Hart & Cooley Manufacturing Cob.Download PDFNational Labor Relations Board - Board DecisionsApr 12, 194130 N.L.R.B. 1119 (N.L.R.B. 1941) Copy Citation In the Matter of HART & COOLEY MANUFACTURING CO., A CORPORATION and INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS, LODGE #1418 (A. F. OF L.) -i Case" No. R-2,016. -Decided April 10, 1941 Jurisdiction : air heating 'and air conditioning register and grille manufactur- ing industry Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question : Com- pany refused to accord union recognition ; current pay-roll date ordered despite contrary stipulation of parties ; election necessary. Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : all production employees, including employees of the large and small press room , special bench, shear and steel han- dling, spot and are welding , assembly , shipping,,receiving, plain steel storage, plate and polish, spray and finish ,' and toolroom departments, and substitute leaders, but excluding employees of the boiler room, factory office, drafting room, and maintenance departments, clerical employees, superintendents, foremen, assist- ant foremen, and leaders devoting more than half their time to supervisory functions. Proposed partial industrial unit modified where some employees petitioner sought to exclude did work similar to that of employees included in the unit, others were eligible for membership in petitioner, and no other labor organi- zation had made any effort to organize employees whom petitioner claimed were ineligible because they were within the jurisdiction of such other labor organizations. Practice and Procedure : denial of petition to reopen record and. intervene filed after close of hearing by a labor organization not in existence at time of hearing ; Trial Examiner's ruling permitting an organization alleged by the petitioner to be employer-dominated to intervene overruled following disposal of charges by Company's agreeing to the organizations disestablishment ; petitioner granted 5 days within which to withdraw petition where unit found appropriate by the Board is at variance with that requested. Mr. Julius H. Amberg and Mr. Henry I. Stimson, of Holland, Mich., for the Company. Mr. L. 0. Thomas, of Battle Creek, Mich., and Mr. Paul R. Hutch- ings, of Washington, D. C., for the I. A. M. Mr. Clarence A. Lokker, of Holland, Mich., for the Committee and the Association. Mr. William T. Little, of counsel to the Board. '30 N. L. R. B., No. 155. , 1119 1120 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD DECISION AND ,DIRECTION OF ELECTION - STATEMENT OF' THE' CASE On August 5, 1940, International Association of Machinists, Lodge #$1418, herein called the I . A. M., filed ''with' the Regional Director, ,for the Seventh Region ( Detroit , Michigan ) a petition alleging. that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the represents-' tion of employees of Hart & Cooley Manufacturing Co., Holland, Michigan , herein called the Company , and requesting: an investi- gation and certification of representatives pursuant td 'Section 9' (c) of the National Labor , Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein 'called the Act. On , November 27 1940' the, National , Labor ,'Relations Board herein called the Board, acting pursuant to , Seetion 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 authorized the Regional Director to'conduct it and to provide ' for an appropriate hearing upon due, notice . On December 9, 1, 940, the Regional Director' issued a notice of, hearing ,. copies of which were duly served upon the Company , the L ' A:. M., and the Grievance Committee , herein called the Committee , a'labor ' organization claim- ing to represent employees directly affected'by the investigation. Pursuant to, notice," a hearing was held on December 17, 1940, before Oscar Grossman, 'the Trial Examiner duly, designated by the Chief Trial Examiner: ' At'.the hearing the Trial Examiner rgranted, • over the objection of the 'I. A. M.,1 the , Committee's motion to intervene. The Company and the"Committee were represented by counsel and the I. A. M. by its official representative, and,alf .participated.in tlie'hear- ing. Full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses , and, to , introduce , evidence bearing • on, the\ issues was af- forded all parties. During the hearing the Trial-Examiner overruled the, motion Hof the, I . i A. M. for a continuance ' of the hearing until the charges previously filed were diposed of. ' During , the course of ,thei hearing the,Trial .Examiner made ' several 'rulings on other ,motions,and- on objections to the admission of evidence . The Board - has"reviewed?' the rulings of the Tria 'l' Examiiier,and finds that . Io'p'rejudicial errors were committed . Except as indicated below, the„rulings are . hereby affirmed., , - - 1 On December 16, 1940, the I. A. M. had filed with the Regional Director charges that the Company had dominated and interfered with the formation and administration of the Committee in violation of Section 8 (1) and (2) of the Act. HART & C'a'O'LEY MANUFACTURING CO: 1121 Subsequent to the hearing, the LA. M. filed a brief with the Board alleging, inter alia, that the Trial ' Examiner erred in "granting the, Committee's motion to intervene and denying the I. A. M.'s motion to postpone the hearing pending the disposition of the charges previously filed.2 , The I. A. M. further requested that the Board defer decision in the, instant proceeding -pending the disposition of said charges. The Regional Director has reported that the Company has agreed to disestablish the Committee as a collective bargaining representative of any' of its employees and to post appropriate notices to that effect and that consequently he has closed the case arising from the charges filed by the I. A. W. Since the charges filed by the I. A. M. have thus been disposed of, we shall overrule the Trial Examiner and deny the Committee's motion to intervene and we shall not consider the Committee's 'contentions with respect to the issues herein.3' Subsequent to the hearing, a labor organization known as Hart & Cooley Factory Employees Association; herein called the Association, in a petition dated March 7, 1941, alleged that it had been organized subsequent to the hearing and petitioned that the' record be reopened and that it be permitted to -intervene in this proceeding: To reopen the record upon the appearance of each succeeding labor organization in the Company's