Dow Chemical Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Apr 23, 1948

77 N.L.R.B. 328 (N.L.R.B. 1948)

In the Matter of Dow CHEMICAL COMPANY, BAY CITY DIVISION, EiII-
PLOYER and PATTERN MAKERS ASSOCIATION OF SAGINAW AND VICIN-
ITY, PATTERN MAKERS LEAGUE OF NORTH AMERICA, A. F. OF L.,
PETITIONER,
Case No. 7-B-2690.-Decided April 23, 1948
Mr. C. Emerson Price, of Midland, Mich., for the Employer.
Messrs. Lester G. Mossner and Gerald E. Noe, of Saginaw, Mich.,
for the Petitioner.
Messrs. Malcolm G. House and Webster S. Swank, of Saginaw,
Mich., for the Intervenor.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Bay City,
Michigan, on December 22 and 23, 1947, before Henry N. Casselman,
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 the case, the National Labor Relations
Board 2 makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. TI-IE BUSINESS OF TILE EMPLOYER
Dow Chemical Company, a Delaware corporation, operates a num-
ber of plants in Michigan, as well as plants in North Carolina, Cali-
fornia, Texas, and Canada. The only plant involved in this proceed-
ing is located at Bay City, Michigan, where the Employer is engaged
in magnesium foundry and fabrication operations. During the fiscal
year 1947, the Employer purchased, for its Bay City Division, over
$700,000 worth of raw materials, 15 percent of which came from out-
' The Employer 's request for oral argument is hereby denied inasmuch as the record and
briefs filed herein , in our opinion , adequately present the issues and positions of the parties.
' Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the National Labor Relations Act, the
Board has delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three -man panel consisting
of Members Houston, Murdock , and Gray.
77 N, L. R. B., No. 46.
328
DOW CHEMICAL COMPANY 329
side the State of Michigan. The value of the Employer's finished
products for the same period was over $2,000,000, 90 percent of which
was sold and shipped outside the State.
The Employer admits and we find that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the American
Federation of Labor, claiming to represent employees of the Em-
ployer.
Dow Metal Local 804, International Union, United Automobile,
Aircraft and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, C. I. 0.,
herein called the Intervenor, is a labor organization affiliated with the
Congress of Industrial Organizations, claiming to represent employees
of the Employer.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Employer refuses to recognize the Petitioner as the exclusive
bargaining representative of employees of the Employer until the Peti-
tioner has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit.
The Intervenor, which has represented the Employer's employees in
a plant-wide unit, including the pattern makers, since its certification
following a consent election, in 1941, contends that its collective bar-
gaining agreements bar this proceeding. Its contract with the Em-
ployer expired on February 2,1947. During the period of negotiation,
the expired contract was verbally extended several times, and the Em-
ployer issued a unilateral statement of policy. A. new written con-
tract was executed on May 6, 1947. The Petitioner notified the Em-
ployer of its desire to bargain on April 30, 1947, and filed its petition
on May 8,1947. We find that this notice was timely, and the Interven-
or's contract does not preclude a present determination of representa-
tatives.3
We find that a question affecting commerce exists concerning the
representation of employees of the Employer, within the meaning of
Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT; THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
The Petitioner seeks a unit composed of all pattern makers and
apprentices of the Employer at its Bay City plant .4 The Employer
4 Matter of Eicor, Inc., 46 N. L. it. B. 1035 ; Cf. Matter of General Electric -X-Ray
Corporation, 67 N. L. it. B. 997.
'At the time of the hearing, there were nine wood and metal pattern makers, one of
whom was on leave, in the unit sought by the Petitioner . These employees are classified
by the Employer as "master pattern makers ." There were no apprentices on the pay roll.
330 DECISION S OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
and the Intervenor contend that their successful history of collective
bargaining since 1941 demonstrates that the plant-wide unit is the
most appropriate one.
The Pattern shop is located in a separate building. The foremen
of the pattern shop have under their supervision the pattern makers,
the pattern crib clerk, the pattern storage clerks, and the pattern
molder. The pattern makers are men of many years' experience, have
the highest wage rate in the plant, and are conceded by all the parties
to be highly ,skilled' craftsmen. They spend from two-thirds to nine,
tenths of their time in the foundry or at other places in the plant chang-
ing or repairing patterns where they are being used; the remainder
of their time is spent in making new patterns.
The Employer contended that the introduction of another union
into its plant will bring jurisdictional conflict and loss of the coopera-
tion needed between pattern makers and production workers. In-
dustrial disruption, however, is not the inexorable consequence of mul-
tiple union representation. There is no evidence in the present case
that the Petitioner's representation of pattern makers will produce
uncooperativeness.
The Employer and the Intervenor contended that if a unit of pattern
makers is established, the crib clerk, storage clerks, and molder should
be included. Such employees, however, are not skilled pattern makers.
The nature of their work and their rates of pay are more closely akin
to those of other employees throughout the plant than to those of the
pattern makers. The Employer and the Intervenor contended further
that there were approximately 15 employees who had seniority in the
pattern shop, but who were working elsewhere in the plant as a result
of curtailment of the pattern shop, who should be permitted to vote
if an election is directed. The identity of, these men, the character
of their present employment, the amount of skill possessed by each,
and the seniority held by each was not shown. Nor was there any
indication that the Employer expected its volume of work to increase
to such an extent as to necessitate the transfer of any or all of these
employees to the pattern shop. We find there is insufficient evidence
in the record for including the crib clerk, storage clerks, or molder in
a unit of pattern makers; or for allowing persons not currently em-
ployed as pattern makers to vote in the election.
We find that the pattern,.makers herein constitute a highly skilled,
well-recognized, craft group. We believe that they may, if they so
desire, constitute a separate unit, notwithstanding their previous
inclusion in a broader unit.
However, the Board will not make any unit determination until it
has first ascertained the desires of the employees involved. We shall
DOW CHEMICAL COMPANY 331
direct that an election be held among all wood and metal pattern
makers and apprentices employed by the Employer at its Bay City,
Michigan, plant, excluding supervisors. If, in this election, the em-
ployees select the Petitioner, they will be taken to have indicated their
desire to constitute a separate bargaining unit. We shall not place
the Intervenor's name on the ballot inasmuch as the local has not
complied with Section 9 (f), (g), and (h) of the Act, as amended.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining with Dow Chemical Company, Bay City
Division, Bay City, Michigan, an election by secret ballot shall be con-
ducted 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 Seventh Region, and subject to Sections
203.61 and 203.62 of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regu-
lations-Series 5, among the employees in the voting group described
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, 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, and also exclud-
ing employees on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to deter-
mine whether or not they desire to be represented by Pattern Makers
Association of Saginaw and Vicinity, Pattern Makers League of
North America, A. F. of L., for the purposes of collective bargaining.
MEMBER GRAY took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision and Direction of Election.