Lynch Manufacturing Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Oct 31, 1945

64 N.L.R.B. 665 (N.L.R.B. 1945)

In the Matter of LYNCH MANUFACTURING CORPORATION , MORPAC DI-
VISION and INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS , DISTRICT
57 (AFL)
Case No. 8-R-1897.-Decided October 31, 1945
Bugbee cC Johnston, by Mr. Harry S. Bugbee, of Toledo, Ohio; Mr.
J. P. McCarthy, of Defiance, Ohio, and Mr. Lynn Dority, of Toledo,
Ohio, for the Company.
111r. A. P. Nobozny, of Cleveland, Ohio, and Mr. John Howes, of
Toledo, Ohio, for the Union.
Mr. Joseph D. Manders, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by International Association of Machin-
ists, District 57, (AFL), herein called the Union, alleging that a ques-
tion affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of
employees of Lynch Manufacturing Corporation, Morpac Division ,l
Toledo, Ohio, herein called the Company, the National Labor Rela-
tions Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice
before Louis S. Belkin, Trial Examiner. The hearing was held at
Toledo, Ohio, on July 31, 1945. The Company and the Union ap-
peared and participated. All parties were afforded full opportunity
to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce
evidence bearing on the issues. The Trial Examiner's rulings made
at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
All parties were afforded an opportunity to file briefs with the Board.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following:
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Lynch Manufacturing Corporation , an Ohio corporation, operates
plants in Defiance and Toledo, Ohio, where it is engaged in the manu-
' At the hearing the petition was amended , correcting the name of the Company to read
as herein stated.
64 N L R. B., No. 114
665
666 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
facture of butter wrapping equipment. The Company's Morpac Di-
vision plant, located in Toledo, Ohio, is the sole plant involved in the
present proceeding. During 1944, the Company purchased raw ma-
terials for its Morpac Division plant, consisting principally of cast
iron, steel, bronze, and brass, valued in excess of $200,000, approxi-
mately 78 percent of which was shipped from points outside the State
of Ohio. During the same period, the Company manufactured fin-
ished products at the Morpac Division plant valued in excess of $350,-
000, approximately 93 percent of which was shipped to points outside
the State of Ohio.
The Company admits that its operations at the Morpac Division
plant affect commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Rela-
tions Act, and we so find.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
International Association of Machinists, District 57, affiliated with
the American Federation of Labor, is a labor organization admitting
to membership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company has refused to grant recognition to the Union as the
exclusive bargaining representative of its employees until the Union
has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit.
A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the hear-
ing, indicates that the Union represents a substantial number of em-
ployees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.2
We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning
the representation of employees of the Company, within the meaning
of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
'The Field Examiner reported that the Union submitted 36 application cards, 35
of which bore the names of persons on the Company's pay roll of June 25 , 1945, which
contained the names of 51 employees in the proposed unit. He further reported that 19
persons within the proposed unit left the employ of the Company subsequent to June 25,
1945 . Mechanics Educational Society of America ( CUA) and International Union, United
Automobile , Aircraft & Agricultural Implement Workers of America, ( CIO) were requested
to submit representation evidence , but failed to do so.
At the hearing counsel for the Company alleged that 21, and not 19, persons left the
employ of the Company subsequent to June 25 , 1945. In view of the decrease in
size of the proposed unit, the Company objected to the admission of the Field
Examiner 's report on the ground that it was not evidence of a sufficient showing. The
Trial Examiner overruled the objection . As we have frequently stated , authorization
or membership cards merely serve as prima facie evidence that the labor organization
which files the petition has a sufficient interest to justify the Board in initiating its in-
vestigatory machinery . They do not serve as proof of the precise number of employees
who desire to be represented by a labor organization Thus, in view of the limited
purpose of the Field Examiner 's report, the Trial Examiner correctly overruled the
objection , and his ruling is hereby upheld See Matter of Sunset Motor Lines , 59 N. L.
R. B. 1434; Matter of Dempster Brother, Inc., 58 N. L. R. B. 151.
LYNCH MANUFACTURING CORPORATION 667
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Union contends that all production and maintenance employees
of the Company, excluding watchmen, cooks, stockkeepers, office and
clerical employees, engineers and draftsmen and supervisory em-
ployees, constitute an appropriate unit. The Company made no
objection to the proposed unit.
We see no reason to disapprove of the proposed unit, and accord-
ingly, we find that all production and maintenance employees of the
Company at its Morpac Division plant, excluding watchmen, cooks,
stockkeepers, office and clerical employees, engineers and draftsmen
and all or any supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote,
discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of em-
ployees, or effectively recommend such action, constitute a unit appro-
priate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning
of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATION
We shall direct that the question concerning representation which
has arisen be resolved by an election by secret ballot among the
employees in the appropriate unit who were employed during the
pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direction of
Election herein, subject to the limitations and additions set forth in
the Direction.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National Labor
Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations
Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor Rela-
tions Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, as amended, it is hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Lynch Manufac-
turing Corporation, Morpac Division, Toledo, Ohio, 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 Eighth Region, act-
ing in this matter as agent for the National_ Labor Relations Board,
and subject to Article III, Sections 10 and 11, of said Rules and Regu-
lations, 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,
668 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
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, District 57 (AFL), for
the purposes of collective bargaining.
MR. GERARD D. REILLY took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision and Direction of Election.