Langs Plating and Manufacturing Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Nov 27, 1946

71 N.L.R.B. 884 (N.L.R.B. 1946)

In the Matter of LANGS PLATING AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY,
EMPLOYER and INTERNATIONAL UNION OF MINE, MILL AND SMELTER
WORKERS, CIO , PETITIONER
Case No. 7-R-2362.-Decided November 27, 1946
Mr. J. F. Langs, of Detroit, Mich., for the Employer.
Mr. Neil McCormick, of Grand Rapids, Mich., for the Petitioner.
Mr. Frederick G. Palliaer, of Detroit, Mich., for the Intervenor.
Mr. Warren H. Leland, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Detroit,
Michigan, on July 22 and 25,1946, before Harry N. Casselman, 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 THE EMPLOYER
Langs Plating and Manufacturing Company, a Michigan corpora-
tion with its principal office and place of business in Detroit, Michigan,
is engaged in the business of electro-plating. During the period from
May 28, 1946, to July 22, 1946, the Employer purchased raw materials,
consisting of plating, polishing materials, plating racks, and chemi-
cals, valued at approximately $12,000, of which about 50 percent was
received from points outside the State of Michigan. During the same
period the Employer completed electro-plating work valued at ap-
proximately $10,000, of which approximately 70 percent was com-
pleted for shipment to points outside the State of Michigan. At
present the Employer has on hand orders for electro-plating work
valued in excess of $100,000, 90 percent of which is destined for ship-
ment to points outside the State of Michigan.
71 N. L. R. B., No. 143.
884
LANGS PLATING AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY 885
The Employer admits, and we find, that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress
of Industrial Organizations, claiming to represent employees of the
Employer.
Local Union No. 1, Metal Polishers, Buffers, Platers and Helpers
International Union, herein called the Intervenor, is a labor organi-
zation affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, claiming to
represent employees of the Employer.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
Midwest Plating Company, herein called Midwest, was originally
organized as a partnership in July 1945 and was shortly thereafter
incorporated in the State of Michigan. In November 1945, the Inter-
venor notified Midwest that it claimed to represent certain of Mid-
west's employees. Approximately 2 weeks later Midwest closed down.
The Intervenor thereupon filed an unfair labor practice charge against
Midwest, alleging violations of Sections 8 (1), (3) and (5) of the Act.'
Investigation by a Board agent revealed that Midwest was on the
verge of insolvency. Thereafter, Midwest, the Intervenor, and the
Board entered into a settlement agreement on January 14, 1946,
wherein Midwest agreed, among other things, to bargain with the
Intervenor as the exclusive agent of certain of its employees. The
unfair labor practice case was closed on March 20, 1946.
Midwest resumed operations after the execution of the settlement
agreement, but continued to lose money. Between January 1946, and
March 28, 1946, negotiations took place for the execution of a trust
mortgage indenture between Henry J. Zinger, as trustee for the
Detroit Association of Credit Men, and officers of Midwest. On
March 28, 1946, in order to avoid imminent bankruptcy, Midwest
executed a voluntary trust mortgage indenture with Henry J. Zinger,
Trustee. The trust agreement placed complete control of the business
in the hands of the Trustee. All creditors were notified of the
arrangement, and the Trustee immediately took possession of Mid-
west's assets and attempted to operate its business.
Between March 15, 1946, and April 3, 1946, the Intervenor nego-
tiated with Clarence Wimmer and Adolphas Chapman, president and
vice president, respectively, of Midwest, for a collective bargaining
agreement.' On April 3, 1946, the Intervenor, and Wimmer and
' Case No 7-C-1504
2 After March 28, 1946, Chapman was retained by the Trustee as foreman of plating
operations Wimmer, however, was not retained by the Trustee after that date.
886 DECISIONS Or NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Chapman, on behalf of Midwest, entered into a 1 -year , closed-shop
collective bargaining agreement , which provides for a check-off of
clues upon written authorization by any emp] oyees.3
After April 24, 1946, the Trustee ceased to operate Midwest because
it had continued to operate at a loss . On May 23, 1946, the Trustee
foreclosed the trust mortgage indenture and sold all materials'and
machinery of Midwest , excluding accounts receivable , bank accounts,
and certain materials in process , to Charles F. Langs , an individual.
Midwest continued in existence and the Trustee still retains some of
its assets for liquidation . On May 28, 1946 , Charles F. Langs trans-
ferred the assets he had purchased to Langs Plating and Manu-
facturing Company , the Employer in this case. Of about 19 persons
employed by Midwest, the Employer retained only 2 for its own
operations .4 None of Midwest's managerial staff was retained by the
Employer. On May 29, 1946, the Intervenor requested "continued
enforcement " of the 1946 contract by the Employer . On June 8, 1946,
the Petitioner advanced a rival claim to representation , and on June
14, 1946, filed the petition in this proceeding.
The Intervenor raises the contract of April 3 , 1946, as a bar to a
current determination of representatives . The Employer contends,
however, that this contract is not binding upon it, having been signed
by persons without authority to contract for the Trustee. And it
argues that , in any event , it purchased only specific assests of Mid-
,vest and at the time the sale was consummated it had had no prior
knowledge of the existence of a collective bargaining agreement.
It is questionable whether the parties who signed the 1946 agree-
ment on behalf of the Trustee were his duly authorized agents.
Moreover , there is at least serious doubt, considering the complete
change in ownership and personnel alone, that the contract can be
regarded as now binding the Employer. Under all the circumstances,
we are not persuaded that the 1946 contract is a bar to an immediate
election.
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
In accordance with the agreement of the parties, we find that all
production and maintenance employees of the Employer's Detroit,
, On April 15, 1946, the Trustee noticed that $51 had been deducted by the pay-roll
stenographer from the wages of employees In response to a query'concerning the deduc-
tion, the stenographer informed the Trustee that the employees concerned had signed
authorizations for the check-off The Trustee thereupon paid the Intervenor the $51,
but made no further dues deductions.
4 These two persons were rank and file workers.
LANGS PLATING AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY 887
Michigan, plant, excluding office employees, and all supervisory em-
ployees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or
otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or effectively rec-
ommend such action, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes
of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the
Act.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with Langs Plating and Manu-
facturing Company, Detroit, Michigan, 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 super-
vision of the Regional Director for the Seventh 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
end 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 in-
cluding employees in the armed forces of the United States who pre-
sent 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 they desire to be represented by International Union of Mine,
Mill and Smelter Workers, CIO, or by Local Union No. 1, Metal
Polishers, Buffers, Platers and Helpers International Union, AFL,
for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither.