Columbian Rope Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 27, 1950

88 N.L.R.B. 1448 (N.L.R.B. 1950)

In the Matter of COLUMBIAN ROPE COMPANY, EMPLOYER AND PETI
TIONER and LOCAL 1085, TEXTILE WORKERS UNION OF AMERICA,.
C. 1. 0. and LOCAL 184, UNITED FARM EQUIPMENT AND METAL WORK-
ERS OF AMERICA, AFFILIATED WITH UNITED ELECTRICAL, RADIO AND
MACHINE WORKERS (INDEPENDENT),' UNIONS
Case No. 3-Rill-46.Decided March 27,1950
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before John C. McRee,
hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are
free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.2
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-member panel [Chairman Herzog and Members
Houston and Styles].
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 Unions are labor organizations claiming to represent em-
ployees of the Employer.
3. The FE was certified by the Board in 1944 as the bargaining
representative for the' Employer's production and maintenance em-
ployees. Both the FE and its Local 184 have bargained for these
1 The name of this organization thus appears on the petition and the formal papers in
this proceeding. No appearance at the hearing was entered in behalf of either Local 184 or
the United Farm Equipment and Metal Workers of America , herein called the FE. At the
close of the hearing the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers [of America],
herein called the UE, requested to be designated on the ballot in any election directed herein
as stated in footnote 13, infra.
Y The hearing officer denied a motion by Local 1085 , and by the Textile Workers Union
of America, CIO, herein called the TWUA, to delete the names of Local 184 and the FE
from the petition as parties on the ground of their nonexistence . The bearing officer also
overruled the objection of Local 1085 and the TWUA to permitting the UE to appear at the
hearing on the asserted ground that the UE has no interest in this proceeding. These
rulings are sustained for the reasons stated in paragraph numbered 3, infra.
3 Columbian Rope Company , 56 NLRB 1566. At the time of the certification the FE was
affiliated with the CIO and was so designated therein.
88 NLRB No. 257.
1448
COLUMBIAN ROPE COMPANY 1449
employees and are parties to a contract with the Employer dated
September 23, 1949, for the term of 1 year, with a 60-day automatic
renewal clause.
In October 1949 a merger of the FE and UE was being considered
by these Unions. At two meetings of Local 184, held on October 17
and 26, the membership voted to oppose the merger and to seek affilia-
tion with the TWUA.4 Thereafter the TWUA delivered a charter
dated October 31, 1949, in which the local was designated as Local
1085, TWUA. On November 30, 1949, Local 1085 held a meeting at
which all the officers, stewards, and members of the grievance com-
mittee 5 of Local 184 were elected to the same offices and positions in
the new organization. Following this meeting new quarters were
established and the local continued to carry out the business, social,
and welfare activities which had formerly been conducted by Local
184. Authorization cards were issued by Local 1085 -and at the time
of the hearing more than 550 cards had been signed by members of
the local, representing about 85 percent of the 'Employer's working
force.
Also during the month of October 1949, the F, E conducted a national
referendum in which 86 percent of its members voted in favor of
merging with the UE. Thereafter, sometime near the end of October,
the merger was consummated 6 Most of the FE locals were taken
into the UE and were established as the Farm Equipment and Metal
Workers Council of the UE.7 Membership cards of the new organi-
zation were issued to the former FE members and charters were deliv-
ered to those locals which had paid the per capita taxes required by
the UE constitution.8
Notice of the change of affiliation together with a demand for recog-
nition have been served on the Employer by Local 1085. The FE has
informed the . Employer that it regards the existing contract as still-
in effect and that it intends to enforce it. The UE has notified the
Employer that union dues which are being checked off are payable
only to it. The Employer has refused to take any position on these
matters until they have been resolved by this proceeding.
4 These meetings were attended by 200 to 300 members. But for a single dissenting
vote, all members in attendance at both meetings voted unanimously in favor of these
decisions.
O Although employee grievances are presently being processed by these Individuals, the
Employer takes the position that it recognizes them only as representatives of its employees
and not as a committee from either Local 1085 or Local 184.
6 On November 2, 1949, both the FE and UE were expelled, and their international
charters were revoked , by the Eleventh Constitutional Convention of the CIO held at
Cleveland, Ohio.
'A number of FE locals , however, elected to remain in the CIO and to affiliate them-
selves with other CIO international unions.
