Motor Rebuilders, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Aug 4, 1947

74 N.L.R.B. 945 (N.L.R.B. 1947)

In the Matter Of MOTOR REBUILDERS, INC., EMPLOYER and UNITED
AUTOMOBILE, AIRCRAFT AND AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENT WORKERS OF
AMERICA, CIO, LOCAL 502, PETITIONER
Case No. 4 -R-2567.-Decided August 4,19417
Miss Helen Hwvnphrey, for the Board.
Mr. Geoffrey J. Cunniff, of Philadelphia, Pa., for the Employer.
Mr. Lawrence McNally, of New York City, and Mr. George F. Kane,
of Trenton, N. J., for the Petitioner..
Mr. Harry TV. Clayton, Jr., of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, the National Labor Relations Board on
April 3, 1947, conducted a prehearing election among employees of
the Employer in the alleged appropriate unit, to determine whether
or not they desired to be represented by the Petitioner for the purposes
of collective bargaining.
At the close of the election, a Tally of Ballots was furnished the
parties. The Tally shows that there are approximately 51 eligible
voters, that 45 valid votes were counted of which 24 were for the Peti-
tioner and 21 against, and that 6 ballots were challenged.
Thereafter, a hearing was held at Trenton, New Jersey, on May 15,
1947, before Charles M. Brooks, hearing officer. The hearing officer's
rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are
hereby affirmed.
The Employer contends that the prehearing election procedure is
illegal. We have in previous cases rejected this contention,' and the
Supreme Court has held that the holding of an election prior to a
hearing is not contrary to the provisions of Section 9 (c) of the
National Labor Relations Act.2
' See Matter of Teesdale Manufacturing Company, 71 N. L R. B 932 ; and Matter of
D R. Squibb & Sons, 67 N L R. B. 557
2Inland Empire District Council, Lumber and Sawmill Workers Union v Millis, et al.,
325 U. S. 697.
74 N. L. R B., No. 151.
945
946 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations
Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF TIME EMPLOYER
Motor Rebuilders , Inc., a New Jersey corporation , has its principal
place of business at Trenton , New Jersey , where it is engaged in the
rebuilding of automobile engines. At its Trenton, New Jersey, plant,
the Employer annually uses raw material valued in excess of $50,000,
of which approximately 50 percent is shipped to its Trenton, New
Jersey, plant from points outside the State of New Jersey. Annually
the Employer sells rebuilt motors valued in excess of $400,000 , of which
more than 50 percent is shipped from its Trenton , New Jersey, plant
to places outside the State.
We find that the Employer is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
H. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress
of Industrial Organizations, claiming to represent employees of the
Employer.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Employer refuses to recognize the Petitioner as the exclusive
bargaining representative of employees of the Employer until the
Petitioner has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit.
We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning
the representation of employees of the Employer, within the meaning
of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The parties agree generally that all production and maintenance
employees, including the stock girl, should be included in the appro-
priate unit. The Petitioner would exclude the group leaders in the
rod reconditioning, final assembly, and disassembly departments, the
stock clerk, and the shipping clerk, as supervisors; 3 the Employer
would include'them.
3 Edward Eberle , Henry Schuler, Richard Snyder , Oscar Muskewitz , and William Stein-
metz, who cast challenged ballots. The parties agreed that Myron K. Barrett , who also
voted under challenge , should be excluded ; we shall exclude him.
MOTOR REBUILDERS, INC. 947
The group leaders of the final assembly and disassembly departments
are engaged 1 hour each day in laying out work for the other employees
in their groups and the other 7 hours in working along with those
employees. The group leader of the rod reconditioning department
spends even less time in laying dut work and more in production. The
stock clerk and shipping clerk are also engaged the major portion of
their time in manual work; the former is engaged primarily in supply-
ing the production workers with stock, and the latter prepares the
finished products for shipping by painting, crating, and loading. All
these employees are paid on an hourly basis, as are the other produc-
tion workers. We find that they are not supervisory employees, and,
accordingly, we shall include them in the appropriate unit and over-
rule the challenges to their ballots.
We find that all production and maintenance employees 4 at the
Employer's Trenton, New Jersey, plant, including the group leaders in
the rod reconditioning, final assembly, and disassembly departments,
stock clerk, shipping clerk, and stock girl, but excluding the production
superintendent, the assistant production superintendent, foreman,
and all or any other supervisory employees, constitute a unit appropri-
ate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of
Section 9 (b) of the Act.
V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
In addition to its contentions regarding the prehearing election
procedure and the inclusion of certain employees in the appropriate
unit, questions which have been disposed of hereinbefore, the Em-
ployer, in its objections to the election, alleged improper acts by the
Board agent in the conduct of the election. However, the Employer's
representative at the election certified that the election was fairly
conducted. Counsel for the Employer also stated at the hearing that
he assumed that the election was fairly conducted, but that the Em-
ployer's objections were directed generally to the entire prehearing
election procedure. Furthermore, the Employer introduced no evi-
dence showing any substantial deviation on the part of the Board agent
from the Board's normal procedure in the conduct of an election.
Accordingly, we find the Employer's objections in this regard are
without merit.
The Employer further contends that the Petitioner, by calling a
strike on April 11, 1947, 8 clays after the election, forfeited any right
it may have to be certified, because the strike was one for recognition
called at a time when the question of representation was pending before
4 Excluding Myron K. Barrett , see footnote 3, supra.
948 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
the Board. In support of its allegation that the strike was called to
obtain recognition, the Employer relies on the fact that during the
strike the pickets carried signs indicating that the strike was one for
recognition. The Petitioner contends however, that the strike was
caused by unsettled grievances and the alleged discriminatory dis-
charge of an employee; 5 and its representative testified that the picket
signs referred to by the Employer had been used in another strike and
were borrowed by the Petitioner to give its striking members the tra-
ditional appearance of pickets. Moreover, at the time of the hearing,
the Petitioner was no longer maintaining its picket line. Under these
circumstances, apart from the considerations, we do not believe that a
refusal by the Board to certify the Petitioner, if it wins the elections,
would effectuate the policies of the Act.
As indicated in Section IV, supra, we have found that Myron K.
Barrett was not entitled to vote in the election. We hereby sustain the
challenge to the ballot of this employee and declare his ballot invalid.
We further found that Edward Eberle, Henry Schuler, Richard
Snyder, Oscar Muskewitz, and William Steinmetz were eligible to vote
in the election. We, therefore, overrule the challenges to the ballots
of these employees and declare their ballots valid. Since the results
of the election may depend upon the counting of these ballots, we shall
direct that they be opened and counted.
DIRECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining with Motor Rebuilders, Inc., Trentn,
New Jersey, the Regional Director for the Fourth Region shall, pur-
suant to the Rules and Regulations of the Board, within ten (10) days
from the date of this Direction, open and count the ballots of Edward
Eberle, Henry Schuler, Richard Snyder, Oscar Muskewitz, and Wil-
liam Steinmetz and thereafter prepare and cause to be served upon the
parties to this proceeding a Supplemental Tally of Ballots and an
Election Report, embodying therein his findings and recommendations
as to the result of the ballot.
6 The Petitioner has filed a charge alleging such conduct is an unfair labor practice
(Case No 4-C-1806 ), but has waived the right to protest the results of the election held
in this proceeding on any ground set forth therein.