Moore Drop Forging Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Feb 7, 1945

60 N.L.R.B. 494 (N.L.R.B. 1945)

In the Matter Of MOORE DROP FORGING COMPANY and SPRINGFIELD Dm
SINKERS LODGE No. 330 OF INTERNATIONAL DIE SINKERS • CON-
FERENCE
- Case No. 1-R 2035.Decided February 7, 19415
Mr. Louis W. Doherty, of Springfield, Mass., for the Company.
Mr. J. 0. Heiner, of Cleveland, Ohio, for the Die Sinkers.
Mr. Edward A. Raleigh, of Boston, Mass., for the Federal.
Mr. James A. Lapean, of Wales, Mass., for the Blacksmiths.
Mr. Paul Bisgyer, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon an amended petition duly filed by International Die Sinkers
Conference, herein called the Conference,) alleging that a question af-
fecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of erri-
ployees of Moore Drop Forging Company, Springfield, Massachusetts,
herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board pro-
vided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before John W.
Coddaire, Jr., Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Spring-
field, Massachusetts, on October 17 and 23, 1944. The Company, the
Die Sinkers, Federal Labor Union #22804, American Federation of
Labor, herein called the Federal, and International Brotherhood of
Blacksmiths, Drop Forgers and Helpers, Local No. 570, (AFL), herein
called the Blacksmiths, appeared and participated. All parties were
afforded full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine
witness, 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.
3 At the hearing , the Conference made a motion to substitute in its place Springfield Die
Sinkers Lodge No. 330 of International Die Sinkers Conference , herein called the Die
Sinkers, and to amend the title of this proceeding to read as described above. The Federal
objected on the ground that the Die Sinkers was not chartered by the Conference until a
few days after the petition was filed. The Trial Examiner reserved ruling on the motion
for the Board . We find no merit in the Federal ' s objection and hereby grant the motion.
60 N. L. A. B , No. 93.
494
MOORE DROP FORGING COMPANY 495
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Moore Drop Forging Company is a Massachusetts corporation hav-
ing its principal place of business at Springfield, Massachusetts. The
Company maintains plants in Springfield and Chicopee, Massachu-
setts, called the Brightwood, Chicopee, and Hinge plants, where it is
engaged in the manufacture of drop forgings. For the year ending
October 31, 1943, raw materials used in its operations were valued at
approximately $4,713,000, almost all of which were shipped to it from
points outside the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. For the same
period, the Company's finished products were valued at $15,710,000,
of which about 70 percent was shipped to points outside Massachu-
setts.
The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
H. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
Springfield Die Sinkers Lodge No. 330 of International Di* Sink-
ers Conference, is a labor organization admitting to membership
employees of the Company.
-Federal Labor Union #22804, and International Brotherhood of
Blacksmiths, Drop Forgers & Helpers, Local No. 570, both affiliated
with the American Federation of Labor, are labor organizations ad-
mitting to-membership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
On or, about August 7, 1944, the Die Sinkers requested the Com-
pany to bargain with it as the representative of the Company's die
workers. -The Company refused, asserting that it was already bound
by a contract with the Federal covering die workers as well as other
employees.
The Company now argues that the contract which it executed with
the Federal on August 14, 1944, constitutes a bar to this proceeding,
inasmuch as the terms thereof were agreed upon on August 2, 1944,
prior to the Die Sinkers' claim to representation. However, in view
of the fact that the agreement admittedly was.reduced to writing sub-
sequent to the Die Sinkers' claim, we find, in accordance with our
settled policy, that the contract does not preclude a present determina-
tion of representatives.'
2 Matter of Eicor, Inc ., 46 N. L. R. B. 1035.
496 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
'A statement of a Board Field Examiner, introduced into evidence
at the hearing, indicates that the Die Sinkers represents a substan-
tial 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 mean-
ing of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT; THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
The Die Sinkers seeks a unit of all the Company's employees work-
ing on dies and parts of dies used in the manufacture.and completion
of forgings. The Federal and the Company argue that the proposed
unit is inappropriate in view of the fact that collective bargaining at
the Company's plants has been conducted on the basis of'a production
and maintenance unit, including die workers.
