Campbell Machine Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Oct 4, 1937

3 N.L.R.B. 793 (N.L.R.B. 1937)

In the Matter of CAMPBELL MACHINE COMPANY,' DAVID C. CAMP-
BELL and GEORGE E. CAMPBELL, CO-PARTNERS, TRADING AS CAMPBELL
MACHINE COMPANY and INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHIN-
ISTS, LOCAL No. 389; SHIPWRIGHTS, BOATBUILDERS & CAULKERS;
and INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS, LOCAL
No. 569
Cases Nos. R-249, R-250, and R-251.-Decided October 4, 1937
Boat Building and Repairing Industry-Investigation of Representatives:
controversy concerning representation of employees : refusal by employer to
recognize petitioning union as exclusive representative; threat of strike-
Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : craft; established labor organi-
zations in plant ; eligibility for membership in petitioning union ; occupational
differences-Representatives : proof of choice : membership in union ; com-
parison . of union membership records and current lily roll-Certification, of
Representatives : upon proof of majority representation.
Mr. David Sokol for the Board.
Mr. Frank J. Macomber, of San Diego, Calif., for the Company.
Mr. C. L. Bentley, Mr. Leroy M. Vay, and Mr. Henry Claybourne
Rice, of San Diego, Calif., for International Association of Ma-
chinists, Local No. 389. '
Mr. Henry M. Smith, of San Diego, Calif., for Shipwrights, Boat-
builders & Caulkers.
Mr. Milton L. Rateliff, of San Diego, Calif., for International
Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local No. 569.
Mr. Hyman A. Schulson, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
STATEMENT OF THE CASE '
On June 21, 1937, International Association of Machinists, Local
No. 389, herein called the I. A. M., Shipwrights, Boatbuilders &
Caulkers,, herein called the Shipwrights, and International Brother.
hood of Electrical Workers, Local No. 569, herein called the
I. B. E. W., filed separate petitions with the Regional Director of
the National Labor Relations Board for the Twenty-first Region
(Los Angeles, California), alleging that questions affecting com-
1 In , accordance with the stipulation entered into by counsel for the Company, the
names of the individual co-partners have been added to the title.
793
794 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
merce had arisen concerning the representation of certain employees
of Campbell Machine Company, San Diego, California, herein called
the Company, and requesting an investigation and certification of
representatives pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor
Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On July 23, 1937,
the National Labor Relations Board, herein called the Board, acting
pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the Act and Article III, Section 3 of
National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 1,
as amended, authorized the Regional Director to conduct an investi-
gation and to provide for an appropriate hearing; and the Board
further ordered, pursuant to Article III, Section 10 (c) (2) of
the Rules and Regulations-Series 1, as amended, that the three
cases be consolidated for the purposes of hearing. Notice of hearing
on the petitions was duly served upon the Company and upon the
three petitioning unions.
The Company filed answers to the petitions admitting its refusal
to recognize the three petitioning unions as the sole bargaining
agents for the employees involved in the units described in the
petitions and denying that the said unions had ever been designated
by the employees in the units described in the petitions as the sole
and exclusive bargaining agents. The answers further alleged that
the Company was not engaged in commerce as defined by the Act
and therefore was not within the Board's jurisdiction.
Pursuant to an amended notice of hearing duly issued and served
upon the parties, a hearing was held in San Diego, California, on
August 18, 1937, before Clifford D. O'Brien, the Trial Examiner
duly designated by the Board. At the he the Board, the Com-
pany, the I. A. M., the Shipwrights, and the I. B. E. W. were
represented by counsel.
Full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine wit-
nesses, and to introduce evidence bearing on the issues was afforded
to all parties. Objections to the introduction of evidence were made
during the course of the hearing by counsel for the parties. The
Board has reviewed the rulings of the Trial Examiner on motions
and objections directed to the issues raised by the petitions and
finds that no prejudicial errors were committed. The rulings are
hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following:
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE COMPANY AND ITS BUSINESS
Campbell Machine Company is a copartnership consisting of David
C. Campbell and George E. Campbell, the owners of a 75 per cent
and a 25 per cent interest in the partnership, respectively. The Com-
DECISIONS AND OIZDEItS 795
pany is engaged in the manufacture and repair of boats, principally
tuna clippers, and maintains for the conduct of that business a large
fully integrated shipbuilding and repair plant, and a marine rail-
way and dock at the foot of Eighth Avenue in the City of San Diego,
California. From January 1, 1936 to August 4, 1937, the Company
manufactured and delivered to purchasers at its plant in San Diego,
California, 11 new boats for use in the tuna fishing trade, having a
billed sales value of $857,177.46. From January 1, 1936 to July 31,
1937, the Company did ' a repair business, principally upon tuna
clippers, of the value of $478,002.88. The boats repaired and built
range in size from 45 feet to 135 feet in length. The Company
advertises in newspapers and trade magazines.
