National Carbon Company, Inc., Edgewater WorksDownload PDFNational Labor Relations Board - Board DecisionsJul 24, 193913 N.L.R.B. 956 (N.L.R.B. 1939) Copy Citation In the Matter of NATIONAL CARBON COMPANY, INC., EDGEWATER WORKS and UNITED ELECTRICAL, RADIO & MACHINF.^ WORKERS OF AMERICA, LOCAL 702, C. I. O. Case No. R-1358.-Decided July 24, 1939 Dry Cell Battery Manufacturing Industry-Investigation of Representatives: controversy concerning representation of employees : company refused to rec- ognize one of two competing unions as exclusive representative of employees- Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining: all production and maintenance employees including hourly paid employees in works and research laboratories but excluding supervisory and clerical employees-Election Ordered Mr. Bernard R. Bralove, for the Board. Mr. Clarence L. Sager, of New York, N. Y., for the Company. Mr. Arthur Garfield, of Cleveland, Ohio, and Mr. Edwin Beale, of Delaware, Ohio, for the United. Mr. S. D. L. Jackson, of Cleveland, Ohio, for the Independent. Mr. Albert J. Hoban, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION STATEMENT OF THE CASE On February 10, 1939, United Electrical, Radio & Machine Work- ers of America, Local 702, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, herein called the United, filed with the Regional Director for the Eighth Region (Cleveland, Ohio) a petition alleg- ing that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of National Carbon Company, Inc., Edgewater Works, Cleveland, Ohio, herein called the Company, and requesting an investigation and certification of representatives pur- suant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On March 29, 1939, the National Labor Relations Board, herein called the Board, acting pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the Act and Article III, Section 3, of National Labor Rela- tions Board Rules and Regulations-Series 1, as amended, ordered an investigation and authorized the Regional Director to conduct it and to provide for an appropriate hearing upon due notice. 13 N. L. R. B., No. 100. 956 NATIONAL CARBON COMPANY, INCORPORATED 957 On April 5, 1939, the Regional Director issued a notice of hearing. copies of which were duly served upon the Company, the United, and upon Independent Carbon Workers Association, herein called the Independent, a labor organization claiming to represent employees directly affected by the investigation. Pursuant to the notice, a hearing was held from April 13 to 20, 1939, at Cleveland, Ohio, before Berdon M. Bell, the Trial Examiner duly designated by the Board. The Board, the Company, the United, and the Independent were represented by counsel and participated in the hearing. Full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross- -examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing on the issues was afforded all parties. During the course of the hearing the Trial Ex- aminer made several rulings on motions and on objections to the admission of evidence. The Board has reviewed the rulings of the Trial Examiner and finds that no prejudicial errors were committed. The rulings are hereby affirmed. The Company, the United, and the Independent filed briefs which have been considered by the Board. Pursuant to notice a hearing was held before the Board in Washington, D. C., on June 8, 1938, for the purpose of oral argument. The Company, the United, and the Inde- pendent were represented by counsel and participated in the argument. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY National Carbon Company, Inc., a New York corporation, is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Union Carbide and Carbon Corpora- tion. The Company maintains factories at Cleveland, Ohio, Port Richmond, Pennsylvania, Fremont, Ohio, Fostoria, Ohio, Niagara Falls, New York, Clarksburg, West Virginia, and Columbia, Ten- nessee. The present proceeding involves only the Edgewater Works at Cleveland, Ohio, herein called the Edgewater Works, at which the Company is engaged in the manufacture, sale, and shipment of dry- cell batteries, flash lights, auto radiator cleaner, and rust inhibitors. The materials used in the manufacture of these products consist of zinc, sheet steel, graphite, manganese ore, sheet and roll brass, asphalt, salammoniac, paper, zinc chloride, starch, flour, and resin. The value of the raw materials used at the Edgewater Works during 1938 was approximately $2,199,219.33. Approximately 80 per cent of these raw materials were shipped to the Edgewater Works from sources outside Ohio. The value of the products manufactured at the Edge- water Works during 1938 amounted to approximately $5,497,856.22. 958 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Ninety-five per cent of these products were sold and transported to -States'other than the State of Ohio. The Company employs approx.- imately 1,395 persons at the Edgewater Works. II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America, Local 702, is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, admitting to membership all production and mainte- nance employees engaged at the Edgewater Works, excluding super- visory and clerical employees. Independent Carbon Workers Association is an unaffiliated labor organization admitting to membership all hourly paid employees of the Company at the Edgewater Works, except foremen, super- visory, and clerical employees. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION In 1934 two labor organizations were formed by the employees at the Edgewater plant. One was Federal Labor Union No. 19311, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, herein called the Federal Union. The other was Mechanics Educational Society of America, Local 27, herein called the M. E. S. A. The Company recognized and dealt with each as the representative of its members. In July 1935, after a strike by the members of the Federal Union, the Independent was formed and was thereafter recognized by the Company as the representative of its members. In November 1936 the members of the Federal Union voted to affiliate with the United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, and on December 1, 1936, the charter for the United was granted. Thereafter many members of the M. E. S. A., acting individually and in groups, joined the United. By July 1937 the M. E. S. A. had abandoned all claims to member- ship and no longer dealt with the Company, which continued to deal with the two remaining organizations as the representatives of their members. On January 6, 1939, the United submitted a proposed agreement to the Company which called for exclusive recognition of the United as representative of "all employees engaged in the manufacture, processing, handling, inspection, testing, and repairing of the prod- ucts of the Company, including maintenance and service operation." Thereafter a committee of the United conferred with the personnel director of the Company who informed them that the question whether the United was entitled to exclusive recognition would have to be determined by the Board. On January 23, 1939, the Independ- NATIONAL CARBON COMPANY, INCORPORATED 959 ent wrote to the Company requesting that it continue its policy, of dealing with committees as the representatives of those who belong to respective labor organizations. We find that a question has arisen concerning representation of employees of the Company engaged at the Edgewater Works. IV. THE EFFECT OF THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION UPON COMMERCE We find that the question concerning representation which has arisen , occurring in connection with the operations of the Company described in Section I above, has a close, intimate, and substantial relation to trade, traffic, and commerce among the several States, and tends to lead to labor disputes burdening and obstructing com- merce and the free flow of commerce. V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT In its petition the United alleged that the appropriate unit con- sisted of "all production and maintenance employees with the excep- tion of clerical and supervisory staffs and all employees in the re- search department of the laboratory." At the hearing, the United contended that the employees in the works laboratory should also be excluded from the appropriate unit. The Company, the United, and the Independent were in agreement upon the appropriate unit except with respect to the hourly paid employees in the works and research laboratories. The Independent urged that these employees should be within the unit. In a stipulation the United, the Inde- pendent, and the Company enumerated the departments at the Edge- water Works which they agreed should be within the unit. These departments were designated on the plant pay roll as: AA, janitors, watchmen, cleaning-service men; All, power-plant engineers and firemen ; AN, machine-shop maintenance, electric-pipe feeders, and carpenters; AR, restaurant; AS, stores department; AT, tool-making and maintenance; B-2-C, battery-inspection department, with the exception of general inspectors but including departmental and rou- tine inspectors; B-3-C, flashlight case inspection department, with the exception of general inspectors but including departmental and routine inspectors; BS, shipping department, with the exception of supervisory employees, a truck dispatcher and yard clerk, and two inside clerks; H-2-E, experimental-design department; CL, milling of ore department; CM, mixing department; NA, tool-making, wind- ing, and labeling department; ND, stamping department; N-4-D, layerbilt-molding department; NE, cooking department; NH, radio- assembly department; N-3-H, radio-finishing department, N-4-H, flashlight-assembly department; NP, battery parts manufacturing 960 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD department; NZ, can-manufacturing department; PF, case-polish- ing and plating department; PT, flashlight case punch press depart- ment; and TC, flashlight case assembly department. The stipulation is, in substance, an enumeration of the production and mainte- nance departments at the Edgewater Works, with the exception of the laboratories. We see no reason for not including in the appro- priate unit the classes of employees engaged in the departments enumerated. The term, "production and maintenance employees" as hereinafter used in this connection, shall include the employees in the departments set forth in the stipulation. The Company maintains two laboratories at its plant. The func- tion of the employees in the works laboratory is to check the manu- facturing process and to conduct test runs for the purpose of improv- ing the quality of the products manufactured at the plant. The research laboratory functions as the experimental laboratory of the Company. The only controversy concerning the appropriate unit is in respect to the hourly paid employees who work in these two laboratories. The United contended that the employees in both laboratories were not engaged in production and should therefore be excluded from the appropriate unit. In addition, the president of the United testified that he did not believe the hourly paid employees in the research laboratory were eligible for membership in the United because they were paid directly from the New York office of the Company. He stated that it would be difficult for a grievance committee of the Local to function properly under such circumstances. The record, how- ever, discloses that the employees in both laboratories are on the Edgewater Works pay roll. While