General Motors Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Dec 10, 1941

37 N.L.R.B. 441 (N.L.R.B. 1941)

In the Matter of GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION, CLEVELAND DIESEL
ENGINE DIVISION and INTERNATIONAL UNION, UNITED AUTOMOBILE,
AIRCRAFT AND AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENT WORKERS OF AMERICA,
LOCAL UNION 207, AFFILIATED WITH THE C. I. 0.
Case No. R-3160.-Decided December 10, 1941
Jurisdiction : diesel engines manufacturing industry.
Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question : re-
fusal to accord union bargaining rights until certified by the Board; election
necessary.
Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : (1) all timekeepers working in
the factory and all factory clerks, excluding three specifically named per-
sons held to be supervisory employees, and the expeditors; (2) all powerhouse
employees, excluding the chief engineer.
Messrs. Denton Jolly and Henry M. Hogan, of Detroit, Mich., for
the Company.
Messrs. N. L. Smokler and Maurice Sugar, of Detroit, Mich., for
the Union.
Miss Melrvern R. Krelow, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
STATEMENT OF THE. CASE
On July 16, 1941, International Union, United Automobile, Air-
craft and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, Local Union
207, affiliated with the C. I. 0.,1 herein called the Union, filed with
the Regional Director for the Eighth Region (Cleveland, Ohio), pe-
titions alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen con-
cerning the representation of employees of General Motors Corpo-
ration, Cleveland Diesel Engine Division,2 Cleveland, Ohio, herein
called the Company, and that a question affecting commerce had
arisen concerning the representation of employees of General Motors
'Designated in the petition as "International Union, United Automobile Workers of
America-Local Union #207, affiliated with C I O'^ Pursuant to stipulation by the
parties, a motion was made by the Union to amend its petition setting forth and substitut-
ing for the previous name of the Union, the name set out in the text hereinabove. The
motion was granted by the Trial Examiner
2 Stipulated at the hearing to ba the correct name.
37 N. L. R. B , No. 71.
441
442 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS, BOARD
Sales Corp., Diesel Engine Division, Cleveland, Ohio, (Case No,
VIII-R-543), and requesting an investigation and certification of
representatives pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor
Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On September
29, 1941, the National Labor Relations Board, herein called the
Board, acting pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the Act, and Article III,
Section 3, and Section 10 (c) 2, of the National Labor Relations
Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, ordered an
investigation in each case, authorized the Regional Director to con-
duct it and to provide for an appropriate hearing upon due notice,'
and ordered that the cases be consolidated.
On October 7, 1941, the Regional Director issued a notice of hear-
ing, copies of which were duly served upon the Company, the Gen-
eral Motors Sales Corp., Diesel Engine Division, and the Union.
Pursuant to notice, a hearing was held on October 17, 1941, at Cleve-
land, Ohio, before Harry L. Lodish, the Trial Examiner duly desig-
nated by the Chief Trial Examiner. The Company, General Motors
Sales Corp., Diesel Engine Division, and the Union appeared by
counsel and participated in the hearing. Full opportunity to be
heard, to examine and cross- examine witnesses , and to introduce evi-
dence bearing on the issues was afforded all parties. During the
course of the hearing the Union, General Motors Sales Corp., Diesel
Engine Division, and the Board entered into a stipulation for certi-
fication upon consent election in Case No. VIII-R-543, which stipu-
lation was introduced in evidence. The parties made a request that
the Board vacate its order of consolidation. The Trial Examiner
referred the request to the Board. The request is hereby granted,
and said order of consolidation is hereby vacated. During the course
of the hearing the Trial Examiner made several rulings on motions
and on objections to the admission of evidence. The Board has
reviewed the rulings of the Trial Examiner and finds that no preju-
dicial errors were committed. The rulings are hereby affirmed. At
the close of the hearing, the Company made a motion to dismiss the
Union's petition. The Trial Examiner referred the motion to the
Board. The motion is hereby denied.
