Connors Steel Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Dec 16, 1940

28 N.L.R.B. 601 (N.L.R.B. 1940)

In the Matter Of CONNORS STEEL COMPANY and STEEL WORKERS
ORGANIZING COMMITTEE
Case No: R-2171-Decided December 16, 1940
Jurisdiction : steel products manufacturing industry.
Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question : refusal
to accord recognition to union and request that certification be obtained ;
election necessary.
Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : all maintenance and production
employees, exclusive of supervisory- and clerical employees, watchmen and
guards.
Cabaniss cfi Johnston, by Mr. Forney Johnston, of Birmingham,
Ala., for the Company.
Mr. Noel R. Beddow, of Birmingham, Ala., for the S. W. O. C.
Mr. N. Barr Miller, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On October 14, 1940, Local 2250 of the Steel Workers Organizing
Committee, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations,
herein called the S. W. O. C., filed with the Regional Director for
the Tenth Region (Atlanta, Georgia) a petition alleging that a
question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representa-
tion of employees of Connors Steel Company, Birmingham, Ala-
bama, 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 November 7, 1940, 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 2, as amended, ordered an investigation and
authorized the Regional Director to conduct it and to provide for
an appropriate hearing on due notice.
On November 22, 1940, the Regional Director issued a notice of,
hearing, copies of which were served upon the Company and the
28 N. L. R. B., No. 89.
601
602 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
S. W. O. C. Pursuant to the notice, a hearing was held on Novem-
ber 29, 1940, at Birmingham, Alabama, before Alexander E. Wilson,
Jr., the Trial Examiner duly designated by the Board. The Com-
pany and the S. W. O. C. were represented and participated in the
hearing. Full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-exam-
ine.witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing on the issues was
afforded all parties. During the course of the hearing, the Trial
Examiner made several rulings on motions and on objections to
the admission of evidence. The Board has reviewed the rulings
of the Trial Examiner 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
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Connors Steel Company is a Delaware corporation chartered in
1920, with its principal place of business in Birmingham, Alabama.
The principal products of the Company are various steel products
including cotton ties, reinforcement bars, and similar products. The
principal raw material used is steel, approximately 60 per cent of
which is-purchased. from and delivered from points outside of State
of Alabama. The i'aw materials purchased during the average year
are in excess of 50,000 tons. The products manufactured by the
Company in an average year are likewise in excess of 50,000 tons,
and 75 per cent of the products sold by the Company are shipped
to points outside the State of Alabama. The Company employs
approximately 312 persons, 39 of whom are classified as supervisory
and clerical employees, and 273 as production and maintenance
employees. %
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
Local 2250 of Steel Workers Organizing Committee, affiliated
with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, is a labor organi-
zation admitting to membership maintenance and production em-
ployees of the Company.'
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
About August 1, 1940, a representative of the S. W. O. C. wrote
to the Company stating that the S. W. O. C. represented a large
number of the Company's -employees, requested recognition of the
S. "W. O. C. as exclusive' bargaining representative, and sought a
conference with the company to discuss a contract.;: The Company
IIt was stipulated between the parties at the hearing that the S W. O. C. Is a labor
organization within the meaning of Section 2 (5) of the Act.
CONNORS STEEL COMPANY 603
made no reply to this letter. Thereupon, the S. W. • 0. C. on Octo-
ber 14, 1940, filed its petition for investigation and certification.
At that time the Company informed the S. W. 0. C. that it was un-
willing to enter into bargaining relations until the S. W. 0. C. had
been certified by the Board pursuant to an election.
At the hearing, the S. W. 0. C. submitted to the Trial Examiner
for his inspection, 177 authorization cards, all dated subsequent to
August 1, 1940. The Trial Examiner reported that. 160 of these
cards bear names of persons who are on the pay roll of the Company.
We find that a question has arisen concerning the representation
of employees of the Company.
IV. THE EFFECT OF THFJ QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION UPON
COMMERCE
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, and commerce among the several States
and tends to lead to labor disputes burdening and obstructing com-
merce and the free flow of commerce.
V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The S. W. 0. C. desires a unit composed of all maintenance and
production employees of the Company, exclusive of supervisory and
clerical employees, watchmen, and guards. The Company did not
object to such a unit. We see no reason for departing from the
desire of the S. W. 0. C.
We find, that all maintenance and production employees of the Com-
pany, exclusive of supervisory and clerical employees, watchmen and
guards, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective
bargaining, and that said unit will insure to employees of the Com-
pany the full benefit of their right to self; organization and to collective
bargaining and otherwise effectuate the policies of the Act.
VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
Both the Company and the S. W. 0. C. desire an election for a
determination of the bargaining representative. We find • that the
question- concerning representation which has arisen among employees
of the Company can best be resolved by an election by secret ballot,
and we shall so direct: ' -
The parties agreed that a list of the employees submitted in evi-
dence at the hearing should constitute the list of employees eligible
to vote in an election, except that those persons employed as watchmen
604 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
and guards are to be excluded.2 There is nothing in the record to in-
dicate that this list is inappropriate for the purposes of determining
eligibility and we shall direct its use in the election.
Upon the basis of the above findings of fact and the entire record
in the case, the Board makes the following :
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
1. A question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the repre-
sentation of employees of Connors Steel Company, Birmingham, Ala-
bama, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7)
of the National Labor Relations Act.
2.,All maintenance and production employees of the Company, ex-
clusive of supervisory and clerical employees, watchmen and guards,
constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining
within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the National Labor Relations
Act.
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 8, of the National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, it is
hereby,
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation ordered by the Board to
ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining with
Connors Steel Company, Birmingham, Alabama, 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 Tenth Region, acting
in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board and
subject to Article III, Section 9, of said Rules and Regulations, among
all maintenance and production employees of the Company, exclusive
of supervisory and clerical employees, watchmen and guards, who are
named on the list of employees received in evidence during the course
of the hearing in this case, but excluding any employees on the list,
who, since the date of the hearing have quit or been discharged for
cause, to determine whether or not they desire to be represented for the
purposes of collective bargaining by Local 2250 of Steel Workers
Organizing Committee, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial,
Organizations.
CHAIRMAN HARRY A. MILLIS took no part in the consideration of the
above Decision and Direction of Election. - -
2 This list,is designated in the record as Board Exhibits 2a. 2b. 2c, 2d, and 2e.