Cardinal Products, Inc.Download PDFNational Labor Relations Board - Board DecisionsNov 2, 194880 N.L.R.B. 113 (N.L.R.B. 1948) Copy Citation In the Matter Of CARDINAL PRODUCTS, INC., EMPLOYER and INTERNA- TIONAL LADIES GARMENT WORKERS UNION, AFL, PETITIONER Case No. 8-RC-211.-Decided November 2, 1948 DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at New Philadelphia, Ohio, on September 7, 1948, before Howard Heilman,, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed., Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the National Labor Relations Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three-man panel consisting of the undersigned Board Members.* Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds : 1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. 2. The Petitioner and the Intervenor are labor organizations which claim to represent certain employees of the Employer. 3. The question concerning representation : In January 1947, the Employer and the Intervenor signed a contract covering the employees herein concerned. This contract, by supple- mental agreement dated July 30, 1947, was to terminate, by its own terms, on August 1, 1948. On May 25, 1948, the Intervenor notified the Employer that it wished to begin negotiations for a new contract. After making a claim of representation to the Employer, the Peti- tioner filed this petition on July 13, 1948. The Employer and the Intervenor executed a new contract on July 20, 1948, which extended the termination date of the existing agreement to August 1, 1949. The Intervenor maintains there is, therefore, a contractual bar to these I The United Construction Workers, affiliated with the United Mine Workers of America, hereinafter called Intervenor , was allowed to intervene at the hearing by the hearing officer on the ground of a contract bet«een the Intervenor and the Employer. n Houston, Reynolds, and Murdock 80 N L R B., No. 23. 113 114 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD proceedings. On the contrary, we find that the filing of the petition before either the termination date of the original contract on August 1, 1948, or the signing of the second extension agreement on July 20, 1948, prevents the operation of any contract bar.' We find that a question affecting commerce exists concerning the representation of employees of the Employer, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Acts. 4. The appropriate unit : The Petitioner requests a unit composed of all production employees, excluding office and clerical employees, salesmen, janitors, maintenance employees, professional employees, guards, and supervisors. The Employer and the Intervenor would include the janitor-watchman and the maintenance employees in the unit. The Employer's plant is divided into three departments : the metal working department, the sewing department, and the stencil depart- ment. There is little interchange of the employees in these divisions. There are two maintenance employees, one of whom is a sewing ma- chine mechanic and the other a general maintenance man. They have been included in the unit as it existed during the bargaining relation- ships established by the Employer and the Intervenor. They are paid by the hour as are the other employees although their pay is at a higher rate. They do not have a departmental supervisor but are directly under the plant supervisor and they do only maintenance work. There is nothing in the record to indicate any substantial dif- ference in their interests or working conditions as opposed to those of the production employees, and the Petitioner offered no reasons for their exclusion. Therefore, in accordance with our usual policy and in recognition of the normal community of interest between produc- tion and maintenance workers, we shall include the maintenance em- ployees in the unit.3 The Petitioner also seeks to exclude the janitor-watchman from the barganing unit. This employee works a night shift and his duties consist of general cleaning, watching the heating plant during the winter months and seeing that the plant is properly locked up. No reason was advanced by the Petitioner in support of its requested exclu- sion of the janitor and there is nothing in the record to indicate that his duties are those of a guard under the amended Act. Moreover, it is clear that this employee is primarily a janitor and that the great majority of his time is spent in janitorial duties. We find the janitor- 2 See Robertshaw -Fulton Controls Company (American Thermometer Company), 77 N. L. R B 316; Don Juan, Inc., 71 N. L. R. B 734 3 See Matter of Steelweld Equipment Company, Inc , 76 N. L. It. B. 831 ; American Twine and Fabric Corp , 70 N. L. It. B. 283. CARDINAL PRODUCTS , INC. 115 watchman is not a guard within the meaning of the amended Act and we shall include him in the bargaining unit .4 DIRECTION OF ELECTION 5 As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Cardinal Products, Inc., New Philadelphia, Ohio, 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 Eighth Region, and subject to Sections 203.61 and 203.62, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations- Series 5, as amended, among the employees in the unit found appro- priate in paragraph numbered 4, 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, but ex- cluding 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, and also excluding employees on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine whether or not they desire to be repre- sented by the International Ladies Garment Workers Union, AFL, for the purposes of collective bargaining. 4 See Matter of General Electric Company , Kentucky Glass Works , 76 N. L. R. B 995; Matter of Steelweld Equipment Company, Inc., 76 N. L R . B. 831. " Having failed to achieve compliance or to initiate steps for compliance with the filing requirements of Section 9 (f), (g), and ( h) of the amended Act, the Intervenor will not be accorded a place on the ballot . See Matter of Stewartstown Furniture Company, 75 N. L. R B 344. 817319-49-vol. 80--9 Copy with citationCopy as parenthetical citation