The principal materials used by the Company in the manufacture
and repair of boats are iron, steel, lumber, cork, rubber, machinery,
metal fixtures, fittings, valves, electrical equipment, paint, insulating
material, fire prevention equipment, life-saving equipment, rigging,
and navigating outfit, etc. An analysis of, the Company's purchases
from January 1, 1936 to July 31, 1937, discloses that orders for mate-
rials for use in both construction and repairs amounted to $922,-
749.87, of which $15,017.73, or 1.6 per cent of the total, was ordered
directly from producers in States other than the State of California.
The materials were shipped to San Diego, California, by rail, boat,
and motor truck.
On August 4, 1937, the Company employed approximately 264
employees, of whom 38 work in the machine shop, 146 in the carpen-
ter shop, eight in the electric shop, 17 in the welding shop, nine in
the stock room, and six in the office, and two act as watchmen.
The tuna fishing, canning, and shipping industry is the principal
industry of San Diego, California. Official statistics prepared by
the Division of Fish and Game of California, Bureau of Commer-
cial Fisheries,2 show that during the year 1936, 177,855 pounds of
bluefin tuna and 126,975 pounds of yellowfin tuna were caught off
the coast of California and brought to the port of San Diego, Cali-
fornia. Even more significant are statistics from the same source
showing that during the year 1936, 1,094,975 pounds of bluefin tuna
and 57,924,714 pounds of yellowfin tuna caught south of the inter-
national boundary between the United States and Mexico were
brought to the port of San Diego, California. The relative im-
portance of these quantities is established by comparison with the
totals of 18,924,883 pounds of bluefin tuna and 76,318,752 pounds
of yellowfin tuna brought into California during the same period 3
The tuna clippers built and repaired by the Company necessarily
2 Board's Exhibit No. 2.
8 Board's Exhibit No. 3.
796 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
cruise beyond the three-mile limit in the ordinary' course of their
operations and frequently make their actual catches of fish offshore
from 1,000 to 1,500 miles, and as far south as the Equator, the Cedros,
McKeesy, and Galapagos Islands.4 After each voyage, averaging
approximately 30 days, the vessels tie up at San Diego, California,
for a week to ten days for repairs. Certain of the necessary repairs,
such ' as the repair of propellers and the cleaning of tuna clippers,
can be 'performed in San Diego only at the plant of the Company,
which is the largest Company in San Diego and the only one
equipped to do such work.
We find that the aforesaid repairing and building operations, of
the Company are performed upon instrumentalities which engage
in trade, traffic, transportation, and commerce among the several
States, and with foreign countries and on the high seas.
II. THE UNIONS
International Association of Machinists, Local No. 389, is a labor
organization admitting to membership the machinists, welders, ma-
chinists' helpers, welders' helpers, and apprentices employed by 'the
Company. It is a local union of an international union affiliated
with the American Federation of Labor. ` '
Shipwrights, Boatbuilders & Caulkers is a labor organization admit-
ting to membership all of the carpenters, shipwrights, boatbuilders,
caulkers, joiners, and their helpers and apprentices, employed by
the Company. It is a local union of the United Brotherhood of
Carpenters and Joiners of America, affiliated with the American
Federation of Labor.
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local No. 569,
is a labor organization admitting to membership all' electrical
workers employed by the Company. 'It is a local union of an inter'-
national union affiliated with the American Federation of Labor.
III. THE APPROPRIATE UNITS
In its petition the I. A. M. alleged that machinists, helpers, and
apprentices employed by the Company constitute a unit appropriate
for the purposes of collective bargaining. At the hearing the
I. A. M. desired to include welders and welders' helpers within this
unit. The petition of the Shipwrights set forth that shipwrights,
boatbuilders, and caulkers employed by the Company constitute a
unit appropriate for purposes of collective bargaining. The peti-
tion of the I. B. E. W. alleged that all electrical workers employed
' Board 's Exhibit No. 3.
