General Motors Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

May 29, 1945

61 N.L.R.B. 1567 (N.L.R.B. 1945)

In the Matter of GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION, CHEVROLET-MUNCIE
DIVISION and MUNCIE DIE SINKERS LODGE No. 170, INTERNATIONAL
DIE SINKERS CONFERENCE
Case No. 11-R-725.-Decided May 29, 19115
Mr. Henry M. Hogan, by Mr. Richard E. Helms, of Detroit, Mich.,
for the Company.
Mr. J. G. Meiner, of Cleveland, Ohio, for the Die Sinkers.
Messrs. Andrew Jacobs, Jess W. Peden, Russell Merrill, and James
A. Bodwen, of Indianapolis, Ind., for the C. I. O.
Mr. Thomas A. Ricci, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
ORDER
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by Muncie Die Sinkers Lodge No. 170,
International Die Sinkers Conference, herein called the Die Sinkers,
alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning
the representation of employees of General Motors Corporation,
Chevrolet-Muncie Division, Muncie, Indiana, herein called the Com-
pany,' the National Labor Relations Board provided for an appro-
priate hearing upon due notice before William O. Murdock, Trial
Examiner. Said hearing was held at Muncie, Indiana, on March 22,
1945. The Company, the Die Sinkers and International Union,
United Automobile, Aircraft and Agricultural Implement Workers of
America, Local 499, UAW-CIO, herein called the C. I. 0., appeared
and participated. All parties were afforded full opportunity to be
heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evi-
dence bearing on the issues. The Trial Examiner's rulings made at
the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
All parties were afforded an opportunity to file briefs with the Board.
I Name as amended at the hearing
61 N. L. R B., No. 241.
1567
1568 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
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 and main-
tains its principal business offices at New York City, and at Detroit,
Michigan. It functions through. several unincorporated divisions, one
of which is the Chevrolet Division, which maintains and operates a
plant at Muncie, Indiana. This proceeding solely concerns certain
employees at the Company's Chevrolet Division plant at Muncie, In-
diana. More than 50 percent of the goods and materials used in the
manufacturing operations of the Chevrolet Muncie plant is received
from points outside the State of Indiana. More than'50 percent of the
products manufactured at that plant is shipped to points outside that
State, and almost 100 percent of said products is purchased by or
shipped to the United States Government for use by the armed
forces.
The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
Muncie Die Sinkers Lodge No. 170, International Die Sinkers Con-
ference, is a labor organization admitting to membership employees
of the Company.
International Union, United Automobile, Aircraft and Agricul-
tural Implement Workers of America, Local 499, affiliated with the
Congress of Industrial Organizations, is a labor organization admit-
ting to membership employees of the Company.
III. THE ALLEGED APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Die Sinkers seeks a unit of all employees at the Company's
Muncie, Indiana, plant, working on dies or parts of dies used in the
manufacture and completion of forgings. The Company and the
C. I. O. contend that the proposed unit is inappropriate, pointing to,
the long history of collective bargaining at the Muncie plant based
on a unit of production and maintenance employees, including die
workers.
On May 29,1940, the C. 1. 0. was certified as the exclusive bargaining
representative of all production and maintenance employees at the
Muncie plant, after an election conducted pursuant to a Decision and
Direction of Elections issued by the Board on February 28, 1940.2
2 Matter of General Motors Corporation, 20 N. L. R. B. 950.
GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION 1569
The C. I. O. has since bargained for all production and maintenance
employees, including the die workers, the last contract between the
Company and the C. I. 0., containing a maintenance-of-membership
provision, having been executed on October 19, 1942, for a term of
1 year.3 In accordance with directives of the War Labor Board issued
in late 1942 and thereafter, the Company and the C. I. O. have con-
tinued to abide by the terms of this agreement while endeavoring to
negotiate a renewal.
The Die Sinkers contends that the history of collective bargaining
should not foreclose the present establishment of a separate unit of die
workers because (1) these employees constitute a highly skilled, clearly
identifiable and homogeneous group, and (2) because a substantial
number of them have indicated a desire to bargain with the Company
independently of the remaining employees in the plant. It is true
