Chrysler Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Oct 3, 1944

58 N.L.R.B. 700 (N.L.R.B. 1944)

In the Matter of CHRYSLER -CORPOR_1TION and AMALGAMATED PLANT
PROTECTION LOCAL 114, UAW-CIO
Case No. 7-R-178'6.-Decided October 3 , 1944
Ratlabone , Perry, Kelley cQ' Drye, by Mr. Donald L. Hastings, of New
York City, for the Company.
Sugar and Smokier, by Mr. N. L. Smokier, of Detroit , Mich., for the
Union.
-Mr. Louis Cokin, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon petition and amended petition duly filed by Amalgamated
Plant Protection Local 114, UAW-CIO, herein called the Union, al-
leging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the
representation of employees'of Chrysler Corporation, Detroit, Michi-
gan, herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board
provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before Cecil
Pearl, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Detroit, Michigan,
on August 11, 1944. The Company and the Union appeared, partici-
pated, and 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 opportunity 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 THE COMPANY
Chrysler Corporation is a Delaware corporation with its principal
place of business at Detroit, Michigan. Until February 1942 the Com-
pany was engaged in the manufacture and sale of automobiles, parts,
and accessories. It is now engaged almost exclusively in the manufac-
58N L. R. B., No 146.
700
CHRYSLER CORPORATION 701,
ture of ordnance for the United States Government. The Company
uses raw materials valued in excess of $240,000,009 annually, approxi-
mately 45 percent of which is shipped to the Company's plants from
points outside the States in which the plants might be located. The
Company produces products valued in excess of $600,000.000 annually,
practically all of which is delivered to the United States Government.
We are here concerned with the following plants of the Company :
Chrysler Highland Park, Dodge Main, Dodge Forge, Dodge Truck,
Dodge Lynch Road (Chrysler Lynch Road), Chrysler Amplex,
Chrysler Tank Arsenal, Chrysler Jefferson and Kercheval, John-R.
Storage, De Soto Wyoming, De Soto Warren, McKinstry Storage,
Plymouth, and Marysville.
We find that the Company is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
H. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
Amalgamated Plant Protection Local 114, UAW-CIO, is a labor
organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations,
admitting to membership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
During April 1944, the Union requested the Company to recognize
it as exclusive collective bargaining representative of the fire mar-
shals employed at the above-enumerated plants of the Company.
The Company refused this request.
A statement of a Field Examiner of the Board, introduced into
evidence at the -hearing, indicates that the Union represents a sub-
stantial number of employees in the unit hereinafter found to be
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 Union urges that all fire marshals of the Company at its
Chrysler Highland Park, Dodge Main, Dodge Forge, Dodge Truck,
Dodge Lynch Road (Chrysler Lynch Road), Chrysler Amplex,
Chrysler Tank Arsenal, Chrysler Jefferson and Kercheval, John-R.
Storage, De Soto Wyoming, De Soto Warren, McKinstry Storage,
'The Field Examiner reported that the union presented 26 membership application or
authorization cards bearing apparently genuine signatures of persons whose names appear
on the Company's pay roll of June 14, 1944. There are appro.umately 42 employees in the
appropriate unit
702 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Plymouth, and Marysville plants, excluding fire chiefs, assistant fire
chiefs, and supervisors, constitute a single appropriate bargaining
unit. The Company contends that the fire marshals are part of
management and are not employees within the meaning of the Act,
and further, in the event the Board finds that they are employees, the
fire marshals at each of the plants involved herein should be voted
separately.
The fire marshals are charged with the duties of preventing fires
and the controlling and extinguishing of fires which may break out.
They inspect, maintain, repair, and charge various kinds of fire
equipment. They make inspection patrols throughout the plants for
the purpose of assuring adherence to safety rules and see that em-
ployees refrain from smoking in restricted areas. They also instruct
groups of employees in fire protection methods and they have access
to all parts of the Company's offices and plants. The fire marshals
employed by the Company are carried on the plant-protection de-
partment pay roll and are an integral part of that department. The
Board has held in the past that the plant protection patrolmen em
ployed at the plant of the Company involved herein are employees
within the meaning of the Act.2 Despite the peculiar relationships
which plant-protection employees bear to management, they are not
to be denied any of the rights and privileges granted under Section
7 of the Act,3 since we have often held, as we do now, that plant-
protection employees exercise monitorial and not supervisory func-
tions.
We turn now to the contention of the Company that the fire marshals
at each of the plants should be voted separately. The record discloses
that there are no fire marshals employed at the Chrysler Ampler,
McKinstry Storage, and Marysville plants. Accordingly, we shall
not consider said plants in the instant proceeding. Of the plants in-
volved, 3 have only 1 fire marshal each, 1 has 2 fire marshals, 3 have 3
fire marshals, and the remainder have from 4 to 12. The plant pro-
tection patrolmen employed at the plants of the Company involved
herein are presently covered by a single collective bargaining contract
between the Union and the Company. In view of the small number
of fire marshals employed at each of the plants involved herein and
the past collective bargaining history of the remainder of the plant-
protection employees, we conclude that a single unit of fire marshals
at the above-enumerated plants of the Company, excluding the Chrys-
ler Amplex, McKinstry Storage, and Marysville plants, constitute a
single appropriate bargaining unit.
9 Matter of Chrgsler Corporation, Highland Park Plant, 44 N L R B 881
8 See footnote 2, supra.
CHRYSLER CORPORATION 703
We find that all fire marshals of the Company at its Chrysler High-
land Park, Dodge Main, Dodge Forge, Dodge Truck, Dodge Lynch
Road (Chrysler Lynch Road), Chrysler Tank Arsenal, Chrysler
Jefferson and Kercheval , John-R . Storage, De Soto Wyoming, De Soto
Warren, and Plymouth plants, excluding fire chiefs, assistant fire
chiefs, and any 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. TI-IE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We shall direct that the question concerning representation which
has arisen be resolved by means of an election by secret ballot among
the employees in the appropriate unit who were employed during the
pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direction of
Election herein, subject to limitations and additions set forth in the
Direction.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
By virtine of and pursuant to the power vested in the National Labor
Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations 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 Chrysler Corpora-
tion, Detroit, Michigan, 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 Seventh 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 Regulations, 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 includ-
ing employees in the armed forces of the United States who present
themselves in person at the polls, but excluding any who have since
quit or been discharged for cause and have not been rehired or rein-
stated prior to the date of the election, to determine whether or not
they desire to be represented by Amalgamated Plant Protection Local
114, UAW-CIO, for the purposes of collective bargaining.