Kropp Forge Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

May 16, 1947

73 N.L.R.B. 1148 (N.L.R.B. 1947)

In the Matter of KROPP FORGE COMPANY, EMPLOYER and INTERNA-
TIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF BLACKSMITHS, DROP FORGERS AND HELPERS
(AFL), PETITIONER
Case No. 13-R-3876.-Decided May 16, 1947
Mr. Maurice Perlin, of Chicago , Ill., for the Employer.
Messrs. A . J. Eberhardy and James F. Kelly, of Chicago, Ill., for the
Petitioner.
Miss Eleanor Schwartzbach , of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon an amended petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held
at Chicago, Illinois, on November 29, 1946, before Irwin A. Peterson,
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
I. THE BUSINESS OF TIIE EMPLOYER
Kropp Forge Company, an Illinois corporation, is engaged in the
manufacture of steel forgings, at Chicago, Illinois. The Employer's
annual purchases of raw materials, consisting principally of steel,
amount to more than $1,500,000, of which approximately 50 percent is
shipped to its plant from points outside the State of Illinois. The
Employer's annual sales of finished products are valued in excess of
$4,000,000, of which approximately 30 percent is shipped to points
outside the State of Illinois.
The Employer admits and we find that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
73 N. L. R. B., No. 198.
1148
KROPP FORGE COMPANY 1149
H. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with American
Federation of Labor, 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.
The Employer alleges that a contract between the Employer and
the Employees Association of the Kropp Forge Company constitutes a
bar to this proceeding. We find no merit in this contention. The
Board found that the contracting labor organization is company
dominated and ordered that the Employer disestablish the same and
cease to give effect to any and all contracts with it.' Under these
circumstances, the contract constitutes no bar to a determination of
representatives at this time.2
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 Petitioner seeks a unit of all employees in the flat die depart-
ment, excluding maintenance, clerical, and supervisory employees.
The Employer contends that the unit should be determined on a plant-
wide basis.
The Employer's plant has about 10 operating departments, among
which is the flat die department. Employed in the flat die department
are hammer smiths, hammer drivers, tool men, hookers, manipulator
operators, heaters, and heater helpers. Most of these employees are
highly skilled, and require about 6 months' training to qualify properly
for their work. Although the various departments have certain
functional interrelations and are subject to over-all management
policies, each is a separate division with its own supervisory staff 3
Notwithstanding a limited amount of temporary interchange of em-
ployees between the flat die department and the drop die department,4
the great majority of the employees of each department normally re-
main in the department to which they are regularly assigned.
1-fatter of Kropp Forge Company, 68 N. L. R B 617.
.2 Matter of Baltimore Transit Company , 59 N. L. R. B. 159; Matter of Standard Oil
Company of California, 63 N. L. R. B. 471; Matter of Neptune Meter Company, 67
N. L. R. B. 949
3 The employees in the flat die department are responsible only to the supervisor of the
flat die department, who has no authority over employees in other departments.
4 Heateis and heater helpers in the flat die department and the drop die department
sometimes interchange as a result of a temporary shortage of one of the operations. The
hammer smith , hammer drivers , and drop die inspectors cannot interchange because of the
nature of their work.
1150 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
The Petitioner attempted to organize all plant production and
maintenance employees.5 This attempt, however, proved unsuccessful,
and effective organization was limited to the employees in the flat die
department. The record discloses that other employees in the plant
bargain with the Employer in departmental units e In view of the
circumstances described above, particularly the history of bargaining
on a departmental basis, we are of the opinion that employees of the flat
die department alone may constitute a unit appropriate for the purpose
of collective bargaining.
We find that all employees in the Employer's flat die department,
excluding maintenance, clerical, 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, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective
bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
DIRECTION QF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with Kropp Forge Company, Chi-
cago, Illinois, 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 Di-
rector for the Thirteenth 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 Regula-
tions-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 on reinstated
prior to the date of the election, to determine whether or not they
desire to be represented by International Brotherhood of Blacksmiths,
Drop Forgers and Helpers (AFL), for the purposes of collective
bargaining.
MR. JAMES J. REYNOLDS, JR., took no part in the consideration of the
above Decision and Direction of Election.
5 The Employer's contention that the fact that the Petitioner had previously requested
a plant-wide unit of all production and maintenance employees is determinative of the
unit, is without merit.
U The Employer now has separate contracts with three unions : International Die Sinkers
Conference, International Operating Engineers , A. F. of L., and a trucking association.