Kidder Press Co., Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jul 11, 1947

74 N.L.R.B. 503 (N.L.R.B. 1947)

In the Matter of KIDDER PRESS COMPANY, INC., EMPLOYER and INTER-
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS, PETITIONER
Case No.1-R-3748.Decided July 11, 19417
Hughes d Burns, by 11r. Stanley 11. Burns, of Dover, N. H., for the
Employer.
Mr. Harold F. Reardon, of Boston, Mass., for the Petitioner.
Miss Frances Steyer, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed,' hearing in this case was held at Dover,
New Hampshire , on May 26, 1947, before Thomas H. Ramsey, hearing
officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free
from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations
Board makes the following :
FINDINGS of FACT
1. TIIE BUSINESS OF THE EIIP LOYER
Kidder Press Company, Inc., it Delaware corporation, is engaged
in the manufacture of paper and printing presses, with offices at To-
ronto, Canada, and Dover, New Hampshire, and plants at Dover, New
Hampshire. The instant petition concerns only the Employer's
Broadway plant at Dover, New Hampshire. Approximately 70 per-
cent of the raw materials from the plant, which amount in value an-
nually to more than $250,000, is shipped to the Employer's Broadway
plant from points outside New Hampshire. Products finished at this
plant amount in value annually to approximately $700,000, of which
70 percent is shipped to points outside New Hampshire.
1 The petition and other foimal papers were amended at the hearing to show the correct
name of the Employer.
74 N L. It B, No 91
503
504 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
The Employer admits and we find that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
11. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
The Petitioner is an unaffiliated labor organization, claiming to
represent employees of the Employer.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Employer refuses to recognize the Petitioner as the. exclusive
bargaining representative of employees of the Employer until the
Petitioner has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit.
We find that a question affecting commerce. has arisen concerning
the representation of employees of the Employer within the meaning
of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The parties agree that the following classifications should be in-
cluded in any unit found appropriate by the Board: all production and
maintenance employees at the Employer's Broadway plant, excluding
office and office clerical employees, pattern makers, foundry workers,
executives, foremen, and other supervisory employees. The Employer
would include, and the Petitioner would exclude, drafting and engi-
neering department employees.
Drafting and engineering department employees, either college or
specially trained men, work under separate supervision in a drawing
room apart from the Employer's other employees, preparing and
formulating the work to be produced by the production department.
They are engaged in technical work preliminary to production. We
shall exclude drafting and engineering department employees from
the bargaining unit.2
We find that all production and maintenance employees at the Em-
ployer's Broadway plant, excluding office and office clerical employees,
pattern makers, foundry workers, drafting and engineering depart-
ment employees, executives, foremen, and all other supervisory em-
ployees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or
otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or effectively
recommend such action, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes
of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the
Act.
2 Matter of Bear Manufacturing Company , 63 N. L R. B 322, 324
KIDDER PRESS COMPANY, IN C. 505
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with Kidder Press Company, Inc.,
Dover, New Hampshire, 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 First Region, acting in this matter as agent for the
National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Sections 203.55 and
203.56, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-
Series 4, 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 or not they desire to be represented by
International Association of Machinists, for the purposes of collective
bargaining.