that the Company's die workers are highly skilled, work apart from
other employees, have separate supervisors and constitute a well
recognized craft. However, we are of the opinion that these facts
alone do not justify the disturbance of a history of collective bargain-
ing which for years has achieved and maintained harmony between
the Company and its employees, including the die workers.
From the very inception of the C. I. O.'s activities on behalf of
the Company's employees until the summer of 1944, the die workers
never acted independently and never sought separate representation.
On the contrary, they joined the remainder of the production and
maintenance employees in collective bargaining with the Company.
They voted in the 1940 election and, apparently, later participated
in the selection of C. I. O. grievance committeemen. In addition, a
die worker was elected and acted as a C. I. O. grievance committeeman
during 1942, 1943, and until about August 1944. It was not until'
June 1944 that some die workers started to join the Die Sinkers, and
it was not until September 1944 that some first attempt to bargain
with the Company as a separate group. While the record does not
indicate how many subsequently became members, 38 of them re-
quested the Company in writing on November 22, 1944, that, if the
1942 contract should be renewed or a new one made,, an escape clause
be included, for they no longer desired to maintain their membership
in the C. I. O.4 Moreover, as late as January 15, 1945, after a carpenter
had been elected as C. I. O. grievance committeeman for a group of
employees, including the die workers, one of the die workers filed
a grievance through him.
O The 1942 contract mentions a 1941 contract between the same parties , without, how-
ever , stating whether any previous contract also included a maintenance -of-membership
clause.
4 From the report of the Board 's Field Examiner , introduced into evidence at the hearing,
it appears that the Company 's pay roll for the period ending January 6, 1945, contained
the names of 43 die workers,
1570 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
In view of these circumstances, including the history of collective
bargaining with the Company on a plant-wide basis, the failure of
the die workers to act independently or seek separate representation
for 4 years after the establishment of the plant-wide unit, and their
participation in collective bargaining based on such a unit, we find
that the unit requested by the Die Sinkers is inappropriate for collec-
tive bargaining purposes.'
IV. THE ALLEGED QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
Since, as we have held in Section III, above, the bargaining unit
sought to be established by the petition is inappropriate for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining, we find that no question affecting com-
merce has arisen concerning the representation of employees of the
Company. Accordingly, we shall dismiss the petition.
ORDER
Upon the basis of the above findings of fact, the National Labor
Relations Board hereby orders that the petition for investigation and
certification of representatives of employees of General Motors Corpo-
ration, Chevrolet-Muncie Division, Muncie, Indiana, filed by Muncie
Die Sinkers Lodge No. 170, International Die Sinkers Conference, be,
and it hereby is, dismissed.
MR. JOHN M. HOUSTON took no part in the consideration of the
above Decision and Order.
c See Matter of General Metals Corporation, 59 N. L R B 1252 ; Matter of The
Columbus Bolt Works Company, 56 N. L. R B. 1517; and Matter of Revere Copper .C Brass,
Incorporated , 30 N L R B 964
Cf Matter of Indianapolis Drop Forging Company, 40 N L It . B 1294, where for a
substantial time during the period of collective bargaining on a plant -wide basis , the die
wntl.ers bargained informally with the Company through a Die Sinkers Conference local;
Matter of Duff-Norton Manufacturing Company, 48 N. L. R. B. 1148 , and Matter of Moore
Drop Forging Company, 60 N L R B 494 , where the die workers refrained from
utilizing the grievance procedure established for the plant -wide group and adjusted matters
pertaining to their own grievances and wage scales , Matter of Revere Copper and Brass,
Incorporated , 61 N L R . B 392 , where, throughout the history of collective bargaining
on a plant -wide basis , the die workers remained dues -paying members of the Die Sinkers
Conference , which in turn paid the die workers' dues to the contracting union ; Matter
of Plomb Tool Company, 56 N. L R B 47 , where the die workers , in addition to prose-
cuting their own grievances, for 2 years had not paid dues to the contracting union ;
Matter of International Harvester Co., 36 N. L. It. B . 520, and Matter of Endicott Forging
and Mane fact army Co , 29 N. L R B 218, where the die workers had previously bargained
with the Company as a separate group.