Dictaphone Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jul 14, 1950

90 N.L.R.B. 962 (N.L.R.B. 1950)

In the Matter of DICTAPHONE CORPORATION, EMPLOYER and LOCAL 268,
INTERNATIONAL UNION OF ELECTRICAL, RADIO AND MACHINE WORK-
ERS, CIO, PETITIONER
Case No. 2-RC-1933.-Decided July 14,1950
DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National
Labor Relations Act, a hearing was held before Jack Davis, hearing
officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free
from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.,'
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the Act.
2. The labor organizations involved claim to represent employees
of the Employer.
3. The question concerning representation :
On June 14, 1946, United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers
of America, an Intervenor, herein called the UE, was certified as the
bargaining representative of the employees of the Employer. Since
then, the UE and the Employer have executed a series of contracts
to which UE Local 268, representing exclusively employees of the
Employer, also was a party. The latest contract, executed on August
16, 1949, extended the terms of the 1948 agreement to October 1, 1950,
with a 60-day automatic renewal clause. On December 15, 1949, the
instant petition was filed. The UE and the Employer raise a contract-
bar contention. The Petitioner and American Federation of Labor,
herein called the AFL, which also intervened, claim that a schism has
occurred, creating confusion as to the identity of the bargaining agent,
and that, therefore, the contract does not constitute a bar.
We find it unnecessary in this case, however, to determine the schism
issue because the Mill B 2 date is less than 30 days from the date of
I At the hearing , the hearing officer denied the motion of one of the Intervenors, Local
268, United Electrical , Radio and Machine Workers of America , herein called UE Local
268, to dismiss the petition . According to Section 203.57 of National Labor Relations
Board Rules and Regulations , the motion to dismiss should have been referred to the Board.
However, as the Board will consider the entire record, the hearing officer 's ruling was not
prejudicial.
2 Mill B. Inc ., 43 NLRB 159.
90 NLRB No. 153.
962
DICTAPHONE CORPORATION 963
issuance of this decision. Accordingly, we find that the contract
herein does not constitute a bar, and that a question affecting com-
merce exists concerning the representation of the employees of the
Employer within the meaning of Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6)
and (7) of the Act.
4. The appropriate unit :
According to the stipulation of the parties, we find that the appro-
priate unit consists of all the production, maintenance, and shipping
employees at the Employer's Bridgeport, Connecticut, plant, includ-
ing inspectors, expediters, truck drivers, store employees, and truck-
ers, but excluding watchmen, guards, timekeepers, time-study em-
ployees, engineering employees, production planners, office employees,
sales employees, foremen's clerks, assistant foremen, foremen, and all
other supervisors as defined in the Act.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION 3
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 they
desire to be represented, for purposes of collective bargaining, by Local
268, International Union of Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers,
CIO, by Local 268, United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers
of America, by American Federation of Labor, or by none of these.
CHAIRMAN HERZOG and MEMBER REYNOLDS took no part in the con-
sideration of the above Decision and Direction of Election.
'Any participant in the election directed herein may , upon its prompt request to, and
approval thereof by , the Regional Director , have its name removed from the ballot.