the employees in the research laboratory, unlike those in the works laboratory, may not be dis- charged by the plant manager, we do not think this difference is one which calls for a distinction between the employees in the two labora- tories for the purposes of determining the appropriate unit. The hourly paid employees in both laboratories work under the supervision of salaried engineers. They receive the same rates of pay as employees doing similar work in other departments and are subject to the same shop rules. No special qualifications of education or skill are required for assignment to either laboratory and the hourly paid employees engaged therein are not promoted to the salaried positions which call for an engineering background. We see no reason for excluding the hourly paid employees of either labora- tory from the appropriate unit. We find that the production and maintenance employees engaged at the Edgewater Plant of the Company, including hourly paid employees in the works and research laboratories but excluding super- NATIONAL CARBON COMPANY, INCORPORATED 961 visory and clerical employees, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining and that the said unit will insure to employees of the Company the full benefit of the right to self- organization and to collective bargaining and otherwise effectuate the policies of the Act. VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES There were introduced in evidence lists of employees on the pay roll of the Company for February 11, 1939, the pay-roll date nearest the filing of the petition, and on the pay roll of April 8, 1939, the pay-roll date nearest the date of the hearing. There were 1,152 employees within the appropriate unit on February 11 and 1,290 on April 8. The United introduced 658 authorization cards designating it as collective bargaining representative and purporting to have been signed by employees of the Company. The Independent and the' Company stipulated that 530 of these cards were signed by employees on the pay roll of February 11 and that an additional 13 were signed by persons who were employed between that date and on April 8. Of the remaining cards, 67 were identified by employees who signed them. An examination of all the cards introduced by the United discloses that a majority of the employees in the appropriate unit as of February 11 signed authorization cards designating the United as their collective bargaining representative. However, because pro- duction at Edgewater Works is seasonal and is normally at its lowest point early in the year, we do not feel that, under the circumstances of this case, February 11 is an appropriate date for determining the question concerning representation. The United did not prove that it represented a majority of the employees in the unit on April 8. Accordingly, we find that the question concerning representation which has arisen can best be determined by an election by secret ballot among the employees in the appropriate unit during the pay- roll period next preceding the date of our Direction of Election. The Independent did not show that it represented a majority of the employees in the appropriate unit on either February 11 or April 8. Nevertheless, in view of the fact that it has dealt with the Company as the representative of its members since July 1935 and now claims to represent a substantial number of employees in the appropriate unit, it is entitled to appear upon the ballot. Upon the basis of the above findings of fact and upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following : CONCLusIONs OF LAW 1. A question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the repre- sentation of employees of National Carbon Company, Inc., Edge- 962 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD water Works, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act. 2. The production and maintenance employees of the Company, in- cluding hourly paid employees in the works and research laboratory but exclusive of supervisory and clerical employees, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining, within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the National Labor Relations Act. 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, 49 Stat. 449, and pursuant to Article III, Section 8, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, it is hereby DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation authorized by the Board to ascertain representatives for collective bargaining with National Carbon Company, Inc., Edgewater Works, Cleveland, Ohio, an election by secret ballot shall be conducted with fifteen (15) days from the date of this Direction under the direction and super- vision of the Regional Director for the Eighth Region, acting in this matter as the agent of the National Labor Relations Board, and sub- ject to Article III, Section 9, of said Rules and Regulations, among all production and maintenance employees including all hourly paid employees in the works and research laboratories of National Carbon Company, Inc., Edgewater Works, Cleveland, Ohio, employed by the Company during the pay-roll period next preceding the date of this Direction of Election, including employees who did not work during such pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation and em- ployees who were then or have since been temporarily laid off, but excluding supervisory and clerical employees and employees who have since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whether they desire to be represented by United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America, Local 702, C. I. 0., or by Independent Carbon Workers Association, for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither. Copy with citationCopy as parenthetical citation