E. W. Bliss Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Feb 7, 1944

54 N.L.R.B. 1133 (N.L.R.B. 1944)

In the Matter of E . W. BLISS COMPANY (THE TOLEDO MACHINE & TOOL
DIVISION) PLANT No. 2 and INTERNATIONAL UNION, UNITED AUTO-
MOBILE, AIRCRAFT & AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENT WORKERS OF AMER-
ICA, LOCAL No.' 12, UAW-CIO
Case No. 8-R-1353.-Decided February 7,1944
Mr. H. F. Smith, of Toledo, Ohio, for the Company.
Mr. David A. Guberman, Mr. Thomas Burke, and Mr. Cyrus Martin,
all of Toledo, Ohio, for the UAW-CIO.
Mr. Alfred Stencel and Mr.- Otto W. Brach, both of Toledo, Ohio,
for the Molders.
Mr. Robert O'Brien, of Toledo, Ohio, for the Pattern Makers.
Mr. William Strong, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by International Union, United Auto-
mobile, Aircraft & Agricultural Implement Workers of America,
Local No. 12, UAW-CIO, herein called the UAW-CIO, alleging that
a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representa-
tion of employees of E. W. Bliss Company (The Toledo Machine &
Tool Division) Plant No. 2, herein called the Company, the National
Labor Relations Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon
due notice before Arthur Stark, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was
held at Toledo, Ohio, on January 7, 1944. The Company, the UAW-
CIO, and International, Molders & Foundry Workers of North Amer-
ica, Local No. 425, A. F. L., herein called the Molders, 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 affirmed. The
motion of the Molders to dismiss the petition is denied. All parties
were afforded an opportunity to file briefs with the Board.
1 The Pattern Makers Association was also represented at the hearing.
54 N. L. R. B., No. 172.
1133
1134 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
E. W. Bliss Co., the Toledo Machine & Tool Division, is a Delaware
corporation having its principal office at Brooklyn, New York, and
operating two plants in Toledo, Ohio. At Plant No. 2, a foundry with
which alone we are here concerned, the Company is engaged in general
foundry work. During 1943 the Company used raw materials totally
valued at more than $1,000,000, a substantial portion of which came
from outside the State of Ohio. During the same period, more than
75 percent of the Company's finished products, in the manufacture
of which all of the products of Plant No. 2 are used, totally valued
at more than $2,500,000, was shipped' to points outside the State of
Ohio.
The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
International Union, United Automobile, Aircraft & Agricultural
Implement Workers of America, Local No. 12, UAW-CIO, is a labor
organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations,
admitting to membership employees of the Company.
International Molders & Foundry Workers of North America, Local
No. 425, is a labor organization affiliated with the American Federa-
tion of Labor, admitting to membership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
On November 5,1943, the UAW-CIO wrote to the Company request-
ing exclusive recognition as collective bargaining representative of
the Company 's employees. The Company received this letter, but did
not reply to it.
The Molders urge as a bar to this proceeding a contract which it has
with the Company for the term from June 14, 1942, to December 14,
1943, and which provides for automatic renewal for 1-year terms
thereafter unless thirty days prior to the annual renewal period notice
of desired change or, termination is' given . No such notice was given
prior to November 14, 1943 . However, since the UAW-CIO wrote to
the Company on November 5, and the Company thereby was put on
due and timely notice of its representation claims, the contract is
no bar.
E. W. BLISS COMPANY 1135
A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the hear-
ing, indicates that UAW-CIO represents a substantial number of
employees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.2
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
We find, in substantial agreement with a stipulation of the parties,
that all employees of the Company at Plant No. 2, excluding pattern
makers and pattern makers' apprentices, laboratory employees, guards,
watchmen, clerical employees, and all supervisory employees with au-
thority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect
changes in the status of employees, or effectively recommend such
action, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective
bargaining, within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We shall direct that the question concerning representation which
has arisen be resolved by an election by secret ballot among the em-
ployees in the appropriate unit who were employed during the pay-roll
period immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Election
herein, subject to the limitations and additions set forth in the
Direction.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National Labor
Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations
Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor Rela-
tions Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, it is hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with E. W. Bliss Co.,
The Toledo Machine & Tool Division, Plant No. 2, Toledo, Ohio, an
election 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 supervision of the Regional Director for the Eighth
Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Rela-
tions Board, and subject to Article III, Sections 10 and 11, of said
'The Field Examiner reported that the UAW -CIO submitted 108 designation cards, all
of which bore apparently genuine original signatures ; that the names of 101 persons
appearing on the cards were listed on the Company 's pay roll of December 18, 1943, which
contained the names of 212 employees in the appropriate unit.
The Molders submitted no cards or other evidence of its representation claims, merely
relying on its contract with the Company.
1136 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Rules and Regulations, among the employees in the unit found appro-
priate 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, to determine whether they desire to be
represented by International Union, United Automobile, Aircraft &
Agricultural Implement Workers of America, Local No. 12, UAW,
affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, or by Interna-
tional Molders & Foundry Workers of North America, Local No. 425,
affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, for the purposes of
collective bargaining, or by neither.