Douglas Motors Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jul 25, 1960

128 N.L.R.B. 307 (N.L.R.B. 1960)

DOUGLAS MOTORS CORP. 307
WE WILL NOT in any other manner restrain or coerce employees of Falstaff
Brewing Corporation , or any employee member of this Union, in the exercise
of rights guaranteed in Section 7 of the Act, except to the extent that such rights
may be affected by an agreement requiring membership in a labor organization,
as a condition of employment , as authorized by Section 8(a) (3) of the Act, as
amended by the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959.
WE WILL make whole Oscar Gerak for any loss of pay he may have suffered
as a result of the discrimination against him.
BREWERS AND MALTSTERS LOCAL UNION No. 6,
AFFILIATED WITH INTERNATIONAL BROTHER-
HOOD OF TEAMSTERS , CHAUFFEURS, WARE-
HOUSEMEN AND HELPERS OF AMERICA,
Labor Organization.
Dated------------------- By-------------------------------------------
(Representative) (Title)
This notice must remain posted for 60 days from the date hereof, and must not be
altered, defaced, or covered by any other material.
Douglas Motors Corp . and Shopmen 's Local Union No. 471 of
the International Association of Bridge , Structural and Orna-
mental Iron Workers , AFL-CIO, Petitioner. Case No. 13-RC-
7070. July 25, 1960
DECISION AND ORDER
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor
Relations Act, a hearing was held before Robert G. Mayberry, hearing
officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free
from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3(b) of the Act, the Board
has delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three-member
panel [Members Rodgers, Jenkins, and Fanning].
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 organization involved claims to represent certain em-
ployees of the Employer.
3. No question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa-
tion of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section
9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act, for the following
reasons:
The Employer has been engaged in the manufacture of plaster and
mortar mixers, snowplows, wrecking cranes, rollers, trailers, and
towing accessories. In addition, the Employer has as a regular busi-
ness practice subcontracted to other firms the manufacture of con-
crete mixers, towing tools, engine stands, tire spreaders, and towing
bars.
The Petitioner herein seeks an immediate election among the pro-
duction and maintenance employees of the Employer. At the time of
128 NLRB No. 31.
208 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
the hearing, the proposed unit numbered 40 employees in 16 job clas-
sifications, which included punch press operators, welders, assemblers,
shear operators, drill press operators, spray painters, and general
labor.
The Employer evidenced at the hearing that it was in the process of
effectuating a program to eliminate all ,its production operations. In
order to better its competitive position it plans to subcontract the pro-
duction of all its products, and to convert its operation into basically
a warehousing and distribution center by September 1960. As of the
hearing date, the Employer had already executed certain subcontracts,
was awaiting signed contracts for the production of wrecking cranes
and plows, had received bids on trailers, and was negotiating a con-
tract for the production of large rollers. Because the seasonal period
for the production of plaster and mortar mixers extends from Feb-
ruary to June 1960, the Employer plans to enter into subcontracts for
this work prior to February 1961.
As of July 1960, the Employer anticipates having 20 individuals
in the proposed unit and 10 by September 1960. At that time the
Employer will utilize one general job classification which will include
shipping and receiving functions, experimental functions, and gen-
eral labor. Of the welding, fabricating, and cleaning machinery and
tools now in use, it is estimated that less than 1 percent of this equip-
ment will be in use in September 1960.
Normally, under the Board's existing rules to warrant an immediate
election where there is definite evidence of an expanding or contract-
ing unit, the present work complement must be substantial and rep-
resentative of the ultimate complement as projected both as to the
number of employees and the number and kind of job classifications.'
It appears in the present situation that by September 1960 the size
of the work force will have been reduced to 25 percent of that em-
ployed at the time of the hearing, and the number of job classifications
will have been reduced from 16 to a single general classification or at
most 4 classifications, consisting of shipping, receiving, general labor,
and experimental.
However, the record here shows more than a mere contraction in
the size of the work force. The evidence indicates with sufficient
definiteness that a fundamental change in the nature of the Em-
ployer's business operations is presently in process and is expected
to be accomplished by September 1960. By such date, the manufactur-
ing aspect of the Employer's business together with about 75 percent
.of its employee complement as of the time of the hearing will have
been eliminated, and the operations will be confined solely to distribu-
tion, warehousing, and certain limited experimental functions.
1 Brown and Root Caribe, Inc., 119 NLRB 815; cf. General Extru8bon Company, Inc.,
et at ., 121 NLRB 1165.
ALPHA CORP., TRANSPORTABLE SYSTEMS DIVISION 309
In the circumstances, we find it would not be consistent with the
provisions and policies of the Act to direct an immediate election
which might result in the certification of a union not truly the choice
of the employees of the new business operation to commence in
September 1960.
[The Board dismissed the petition.]
Alpha Corporation , Transportable Systems Division and Local
Lodge 952 , International Association of Machinists , AFL-CIO,
Petitioner . Case No. 16-RC-2660. July 25, 1960
DECISION, ORDER, AND CLARIFICATION
OF CERTIFICATION
Upon a petition duly filed Section 9(c) of the National Labor
Relations Act, a hearing was held before John C. Crawford, 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 1 is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the Act .2
2. The labor organizations involved herein claim to represent cer-
tain employees of the Employer.'
1 Alpha Corporation was organized on March 31, 1959, as a successor to the Systems
Division of Collins Radio Company, and became an operating entity on February 1, 1960,
when Collins Radio Company transferred employees and assets to Alpha Corporation
Alpha Corporation is at present a wholly owned subsidiary of Collins Radio Company.
Alpha and Collins have the same directors, substantially the same officers, and the same
persons in charge of their labor relations policies Upon occasion, Collins decides
whether a particular order calling for the production of goods should be allocated to
Alpha or to another of its subsidiaries In view of these facts, we find that for juris-
dictional and unit purposes, Collins and Alpha constitute a single employer within the
meaning of the Act (Gabbs Oil Company, 120 NLRB 1783 ) Collins was permitted to
intervene at the hearing on the basis of its relationship to the employees involved
herein Alpha and Collins are sometimes referred to herein as the Employer and some-
times as Alpha and Collins, respectively
2 The plants of Alpha and Collins involved in this proceeding are located in the State
of Texas The parties stipulated that, during the year preceding the hearing, Collins
shipped in excess of $50,000 worth of goods and materials from these plants to points
outside Texas and received in excess of $50,000 worth of goods and materials to these
plants from points outside Texas. As Alpha and Collins are manufacturing enterprises
and are, for jurisdictional purposes, a single employer, we find that both Alpha and
Collins meet our jurisdictional standards Siemens Mashing Service, 122 NLRB 81
3International Union of Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers, AFL-CIO, and its
Local 787, hereinafter referred to as IUE, was permitted to intervene at the hearing on
the basis of its certifications as representative of employees sought herein and on the
basis of its contractual interest in these employees. Petitioner, hereinafter referred to
as the IAM, objected to the intervention on the ground that the IUE had no showing of
interest in the unit sought in the petition As the IUE has contractual relations with,
and is currently recognized by, the Employer, we find that the IUE has a colorable claim
to representation sufficient for purposes of intervention . Hardboard Fabricators Corp.,
117 NLRB 823.
128 NLRB No. 35.
577684-61-vol. 128-21