Mines Equipment Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

May 31, 1944

56 N.L.R.B. 1146 (N.L.R.B. 1944)

I
In the Matter of MINES 'EQUIPMENT COMPANY and UNITED 'ELEC-
,TRICAL, RADIO & MACHINE WORKERS OF AMERICA, C. I. O.-
Case No. 14-R-919.-Decided May 31, 1944
Messrs. John Hanlon, and Daniel Bartlett, of St. Louis, Mo., for
the Company. -
Messrs. William Sentner and Clarence Bingaman, of St. Louis, Mo.,
for the Union:
Mr. Max M. Goldman, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND .
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT. OF THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by United Electrical, Radio & Machine
Workers, of America, C. I: 0., herein called the Union, 'alleging that
a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representa-
tion, of employees of Mines Equipment- Company, St. Louis, Mis-
souri, herein called the Company,' the National Labor Relations
'Board provided for an appropriate' hearing upon due'notice before'
Harry G. Car`lson,. Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held 'at St.'
Louis, Missouri ,\ on May 3, 1944. The Company and the Union
appeared and participated. All, parties were afforded full oppor-
tunity 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
J. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Mines Equipment Company, a -Missouri corporation, is engaged in
the manufacture of electrical connectors, instrument lights, and cable
vulcanizers, at 'two plants in St. Louis, Missouri. During the last
56 N. L. R. B., No. 201. ,
1146
MINES EQUIPMENT COMPANY 1147
6 'months of 1943 the Company -purchased raw materials consisting
of rubber, brass, copper, steel, and aluminum, valued at about $1,500;
000, of which 8s5 percent was shipped to it from points outside the
State of Missouri. Sales, of its finished products during the same
period amounted to approximately $4,000,000 in value, of which 90
percent was shipped to points outside the State of Missouri.
The Company admits that* it is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America, affiliated -
with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, is a labor organiza-
' tion admitting to membership employees of the Company.
M. THE 'QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company has refused' to grant recognition to the Union as
the exclusive bargaining representative of its Kingshighway plant
employees until the Union i has been certified by the Board in an
appropriate unit.
A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the
hearing, indicates that the Union represents a substantial number of
employees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate .1 -
We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning
the representation of employees of the-Company, within the mean-
ing, of -Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. -
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Union seeks a unit of all the Company's Kingshighway plant
employees, excluding watchmen, 'guards, office clerical, and super-
visory employees. The Company contends that the unit sought by
the Union is inappropriate, and. that the employees of both the Kings-
highway and Clayton plants, excluding employees in the classifica-
tions the Union would exclude, and the machine shop employees at the
Clayton' plant, constitute an appropriate unit. -The employees of the
machine shop are currently represented by the Union as a result of
a consent election. The Union is at present negotiating a contract
covering' these employees. The Company has, no other collective
bargaining history, and 'it does not appear from the record that self-
' The Field Examiner reported that the Union submitted 124 membership cards; that the
names of 89 persons appearing on the cards were listed on the Company ' s pay roll, which
contained the names'of 240 employces in`the appropiiate unit, and that the 'cards were
dated as follows : 34 in, 1943, 50 in 1944, and 5 undated
1148 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
organization has extended' beyond the Kingshighway plant and the
machine shop in the Clayton plant.-
As stated above' 'the Company conducts its operations in two plants.
One plant is known as the No. 1, or Kingshighway plant, and the
other, as the No. 2, or Clayton plant. The general offices, including
the personnel department, are located at the Clayton plant. All hir;
ing is done through the personnel department. The hours, working
conditions, and pay of the employees of both plants are comparable.
In the main, the general level of skill required at both plants is about
the same, and some transfers of employees between plants have been
made. • Employees from the Clayton plant perform the, watchman
and maintenance services for the Kingshighway plant.
However, the plants are located 2 miles apart. 'The Kingshighway
plant is primarily engaged in assembling, and the Clayton plant, in
fabricating and processing. The Kingshighway plant also does some
assembling work on products fabricated by other companies. The
right to discharge,is decentralized, so that the Kingshighway plant
superintendent has the authority to discharge employees under his
supervision. The transfers that are made between plants are prin-
cipally of a permanent nature, and the employees of each plant are
listed separately on the Company's pay rolls. In view of the absence
of collective bargaining history on a broader basis, the substantially
independent operations at each plant, and the limited extent of self- -
organization among the Company's employees, we are of the opinion
that the unit sought by the Union is at present appropriate for the
purposes of collective bargaining.2 Our findings that a unit con-
fined to the Kingshighway plant is appropriate will not, however,
preclude a finding at some latter date that a larger and-more inclu- ,
sive unit is then appropriate.
We find that all employees of the Company's Kingshighway plant,
excluding all office clerical employees,- guards, watchmen, and super-
visory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, disci-
pline, or, otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or ef-
fectively recommend such action, constitute a unit appropriate for
the purposes of collective bargaining with-in the meaning of Section
-9 (b) of the Act.
V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We shall direct that the question concerning representation which
has arisen be resolved by an election by secret ballot among the em-
ployees in the appropriate unit who were employed during the pay-
roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direction , of
2 See Matter of Standard Overall Company, 53 N L R B 960
MINES EQUIPMENT COMPANY 1149
Election herein, subject to the limitations and additions set forth
in the Direction.
The Union's request that it appear on the ballot as the "UE-CIO"
is hereby granted.. In the event it is' certified, however, it shall be
designated as its name appears in Section II, supra.
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 Re-
lations Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, it is hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Mines Equipment,
Company, St. Louis, Missouri, 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 Fourteenth Region, acting ' in this
matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject
to Article III, Sections 10 and 11, of said Rules and Regulations,
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 or reinstated
prior to the date of the election, to determine whether or not they
desire to be represented by the UE-CIO, for the purposes of collective
bargaining.
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