On July 2, 1941, after a consent election held under Board auspices,
which the Federal won, the Federal and the Company entered into a,
1-year contract covering, with certain unimportant exceptions, all em-
ployees at the Company's Brightwood, Chicopee, and Hinge plants.4
Prior to the expiration of this contract, on April 21, 1942, the Black-
smiths filed a petition alleging as appropriate a unit of production
employees in the Brightwood and Chicopee forging departments.5
Since the Federal, subsequent to the filing of the petition, relinquished
jurisdiction over such employees, and the Company did not oppose
the propriety of the unit sought, the Board found that the forging
department employees constituted an appropriate unit.6 As a result
of the directed election the Blacksmiths was certified. Thereafter,
on December 22, 1942, the Blacksmiths concluded a contract with the
Company covering the employees in the appropriate unit. The 1942
contract was followed by the current agreement which was executed
in February 1944.
In the meantime, the Federal maintained its contractual relations
with the Company for all employees except those embraced. by the
Blacksmiths' agreements, by automatic renewal of its 1941 agreement,
and by successive agreements in 1943 and 1944. As noted above, the
last contract was executed on August 14, 1944, after the Die Sinkers
served notice of its claim of representation.
3 The Field Examiner reported that the Die Sinkers submitted 74 membership application
cards bearing the names of persons listed on the Company 's pay roll of August 6, 1944,
which contained the names of 225 employees in the alleged appropriate unit.
The Federal relies on its contract as proof of interest in this proceeding.
' Cases Nos . 1-R-591 and 1-R-615. The contract unit conformed to the unit set forth In
the consent election agreement.
5 There is no forging department at the Hinge plant.
0 Matter of Moore Drop Forging Company, 43 N. L. R B. 673.
MOORE DROP FORGING COMPANY 497
The Company employs at its Brightwood and Chicopee plants ap-
proximately 205 die workers 7 who perform the usual functions associ-
ated with their craft such as making, sinking, trimming, and repair-
ing dies and parts of dies. They comprise a single department under
the direct supervision of foremen and assistant foremen who are them-
selves die makers by trade and familiar with the peculiar problems
related to this craft. The various die operations are generally segre-
gated from other plant operations.,' Die workers, in the main, receive
a higher rate of pay than other employees, and apparently have occu-
pational seniority.9 It is clear that these employees are members of
a highly skilled craft which requires an apprenticeship of at least 7
years to become a journeyman die sinker.
The record indicates that die workers, as a group, have consistently
manifested an attitude of indifference toward the Federal. At the
time of the hearing, as witnesses for the Die Sinkers testified, less than
10 die workers out of approximately 205 were members of the Federal,
while about 170 were members of the Die Sinkers. The Federal neither
contradicted the estimate of its present membership among die work-
ers, nor furnished any information regarding the extent of its mem-
bership among such employees at any other time. It further appears
that die workers, as a group, not only refrained from selecting repre-
sentatives to act in their behalf on the Federal's negotiating and griev-
ance committees,1° but refrained from seeking the Federal's assistance
in the prosecution of their individual grievances and requests for wage
increases.h1 Thus, the petition in this proceeding apparently reflects
° There are about 90 die workers at the Brightwood plant, 115 at the Chicopee plant, and
none at the Hinge plant.
8 The Brightwood die operations are housed in the Keller Die Room which is a 1-story
structure attached to a building, the second floor of the Birnie Avenue building known as
the Trimmer Die Room, and an unpartitioned section of the first floor of the Birnie Avenue
building known as the Die Repair Shop, where six to eight die repair men are employed,
the rest of the floor being occupied by the maintenance department and toolroom. The
Chicopee die operations are carried on in a 3-story building
The 1943 and 1944 contracts between the Company and the Federal provide that "In-
sofar as possible, seniority shall be confined to occupational groups within departments or
groups of departments."