plant would only serve to protract these proceedings interminably. The I. A. M. has been active among the Company's em- ployees for,over a year. The members of the Association had shown no, interest in organizing until after the I., A. M. had petitioned for" certification and • a hearing had,been held. We,,shall deny the Association's Petition 4 Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following FINDINGS OF -FACT 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY Hart & Cooley Manufacturing Co., a Delaware corporation having its principal office and place of business of Holland, Michigan, is engaged in,the manufacture, sale, and distribution of air heating and air conditioning l,registers 'and grilles. „During 1940, the Company purchased raw materials valued in,excess of $573,000, 63 per cent of which were received from sources outside the State of Michigan. During the same period the Company manufactured products , vahied in excess of $1,800,000, 7,6 per cent of which were shipped to points 2 The charges filed by the I. A M. have been disposed of' We have examined the'record and do not believe that the rights of the I. A. M have been in any manner prejudiced. See Matter of Gutman and Company, Incorporated and Leather Workers Union, Local No. 43, of the International Pur & Leather Workers Union of the United States and Can- ada, afliated with 'the C I. 0., 30 N L. 'R B' 11. ' ' See Matter of Pennsylvania Greyhound Lines'and The Brotherhood of Railroad Train- men, 3 N. L. R. B. 622, 649. "' "`' I' " 1 ! 11 11 1 " " 1122 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD outside the, State 'of Michigan. The Company admits that it is en- gaged. in interstate commerce; within the meaning of the, Act. II. THE ORGANIZATION. INVOLVED International Association of Machinists, Lodge-#1418, is a labor organization affiliated with the American Federation of Labor; admit- tih,g'to membership employees of the Company. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION In July 1940,, the I. A. M. requested the Company to recognize it as the exclusive representative of its employees in an alleged appropri- ate unit. The Company questioned the I. A. M.'s majority and the appropriateness,of the unit proposed by the I. A., M., and refused to grant the I. A. M. exclusive recognition. A statement prepared by the Regional Director and introduced in evidence shows that the I. A. M. represents a substantial, number of employees in the unit found below to be appropriate.' 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', occilrring 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 com- merce and the free flow of commerce. V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT In its petition the I. A. M. proposes as an appropriate bargaining unit all employees in the production departments of the Company who,are eligible for membership in the I. A. M., excluding super- visory, engineering, clerical, and maintenance employees. The Company's plant is divided in the following departments : large press room, small press room, special bench, boiler room, draft- ing room, facto^^y office, toolroom, and the shear and steel handling, spot welding, are welding, assembly, shipping, receiving, plate and polish, spray and finish; plain steel storage and maintenance depart- ments. 5 The Regional Director ' s report shows that 86 of the approximately 210 employees on the August 5, 1940 , pay roll who were in the unit the I. A. M: claimed to be_appropriate had signed authorization cards or membership applications for the I. A. M. i HART & COO'LEY MANUFACTURING CO. 1123 The Company and the I. A. M. agreed upon the inclusion in the unit of the employees in the large and small press room, special bench,, shear, and steel handling, spot and, are welding, assembly, shipping, and receiving departments, and the exclusion from the unit of em- ployees in the boiler room, factory office, and drafting room, and clerical employees, superintendents, foremen, assistant foremen, and leaders devoting more than half their time to supervisory duties. We see no reason to depart from the desires of the parties. The L'A. M. seeks to exclude from and the Company to include in the unit the employees in the plain steel storage, plate and polish, spray and finish, maintenance, and toolroom departments. The plain steel storage department is a mid-production storage facility. The employees in this department truck semi-finished prod- ucts from other production departments, store them- until needed for further production work, and then deliver them to the proper department. We see no difference between the function of the em- ployees in this department and that of the- employees of the shear and steel handling and shipping departments where, among other things, the employees store raw materials and finished products, re- spectively, and truck them to and from the common carrier. All three departments employ truckers and helpers. The I. A. M. agreed to the inclusion of the shear and steel handling and shipping depart- ments in the unit. In view of the similarity of the function of the plain steel storage department to other departments • included in the unit and in view of the similarity of the duties of its employees to those of other employees included in the unit, we shall include the employees of the plain steel storage department in the unit. The I. A. M. seeks to exclude the employees of the plate and polish, and spray and finish departments on the ground that they are not eligible for membership in the I. A. M., but are within the jurisdic- tion of other labor, organizations affiliated with the American Federa- tion of Labor. There was no showing that any attempt had been made by such other labor organizations to organize these employees or that the other organizations were otherwise available to these employees should they desire membership. Under such circum- stances, to exclude these employees from the unit would deprive them of the benefits of collective bargaining. The unit proposed by the I. A. M. is a broad industrial one, taking in all types of produc- tion employees and in view of that- fact, we see no reason why it should not include the plate and polish and spray and finish depart- ment employees as well. The I. A. M. would exclude the employees of the toolroom, al- though the tool and die makers employed therein are eligible for membership in the I. A. M. , The I. A. M. claims that they are not 440135-42-Vol. 30--72 I 1124 DECISIONS OF, NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD production workers. , They would, however, seem to be intimately connected with production,. and that their interests are not dissimilar from those of the production employees is attested by the fact. that the I. A. M. admits both ,to membership. We shall' accordingly in- clude the toolroom' employees in,the unit. The ,mainteiianaoe' depart- ment employs watchmen, laborers, sweepers, carpenters; an oiler, janitor, electrician, and steam fitter, whom the I. A. M. claims'should be excluded from the unit. The Company agrees only to the exclu= Sion of the watchmen: The unit proposed by the I. A. M.'is a pro- duction unit and we shall exclude the maintenance employees from the unit in accordance'with our .past practice in such cases.