Grant Storage Batteries Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Sep 17, 1941

35 N.L.R.B. 453 (N.L.R.B. 1941)

In the Matter of GRANT STORAGE BATTERIES COMPANY and UNITED
ELECTRICAL, RADIO & MACHINE WORKERS or AMERICA, LOCAL 1140
Case No. R-2819.-Decided September 17, 1941
Jurisdiction : storage batteries manufacturing industry.
Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question : Com-
pany refused to accord recognition to either of rival organizations until certified
by the Board ; election necessary. '
Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : all production employees exclusive
of those employed in a supervisory capacity, those who have the right to hire
and discharge, office employees, salesmen, outside truck drivers, and chemists ;
agreement as to.
Mr. ,Thomas Venvnwii?, and Mr. Lloyd M. Mac -4 loon, of Minneapolis,
Minn., for the Company.
Mr. Leonard Lagman, and Helstein & Hall, by Mr. Ralph L.
Helstein, of Minneapolis, Minn., for the C. I. O.
Mr. H. E. Leonard and Goldie and Sigal, by Mr. John A. Goldie
and Mr. Samuel I. Sigal, of Minneapolis, Minn., for the I. B. E. W.
Mr. Eugene Purver, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On June 19, 1941, United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of
America, Local 1140, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organ-
izations, herein called the C. I. 0., filed with the Regional Director
for the Eighteenth Region (Minneapolis, Minnesota) a petition alleg-
ing that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the
representation of employees of Grant Storage Batteries Company,
Minneapolis, Minnesota, herein called the Company, and requesting
an investigation and certification of representatives pursuant to Sec-
tion 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein
called the Act. On July 15, 1941, the National Labor Relations Board,
herein called the Board, acting pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the Act,
and Article III, Section 3, of National Labor Relations Board Rules
and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, ordered an investigation and
35 N. L. R. B., No. 101.
453
454 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
authorized the Regional Director to conduct it and to provide for an
appropriate hearing upon due notice.
On July 16, 1941, the Regional Director issued a notice of hearing;
copies of which were duly served upon the Company, the C. I. 0., and
upon International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local Union
No. B-1034, herein called the I. B. E. W.,' a labor organization claim
ing to represent employees directly affected by the investigation. Pur-
suant to notice a hearing was held on July 25 and 30, 1941, at
Minneapolis, Minnesota, before Guy Farmer, the Trial Examiner duly
designated by the Chief Trial Examiner. The Company, the C. I. O.,
and the I. B. E. W. were represented and participated in the hearing.
Full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses
and to introduce evidence bearing on the issues was afforded all
parties. During the course of the hearing the Trial Examiner made
various 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 prejudicial errors were committed. The rulings are
hereby affirmed. The I. B. E. W. on August 15, 1941 and the C. I. O.
on August 18, 1941, respectively, filed briefs which the Board has
considered.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Grant Storage Batteries Company, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Is a
Delaware corporation, licensed to do business in Minnesota, and has
its office and principal place of business in Minneapolis, Minnesota,
where it is engaged in the processing and construction of storage
batteries and light cells. During 1940, the Company purchased and
used raw materials valued at $384,395.31, approximately 85 per cent
of which were acquired by the Company from points outside the
State of Minnesota. During the same period'the Company produced
148,994 batteries and 9,200 farm light cells valued at approximately
$685,000. Of these products approximately 60 per cent were sold
and distributed to persons in points outside the State of Minnesota.
II. THE LABOR ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America, Local
1140, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, is
i At the hearing Local B-160 , International Brotherhood of Electiical Workers, Battery
Branch , a labor organization which had amalgamated with Local B-1034, made a motion
to amend the designation of the mtervenoi to read Local B -160, International Brotherhood
of Electrical workers, A. F. of L, -Battery Branch The Trial Examiner granted this
motion
GRANT STORAGE BATTERIES COMPANY 455
.a labor organization admitting to membership employees of the
Company.
Local B-160, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers,
Battery Branch, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor,
is a labor organization admitting to membership employees of the
Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company has had contracts with the I. B. E. W. since 1936.
The last such contract, which recognized the I. B. E. W. as "sole and
exclusive collective bargaining agent," was entered into on September
26, 1940, and provides that it is to be in force until July 15, 1941, "and
thereafter unless written notice is given by either party hereto to the,
other within 30 days prior to the expiration date hereof, requesting
that the agreement be amended or cancelled. If amendment is desired
the nature of same shall be contained in such notice." On June 13,
1941, the C. I. O. notified the Company that it represented a majority
.of the employees and requested a bargaining conference. On June 14,
1941, the I. B. E. W. notified the Company that it wished to amend its
-contract in respect to "Union Shop, higher wages, more vacations,
better working conditions, and others." Thereafter the Company's
labor relations counsel informed both the C. I. O. and the I. B. E. W.
that the Company would not negotiate with either "until there was a
determination of employee representation" inasmuch as both labor
organizations were claiming to represent the same employees. The
I. B. E. W. claims that, in spite of the foregoing notice of desire to
amend, the contract is still in force and that the parties are operating
pursuant to its provisions pending the signing of a new contract. It
contends, therefore, that the contract thus allegedly extended is a bar
to the present proceeding and that no question concerning representa-
tion has arisen. , On the other hand the C. I. O. argues that the con-
tract relied upon by the I. B. E. W. is no bar to a determination of
.representatives, because, by its terms, it was terminated when the
I. B. E. W. notified the Company of its desire to amend. The Com-
pany took no position with respect to the alleged extension of the
contract. It is unnecessary to pass on the validity of the contention'
since the extension, if made, occurred after notice of the C. I. O.'s claim
of majority representation.2 We find that the contract is no bar to a
determination of representatives.
A report prepared by the 'Regional Director and introduced into
evidence at the hearing shows that the C. I. O. represents a substantial
number of employees within the unit found herein to be appropriate.'
2 See Matter of Phelps Dodge Copper Products Corporation , Habirshaw Cable and Wire
Divisson and United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America , 0 I. 0 , 27 N. L R. B.
729.
3 The report of the Regional Director shows that the C. I 0. submitted 32 application-
for-membership authorization cards, all bearing apparently genuine signatures and all
456 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
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 requestion 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.
V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
At the hearing the parties agreed and we find that all production
employees exclusive of those employed in a supervisory capacity, those
who have the right to hire and discharge, office employees, salesmen,
outside truck drivers, and chemists, employed by the Company in its
plant at 2600 North Second Street in Minneapolis, Minnesota, consti-
tute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining.4 We
further find that said unit 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.
VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We find that the question which has arisen concerning the repre-
sentation of the employees of the Company can best be resolved by an
election by secret ballot. At the hearing the parties agreed that "all
persons on the pay roll of the Company who have obtained seniority
by reason of 66 days of work as of the pay roll immediately preceding
the date of the Direction of Election and who fall within the appro-
priate bargaining unit, . . . shall be eligible to vote." We perceive
no reason for departing from the agreement of the parties; accord-
ingly, we shall direct that the employees in the appropriate unit who
were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the
date of the Direction of-Election herein, and who have obtained senior-
ity by reason of 66 days of work as of the said pay-roll period, subject
to such limitations and additions as are hereinafter set forth in the
Direction, shall be eligible to vote.
dated between June 9 and June 12, 1941 . Thirty of the signatures aie of persons whose
names appear on the Company 's pay roll of June 26 , 1941. The I . B ,E. W. did not submit
any evidence of membership in support of its claim to represent a majority of the employees
within the unit but submitted a collective bargaining agreement between it and the Com-
pany and rdlies upon such agreement as proof of its interest in this proceeding . There are
approximately 62 employees in the unit hereinafter found to be appropriate.
4 The parties further agreed that working foremen "shall not be considered as supervisory
employees." Working foremen shall, therefore , be deemed included in the unit.
GRANT STORAGE BATTERIES COMPANY 457
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 Grant Storage Batteries Company, Minne-
apolis, Minnesota, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section
2 (6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act.
2. All production employees exclusive of those employed in a super-
visory capacity, those who have the right to hire and discharge, office
employees, salesmen, outside truck drivers, and chemists, employed by
the Company in its plant at 2600 North Second Street, Minneapolis,
Minnesota, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective
bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the National' Labor
Relations Act.
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 8, of National Labor Relations
Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, it is hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation authorized by the Board
to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining
with Grant Storage Batteries Company, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 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 of Elec-
tion, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for
the Eighteenth 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 all production employees employed by
the Company in,its plant at 2600 North Second Street, Minneapolis,
Minnesota, during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date
of this Direction of Election and who have obtained seniority by reason
of 66 days of work as of the said pay-roll period, including employees
who did not work during said 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 those employed in a
supervisory capacity, those who have the right to hire and discharge,
office employees, salesmen, outside truck drivers, and chemists, and
those who have since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine
whether they desire to be represented for the purposes of collective
bargaining by United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America,
Local 1140, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations,
or by Local B-160, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers,
Battery Branch, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, or
by neither.