Moline Tractor Works of Deere & Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Oct 1, 1945

63 N.L.R.B. 1277 (N.L.R.B. 1945)

In the Matter of MOLINE TRACTOR WORKS OF DEERE & COMPANY
and INTERNATIONAL UNION, UNITED AUTOMOBILE, AIRCRAFT & AGRI-
CULTURAL IMPLEMENT WORKERS OF AMERICA, AFFILIATED WITH THE
C..I.O.
Case No. 13-R-20945.-Decided October 1, 1945
Mr. S. M. Lyman, of Moline, Ill., for the Company.
Mr. William E. Kent, of Moline, Ill., for the UAW.
Mr. G. 0. MoMahill, of Rock Island, Ill., for the United.
Mr. Nathan Saks, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by International Union, United Auto-
mobile, Aircraft & Agricultural Implement Workers of America,
affiliated with the C. I. 0., herein called the UAW, alleging that
a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the represen-
tation of employees of Moline Tractor Works of Deere & Company,
Moline, Illinois, herein called the Company, the National Labor Rela-
tions Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice
before Gustaf B. Erickson, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held
at Moline, Illinois, on June 26, 1945. The Company, the UAW, and
United Farm Equipment and Metal Workers of America, C. I. 0.,
herein called the United, appeared 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 oppor-
tunity to file briefs with the Board.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the follow-
ing :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Moline Tractor Works of Deere & Company, a .manufacturing
division of Deere & Company, an Illinois corporation, is located in
63 N. L. R. B., No. 202.
1277
1278 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Moline, Illinois, where it is engaged in the manufacture of tractors
and engines. The principal raw materials used by the Company are
gray iron and steel. The value of such raw materials is approximately
$500,000 per annum, of which approximately 42 percent is purchased
outside the State of Illinois. The value of finished products sold
annually is approximately $500,000, of which 96 percent is shipped to
points outside the State.
The Company admits, and we find, that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
International Union, United Automobile, Aircraft & Agricultural
Implement Workers of America,,and United Farm Equipment &
Metal Workers of America, both affiliated with the Congress of
Industrial Organizations, are labor organizations admitting to mem-
bership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company has refused to grant recognition to the UAW as
the exclusive bargaining representative of certain of its employees
until the UAW' 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 UAW represents a substantial number of
employees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.'
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.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
We find, in substantial agreement with the parties, that all produc-
tion and maintenance employees of the Company, including appren-
tices, but excluding armed plant guards or plant protection employees,
assistant supervisor,2 supervisors ,3 foremen, the superintendent, and
'The Field Examiner reported that the UAW submitted 80 application -for-membership
cards ; that the names of 68 persons appearing on the cards were listed on the Company's
pay roll of April 28, 1945, which contained the names of 212 employees in the alleged
appropriate unit ; and that 5 cards were dated January 1945, 54 were dated February 1945,
8 were dated March 1945, and 1 was undated.
At the hearing, the United submitted 34 designation cards to the Trial Examiner as
proof of its interest . The Trial Examiner found that the names of all 34 persons appearing
on the cards were listed on the Company' s pay roll of May 24, 1945 , and that all 34 cards
were dated between January and May 1945..
George Huston.
a Robert Ranbarger , Philip Smith, Joseph Kalvelage , and Maurice Hickey.
Although the parties did not agree to exclude the assistant supervisor and supervisors
mentioned above, there was uncontradicted testimony that these employees have the
MOLINE TRACTOR WORKS OF DEERE & COMPANY 1279
all supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge,
discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or
effectively recommend such action, constitute a unit appropriate for
the purposes of collective bargaining within 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 Election
herein, subject to the limitations and additions set forth in the Direc-
tion.
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 Relations
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 Moline Tractor
Works of Deere & Company, Moline, Illinois, an election by secret bal-
lot 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 Thirteenth Region, acting in
this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and sub-
ject 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 the said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vaca-
tion 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 dis-
charged 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, United Automobile, Aircraft & Agricultural
Implement Workers of America, affiliated with the Congress of Indus-
trial Organizations, or by United Farm Equipment & Metal Workers
of America, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations,
for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither.
authority effectively to recommend the hiring and discharging of employees. Accordingly,
we find these employees to be supervisory within our usual definition of that term, and we
shall exclude them from the unit.