Chicago Malleable Castings Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

May 10, 1945

61 N.L.R.B. 1096 (N.L.R.B. 1945)

In the Matter Of CHICAGO MALLEABLE CASTINGS COMPANY and UNITED
STEELWORKERS OF AMERICA , C. I. O.
Case No. 13-I?-2855.-Decided May 10, 19/5
Mr. H. E. Sey f arth, of Chicago, Ill., for the Company.
Messrs. S. E. Perish, and John Kobe, of Harvey, Ill., and Mr. Peter
Extin, of Chicago, Ill., for the Union.
Miss Aida Casanas, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by United Steelworkers of America,
C. I. 0., herein called the Union, alleging that a question affecting
commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of
Chicago Malleable Castings Company, herein called the Company, the
National Labor Relations Board provided for an appropriate hearing
upon due notice before Leon A. Rosell, Trial Examiner. Said hearing
was held at Chicago, Illinois, on March 20, 1945. The Company and
the Union appeared 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 opportunity to file
briefs with the Board.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following:
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Chicago Malleable Castings Company is an, Illinois corporation en-
gaged in the manufacture and distribution of malleable, gray iron,
and alloy castings, brake beams and car brakes for railway cars, agri-
cultural implements and miscellaneous castings for customers' pat-
61 N. L. R. B, No. 182.
1096
CHICAGO MALLEABLE CASTINGS COMPANY 1097
terns. During 1944 the Company purchased raw materials in excess
of $750,000, of which over 50 percent was transported to the plant from
points outside the State of Illinois. During the year 1944 the Com-
pany's sales were in excess of $2,000,000, of which over 75 percent was
transported from the plant to points outside the State of Illinois.
The Company admits, and we find, that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
H. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
United Steelworkers of America, affiliated with the Congress of
Industrial Organizations, is a labor organization admitting to mem-
bership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company has refused to grant recognition to the Union as the
exclusive bargaining representative of the Company's employees
until the Union has been certified by the Board in an appropriate
unit.
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 bargaining history of the Company's employees discloses that
the Union has been the collective bargaining representative for the
Company's production and maintenance employees since April 1,
1937. The contracts executed between the Company and the Union
have, up to the present time, specifically excluded the office and
clerical employees and the timekeepers, whom the Union seeks to
represent in the present proceeding.
At the hearing the parties were in agreement that a unit con-
sisting of the Company's office and clerical employees and time-
keepers, excluding confidential and supervisory employees, would
constitute an appropriate unit for the purposes of collective bargain-
ing. This unit will consist of persons with the job titles of steno-
typist, billing clerk, stenographer, pay-roll clerk, typist clerk, produc-
tion department clerk, statistical clerk, file and mail clerk, cost clerk.
' The Field Examiner reported that the Union submitted 28 designation cards, 26 of
which bore the names of persons appearing on the Company 's pay roll containing the
names of 32 persons in the unit petitioned for.
1098 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
shipping department clerk, trimming department scale clerk, store-
keeper, and timekeepers.2
At the hearing there was disagreement between the parties as to
the proper classification of the following workers. The Company
contends that each one is either a supervisory or confidential em-
ployee and should accordingly be excluded from the unit. The
Union opposes this contention.
Timekeeper: Loren Landgraf is one of the Company's six time-
keepers, all of whom work under the supervision of a chief time-
keeper. He is an older and more experienced employee who for the
most part analyzes the work reports and computes the earnings of the
Company's molders. The Company contends that he exercises more
discretion than the other timekeepers in the determination of em-
ployees' earnings. The record shows, however, that Landgraf's work
differs from that of the other timekeepers only because of particular
difficulties which arise in the determination of the correct piece-work
count for molders' production. Like the other timekeepers, Landgraf
has no supervisory authority, does not set rates of pay for production
workers, and does not normally work with the Company's time-study
engineer. The assistant to the Company's executive vice president
admitted, in his testimony, that Landgraf does not "represent the
Company' in its labor relations." We find that Landgraf is not a
confidential employee.3 He will, therefore, be included in the unit
.together with the other timekeepers.
Switchboard operator and receptionist. Elizabeth Miller is the
Company's employee who handles all incoming and outgoing tele-
phone messages, receives and announces all visitors, and receives
nearly all incoming and outgoing telegraph messages through the
telephone system. She also maintains a duplicate file of all corre-
spondence, including correspondence of the executives of the Company
concerning labor relations. This duplicate file is kept in a vault to
which access can be obtained only through the permission of the office
manager. Miller, through the maintenance of this file system, has
access to certain correspondence which is not handled by any of the
other office or clerical employees whom the Union and the Company
have stipulated to include in the bargaining unit.
2 The parties agree that the persons with the following job titles should be excluded
from the unit by virtue either of their supervisory positions or confidential relationship
to management: executive vice president, vice president, secretary and treasurer, assistant
secretary and treasurer , director of purchases , assistant to executive vice president , general
office manager , order and billing department supervisor , auditor, assistant auditor, produc-
tion manager , chief timekeeper , director of personnel, assistant director of personnel, sales
manager, industrial nurse, sales service engineer, time -study engineer , secretary to execu-
tive vice president , secretary to assistant to executive vice president and secretary to
president
3 Todd-Johnson Dry Docks, Inc, 54 N. L. R. B 1362, cf. Chrysler Corporation, New Castle
Division, 55 N L R B 1215
CHICAGO MALLEABLE CASTINGS COMPANY 1099
While normally the Board does not regard telephone operators at
confidential employees 4 nevertheless, Miller, unlike the other em-
ployees in the unit, has access to the correspondence of all executives
of the Company, and is in a position to obtain advance information
directly bearing on labor relations. We therefore find that she is a
confidential employee. She will be excluded as such from the unit.
Assistant purchasing agent: Peter Extin is an assistant purchasing
agent, who works under H. D. Menke, chief purchasing agent. He
has comparatively minor authority to make purchases in behalf of the
Company and occasionally interviews salesmen. The major portion
of his work consists of purely clerical duties in watching discounts of
bills and prices and making proper charges to the respective depart-
ments of the Company. He also maintains information relayed to the
War Production Board, and distributes clerical and typing work to
the two girls in the department and assists them in their work. He
does not possess any supervisory authority. We find that Extin is
not a supervisory or confidential employee. He will therefore be in-
cluded in the unit.5
Accountants: John Kobe is the accountant and cashier, and Theo-
dore Sorensen is an accountant only. They assist W. F. Hoffman,
secretary-treasurer and comptroller for the Company.
Kobe is an old employee who acts as cashier in the transmittal and
deposit of checks received by the Company in various bank accounts.
He handles the accounts receivable ledger and assembles all account-
ing information with respect to accounts receivable and reconciles the
bank balances on the factory pay roll.
At the present time Kobe has no direct assistance from any other
employees. He, as well as Sorensen, is an accountant without super-
visory authority such as the Board ordinarily includes in office and
clerical units.° We are of the opinion that the accountants are not
supervisory or confidential employees with respect to labor relations
and they will, therefore, be included in the unit.
We find that all office and clerical employees and timekeepers em-
ployed by the Company, but excluding executives, production and
maintenance employees, employees engaged in a confidential capacity
with respect to labor relations, and all or any other supervisory em-
ployees 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 pur-
poses of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b)
of the Act.
4 Matter of General Cable Corporation, 55 N L R B 1143
6 Matter of Oliver Farm Equipment Company, 53 N L. R. B 1078, cf Matter of Inland
Steel Container Company, 56 N. L R. B. 138; Matter of Hudson Motor Company. 55
N. L R. B 509.
6 Matter of Hudson Motor Car Company, 55 N L. R. B. 509; of Matter of Oliver Far-
Equipment Company, 53 N. L. R. B. 1078.
1100 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
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 represent-
atives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Chicago Malle-
able Castings Company, Chicago, 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 super-
vision of the Regional Director for the Thirteenth 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 Regula-
tions, among 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 dis-
charged 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 Steelworkers of America, C. I. 0., for the
purposes of collective bargaining.
MR. JOHN M. HOUSTON took no part in the consideration of the
above Decision and Direction of Election.