On November 5, 1941, the Company and the Union filed briefs
which the Board has duly considered.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
General Motors Corporation'is a Delaware corporation functioning
with several unincorporated divisions, one of which is the Cleveland
GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION 443
Diesel Engine Division, Cleveland, Ohio, at which division it is en-
gaged in the manufacture of Cleveland Diesel engines, accessories
and parts thereof. The Company uses materials', raw and fabricated,
approximately 15 percent of which is obtained from- sources outside
the State of Ohio. The Company manufactures products of which
approximately 85 percent is shipped by it to points outside the State
of Ohio. The Company admits for the purposes of this proceeding
that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
International Union, United Automobile, Aircraft and Agricul-
tural Implement Workers of America, Local Union 207, affiliated
with the C. I. 0., is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress
of Industrial Organizations admitting to membership employees of
the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Union requested the Company to be allowed to bargain for
certain employees not included in the collective bargaining agreement
between the General Motors Corporation and the Union. The Com-
pany has refused to grant such bargaining rights until the Union is
certified by the Board.
From the statement of a Field Examiner introduced in evidence
at the hearing, it appears that the Union represents a substantial
number of the employees in the unit alleged to be appropriate.3
We find that a question has arisen concerning the representation
of employees of the Company.
IV. THE EFFECT OF THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
UPON COMMERCE
We find that the question concerning representation which has
arisen, occurring in connection with the operations of the Company
described in Section I above, has a close, intimate, and substantial
relation to trade, traffic, and commerce among the several States and
tends to lead to labor disputes burdening and obstructing commerce
and the free flow of commerce.
3 The Field Examiner repotted that the Union presented 37 authorization cards, dated
in June or July, 1941 Of the 37 authorization cards submitted, 36 bear apparently genuine
signatures; one is printed Of the 36 signed authorization cards, 35, bear the names of
poisons on the Company's pay roll for the period October 5 to 18, 1941, within the unit
claimed by the Union to be appropriate One card bears the signature of a person on the
aforesaid pay roll, but who is not in the unit claimed appropriate by the Union There
are approximately 49 employees on the Company's pay roll of October 5 to 18, 1941, in the
alleged appropriate unit.
444 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
On February 28, 1940, pursuant to stipulation of the parties, the
Board directed that elections be held among all production and main-
tenance employees of General Motors Corporation ( including the
Cleveland Diesel Engine Division and practically all other divisions).'
The employees involved herein were among the employees expressly
excluded from the unit found appropriate in that proceeding. The
Union was certified as the representative of production and mainte-
nance employees as a result of these elections . An agreement was
entered into on June 3, 1941 , between the General Motors Corporation
and the Union covering production and maintenance employees, but
excluding the employees here involved.
The Union contends that all hourly paid employees of the Company
who are not now covered by the agreement between General Motors
Corporation and the Union , specifically including powerhouse em-
ployees, timekeepers , and clerks , constitute an appropriate unit.
The powerhouse employees are more particularly described in the
record as shift operating engineers ; timekeepers , as timekeepers
working in the factory ; and clerks , as factory clerks.
The Company contends that the unit is inappropriate on the
ground that the employees in these classifications are not interrelated
and have no community of interest ; that in the collective bargaining
agreement , above-mentioned , dated June 3, 1941 , the employees in
the unit herein alleged by the Union to be appropriate were specifi-
cally excluded as a result of the Board 's direction . It further con-
tends , in effect, that the Union's petition for a unit' composed of
these employees would ultimately include them in the unit of pro-
duction and maintenance covered by that agreement.
The Union has been taking up grievances on behalf of these
employees since 1937 . There appears to have been an understanding
between the Union and the Company , that although these employees
were not included under the agreement , the Union would, neverthe-
less , present grievances to the Company on their behalf.
Timekeepers
There are approximately 14 hourly paid factory timekeepers.
Each employee 's work is recorded on a time ticket by means of a clock
which is punched in and out . The timekeeper is responsible for this
* See Matter of General Motors Corporation and International Union , U. A. W. A.,
affiliated with the A . F L ; Matter of General Motors Corporation and Pattern Makers
League of North America affiliated with A. F L • Matter of General Motors Corporation
and International Union United Automobile Worl,ers of America , affiliated with the C I 0 ;
Matter of General Motors Corporation and Local 1411, International Association of Machinists
(A. F. of L), 20 N L R B 950.
GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION 445
operation. Timekeepers are attached to each department. Their
desks are located in the machine, shop in a semi-enclosure which
consists of filing cabinets that are grouped in a rectangular shape;
in the shipping and receiving department, in a steel and glass office;
in the test department, in a similar office, and in the assembly' depart-
ment, the desk is located on the operating floor.
