General Motors Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Aug 29, 1945

63 N.L.R.B. 625 (N.L.R.B. 1945)

In the Matter of GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION, Fisur:R BODY Divi-
SION (GRAND BLANc TANK PLANT) and AMALGAMATED PLANT PRO-
TECTION LOCAL 117 (UAW-CIO)
Case No. 7-R-1995. Ilecided August 29, 1945
Mr. Henry M. Hogan, by Mr. Harry S. Benjamin, Jr., of Detroit,
Mich., for the Company.
Maurice Sugar and N. L. Smokier, by Mr. N. L. Smokier, of Detroit,
Mich., and M71r. John J. Dollohan, of Flint, Mich., for the Union.
Mr. William C. Baisinger, Jr., of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF TIIE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by Amalgamated Plant Protection Local
117 (UAW-CIO), herein called the Union, alleging that a question
affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of em-
ployees of General Motors Corporation, Fisher Body Division, at
Grand Blanc, Michigan, herein called the Company, the National
Labor Relations Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon
due notice before Sylvester J. Pheney, Trial Examiner. Said hear-
ing was held at Flint, Michigan, on April 27 and June 7, 1945. The
Company and the Union 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.
At the close of the hearing the Company moved that the Union'--
petition be dismissed. The Trial Examiner referred the ' Company's
motion to the Board. For reasons set forth in Section IV, infra,
the motion is hereby denied. 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.
63 N. L. R. B., No. 97
625
626 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
General Motors Corporation is a Delaware corporation maintaining
its principal business offices at New York City and Detroit, Michigan.
General Motors Corporation functions through several unincorpo-
rated divisions, one of which is the Fisher Body Division. The
Fisher Body Division maintains and operates a plant known as the
Grand Blanc Tank Plant at Grand Blanc, Michigan, at which it is
engaged in war production. The Grand Blanc Tank Plant is tha
only operation of the Company involved in this proceeding. Over 50
percent of the raw materials used by this plant is purchased and
shipped to the plant from points outside the State of Michigan. In
excess of 50 percent of the finished products manufactured at the
Grand Banc Tank Plant is shipped to points outside the State of
Michigan.
The Company admits that at the Grand Blanc Tank Plant it is
engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Rela-
tions Act, and we so find.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
Amalgamated Plant Protection Local 117 (UAW-CIO), affiliated
with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, is a labor organiza-
tion admitting to membership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
Although the Union made no formal request for recognition prior
to filing its petition herein, the Company stated on the record that it
would refuse to grant recognition to the Union as the exclusive bar-
gaining representative of the employees in the alleged appropriate
unit until the Union was certified by the Board.
A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the hear-
ing, indicates that the Union represents a substantial number of em-
ployees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate
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.
1 The Field Examiner reported that the Union submitted 32 authorization cards ; that
30 of the cards bore names of persons listed on the Company ' s pay roll of March 20, 1945,
which contained the names of 61 employees in the appropriate unit, and that the cards
were dated 4 in October, 2 in November , and 12 in December, 1944, and 5 in January and
9 in February 1945.
GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
627
The Union contends that all plant-protection patrolmen employed
by the Company at the Grand Blanc Tank Plant, excluding the clerk,
- the chief of plant-protection, lieutenants, sergeants, and any other
supervisory employees, comprise an appropriate bargaining unit.
The Company moved to dismiss the petition, on the ground that inas-
much as the plant-protection employees whom the Union seeks to
represent are militarized, they may not constitute a unit appropriate
for the purposes of collective bargaining.2
The Company commenced operations at the Grand Blanc Tank Plant
in the spring of 1942. In April 1943 all plant-protection employees
at the plant were enrolled in the Auxiliary Military Police. Each
patrolman or guard wears a uniform on which is insignia indicating
that the wearer is a member of the Auxiliary Military Police. None of
them, however, carry arms. Their duties consist of checking the
identity of all persons and the contents of all vehicles as they enter and
leave the plant premises. They also patrol the plant grounds and
report sabotage, violations of plant rules, fires, and other similar ir-
regularities. They do not exercise any disciplinary authority over the
production and maintenance employees or make recommendations with
respect to discipline.
Although the plant-protection employees are enrolled as civilian
auxiliaries of the military police, the Company retains all the cus-
tomary employer prerogatives with respect to them. Thus, the Com-
pany hires, pays, disciplines, and discharges these employees and exer-
cises control over their wages, hours of employment, and other condi-
tions of employment. The plant patrolmen may quit their employ-
ment with the Company without obtaining permission from the United
States Army and no such employee has ever been subject to a military
court martial. They participate in social security benefits and in the
Company's group insurance plan and the Company withholds a portion
of their wages for income tax purposes. The plant patrolmen also
are covered by the Michigan workmen's compensation act. In view of
these facts, and for reasons stated in prior cases decided by the Board
2 In support of its position, the Company relies on the decision of the United States
Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in N. L. R. B v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corpora-
tion, 146 F (2d) 718 (C C. A. 6), cert. granted, remanded for further consideration, June
4, 1945, 65 S. Ct 1413, wherein that court held that it would not effectuate the policies
of the Act to permit militarized plant-protection employees to bargain collectively, and
on the decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in N. L.
it. B. V. E. C, Atkins and Co. 147 F. (2d) 730 (C. C A. 7), cert. granted, remanded for
further consideration, June 4, 1945, 65 S. Ct. 1413, in which that court held that mili-
tarized plant-protection employees were not employees within the meaning of the Act.
As we have stated on several occasions, the Board does not acquiesce in the doctrines
enunciated in those decisions which have not yet been passed upon finally by the Supreme
Court of the United States. See Matter of Sealed Power Corporation, 61 N L R. B 1639 ;
Matter of National Lead Company, Titanium Division, 62 N. L. R B 107, Matter of
Standard Steel Spring Company, 62 N. L. R B. 660.
602514-46-vol. 63-41
628 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
involving employees similarly situated, we find no merit in the Com-
pany's contention .3
We find that all plant-protection patrolmen employed in the Plant
Protection Department of General Motors Corporation, Fisher Body
Division (Grand Blanc Tank Plant), Grand Blanc, Michigan, exclud-
ing the chief, lieutenants, sergeants, clerk, and other supervisory em-
ployees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or other-
wise 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 DETERMINITION 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 Elec-
tion 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 Relations
Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, as amended, it is hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with General Motors
Corporation, Fisher Body Division (Grand Blanc Tank Plant), at
Grand Blanc, Michigan, 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 Seventh Region, acting in this matter as agent for the
National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Article III, Sections 10
and 11, of said Rules and Regulations, among the employees in the
unit found appropriate in Section IV, above, who were employed dur-
ing the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direc-
tion, including employees who did not work during the 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 any 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 or not
they desire to be represented by Amalgamated Plant Protection Local
117 (UAW-CIO), for the purposes of collective bargaining.
8 See cases cited in footnote 2, supra.