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 797
by the Company constitute a unit appropriate for purposes of col-
lective bargaining.
There is no controversy raised either by the Company, or between
any of the petitioning unions as to the appropriate units for the
purposes of collective bargaining. The petitioning unions are will-
ing and, in fact, anxious to include foremen and assistant foremen
within the appropriate bargaining units, since they are eligible to
membership in each of the labor organizations. At the hearing the
Company raised no objection to their being included within the
units. They will therefore be included. We will exclude watchmen,
stock room employees, and the office force, as it is clear that each
of these groups has functions sharply distinguished from those of
the other employees.
In order to insure to the employees of the Company the full ben-
efit of their right to organization and collective bargaining, and
otherwise to effectuate the policies of the Act, we find that the fol-
lowing groups of employees of the Company, including foremen and
assistant foremen, constitute three separate and distinct units appro-
priate for the purposes of collective bargaining :
(1) machinists, machinists' helpers, machinists' apprentices,
welders, welders' helpers, and welders' apprentices;
(2) shipwrights, boatbuilders, and caulkers; and
(3) electrical workers.
IV., THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The I. A. M. claims to represent a majority of the machinists,
machinists' helpers, machinists' apprentices, welders, welders' helpers,
and welders' apprentices, including foremen and assistant foremen,
employed by the Company; the Shipwrights claim to represent a
majority of the shipwrights, boatbuilders, and caulkers, including
foremen and assistant foremen, employed by the Company; and the
I. B. E. W. claims to represent a majority of the electrical workers,
including foremen and assistant foremen, employed by the Com-
pany. The Company has refused to bargain collectively with the
petitioning unions as sole bargaining ageLts for the employees iv
the units in which they claim to represent a majority As a result,
each of the petitioning unions has taken a strike vote, although in
the case of the I. A. M., the international officials have forbidden the
strike until the question of representation has been decided by the
Board.
Upon the basis of these facts we find that a question affecting
commerce has arisen concerning the representation of employees of,
the Company.
798 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
V. THE EFFECT OF THE QUESTION OF REPRESENTATION ON COMMERCE
We found above that the repairing and building operations of
the Company are performed upon instrumentalities which engage in
trade, traffic, transportation, and commerce among the several States
and between the several States and with foreign countries and on
the high seas. The Company's employees in each of the three units,
designated above under Section III, are thus engaged in operations
which constitute a necessary and integral part of such commerce;
such building and repairing are essential to the regular and effective
functioning of such instrumentalities.
We find that the question concerning representation, which has
arisen, occurring in connection with the operations of the Company,
described in Section I above, has a close, intimate, and substantial
relation to trade, traffic, transportation, and commerce among the
several States, and with foreign countries and on the high seas,
and tends to lead to labor disputes burdening and obstructing com-
merce, and the free flow of commerce.
VI. THE EXCLUSIVE BARGAINING AGENCY
At the hearing current pay rolls of the Company were introduced.
The representatives and officers of the petitioning unions, during
the hearing, testified from the membership records of their organiza-
tions. A comparison of the membership records and the pay rolls
disclosed that in each instance the petitioning union had the mem-
bership of a substantial majority of the employees in the unit in
which it sought certification. All the electrical workers employed
by the Company are members of the I. B. E. W. One hundred and
two out of the 146 employees in the carpenter shop of the Company
are members of the Shipwrights. Forty-one out of the 55 employees
in the machine shop and welding shop of the Company are mem-
bers of the I. A. M. The Company neither contended nor introduced
any evidence to show that the evidence concerning, the membership
of the employees in the petitioning unions was in any way unreliable
nor did it object thereto.
Counsel for the Company claims a distinction between membership
in a labor organization, and the designation and selection of such
an organization as a representative for purposes of collective bar-
gaining. Since the primary and well known function of labor or-
ganizations, including the unions in the present case, is collective
bargaining, the Board believes no such distinction can be drawn. By
voluntarily joining a labor organization an employee in effect desig-
nates that labor organization as his representative for purposes of
collective bargaining. Furthermore, in this case, the employees at-
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 799
tended meetings in substantial numbers and participated in the
drafting of the proposed contract to be submitted to the Company.
Counsel for the Company suggested that the Company would
be more willing to engage in collective bargaining with the peti-
tioning unions in the event a formal election conducted by the
Board should result in their favor. Under the circumstances of
this case no secret ballot is necessary. The evidence is clear and
uncontradicted that the employees in each of the above described
units have designated and selected the respective petitioning unions
as their representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining.
We therefore will certify the I. A. M. as the exclusive representa-
tive of the machinists, machinists' helpers, machinists' apprentices,
welders, welders' helpers, welders' apprentices, including foremen
and assistant foremen, employed by the Company; the Shipwrights
as the exclusive representative of the shipwrights, boatbuilders, and
caulkers, including foremen' and assistant foremen, employed by
the Company; and the I. B. E. W. as the exclusive representative
of the electrical workers, including foremen and assistant foremen,
employed by the Company.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
Upon the basis of the above findings of fact, the Board makes
the following conclusions of law :
1. A question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the repre-
sentation of employees of the Company, within the meaning of
Section 9 (c) and Section 2, subdivisions (6) and (7) of the Na-
tional Labor Relations Act.
2. The following groups of employees of the Company, including
in each such group foremen and assistant foremen, constitute three
separate and distinct units appropriate for the purposes of collec-
tive bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the National
Labor Relations Act :
(1) machinists, machinists' helpers, machinists' apprentices,
welders, welders' helpers, and welders' apprentices ;
(2) shipwrights, boatbuilders, and caulkers; and
(3) electrical workers.
3. International Association of Machinists, Local No. 389, having
been selected for the purposes of, collective bargaining by the ma-
jority of the machinists, machinists' helpers, machinists' apprentices,
welders, welders' helpers, and welders' apprentices, including fore-
men and assistant foremen, employed by the Company, is, by virtue
of Section 9 (a) of the National Labor Relations Act, the exclusive
representative of all the employees in such unit for the purposes of
800 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
collective bargaining in respect to rates of pay, wages, hours of
employment, and other conditions of employment.
4. Shipwrights, Boatbuilders & Caulkers, having been selected -for
the purposes of collective bargaining by the majority of the ship-
wrights, boatbuilders, and caulkers, including foremen and assist-
ant foremen, employed by the Company, is, by virtue of Section •9
(a) of the National-Labor Relations Act, the exclusive representa-
tive of all, the employees in such unit for the purposes of collective
bargaining in respect to rates of pay, wages,'hours of employment,
and other conditions of employment.
5. International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local No.
569, having been selected for the purposes of collective bargaining
by the majority of the electrical workers, including foremen and
assistant foremen, employed by the Company, is, by virtue of 'Sec-
tion 9 (a) of the National Labor Relations Act, the exclusive repre-
sentative of all the employees in such unit for the purposes of
collective bargaining in respect to rates of pay, wages, hours of
employment, and other conditions of employment.
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National
Labor Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor (Re-
lations Act, 49 Stat. 449, and pursuant to Article III, Section 8 of
National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 1,
as amended,
IT IS HEREBY CERTIFIED that :
1. International Association of Machinists, Local No. 389, has
been selected by a majority of the machinists, machinists' helpers,
machinists' apprentices, welders, welders' helpers, and welders' ap-
prentices, including foremen and assistant foremen, employed by the
Campbell Machine Company, as their representative for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining, and that, pursuant to the provisions
of Section 9 (a) of the Act, International Association of Machinists,
Local No. 389, is the exclusive representative of all such employees
for the purposes of collective bargaining in respect to rates of pay,
wages, hours of employment, and other conditions of employment;
2. Shipwrights, Boatbuilders & Caulkers has been selected by a
majority of the shipwrights, boatbuilders, and caulkers, including
foremen and assistant foremen, employed by the Campbell Machine
Company, as their representative for the purposes of collective bar-
gaining, and that, pursuant to the provisions of Section 9 (a) of
the Act, Shipwrights, Boatbuilders & Caulkers is the exclusive rep-
resentative of all such employees for the purposes of collective bar-
gaining in respect to rates of pay, wages, hours of employment, and
other conditions of employment; and
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 801
3. International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local No.
569, has been selected by a majority of the electrical workers, in-
cluding foremen and assistant foremen, employed by the Campbell
Machine Company, as their representative for the purposes of col-
lective bargaining, and that, pursuant to the provisions of Section
9 (a) of the Act, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers,
Local No. 569, is the exclusive representative of all such employees
for the purposes of collective bargaining in respect to rates of pay,
wages, hours of employment, and other conditions of employment.