Clerks
There are approximately 35 hourly paid factory clerks. They are
the receiving and shipping clerks; machine shop clerks, and factory
typists. The duties of the clerks consist mainly of clerical work
with occasional manual labor. The factory typists' duties are to type
records, and to do other clerical jobs.
Powerhouse employees
The powerhouse supplies electrical current and compressed air for
the factory. There are five shift operating engineers, whose duty it
is to operate the electrical switchboard, and to control the power
distributed to the various departments and machine tools.
The shift operating engineers are not hired from the outside, but
employees in the test department are transferred as shift operating
engineers to the powerhouse after they have worked for sometime
in the test department. The wage rate of the powerhouse employees
is somewhat higher than those of the timekeepers and clerks. Power-
house employees are treated as a separate occupational group; their
seniority rights and their ratings for ]ay-off purposes have no relation
to the rights and ratings of timekeepers and clerks. It is not the
practice of the Company to transfer clerks and timekeepers from
their various departments to the powerhouse.
From the above facts it appears that the powerhouse employees
have no community of interest with the timekeepers working in the
factory and the factory clerks. The powerhouse employees have a
separate seniority system; they are treated as a separate occupational
group ; they are not transferred to other departments from the pow-
erhouse; their duties are unlike those of the timekeepers and
clerks, and their wage scales are higher. We conclude, therefore,
that they should not be included in a unit comprising timekeepers
and clerks and that they constitute a separate bargaining unit.
The work of the timekeepers in the factory and the factory clerks,
on the other hand, is similar and they are all classified by the Com-
pany as clerks. We further conclude that there is such a community
of interest between these two groups of employees as to warrant their
constituting a single unit.
1
446 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS- BOARD
The Company, contends that shipping clerks are confidential em-
ployees and should be excluded from the unit of timekeepers and
factory clerks hereinabove found appropriate. Its. contention is
based on the following facts : that they are charged with the responsi-
bility of filling out government bills of lading for shipments that are
destined for the Navy Yards; that these shipments very often involve
values of perhaps $200,000 or more per car; that the Navy personnel
personally "witness" the paper work and the sealing of the cars, and
that the Navy Department considers this a vital function of the
Company's business. The Union, on the other hand, contends that
since practically 95 percent of the Company's business involves de-
fense work, all employees can therefore be considered confidential
employees in accordance with the Company's contention. We can
find no substantial difference between the work of these employees
and that of other clerks in the factory. They bear no such con-
fidential relationship to the Company as would require their exclusion
from the unit.-' We conclude therefore that the, shipping clerks are
clerical employees properly included within the unit.
The Company seeks to exclude from the unit, as supervisory em-
ployees, Walerius, a clerk in 'the shipping department; Joseph
Vranna, a clerk in the test department, and Elmer Gibbons, a clerk
in the assembly department. The Union wishes them included in
the unit. Walerius is in charge of shipping work; he supervises and
assigns the work in the group. He has the right to recommend, hire,
and discharge. Joseph Vranna is a leader in the test department.
He directs the test-department clerks, assigns work and has the
authority to recommend, hire, and discharge. _ Elmer Gibbons is
classified as a leader under the expediter class; has charge of the
expediters and the clerks in the assembly department, and has the
same duties as Vranna. We find that all three of these employees are
supervisory employees and we will exclude them from the unit.
There are approximately eight expediters whom the Union wishes
to include in the unit. The Company takes no position concerning
them. These expediters are included in the collective bargaining
agreement mentioned hereinabove, as production and maintenance
employees. Since 'these employees are already included in another
bargaining unit, we shall exclude them from the unit in the present
case.
The Company contends that the blueprint clerk is a confidential
employee, since he is in charge of blueprints for a special motor for
5 See Matter of Creamery Package Manufacturing Company (Lake Mills Plant) and Steel
• 'Workers Organizing Committee, C. 1 0 , 34 N L R B . No. 15
GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION 447
the United States Government; is responsible for the proper and safe
keeping of these blueprints, and is specified by the United States
Navy Department as a confidential employee; that for these reasons
he should be excluded from the unit. The Union would include
him-in the unit. We have hereinabove rejected a similar contention
of the Company with regard to shipping clerks. For the reasons
there stated we shall include the blueprint clerk in the unit.