°, , As noted above the parties agreed that leaders should be excluded from the unit if they devoted more than half their time to supervisory functions. In addition to leaders, the Company employs a number of substitute leaders who replace the leaders when they are ill or on vacation, but otherwise perform the work of ordinary, production employees. In the case of the substitute leaders the parties stipu- lated that those substitute leaders who were replacing leaders' on August 5, 1940, and in such capacity were devoting more than half their time to 'supervisory: functions should be excluded from the unit. We have accepted the stipulation of the parties as to leaders. How- ever in view of the fact that the substitute leaders' status as leaders is only of a temporary nature,. their interests would appear to be more common with those of the - ordinary , production, employees, than, the supervisors and we shall accordingly include them in,the,unit. The I. A. M. asks that two employees` of the 'receiving department,,who devote half their time to clerical duties and a, bill of lading clerk in the shipping department'who devotes all his time to clerical work be, excluded from the unit. In view of the amount of time these ,employees 'devote to clerical pursuits, we shall. exclude them from the unit,along with other clerical employees. We find that all -production employees of the Company, including employees of the large and small press room, special-bench, shear and steel handling, "spot and arc welding, assembly, shipping, receiving, plain steel storage, plate and polish, spray and finish, and toolroom departments, and substitute, leaders, but excluding employees of the boiler room, factory' office, drafting room, and maintenance depart- me,nts, clerical employees, superintendents, foremen,, assistant fore- men, and leaders devoting more than half their time to supervisory, functions, constitute a ,unit appropriate for, the purposes of collec- tive bargaining and that such 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. eMatter of Cuyaga Linen & Cotton Mrolls and Tea'tile Workere Organizing . Committee, 11 N. L . R. B. 1. ' A HART &^COODEY MANUFACTURING CO. VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES ' 1125 We find that the - question concerning representation, which has arisen can best be resolved by an election by secret ballot. The parties agreed at the hearing that in the event the Board directed an, election, eligibility to vote should be determined by the Company's pay roll of August 5, 1940. We see no reason, however, for not adopting a more current eligibility. date. We find that the,employ- ees of',the Company eligible to vote in- the election shall be those in the appropriate unit whose names appear on the Company's pay roll immediately preceding the date of the Direction of 'Election, herein, subject to such limitations and additions as are set forth in the Direction: Since the Company has agreed to disestablish the Com- mittee we shall not place it on the ballot. Inasmuch as the unit found to be appropriate is at variance with that requested by the I. A. M., the I. A. M. is hereby given.leaye to withdraw its petition, if it should so desire, by filing a written ap- plication to that effect with the Regional Director within five (5) days after the date of this Decision and Direction of Election.,. 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 lids' arisen 'concerning the 'repre- sentation of employees of Hart & Cooley Manufacturing Co.', Holland, Michigan, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section•'2 (6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act. 2. All production employees of the Company, including employ- ees of the large and small press room, special bench, shear and steel handling, spot and are welding, assembly, shipping, receiving, plain steel storage, plate and polish, spray and finish, and toolroom_ de- partments, and substitute leaders, but excluding employees of the ,boiler room, factory office, drafting room, and maintenance depart- ments, clerical employee's, superintendents, foremen, assistant fore- men, and leaders devoting more than half their time to supervisory functions, 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 Re- lations Act, 49 Stat. 449, and pursuant to Article III, Section 8, of 1126 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD 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 bargain- ing with Hart & Cooley Manufacturing Co., Holland; 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, Section 9, of said Rules and Regulations, among all production employees employed by the Company during the pay-roll period next preceding the date of this Direction of Election, including employees of the large and small press room, special bench, shear and steel handling, spot and are welding, assembly, shipping, receiving, plain steel storage, plate and polish, spray and finish, and toolroom departments, substitute leaders, employees who did not work during such pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation, in the active military service or training of the United States, or temporarily laid off, but excluding employees of the boiler room, factory office,- drafting room, and maintenance departments, clerical employees, superintendents, fore- men, assistant foremen, and leaders devoting more than half their time to supervisory functions, and employees who have since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whether or not they.desire to be represented by International Association of Machinists, Lodge #1418, for the purposes of collective bargaining. 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