J.C. Pitman & Sons, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 2, 1950

88 N.L.R.B. 913 (N.L.R.B. 1950)

In the Matter of J. C. PITMAN &-, SONS, INC., EMPLOYER and AMAL-
GAMATED LOCAL 257, INTERNATIONAL UNION OF ELECTRICAL, RADIO
AND MACHINE WORKERS, CIO, PETITIONER
Case No. 1-RC-1317.-Decided March, 2, 1950
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before Thomas H.
Ramsey, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hear-
ing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.'
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the National Labor
Relations Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with
this case to a three-member panel [Chairman Herzog and Members
Houston and Reynolds].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds : 2
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of-the
National Labor Relations Act.
2. The Petitioner is composed of employees of six employers, includ-
ing this Employer, who were formerly members of Local 257, United
Electrical, Radio and Machine WWrorkers of America, herein called
Local 257. At a meeting on November 8, 1949, it was unanimously
voted to disaffiliate from Local 257 and to affiliate with International
Union of Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers, CIO, herein called
the IUE, and to apply for an TUE charter. After issuance of the
charter, the Petitioner, as an affiliate of the IUE, complied with the
filing requirements of the Act, and filed the petition herein.
' I At the hearing , the Petitioner objected to the intervention of United Electrical, Radio
and Machine Workers of America, herein called the Intervenor, on the ground that it had
no contractual interest , inasmuch as Local 257 and not the Intervenor was a signatory to
a contract with the Employer . The Intervenor contends that it has suceeded to the con-
tract rights of Local 257. Because Local 257 had a current contractual interest in this
proceeding , the Intervenor has a sufficient interest to be entitled to intervene , and may
appear on the ballot.
3 The hearing officer referred to the Board the motion of the Intervenor to dismiss the
petition on the ground that a contract between the Employer and Local 257, United Rlee-
trical, Radio and Machine Workers of America constitutes a bar to this proceeding. For
the reasons stated below, this motion is hereby denied.
88 NLRB No. 168.
913
914 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
We find that the Petitioner and the Intervenor are labor organiza-
tions claiming to represent certain employees of the Employer.
3. The Intervenor contends that a collective bargaining agreement
executed by the Employer and Local 257 on July 22, 1949, prior to the
filing of the petition herein, is a bar to this proceeding.3 This con-
tract, however, contains the following union-security provisions :
Article 1, Section 3: Only members of good standing of the
Union shall be employed by the Company. All new employees
hired shall become members of the Union within four (4) weeks
after the date of their employment.
Article 10, Section 1: Shall any valid Federal or State Law or
the general determination of any board or court of competent
jurisdiction having force of law affect any provision of this Agree-
ment, be made to conform to the law or determination as long as
such law or determination shall remain in force, and otherwise the
Agreement shall continue in full force and effect.
No election has ever been conducted by the Board , under Section
9 (e) of the Act, authorizing the Intervenor to execute a union-security
agreement with the Employer. Moreover, the above provisions are
invalid under the statute, even without regard to the absence of a
union-authorization election. Nor are the union-shop provisions of the
contract rendered ineffective by virtue of Article 10, Section 1, quoted
above.4 Accordingly, we find apart from other considerations that the
contract is not a bar to this proceeding.5
We find that a question affecting commerce exists concerning the
representation of employees of the Employer within the meaning of
Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.6
4. We find, in accordance with the agreement of the parties, that all
production and maintenance employees at the Employer's Lynn, Mas-
sachusetts, plant, including the janitor-watchman, but excluding exec-
utives, office and clerical employees, salesmen, outside repairmen, ex-
perimental workers, draftsmen, guards, professional employees, and
8 The petition was filed on December 5, 1949.
4 Hickey Cab Company, 88 NLRB 196; Reading Tube Corporation, 87 NLRB 550; The
Hofmann Packing Co., Inc., 87 NLRB 601; Reading Hardware Corporation, 85 NLRB
610.
5 Penn Paper & Stock Company, 88 NLRB 17; The Hofmann Packing Co ., Inc., 87
NLRB 601; Pacific Gas and Electric Company, 87 NLRB 257. It is immaterial that
the parties have not given effect to this provision of the contract . Hickey Cab Company,
supra; Empire Zinc Division, The New Jersey Zinc Company, 86 NLRB 685 ; Penick & Ford,
Ltd., Inc., 86 NLRB 659 ; Reading Hardware Corporation , supra.
6 In view of our finding that the contract is not a bar to this proceeding because of the
invalid union -security provision , we find it unnecessary to resolve the issue as to whether
or not there ' is a substantial doubt concerning the identity of the labor organization which
represents the employees as alleged by the Petitioner.
J. C. PITMAN & SONS, INC. 915
supervisors, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective
bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION 7
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with the Employer, an election by
secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later than
30 days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and
supervision of the Regional Director for the Region in which this case
was heard, and subject to Sections 203.61 and 203.62 of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations, among the employees in the
unit found appropriate in paragraph numbered 4, above, who were
employed during the payroll period immediately preceding the date
of this Direction of Election, including employees who did not work
during said payroll period because they were ill or on vacation or
temporarily laid off, but excluding those employees who have since
quit or been discharged for cause and have not been rehired or rein-
stated prior to the date of the election, and also excluding employees
on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine whether
they desire to be represented, for purposes of collective bargaining, by
Amalgamated Local 257, International Union of Electrical, Radio
and Machine Workers, CIO, or by United Electrical, Radio and Ma-
chine Workers of America, or by neither.a
7 The record is not clear as to whether Local 257, United Electrical, Radio and Machine
Workers of America is still in existence. If this local is in existence, the Intervenor's
participation in the election directed herein is conditioned upon the full compliance with
Section 9 (f), (g), and (h) of the Act, by Local 257. See Lane Wells Company, 79 , NLRB
252.
Either participant in the election directed herein may, upon its prompt request to, and
approval thereof by, the Regional Director, have its name removed from the ballot.
6 The motion of the Intervenor not to permit the Petitioner to use Local 257 on the ballot
in the election is denied. General Motors Corporation, 88 NLRB 450.
882191-51-59