Link-Belt Speeder Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Apr 21, 1950

89 N.L.R.B. 692 (N.L.R.B. 1950)

In the Matter of LINK-BELT SPEEDER CORPORATION, EMPLOYER and
UNITED AUTOMOBILE, AIRCRAFT & AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENT WORK-
ERS OF AMERICA (UAW-CIO)
Case No. 18-RC-521.-Decided April 21,1950
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing in this case was held before
LeRoy W. C. Mather, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings
made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby
affirmed. During the course of the hearing, the Intervenor, Local No.
146, Farm Equipment and Metal Workers (UE), was permitted to
intervene on the basis of claimed contractual interest.'
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-member panel [Members Reynolds, Murdock, and
Styles].
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 Petitioner, hereinafter called the UAW, and the Intervenor,
hereinafter called Local 146, are labor organizations claiming to
represent employees of the Employer.
3. The question concerning representation :
The Intervenor contends that the contract of July 1, 1948, for a term
of 2 years is a bar to these proceedings. The Petitioner takes the
' The Intervenor was originally designated by the Regional Office as United Farm Equip-
ment & Metalworkers of America . At the hearing , the hearing officer granted Intervenor's
motion to correct the name to the Farm Equipment and Metal Workers Local No. 146
(UE). Petitioner moved at the hearing and in its brief to strike the motion to intervene
and the appearance of Intervenor ' s representative , Hobble, on the ground that the latter was
a representative of the UE , which was not a party to the contract , here claimed to be a bar,
This motion is denied for the reason that Hobble appeared also as the representative of the
local herein involved , one of the signatories to the contract , more fully described herein.
89 NLRB No. 89.
692
LINK-BELT .SPEEDER CORPORATION 693'
position that the contract in question is not legally binding, and there-
fore not a bar.2 The Employer would leave the matter to the Board.
The Employer has bargained with the Intervenor since the Board's
certification in 1943.3 The last contract was executed in March 1948
when the parties extended their then existing contract, effective July
1, 1948, for a period of 2 years. The signatories to this contract for
the employees were Local 146 and its international, United Farm.
Equipment & Metal Workers of America, CIO, hereinafter called the
FE. In October 1949, information came to the local of a plan to merge
the latter international union with that of the United Electrical, .
Radio and Machine Workers of America, CIO, hereinafter called the
UE. At a special meeting called by the chairman of the local on
October 20, 1949, and attended by some 68 members, it was moved
that the FE should merge with the UE. The motion was defeated
by a vote 44 to 24. However, on October 28, the 2 internationals did
merge.-' Thereafter, on November 2, 1949, at the 1949 convention of
the CIO, both the FE and UE were expelled from the CIO. On
November 3, 1949, there was called another meeting of Local 146, at-
tended by some 100 members, at which there was unanimously adopted
a resolution to submit the question to the membership whether they
wished to accept the merger or to disaffiliate from the merged inter-
nationals, and if the vote was to disaffiliate, whether the local should
affiliate with the UAW. On November 4, 1949, the referendum was
conducted and the vote was 296 for disaffiliation, 17 against, with 2
ballots declared invalid. On November 9, 1949, the Employer was
notified of this action, and the following day the present petition was
filed. The Petitioner thereafter requested recognition, which the Em-
ployer declined in the absence of a Board certification. On January
12, 1950, the UAW issued a charter to the local as No. 299, under the
terms of which all former officers of Local 146 were to remain in office
until a new election in March. All union members have revoked their
check-off authorizations which were in favor of the FE. Since
2 The Petitioner contended that the contract of 1948 is not legally binding in any case
on the following grounds : (1) The contract was for a term of 2 years and 4 months and
therefore of unreasonable length ; (2) the contract specifically bound the Employer and his
assigns but not those of the unions ; ( 3) the labor union signatories to the contract are no
longer in existence . We find it is not necessary to pass on the merits of these contentions,
since we are finding that the contract does not constitute a bar to these proceedings.
48 NLRB 992.
4 At the hearing, the Petitioner moved to strike all statements made by the Intervenor in
which it attempted to show that the merger of the FE and UE was legally valid. The
motion is denied for the reasons that the resolution of this question involves a construction
of the constitution and charter of a labor organization , which is not a function of this
Board. The Liquid Carbonic Corporation, Medical Gas Division, 85 NLRB 284, foot-
note 4.
. 694 DECISIONS OF' NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
November 4, 1949, the Employer has processed grievances with repre-
sentatives of the employees, as individuals, and not as representatives
of any union.
The Intervenor presented no evidence showing that it has a func-
tioning local or that it has any existing members of such local. How-
ever, as noted above, it contends that the contract of July 1, 1948, is
still in existence and constitutes a bar to this proceeding.
In view of the foregoing circumstances, we find, for reasons stated
in the case of Boston Machine Works Company,5 that the existing
contract does not constitute a bar to a present determination of
representatives.
We find that a question affecting commerce 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 appropriate unit :
We find, substantially in accord with the agreement of, the parties,
that all production and maintenance employees including issue clerks,
stock clerks, receiving clerks, and time clerks, but excluding office
employees, engineering department employees, personnel clerks, stock
record clerks, service engineers, watchmen," and all supervisors, con-
stitute 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 the Employer, an election 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 super-
vision of the Regional Director for the Region in which this case was
heard, and subject to Sections 203.61 and 203.62 of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations, among the employees in the
unit found appropriate in paragraph numbered 4, above, who were
employed during the payroll period immediately preceding the date
of this Direction of Election, including employees who did not work
during said payroll period because they were ill or on vacation or
temporarily laid off, but excluding those employees who have since
quit or been discharged for cause and have not been rehired or rein-
s 89 NLRB 59.
15 As the watchmen spend all their time in guarding the Employer 's property , we find that
they are "guards" within the meaning of the Act, and therefore we shall exclude them from
the unit. Reading Hardware Corporation, 85 NLRB 610.
LINK-BELT SPEEDER CORPORATION 695
stated prior to the date of the election, and also excluding employees
on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine whether
or not they desire to be represented, for purposes of collective bar-
gaining, by United Automobile, Aircraft & Agricultural Implement
Workers of America (UAW-CIO) .7
7 In the absence of a clear showing by the Intervenor ( UE) that its Local 146 Farm
Equipment and Metal Workers is no longer in existence the UE is omitted from the ballot
because of the failure of its Local to comply with filing requirements in Section 9 (f), (g),
and (h ) of the Act . In the event that this local effects compliance with such requirements
within 2 weeks from the date of this Direction , the Regional Director is instructed to accord
the UE a place on the ballot in the election hereinabove directed.