Line Material Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Nov 22, 1948

80 N.L.R.B. 599 (N.L.R.B. 1948)

In the Matter of LINE MATERIAL COMPANY, EMPLOYER and INTERNA-
TIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS , LoDGE 463, PETITIONER
Case Nos. 8-RC-131, 8-RC-141, 8-RC-143, and 8 RC-1. 44.Decided
November 22,1948
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
Upon petitions duly filed, a consolidated hearing was held before a
hearing officer of the National Labor Relations Board. The hearing
officer's rulings made at the hearing 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-man panel consisting of the undersigned Board
Members.*
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds:
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the National Labor Relations Act.
2. The labor organizations named below claim to represent em-
ployees of the Employer .2
3. A question of representation exists concerning the representation
of employees of the Employer, within the meaning of Section 9 (c)
(1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The following groups of employees at the Employer's Zanes-
ville, Ohio, plant, excluding all professional, office and clerical em-
ployees, guards and supervisors, may constitute separate units
I United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America, Local 767 ( CIO), herein
called the UE, has not complied with Section 9 (f), (g), and (h) of the Act, but was per-
mitted to intervene because of its present contractual relationship with the Employer.
The UE does not contend that this contract , executed after the instant petitions were flied,
is a bar to these proceedings.
*Chairman Herzog and Members Houston and Gray.
, International Union , United Automobile , Aircraft & Agricultural Implement Workers
of America ( CIO), herein called the UAW, was permitted to intervene at the hearing upon
making the necessary showing of interest.
80 N. L. R. B., No.102.
599
600 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the
meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act .3
(1) All toolroom employees including tool and die makers,
machinists, grinders, helpers, apprentices, and the tool crib attendant 4
(2) All millwrights.
(3) All electricians and their helpers.
(4) All boiler-firemen employed in the Employer's powerhouse.5
However, we shall make no final unit determination at this time,
but shall first ascertain the desires of these employees as expressed
in the elections hereinafter directed. If a majority of the employees
in each voting group vote for the Petitioner or the UAW, they will
be taken to have indicated their desire to constitute separate
appropriate units.
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS c
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with the Employer, separate elec-
tions 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 Na-
tional Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 5, as
amended, among the employees in the voting groups described in para-
graph numbered 4, above, who were employed during the pay-roll
period immediately preceding the date of this Direction of Elections,
including employees who did not work during said pay-roll period
8 The UE contends that the existing plant-wide unit is the only appropriate unit. The
Employer favors a plant-wide unit because it prefers to bargain with one union rather
than two. There is no dispute as to the craft status of the employees in the first three
voting groups. The respective groups of employees sought by the Petitioner consist of
employees of the type which the Board has frequently established as separate units for the
purposes of collective bargaining in a manufacturing industry, despite a previous history
of bargaining on a more comprehensive basis See, e. g, Matter of J. I. Case Company, 79
N. L It. B. 1070 ( toolroom employees ) ; Matter of Olin Industries , Inc., 79 N L. It. B.
455; Matter of Certain-Teed Products Corporation , 78 N. L. It. B. 910 (millwrights) ;
Matter of General Tire and Rubber Company, 79 N. L. It. B. 580 ( maintenance electri-
cians ) ; Matter of The Mengel Company, 78 N. L. R. B. 880 (powerhouse and boiler room
employees).
* The tool crib attendant has his headquarters within the enclosure of the toolroom. He
spends three-fourths of his time issuing tools to the toolroom employees . His interests
and duties are so closely allied with those of the toolroom employees as to warrant his
inclusion in the craft unit.
5 Although the boiler-firemen on the afternoon and night shift spend about one -fourth of
their time performing the work of watchmen, we are of the opinion that they are not
guards within the meaning of the Act. Matter or American Lawn Mower Company, 7l
N. L R 13 367.
6 Any participant in the elections directed herein may , upon its prompt request to, and
approval thereof by, the Regional Director, have its name removed from the ballot. We
shall not place the UE on the ballot inasmuch as it has not complied with Section 9 (f),
(g), and (h) of the Act
LINE MATERIAL COMPANY 601
because they were ill or on vacation or temporarily laid off, but exclud-
ing those employees who have since quit or been discharged for cause
and have not been rehired or reinstated prior to the date of the elec-
tion, 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 International Association of Ma-
chinists, Lodge 463, or by International Union, United Automobile,
Aircraft & Agricultural Implement Workers of America (CIO), or by
neither.