Kalamazoo Stove and Furnace Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Feb 1, 1946

65 N.L.R.B. 744 (N.L.R.B. 1946)

In the Matter of KALAMAZOO STOVE AND FURNACE COMPANY and
UNITED STEELWORKERS OF AMERICA, C. I. O.
Case No. 7-R-2098.-Decided February 1, 1946
Mr. Louis J. Colombo, Jr., of Detroit, Mich., for the Company.
Mr. Joseph A. Padway, by Mr. Robert A. Wilson, of Washington,
D. C., for the Mounters and the Molders.
Mr. Charles Cowl, of Kalamazoo, Mich., for the Steelworkers.
Mr. Bernard Goldberg, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
ORDER
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by United Steelworkers of America,
C. I. 0., herein called the Steelworkers, alleging that a question affect-
ing commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees'
of Kalamazoo Stove and Furnace Company, Kalamazoo, Michigan,
herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board pro-
vided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before Max Roten-
berg, Trial Examiner. The hearing was held at Kalamazoo, Michigan,
on August 23, 1945. The Company, the Steelworkers, International
Molders and Foundry Workers Union of North America, A. F. of L.,
herein called the Molders, and Stove Mounters International Union,
A. F. of L., herein called the Mounters, 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. At the hearing, the AFL moved to dismiss the petition on the
following grounds : (a) that a unit of draftsmen is inappropriate, and
(b) that the draftsmen are included within the coverage of presently
existing collective bargaining contracts which constitute a bar to this
proceeding. For reasons stated in Section III, infra, the motion to
dismiss is hereby granted, on the basis of the first ground urged. Ac-
cordingly, we find it unnecessary to pass upon the other ground. The
Trial Examiner's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial
' The Molders and the Mounters are sometimes collectively referred to hereinafter as the
AFL.
65 N. L. R B., No. 121
744
KALAMAZOO STOVE AND FURNACE COMPANY 745
error and are hereby affirmed. , All parties were afforded opportunity
to file briefs with the Board.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Kalamazoo Stove and Furnace Company is a Michigan corporation
having its manufacturing plants and principal place of business in
Kalamazoo, Michigan. During 1944 and the early part of 1945, the
Company was principally engaged in manufacturing war materials for
the United States Government. In 1944, the Company purchased
raw materials valued at more than $1,000,000 for use in its manufactur-
ing operations;, of these purchases, approximately 60 percent repre-
sented shipments into the State of Michigan. Most of the finished
products manufactured at the Company's plants were shipped to
points outside the State.
The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
United Steelworkers of America , affiliated with the Congress of
Industrial Organizations , is a labor organization admitting to mem-
bership employees of the Company.
International Molders and Foundry Workers TTnion of North
America and Stove Mounters International Union, both affiliated with
the American Federation of Labor, are labor organizations admitting
to membership employees of the Company.
III. THE ALLEGED APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Steelworkers seeks a unit of draftsmen, excluding supervisors.
The Company and the AFL contend that the draftsmen are included
within the coverage of presently existing contracts pertaining to pro-
duction workers and that a separate unit of draftsmen is inappropriate.
Prior to the war period, all the Company's drafting work was per-
formed by three pattern makers. In 1942, the Company converted
its facilities to the manufacture of war materials. To help in the
design of new wartime products, the Company hired a staff of special-
ized draftsmen, the employees involved in this' proceeding. With the
termination of hostilities, these draftsmen have been assisting in the
development and design of products for the civilian market. However,
the continued employment of most of them appears to be uncertain..
By March 1946, the Company expects to reduce its present drafting
force of eight men by at least 50 percent.
746 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
For a great many years the Mounters'and the Molders have repre-
sented the Company's production workers including the pattern makers
who, before 1942, did the Company's drafting work.2 The status of the
war-created drafting staff under the terms of the Mounters and Molders
contracts is unclear. In view of the antecedent bargaining history for
the employees who did the drafting work and the uncertain tenure of
the present draftsmen, we are of the opinion that it would not effectuate
the policies of the Act to establish the draftsmen in a separate unit.
Accordingly, we find that the proposed unit of draftsmen is
inappropriate.
IV. THE ALLEGED QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
Inasmuch as we have held in Section III, above, that the bargaining
unit sought by the Steelworkers is inappropriate for the purposes of
collective bargaining, we find that no question affecting commerce has
arisen concerning the representation of employees of the Company,
within the meaning of Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations
Act. We shall, therefore, dismiss the petition.
ORDER
Upon the basis of the above findings of fact and the entire record in
the case, the Board hereby orders that the petition for investigation
and certification of representatives of employees of Kalamazoo Stove
and Furnace Company, Kalamazoo, Michigan, filed by United Steel-
workers of America, C. I. 0., be, and it hereby is, dismissed.
2 Two of the pattern makers were represented by the Molders and one by the Mounters.