Inland Container Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 12, 1946

66 N.L.R.B. 607 (N.L.R.B. 1946)

In the Matter Of INLAND CONTAINER CORPORATION and PAPER
WORKERS ORGANIZING COMMITTEE, C. I. O.
Case No. 9-R-1988.-Decided March 113, 1946
Messrs. Kurt F. Pantzer and Bartley Fleming, of Indianapolis,
Ind., and George Ladd, of Middletown, Ohio, for the Company.
Mr. Julius Holzberg, of Cincinnati, Ohio, for the C. I. O.
Messrs. S. A. Stephens, of Toledo, Ohio, and William Preusch, of
Middletown, Ohio, for the A. F. of L.
Mr. S. Roy Remar, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by Paper Workers Organizing Com-
mittee, C. I. 0., herein called the C. I. 0., alleging that a question
affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of em-
ployees of Inland Container Corporation, Middletown, Ohio, herein
called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided
for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before James A. Shaw,
Trial Examiner. The hearing was held at Middletown, Ohio, on
January 24, 1946. The Company, the C. I. 0., and Local 317, Inter-
national Brotherhood of Pulp, Sulphite and Paper Mill Workers,
A. F. of L., herein called the A. F. of L., 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. The Trial Examiner's rulings made at the hearing are
free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. All parties
were afforded opportunity to file briefs with the Board. The Trial
Examiner reserved for the Board motions to dismiss filed by the
Company and the Intervenor. The motions are denied for reasons
hereinafter stated.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
66 N. L. R. B., No. 83.
607
608 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Inland Container Corporation is an Indiana corporation, engaged
in the business of manufacturing and selling paper board containers.
It has five plants located in Indianapolis, Indiana; Milwaukee, Wis-
consin; Detroit, Michigan; Evansville, Indiana; and Middletown,
Ohio. The Middletown plant is the only one involved in this pro-
ceeding. The principal raw materials used by the Company are
sulphate, kraft, liner board, chestnut corrugating materials, silicate,
and starch. During the past year, raw materials purchased by the
Company were valued at in excess of $1,000,000, 90 percent of which
came from points outside the State in which the Company's five
plants are located. For the same period, the value of the Company's
finished products was in excess of $1,000,000, approximately 12
percent of which was shipped to points outside the States in which
the plants are located.
The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
Paper Workers Organizing Committee is a labor organization,
affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, admitting
to membership employees of the Company.
Local 317, International Brotherhood of Pulp, Sulphite and Paper
Mill Workers is a labor organization, affiliated with the American
Federation of Labor, admitting to membership employees of the
Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The- Company has refused to grant recognition to the C. I. O.
as the exclusive bargaining representative of its production and
maintenance employees until the C. I. O. has been certified by the
Board in an appropriate unit.
On October 21, 1944, the Company and the A. F. of L. entered
into a written contract which provided that it was to be automatically
renewed on December 14, 1945, in the absence of notice by either
party at least 30 days prior thereto of a desire to terminate the
agreement. On October 27, 1945, the C. I. O. notified the Company
that it represented a majority of its employees, and on November 6,
1945, filed its petition herein. The Company and the A. F. of L.
contend that their contract constitutes a bar to this proceeding. Inas-
INLAND CONTAINER CORPORATION 609
much as the Company received notice of the C. I. O.'s representation
claim before the automatic renewal date of the contract, we find that
such contract does not operate as a bar to a present determination of
representatives.'
A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the hear-
ing, indicates that the C. I. O. represents a substantial number of
employees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.2
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.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
We find, in substantial accord with the agreement of the parties,
that all production and maintenance employees at the Company's
Middletown, Ohio, plant and warehouse excluding office and clerical
employees, the foreman, assistant foreman, and all or any other super-
visory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, disci-
pline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or effec-
tively 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 DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We shall direct that the question concerning representation which
has arisen be resolved by an election by secret ballot among employees
in the appropriate unit who were employed during the pay-roll period
immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Election herein,
subject to 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
1 Matter of E I. duPont de Nemours & Co , 64 N L R B 1517
The Field Examiner reported that the C . I. 0 submitted 159 cards bearing the names
of 108 employees , listed on the Company 's pay roll There are approximately 270
employees in the appropriate unit. The A . F of L . claims an interest in the proceeding
by virtue of its contract.
The Company excepts to the Trial Examiner 's denial of its application for subpoena
duces tecum seeking the production of union books , records, bank accounts , correspond-
ence, contracts , membership cards and membership lists of the C. I. O. and the A F. of L.
As a basis for its application the Company set forth that it sought to establish the
identity and authority of the Unions , and the type and composition of the appropriate
bargaining unit The Company contends that the denial of the application is a violation
of the due process clause of the Constitution of the United States. We find no merit
in this contention The documents sought by the Company are irrelevant and imma-
terial to the issues involved herein. The ruling of the Trial Examiner is hereby
affirmed.
080572---46-40
610 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor Rela-
tions 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 Inland Container
Corporation, Middletown, Ohio, 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 Ninth 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 during the pay-roll period immediately preceding
the date of this Direction, including employees who did not work
during 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 those employees 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 they desire to be represented
by Paper Workers Organizing Committee, affiliated with the Congress
of Industrial Organizations, or by International Brotherhood of Pulp,
Sulphite and Paper Mill Workers, Local 317, affiliated with the
American Federation of Labor, for the purposes of collective bargain-
ing, or by neither.