De Vry Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

May 16, 1947

73 N.L.R.B. 1145 (N.L.R.B. 1947)

In the Matter of DEVRY CORPORATION, EMPLOYER and INTERNATIONAL
BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS, AFL, PETITIONER
Case No. 13-R-4232.--Decided May 16,1947
Mr. Thomas H. Kelley, of Chicago, Ill., for the Employer.
Mr. Joseph M. Jacobs, by Mr. Jacob N. Gross, of Chicago, Ill., for
the Petitioner.
Mr. P. L. Siemiller, of Chicago, Ill., for the Intervenor.
Mr. Abraham Frank, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
ORDER
Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Chicago,
Illinois, on March 20, 1947, before Robert E. Ackerberg, hearing
officer.
At the hearing, and in its brief, the Intervenor moved to dismiss
the petition on the ground that a current contract between the Inter-
venor and the Employer constitutes a bar to the present proceeding.
For reasons set forth in Section III, infra, the motion is hereby
granted. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free
from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations
Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER
DeVry Corporation, an Illinois corporation, is engaged in the
manufacture and sale of cameras, projectors and sound equipment
at its place of 'business in Chicago, Illinois. It annually purchases
raw materials valued in excess of $250,000, all of which are obtained
from sources outside the State of Illinois. Sales of its finished prod-
ucts exceed $2,000,000 annually, of which approximately 95 percent
represents sales to purchasers located outside the State of Illinois.
The Employer admits and we find that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
73 N. L. it. B., No. 197.
1145
1146 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
H. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the American
Federation of Labor, claiming to represent employees of the Em-
ployer.
The International Association of Machinists, herein called the In-
tervenor, is a labor organization, claiming to represent employees of
the Employer.
III. THE ALLEGED QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
On March 5, 1946, as the result of a prehearing election, the Inter-
venor was certified by the Regional Director as the exclusive bargain-
ing representative of the unit sought herein. Thereafter, on March
28, 1946, the Intervenor and the Employer executed a collective
bargaining agreement to be in effect for 1 year, subject to automatic
renewal from year to year unless either party served notice of a desire
to terminate or modify the agreement at least 30 days before March
28 of any year. Negotiations on wages were commenced in December
1946, and a new 1-year agreement, automatically renewable, was
signed on February 27, 1947. Petition in the instant case was filed
on February 7, 1947, before the automatic renewal date of the original
contract.
The Intervenor contends that its second contract of February 27,
1947, is a bar to a present determination of representatives.
The Board has established the rule that a collective bargaining
agreement for a reasonable term, executed within the 1-year period
following the union's certification, is an effective bar during its term
to a claim of representation filed by a rival union, even where the
contract is a premature extension of a prior contract,' or where the
contracting parties had been put on notice of a rival claim.2 The
fact that the contract claimed to be a bar is the second contract ex=
ecuted within the certification year does not alter the application of
the rule, it being for a reasonable term.3
Although the petition in the instant case was timely with respect
to the expiration date of the original contract, inasmuch as the
second contract was negotiated and executed within the 1-year certifi-
cation period, we find that it is a bar to a present determination of
representatives. Accordingly, we shall dismiss the petition herein.
' Matter of Omaha Packing Company, 67 N. L R. B. 304; Matter of Swift