8 Local 184 has not received a charter , as it has not paid these taxes.
1450 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Local 1085 and the TWUA contend that Local 184 and the FE are
defunct and that they themselves now represent the Employer's em-
ployees. They accordingly request that the certification of the FE as
the representative of these employees be amended by naming the
TWUA as the certified representative. They deny that a valid merger
of the FE and the UE occurred e and argue that the UE, therefore,
could not have succeeded to the interest of the FE in the contract with
the Employer. The UE, on the other hand, challenges the validity
of Local 184's disaffiliation from the FE,10 and claims successorship to
the interest of the FE in the current contract, which it asserts as a bar
to this proceeding.
Under all the circumstances of this case, we are satisfied that a sub-
stantial doubt exists as to the identity of the labor organization by
which the Employer's employees desire to be represented. This doubt
can best be resolved by an election by secret ballot. We find, there-
fore, that the existing contract is not a bar to this proceeding.- For
the same reasons we hereby deny the request to amend the 1944 certifi-
cation. We shall not undertake to determine the legal questions raised
as to the validity of the FE-UE merger or the transfer of affiliation
by Local 184, for they are immaterial to the issue of representation.12
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 Act.
4. 'We find, in accord with the agreement of the parties, that all
production and maintenance employees at the Employer's three cord-
age plants in Auburn, New York, excluding timekeepers, salaried office
and clerical employees, technicians, laboratory employees, experi-
mental and engineering department employees, student executives and
industrial relations department employees, guards, professional em-
ployees, superintendents, foremen, assistant foremen, and all other
supervisors as defined in the Act, constitute a unit appropriate for
the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9
(b) of the Act.
9 Article 15, Section I, constitution of the FE -CIO, as amended , adopted September 10,
1942, provides for amendment to the constitution only by majority vote of delegates in
succeeding conventions . The merger , it is argued, is in effect an amendment . Local 1085
and the TWUA further argue that there was in fact no merger , as the FE had disintegrated
and only some of its locals were absorbed by the UE. They are willing, nevertheless, that
the UE appear on the ballot with them in a representation election.
10 The UE, relying on a provision in the FE constitution that a local union shall remain
in existence so long as there are seven or more members in food standing , contends that
Local 184 still exists and is capable of administering the contract with the Employer. No
evidence was presented , however, that Local 184 has held any meetings or conducted union
affairs after the change of affiliation by its members.
11 Fruehauf Trailer Company, et al., 85 NLRB 1509, and cases cited therein.
12Rock Hill Printing & Finishing Company, 82 NLRB 932; Aluminum Company of
America, 80 NLRB 1342.
COLUMBIAN ROPE COMPANY
DIRECTION OF ELECTION 13
1451
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining with the Employer, an election by secret
ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later than 30
days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and super-
vision of the Regional Director for the Region in which this case was
heard, and subject to Sections 203.61 and 203.62 of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations, among the employees in the
unit found appropriate in paragraph numbered 4, above, who were
employed during the payroll period immediately preceding the date
of this Direction of Election, including employees who did not work
during said payroll period because they were ill or on vacation or
temporarily laid off, but excluding those employees who have since
quit or been discharged for cause and have not been rehired or rein-
stated 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 represented, for purposes of collective bargain-
ing, by Local 1085, Textile Workers Union of America, C. I. O.
"At the hearing the UE requested that it be permitted to appear on the ballot as the
United Electrical , Radio and Machine Workers of America, UE , Farm Equipment Council.
No objection to this request was interposed by Local 1085 or the TWUA. We are, however,
constrained to deny this request as we believe that employees voting In this election would
be confused as to whether the labor organization thus appearing on the ballot is the UE,
or the Farm Equipment Council , or both. We do not in this decision purport to pass upon
the question of whether the Farm Equipment Council is a labor organization , but we find
that it at least has the semblance of such an organization and that the appearance of its
name on the ballot may give rise to the impression that It is seeking the Board's certification
in this proceeding . This the Farm Equipment Council may not do , as it has never complied
with the filing and registration requirements of Section 9 (f), (g), and ( h) of the Act.
Local 184 has also not complied with Section 9 (f), (g), and ( h) of the Act . As noted
above the UE took the position that Local 184 became a UE local as a result of the UE-FE
merger , and that the local exists and represents the Employer ' s employees . If Local 184
still exists the UE's participation in the election directed herein is conditioned upon full
compliance by this local with Section 9 (f), (g), and (Il) of the Act . See General Motors
Corporation, Frigidaire Division, 88 NLRB 450 ; The Prudential Insurance Company of
America, 81 NLRB 295.
[By Order dated April 5, 1950 , the Board amended the above Direction of Election
by granting United Electrical , Radio and Machine Workers of America, UE, permission
to withdraw its name from the ballot.]