Dascher Manufacturing Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Sep 1, 1945

63 N.L.R.B. 777 (N.L.R.B. 1945)

In the Matter of DANIEL RUBIN, THEODORE R. RUBIN, AND AARON
GOLDSTEIN, INDIVIDUALLY AND AS CO-PARTNERS D/B/A DASCHER MANU-
FACTURING Co. and METAL POLISHERS, BUFFERS, PLATERS & HELPERS
INTERNATIONAL UNION, LOCAL No. 90, A. F. OF L.
Case No. 4-R-1732.-Decided September 1, 1945
Mr. Theodore R. Rubin, of Philadelphia, Pa., for the Company.
Mr. Louis H. Wilderman, of Philadelphia, Pa., for the A. F. of L.
Mr. J. Leon Cort, of Philadelphia, Pa., for the C. 1. 0.
Mr. Julius Kirle, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS x
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by Metal Polishers, Buffers, Platers.
Helpers International Union, Local No. 90, A. F. of L., herein
called the A. F. of L., alleging that a question affecting commerce
had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Daniel
,Rubin, Theodore R. Rubin, and Aaron Goldstein, individually and
as co-partners d/b/a Dascher Manufacturing Co., Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, herein called the Company, the National Labor Rela-
tions Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice
before Eugene Al. Purver, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was
held at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,^on May 24, 1945. The Company,
the A. F. of L., and Dental, Surgical & Allied Workers, L. I. U. No.
119, C. I. O., herein called the C. I. O., 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 ^afrmed. 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
Dascher Manufacturing Co., a partnership consisting of Daniel
Rubin, Theodore R. Rubin, and Aaron Goldstein, with its principal
* The above Decision and Direction of Elections was vacated and a new Decision and_
Direction of Elections subsequently issued on September 21, 1945 See 63 N. L R. B. 1101-
63 N. L . R. B., No 115.
777
778 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
place of business at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is engaged in the
production and sale of surgical instruments. The Company uses
annually raw materials consisting chiefly of brass, copper, and steel,
valued at about $18,000, approximately 75 percent of which comes
from sources outside the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The Com-
pany's finished products are valued at about $193,000 annually, ap-
proximately 99 percent of which is shipped to points outside the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Approximately 95 percent of the
Company's products is devoted to the war effort.
The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
Metal Polishers, Buffers, Platers & Helpers International Union,
Local No. 90, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, is a
labor organization admitting to membership employees of the
Company.
Dental, Surgical & Allied Workers, L. I. U. No. 119, affiliated with
the.Congress of Industrial Organizations, is a labor organization ad-
mitting to membership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company has refused to grant recognition to any union as thq
exclusive bargaining representative of certain of its employees until
certified by the Board in an appropriate unit.
A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the hear-'
ing, indicates that the A. F. of L. represents a substantial number of
employees 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 DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
The C. I. O. claims as appropriate for collective bargaining a unit
composed of all the Company's production and maintenance em-
ployees, including polishers and shippers, but excluding clerical and
supervisory employees. The A. F. of L. seeks a separate unit for the
polishers. The Company takes no position.
'The Field Examiner reported that the A . F. of L . submitted 6 designations consisting
of 4 dues books and 2 cards, dated March and April 1945 ; and that there are 6 em-
ployees in the unit alleged to be appropriate by the A F. of L. However, the record
discloses that since the date of the report one of the employees in the polishers ' unit had
terminated his employment The C. I. O. submitted 16 cards, 9 of which were dated from
August 1944 through April 1945, and 7 of which were undated . The record discloses
that there are 25 employees in the unit alleged to be appropriated by the C 1 0
DASCHER MANUFACTURING CO. 779
The polishers perform all the, polishing work on the instruments
processed by the Company. Their work is of a highly skilled nature.
They require a minimum of 5 years experience before they are con-
sidered competent to perform the Company's work. They do no work
outside their own department and their contact with the other em-
ployees is limited to the receipt and delivery of equipment on which
they work. They work in a room separate and apart from the other
employees. The record discloses no previous history of collective bar-
gaining at the plant.2 Under the circumstances, including the fact
that polishers have a substantial interest in a well-recognized craft
and are, to a large extent, physically segregated from the other em-
ployees, we are of the opinion that the polishers as a group could prop-
erly function as a separate bargaining unit or as a part of a plant-wide
unit.3 Accordingly, our determination of the appropriate unit or units
will depend, in part, upon the desires of the employees themselves to
be expressed in the elections hereinafter directed. If at such elections
the employees of both groups set forth below select the C. I. 0., they
will thereby have indicated their desire to constitute a single bargain-
ing unit; otherwise, they will have indicated their desire to constitute
separate bargaining units.
We shall direct that separate elections by secret ballot 4 be held
among the employees in the voting groups listed below, excluding
clerical employees, and all supervisory employees with authority to
hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the
status of employees, or effectively recommend such action, who were
employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date
of the Direction of Elections herein, subject to the limitations and
additions set forth in the Direction :
1. All polishers employed in the Company's polishing department;
2. All remaining production and maintenance employees, including
shippers, but excluding polishers employed in the Company's polishing
department.
2 The C I. 0 contends that the bargaining history at the Union Dental Co , a partner-
ship owned and operated by two of the three partners who own and operate the Company
herein , should be determinative of the appropriate unit because a merger of the two com-
panies is contemplated . Because the Union Dental Co is presently a separate and dis-
tinct entity and may or may not be merged with the Company in the future, no effective
consideration can be given to its collective bargaining history in resolving the unit issue
involved herein.
3 See Matter of General Motors Corporation, Delco Products Division, Plant D , 59-
N. L R B 1210 , and cases cited therein.
6 The C I 0 indicated that it did not desire to participate in an election among the
polishers in the event a separate unit of such employees was found appropriate. How-
ever , inasmuch as our unit finding will await a determination of the desires of the em-
ployees themselves, we shall place the name of the C. I. 0. on the ballot with leave to.
withdraw by notifying the Regional Director to that effect within five ( 5) days from the.
date of this Decision and Direction of Election.
'780 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
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 representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Dascher Manu-
facturing Co., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, elections 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 Fourth 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 voting groups defined 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 discharged for
cause and have not been rehired or reinstated prior to the date of the
.election, (1) to determine whether the employees described in group 1
in Section IV, above, desire to be represented by Metal Polishers,
Buffers, Platers & Helpers International Union, Local No. 90,
A. F. of L., or by Dental, Surgical & Allied Workers, L. I. U. No. 119,
C. I. O. for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither; (2)
to determine whether or not the employees described in group 2 of
'Section IV, above, desire to be represented by Dental, Surgical &
Allied Workers, L. I. U. No. 119, C. I. 0., for the purposes of collective
bargaining.5
5 The request of the A . F of L and the C. I. O. that they be designated on the ballot
-otherwise than as hereinabove set forth is hereby referred to the Regional Director to whom
the Board delegated discretionary authority in matters relating to the conduct of elections.