10 Two die workers, Irwin Libbey and Edmund Gleason, who were on the committees
which negotiated the 1941 and 1943 contracts, were appointed to such committees not by
die workers, but by members of the Federal Moreover, these two individuals were em-
ployed at the Brightwood plant, -so that no Chicopee die workers participated in the negotia-
tion of any contract The president of the Federal explained that the reason for the
absence of Chicopee die workers was "we evidently can't get men to represent the die
room " Libbey, who was vice president of the Federal in 1941, 1942, and 1943, left the
Company's employ in about September 1944, and Gleason, who was the Brightwood shop,
steward of the Federal from 1941 to 1944, left the Company's employ in about March 1944._
It appears that no die workers have replaced them or are, at present, actively participating
in the Federal' s affairs
"According to the testimony of witnesses for the Die Sinkers, die workers ignored the
grievance procedure outlined in the Federal's contracts, and merely continued their custo-
mary practice of presenting their individual grievances and requests for wage increases to,
their foreman, and if no satisfaction was obtained, to the superintendent. While the Fed-
628563-45-vol 60-33
498 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
an expression of the die workers' present desire to be represented by a
bargaining agent in their dealings with 'the Company, where hereto-
fore they showed no interest in union representation.
There is some evidence in the record that two general increases in
which die workers shared were apparently obtained as a result of the
Federal's negotiations with the Company 12 In their 1943 contract, the
Company and the Federal agreed that within 30 days after signing
the contract and for 6 months thereafter, they would review the wage
rates of employees in classifications listed in attached schedules for
the purpose of making proper reclassifications and adjustments. Offi-
cers of the Company testified that, in accordance with this provision,
several die workers who were not receiving top rates in their classifica-
tions were granted increases. However, it is not disputed that, long
before the Federal's designation as bargaining agent in 1941, and
thereafter, irrespective of the terms of its agreements, the Company
granted wage increases to die workers upon their individual applica-
tions. Furthermore, the Company has also for a long time, independ-
ently of any agreement with the Federal, followed the practice of giv=
ing periodic merit increments to die workers, apprentices, trainees and
coworkers.
In view of all the facts and circumstances of this case, we are of the
opinion that die workers may constitute a separate bargaining unit
or be included in the existing comprehensive unit. Therefore, before
making a final determination with respect to the appropriate unit, we,
shall first ascertain the desires of the employees themselves, as reflected
by an election. Upon the results of the election will depend, in part,
our determination. We shall direct that an election by secret ballot
be conducted among all the Company's employees working on dies
and parts of dies used in the manufacture and completion of forgings,
excluding all supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote,
discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of
employees, or effectively recommend such action, who were employed
during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of the
Direction of Election, subject to the limitations and additions set
forth therein, to determine whether they desire to be represented by the
Die Sinkers or the Federal. If a majority of the employees in this
voting group select the Die Sinkers as their bargaining representative
eral and the Company point out that their 1941 and 1943 contracts contained provisions
permitting an individual employee or a group of employees to submit grievances In the first
instance to their departmental foreman , the 1943 contract also provided - that 'the"tlepart-
mental representative of the employees shall "then " present the grievances to the foreman,
and further , that where an unsatisfactory decision was rendered by the foreman, the
grievance shall be presented by the shop steward to the superintendent .. The 1941 agree-
ment was not produced at the hearing.
12 On July 7, 1941, the Company granted "a 5-cent overall across the board" increase,
and another Increase of unspecified amount on May 4 , 1942. The record is vague as to
whether there were others.
MOORE DROP FORGING COMPANY 499
they will have thereby indicated their desire to constitute a separate
appropriate unit. If, however, a majority of these employees choose
the Federal, then they will have thereby indicated their desire to be
part of the established unit presently represented by that union.
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 Rela-
tions 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 Moore Drop Forg-
ing Company, Springfield, Massachusetts, 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 super-
vision of the Regional Director for the First 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 voting group set forth 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 any 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 they desire to be represented by Spring-
field Die Sinkers Lodge No. 330 of International Die Sinkers Con-
ference, or by Federal Labor Union No. 22804, American Federation
of Labor, for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither.