL 105, STOVE MOUNTERS INTERNATIONAL
UNION OIL NORTH AMERICA, A. F. L., PETITIONER
Case No. 11-R-1621.Decided January 27, 1947
Messrs. C. E. Smith, of Effingham, Ill., and C. P. Bersing, of Detroit,
Mich., for the Employer.
Messrs. Joseph Lewis, of St. Louis, Mo., and John F. Green, of
Belleville, Ill., for the Petitioner.
Messrs. John L. Mayo, of Peoria , Ill., and Roy E. White, of Herrin,
Ill., for the Intervenor.
Mr. Martin Sacks , of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at St.
Louis, Missouri, on November 29, 1946, before Charles K. Hackler,
hearing officer . The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are
free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations
Board makes the following :
FINDINGS Or FACT
1. TUIE BUSINESS OF TIIE EMPLOYER
Norge Division , Borg-Warner Corporation , Range Plant, a cor-
poration , is engaged at its plant in Effingham , Illinois , in the manu-
facture of gas and electric ranges . During the last fiscal year the
Employer used in the manufacturing process raw materials valued in
excess of $1,000,000, approximately 75 percent of which repre-
sented shipments to this plant from outside the State of Illinois.
During the same period the Employer sold finished products valued
in excess of $1,000,000 , of which 90 percent represented shipments
from this plant to points outside the State.
The Employer admits and we find that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the American
Federation of Labor, claiming to represent employees of the Em-
ployer.
72 N 1 , R B , No. 56.
289
290 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
District 50, United Mine Workers of America, herein called the
Intervenor, is a labor organization affiliated with the American Fede-
ration of Labor, claiming to represent employees of the Employer.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
On November 6, 1945, following a consent election conducted wider
Board auspices, the Intervenor was designated as bargaining repre-
sentative of the Employer's "production and non-production" em-
ployees. Thereafter, on December 7, 1945, the Employer and the In-
tervenor executed a collective bargaining agreement covering these
employees which was to continue in effect for 1 year, and from year to
year thereafter in the absence of written notice by either party to the
other, 30 days before the anniversary date, of a desire to modify or
terminate the agreement.2 On November 4. 1946, several days before
the effective automatic renewal notice date, the Petitioner filed the in-
stant petition, and, on the same day, notified the Employer thereof.
At the hearing the Employer made it clear that, in view of the con-
flicting claims of the Petitioner and the Intervenor, it would not
recognize the former in the absence of a Board determination.
At the hearing, the Intervenor moved to dismiss the petition on two
grounds, viz, that its December 7, 1945, contract is a bar to a present
determination of representatives, and that the Petitioner has not
demonstrated a sufficient showing of interest. We find no merit in
either ground. Thus, as to the first contention, it is well established
that the filing of a petition before the operative date of an automatic
renewal clause of a collective bargaining agreement prevents that
contract from operating as a bar to a current determination of repre-
sentatives. With respect to the second contention, it is clear that the
question of sufficiency of the Petitioner's showing of interest is a
purely administrative matter,' and we are, in this instance, satisfied
of such sufficiency. Accordingly, we shall deny the Intervenor's mo-
tion to dismiss the petition.
We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning
the representation of employees of the Employer, within the mean-
ing of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
Iv. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
We find, in substantial accord with the agreement of the parties,
that all employees at the Effingham plant of the Employer, including
working group leaders, but excluding office and clerical employees,
factory and service clerks, employees of the engineering, technical,,
timekeeping and time-study departments, checkers, control men,
' Case No 14-R-1300
2On August 12, 1946 , the contract was amended in cettain immaterial respects
3 Matte) of 0 D Jennings tC Company , 68 N. L R B 516
NORGE DIVISION, BORG-WARNER CORPORATION 291
nurses, watchmen, executive,,;, supervisors, assistant supervisors, fore-
men, and all or any other supervisory employees with authority to
hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changed 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.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with Norge Division, Borg-Warner
Corporation, Range Plant, Effingham, Illinois, 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 Fourteenth Region,
acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board,
and subject to Sections 203.55 and 203.56, of National Labor Relations
Board Rules and Regulations-Series 4, among the employees in the
unit found appropriate in Section IV, above, who were employed dur-
ing the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direc-
tion, 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 emn-
ployees who have since quit or been discharged for cause and have not
been rehired or reinstated prior to the date of the election, to deter-
mine whether they desire to be represented by Local 105, Stove
Mounters International Union of North America, A. F. L., or by Local
13080, District 50, United Mine°Workers of America, A. F. of L., for
the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither.