32 N.L.R.B. 1137 (N.L.R.B. 1941)

North Chicago Works

National Labor Relations Board - Board DecisionsJun 25, 1941

32 N.L.R.B. 1137 (N.L.R.B. 1941)

In the Matter of CYCLONE FENCE DIVISION, NORTH CHICAGO WORKS, AMERICAN STEEL & W,IEE COMPANY OF NEW JERSEY and THE INTER- NATIONAL ASSOCIATION or BRIDGE, STRUCTURAL AND ORNAMENTAL IRON WORKERS, A. F. of L. Case No. R-2577.-Decided June 2o, 1941 Jurisdiction : wire fence and hardware specialty manufacturing industry. Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question: re- fusal to accord recognition to union until it proved that it represented a ma- jority of employees; election necessary. Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : production and maintenance and lay-out employees exclusive of office and clerical employees, nonworking fore- men, salaried supervisory employees, and specifically named employees, who are charged with responsibility for carrying out orders of the day foremen on certain night shifts. Mr. Paul R. Conaghan of Chicago, Ill., for the Company Mr. Oakley. Mills, of North Chicago, Ill., and Mr. John J. Brownlee, of Chicago, Ill., for the S. W. O. C. M. Daniel D'. Carmell, by Mr. S. G. Lippman, of Chicago, Ill., for the A. F. of L. Mr. William H. Bartley, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION STATEMENT OF THE CASE On March 18, 1941, The International Association of Bridge, Struc- tural and Ornamental Iron Workers, A. F. of L., herein called the A. F. of L., filed with the Regional Director for the Thirteenth Region (Chicago, Illinois) a petition alleging that a question affecting com- merce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of.Cy- clone Fence Division, North Chicago Works, American Steel & Wire Company of New Jersey," herein called the company, and requesting i The petition named the Company as, "Cyclone Fence Division, American Steel & Wire Company of New Jersey," but the record and pleadings were amended to conform to the correct name during the hearing. 32 N. L. R. B., No. 177. 1137 1138 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD an investigation and certification of representatives pursuant to Sec- tion 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On May 2, 1941, 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 Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, ordered an investigation and authorized the Regional Director to conduct it and to provide for an appropriate hearing upon due notice. On May 9, 1941, the Regional Director issued a notice of hearing, copies of which were duly served upon the Company, the A. F. of L., and Steel Workers Organizing Committee, C. I. 0., herein called the S: W. O. C., a labor organization claiming to represent employees of the Company. Pursuant to notice, a hearing was held on May 19, 20, and 21, 1941, at Chicago, Illinois, before Stephen M. Reynolds, the Trial Examiner duly designated by the .Chief Trial Examiner. The,Company, the A. F. of L., and the S. W. O. C. appeared by rep- resentatives 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 Examiner 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. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following: FINDINGS OF FACT I. THE BUSINESS OF TIIE COMPANY Cyclone Fence Division is a subsidiary of American Steel & Wire Company of New Jersey, a New Jersey corporation, and operates nine plants, one of which is located at North Chicago, Illinois. At this plant, which is the only one involved in the present proceeding, the Company manufactures steel and wire fence and sundry small hardware specialties.. Substantial amounts of the Company's raw materials are obtained from sources outside the State of Illinois; likewise the majority of finished products are shipped to points outside Illinois.2 H. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED The International Association of Bridge, Structural and Orna- mental Iron Workers, affiliated with the American 'Federation of Labor, and Steel Workers Organizing Committee, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, are labor organizations admit- ting to membership employees of the Company. See footnote 2 on page 3. CYCLONE FENCE DIVISION 1139 III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION On March 7,1941, the A. F. of L. asked for recognition as the exclu- sive bargaining representative of employees of the Company. The Company refused to grant recognition until the A. F. of L. proved that it represented a majority of such employees. A statement of the Trial Examiner, introduced in evidence at the hearing, shows that both, the A. F. of L. and the S. W. O. C. . represent a substantial number of employees in the unit alleged to be appropriate.3 We find that a question has arisen concerning the representation of employees of the Company. 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. 2 See the following table- SOURCE OF SUPPLY Commodity From the State of Illinois From without State of Illinois Tons Percent Tons Percent Wire-------------------------------------------- 6,124 100 -Steel ------- ----------------------------------- 250 5 4, 275 0 95Pipe- ------------ ----------------- ------------ ------------ 3,178 6 100Castings -------------------------------------- 633 100 ------------ -----------Spelter- ----------------------------------------- ----------- ------------ 800 0 100 Acid--------------------------------------------- 205 100 ------------ ------------ Gals. Fuel oil ------------------------------------------ 215,718 100 ------------ ------------ FINISHED PRODUCTS Commodity Shipments to State of Shipments outsideIllmois State I Tons Percent Tons Percent Property protection chain link complete --------- 1,598 15 3 8, 814 84 7 Steel picket fence--------------------------------- 122 24 4 - 378 75 6 Interior wire ------------------------------------- Partition work and sundry products --------__- 92 6 7 1,299 93 3 I Shipments made directly or indirectly through Cyclone Warehouses to every State in the Union. 8 The Trial Examiner 's statement shows that 161 employees on the pay roll of March 28, 1941, have signed membership application cards in the A F. of L, all dated February and March, 1941 except 11 which bore no dates. The statement also shows that 191 em- ployees have signed membership application cards in the S. W. 0. C. Of these, 145 were on the pay roll of March 28, 1941 Eight of the 145 were dated in 1937, 56 in 1940, and 81 in 1941 . Of the 46 cards signed by employees not on the March 28 pay roll, 43 were dated in April and May, 1941, and 3 were undated. 'There were 72 instances of names appearing on both A. F. of L. and S. W. 0. C . cards. There were approximately 264 employees on the March 28, 1941, pay roll, within the alleged appropriate unit. 44S692-42-v of ;'2--7 ; 1140 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD tends to lead to labor disputes burdening and obstructing commerce and the free flow of commerce. V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT The Company , the A. F. of L ., and the S. W. O. C.4 agree that the appropriate unit should consist of all production and maintenance and lay-out employees at the North Chicago Works of the Company, excluding office and clerical employees , non-working foremen,5,and salaried supervisory employees. The only dispute with respect to the unit concerns Harold Felbinger, John Adamski , Willis Holt and Stanley Mlinar . The A. F. of L. contends that they should be excluded from the unit while the S. W. O. C. asks that they be included . Felbinger , Adamski, and Holt are "head men" or "gang pushers" on shifts where there are no regular foremen assigned . They are older , highly skilled employees , who are charged with responsibility for carrying out orders of the day fore- men on certain night shifts . They, have no power to hire or to dis- charge but the other workers recognize that their directions are to be followed . Their wages are slightly higher than those of their fellow workers. Stanley Mlinar formerly held the position of "gang pusher" but is now on a day shift under a foreman . We shall exclude Harold Felbinger , John Adamski , and Willis Holt from the appropriate unit. We steal 'include Stanley Mlinar within the unit. We find that all production and maintenance and lay -out employees at the North Chicago Works of the Company, exclusive of office and clerical employees , non-working foremen, salaried supervisory em- ployees, and Harold Felbinger , John Adamski , and Willis Holt, con- stitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining and that said unit will insure to employees of the Company the full benefit of their right to self -organization and collective bargaining and otherwise effectuate the policies of the Act. VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES We find that the question concerning representation which has arisen can best be resolved by an election by secret ballot. The AAt the hearing, the S W. 0 C. first contended that the appropriate unit was em- ployer-wide and that the Cyclone Fence Division should be included in the unit which embraces other divisions of the American Steel & Wire Company with which the S. W 0 C. has a contract , last renewed early in 1941. The Cyclone Fence Division, formerly The Cyclone Fence Company, was purchased by the American Steel & Wire Company of New Jersey on January 25 , 1941 Subsequently, the S W. 0 C withdrew this contention and agreed to an election in the North Chicago plant in the unit suggested by the A F. of L. 5 The Company, the A. F of L , and the S W. O' C agreed at the hearing that Glenn Dibble, Harold Gustafson, Frank Kuznak, Al Burkett. Herbert Wilder, and Joseph Mateja were supervisory employees in a confidential relationship to the Company, and therefore, were to be excluded from the appropriate unit. CYCLONE FENCE DIVISION 1141 A. F. of L. asked that the pay roll for the period ending March 28, 1941, the date of the filing of the petition, be used to determine eligi- bility to vote in the election. The S. W. O. C. asked for a current pay-roll date. The Company took no position on the question. Be- cause of increased business, 30 or 40 new employees were added by the Company between March 22 and May 19, and the Company stated at the hearing that it expected to add 50 or 60 more before July 10. The Company considers these employees to be permanent. Under the circumstances, we shall follow our usual practice and direct that those eligible to vote in the election shall- be those employees in the appropriate unit who were employed during the pay-roll period imme- diately preceding the date of the Direction of Election herein, subject to such limitations and additions as are set forth in the Direction of Election. _ Upon the basis of the above findings of fact and upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following : CONCLUSIONS or LAW 1. A question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the repre- sentation of employees of Cyclone Fence Division, North Chicago Works, American Steel & Wire Company of New 'Jersey, North Chicago, Illinois, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act. 2. All production and maintenance and lay-out employees, at the North Chicago Works of the Company, exclusive of office and clerical employees, non-working foremen, salaried supervisory employees, Harold Felbinger, John Adamski, and Willis Holt, 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, and pursuant to Article III, Section 8, ' of National Labor Rela- tions Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, it is hereby DmEcrEn that, as part of the investigation authorized by the Board to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining with the Cyclone Fence Division, North Chicago Works, American Steel & Wire Company of New Jersey, North Chicago, Illinois, 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 Thir- teenth Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor 1142 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Relations Board, and subject to Article III, Section 9, of said Rules and Regulations, among all production and maintenance and lay-out employees of Cyclone Fence Division, North Chicago Works, American Steel & Wire Company of New Jersey, North Chicago, Illinois,. whose names appear on the Company's pay roll for the period immediately preceding the date of this Direction of Election, including any em- ployees who did not work during said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation, or in the active military service or training of the United States, or temporarily laid off, but excluding office and clerical employees, non-working foremen, salaried supervisory em- ployees, Harold Felbinger, John Adamski, and Willis Holt, and employees who have since quit or been discharged for cause, to de- termine whether they desire to be represented by The International Association of Bridge, Structural and Ornamental Iron Workers, A. F. of L., or by Steel Workers Organizing Committee, C. I. 0., for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither.