Eagle Lock Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 8, 1950

88 N.L.R.B. 970 (N.L.R.B. 1950)

In the Matter of EAGLE LOCK COMPANY, EMPLOYER and INTERNA-
TIONAL UNION OF ELECTRICAL , RADIO AND MACHINE WORKERS, CIO,
PETITIONER
Case No. 1-RC-1313.-Decided March 8, 1950
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before Thomas H.
Ramsey, 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 National Labor
Relations Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with
this case to a three-member panel [Chairman Herzog and Members
Houston and Reynolds].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the National Labor Relations Act.
2. The Petitioner, International Union of Electrical, Radio and
Machine Workers, CIO, herein called the IUE-CIO, and the Inter-
venor, United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America
and its Local 256, herein jointly called the UE, are labor organizations
claiming to represent employees of the Employer.
3. The question concerning representation :
The UE and the Employer are parties to a contract which expires
on May 24, 1950. The UE contends that this contract is a bar to a
present determination of representatives.
The contract in question contains the following union-security
provision :
All employees who fifteen (15) days after the signing of this
contract and publication of this clause by posting a copy of it on
the plant bulletin boards, are members of the Union in good stand-
ing in accordance with the Constitution and By-laws of the Union,
I The request for oral argument by the UE is hereby denied inasmuch as the record and
briefs, in our opinion , adequately present the issues and positions of the parties.
88 NLRB No. 180.
970
EAGLE LOCK COMPANY 971
and all employees who thereafter become members shall, as a con-
dition of employment, remain members of the Union in good
standing for the duration of this Contract.
There has been no union-authorization election pursuant to Section
9 (e) of the Act among the Employer's employees. The UE was
therefore not authorized to include a union-security clause in its con-
tract.2 The UE claims, however, that "it was generally understood"
by the parties to the contract "that there was no longer any union-
security clause in effect." The Board has held that an "understanding"
such as this one, oral in nature, does not remove the infirmity so as to
constitute the contract a bar,3 and that it is immaterial that no action
in accordance with the union-security clause had in fact been taken.'
For the reasons stated, we find that the contract is not a bar to a present
determination of representatives.
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.
4. In accordance with the agreement of the parties, we find that the
following employees of the Employer constitute a unit appropriate for
purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b)
of the Act :
All production' and maintenance employees of the Employer, at its
plant at Terryville, Connecticut, including timekeepers and watchmen,
but excluding executives, office and clerical employees, guards, pro-
fessional employees, and supervisors.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the pur-
pose 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 supervision 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, incluiding 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
2 C. Hager cE Sons Hinge Manufacturing Company, 80 NLRB 163.
3 Bond Stores, Incorporated, 81 NLRB 1177.
` Reading Hardware Corporation , 85 NLRB 610.
972 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
discharged for cause and have not been rehired or reinstated 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 International
Union of Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers, CIO, or by United
Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America and its Local 256,
or by neither.