The two "factory" typists, whom the Union wishes to include in
the unit, are hourly paid employees working in the factory as dis-
tinguished from the salaried typists in the office and they are classi-
fied by the Company as clerks. They type records, and perform other
clerical jobs. We find that their duties are similar to the other
factory clerks and we shall, therefore, include theirs in the unit.'
On of the two salaried employees in the powerhouse is the chief
engineer and the Union does not wish to include him in the unit.
The Company takes no position concerning him. The record dis-
closes that normally there is but one salaried employee in the power-
house and he is the chief engineer. He is "the head of the power-
house." We find that since he is a supervisory employee we will
exclude him from the unit. The second salaried employee lias been
with the Company since 1912, and is considered by,the Company as
more or less of a pensioned employee. The record states "he func-
tions on the day shift along with the man who is normally in charge
of the powerhouse." It is not clear whether the Union desires him
included in or excluded from the unit. The Company takes no posi-
tion concerning him. We find that he is not a supervisory employee
and shall include him in the unit.
We find that all timekeepers working in the factory and all fac-
tory clerks excluding Walerius, Joseph Vranna, Elmer Gibbons, and
the expediters, constitute' a single unit appropriate for the purposes
of collective bargaining.
We find that all powerhouse employees excluding the chief engi-
neer, constitute a separate unit appropriate for the purposes of
collective bargaining.
We further find that the above units will insure to employees of
the Company the full-benefit of their right to self-organization and
to collective bargaining and otherwise effectuate the policies of the
Act.
'The record discloses the duties and clhss,fication of one Louis Steele. It is not clear
from the record whether the parties desire his inclusion in, or exclusion from the unit He
is classified as a shop and typist clerk . Steele performs various odd clerical jobs He also
does some expediting at outside plants , such as delivering special materials occasionally
by car We find that his work is similar to that of the "factory" typists and that the
occasional expediting work performed by him does not sufficiently affect that status in older
to place him in the category of an expediter . We shall, therefore , include Steele in the unit.
448 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We find that the question which has arisen concerning the repre-
sentation of employees of the Company can best be resolved by elec-
tions by secret ballot. We shall direct that the employees of the
Company eligible to vote in the elections shall be those in the appro-
priate units whose names appear on the Company 's pay roll immedi-
ately preceding the date of the Direction of Elections herein, subject
to the limitations and additions set forth in the Direction hereinafter.
Upon the basis of the above findings of fact and upon the entire
record in the case, the Board makes the following :
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
1. A question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the repre-
sentation of employees of General Motors Corporation, Cleveland
Diesel Engine Division, Cleveland, Ohio, within the meaning of
Section 9 ( c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
2. All timekeepers working in the factory and all factory clerks,
excluding Walerius, Joseph Vranna, and Elmer Gibbons, and the
expediters, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collec-
tive bargaining , within the meaning of Section 9 ( b) of the National
Labor Relations Act.
3. All powerhouse employees, excluding the chief engineer, consti-
tute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective -bargaining,
within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the National Labor Relations
Act.
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National
Labor Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Rela-
tions Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 8, of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, it is
hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation ordered by the Board
to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining
with General Motors Corporation, Cleveland Diesel Engine Division,
Cleveland, Ohio, elections by secret ballot shall be conducted as
soon 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 Relations Board, and subject to Article III,
Section 9 , of said Rules and Regulations , among:,
1. All timekeepers working in the, factory and all factory clerks
of General Motors Corporation , Cleveland Diesel Engine Division,
GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION 449
Cleveland, Ohio, who were employed during the pay-roll period
immediately preceding the date of this Direction, including employees
who did not work during such pay-roll period because they were ill
or on vacation or in the active military service or training of the
United States, or temporarily laid off, but excluding Walerius, Joseph
Vranna, and Elmer Gibbons, and the expediters, and employees who
have since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whether
or not they desire to be represented by International Union, United
Automobile, Aircraft and Agricultural Implement Workers of Amer-
ica, Local Union 207, affiliated with the C. I. O. for the purposes of
collective bargaining;
2. All powerhouse employees, including employees who did not
work during such pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation
or in the active military service or training of the United States, or
temporarily laid off, but excluding the chief engineer, and employees
who have since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whether
or not they desire to be represented by International Union, United
Automobile, Aircraft and Agricultural Implement Workers of Amer-
ica, Local Union 207, affiliated with the C. I. 0., for the purposes of
collective bargaining.