Jacob Schneider Pattern Works

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Nov 9, 1945

64 N.L.R.B. 787 (N.L.R.B. 1945)

In the Matter Of JACOB SCHNEIDER PATTERN WORKS and PATTERN
MAKERS LEAGUE OF NORTH AMERICA, MILWAUKEE ASSOCIATION,
A. F. OF L.
Case No. 13-R-3099.Decided November 9, 19.15
Mr. Richard H. Tyrrell, of Milwaukee, Wis., for the Company.
Mr. John D. Maher, of Milwaukee, Wis., for the Union.
Mr. A. Sumner Lawrence, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by Pattern Makers League of North
America, Milwaukee Association, A. F. of L., herein called the Union,
alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the
representation of employees of Jacob Schneider Pattern Works, Mil-
waukee, Wisconsin, herein called the Company, the National Labor
Relations Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice
before Robert T. Drake, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at
Milwaukee, Wisconsin on June 25, 1945, and September 12, 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.
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.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Jacob Schneider Pattern Works, an individual enterprise operated
by Jacob Schneider as sole proprietor, is engaged in the city of Mil-
waukee, Wisconsin, in the manufacture of various grades and types of
patterns used in the production of steel and gray iron castings. Dur-
ing the year 1944, the Company purchased raw materials consisting
64 N. L . R B., No. 138.
787
788 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
of lumber and various pattern supplies valued at approximately
$8,000, of which between 5 and 10 percent was obtained from points
outside the State of Wisconsin. During the same period, the Com-
pany manufactured finished patterns and rendered repair services in
connection therewith, of a total value of approximately $50,000, all
of which were sold or rendered to Grede Foundries, Inc., a Wisconsin
corporation, which in earlier Board decisions has been found to be
engaged in interstate commerce with respect to two of its main divi-
sions.,' Of the total products manufactured by Grede Foundries, Inc.,
during the year 1944 and valued at approximately $7,000,000, a sub-
stantial portion having an estimated value of between $87,500 and
$175,000, was produced from patterns supplied by the Company and
thereafter shipped in interstate commerce.
We find, contrary to the contention of the Company, that it is en-
gaged in activities affecting commerce within the meaning of the
National Labor Relations Act.'
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
Pattern Makers League of North America, Milwaukee Association,
affiliated with the American Federation of Labor is a labor organiza-
tion admitting to membership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company has refused to grant recognition to the Union as the
exclusive bargaining representative of the employees until the Union
has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit.
A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the hear-
ing, indicates that the Union represents a substantial number of
employees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.3
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, substantially in agreement with the parties, that all pat-
tern makers, apprentices, and trainees employed by the Company,
' See Matter of Milwaukee Steel Foundry Division, Grede Foundries , Inc., 40 N. L R B.
1008; Matter of Smith Steel Division, Grede Foundries, Inc., 55 N. L. R B. 1015.
2 See Matter of The Superior Pattern Company , et at., 57 N . L. It. B. 1253; Matter of
Standard Pattern Works , 59 N. L . R B. 1075.
3 The Board agent reported that the Union had submitted seven membership cards from
among eight employees in the claimed appropriate unit. Of the cards submitted , one was
undated and the remainder bore dates in March and April 1945.
JACOB SCHNEIDER PATTERN WORKS 789
excluding the handyman and all supervisory employees with authority
to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in
the status of employees, or effectively recommend such action, con-
stitute 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 the em-
ployees in the appropriate unit who were employed during the pay-
roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Election
herein, subject to the limitations and additions set forth in the
Direction .4
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 Jacob Schneider
Pattern Works, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, an election by secret ballot
shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later than sixty (60)
days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and super-
vision of the Regional Director for the Thirteenth 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 Regula-
tions, 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 the said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vaca-
tion or temporarily laid off, and including employees in the armed
forces of the United States who present themselves in person at the
polls,5 but excluding those employees who have since quit or been
discharged for cause and have not been rehired or reinstated prior to
* The request of the Union to be designated on the ballot otherwise than as hereinafter
set forth is referred to the Regional Director to whom the Board has delegated authority
in matters relating to the conduct of the ballot.
s The Company 's request that certain of its employees in the armed services be per-
mitted to vote by mail is denied in accordance with our usual practice . See Matter of
Mine Safety Appliances Co , Gallery Plant , Gallery, Pa ., 55 N. L. R B. 1190 ; Matter of
Consolidation Coal Company, 63 N. L. It. B. 169 . Matter of Thompson Products, Inc.,
63 N. L. R. B. 1495.
790 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
the date of the election, to determine whether or not they desire to be
represented by Pattern Makers League of North America, Milwaukee
Association, A. F. of L., for the purposes of collective bargaining.
CHAIRMAN PAUL M. HERZOG, dissenting :
While concurring in my colleagues' view that this Board has juris-
diction, I question the wisdom of exercising the federal power. This
Company's activities affect interstate commerce so slightly and so
indirectly that it would seem a sounder exercise of discretion, at a
time when the National Labor Relations Board is overburdened with
work, to refer the parties to this representation case to the Employ-
ment Relations Board of the State of Wisconsin.