Peoples Iron and Metal Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Feb 16, 1942

38 N.L.R.B. 1288 (N.L.R.B. 1942)

In the Matter Of PEOPLES IRON AND METAL Co. and WAREHOUSE AND
DISTRIBUTION WORKERS, LOCAL 2-8, AFFILIATED WITH THE C. I. O.
Case No. R-3435.-Decided February 16, 1942
Jurisdiction : junk industry.
Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question: re
fusal to accord union recognition ; contract renewed after institution of pro
ceedings, no bar to ; election 'necessary.
Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : all employees engaged in sorting,
grading and baling in rag, paper, and cotton departments, excluding super-
visory, office, and clerical employees, truck drivers and helpers to truck
drivers, yard sorters and helpers, yard shear men, yard press men operators,
yard torch men, and metal sorters ; agreement as to.
Mr. Stephen M. Reynolds, for the Board.
Mr. Benjamin Robert Cohen, of Chicago, Ill., for the Company.
Mr. Sam Lissitz, of Chicago, Ill., for the Warehousemen.
Mr. Joseph A. Briegel and Mr. Paul J. Dorfman, of Chicago, Ill.,
for the Handlers Union.
Mr. Walter Samson, of Chicago, Ill., for the Teamsters Union.
Mr. Ralph Molbert, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On July 16, 1941, and on December 2, 1941, respectively, Warehouse
and Distribution Workers, Local 2-8, affiliated with the Congress
of Industrial Organizations, herein called the Warehousemen, filed
With the Regional, Director for the Thirteenth Region (Chicago,
Illinois) a petition and an amended petition each alleging that a
question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation
of employees of Peoples Iron and Metal Co., Chicago, Illinois, herein
called the Company, and requesting an investigation and certification
of representatives pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor
Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On December 20,
1941, the National Labor Relations Board, herein called the Board,
acting pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the Act and Article III, Section
38 N. L. R. B., No. 228.
1288
PEOPLES IRON AND METAL CO. 1289
3, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series
2, as amended, ordered an investigation and authorized the Regional
Director to conduct it alld to provide for an appropriate hearing
upon due notice.
On December 24, 1941, the Regional Director issued a notice of
hearing, copies of which were duly served upon the Company, the
Warehousemen, and the Waste Material Handlers Union, Local
20467, A. F. of L., herein called the Handlers Union,' a labor organ-
ization claiming to represent employees directly affected by' the
investigation. Notice of hearing was also served upon the Institute
of Scrap Iron and Steel, Chicago Chapter, and the Chicago Waste
Material Merchants Association. Pursuant to notice, a hearing was
held on January 5, 1942, at Chicago, Illinois, before Henry J. Kent,
the Trial Examiner duly designated by the Chief Trial Examiner.
The Company, the Warehousemen, and the Handlers Union were
represented at the hearing and participated therein. Neither the
Institute of Scrap Iron and Steel nor the Chicago Waste Material
Merchants Association appeared at the hearing. Full opportunity
to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to intro-
duce evidence bearing upon the issues was afforded all parties.
During the course of the hearing the Trial Examiner ruled on several
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
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
The Peoples Iron and Metal Co., an Illinois corporation located
at Chicago, Illinois, is engaged in the buying and selling, both at
wholesale and retail, of waste materials, consisting principally of
scrap iron, metals, waste paper, rag stock, and rubber. The Com-
pany annually spends approximately $750,000 for waste materials,
about 5 percent of which is for goods shipped to the Company from
points outside the State of Illinois. The Company receives approxi-
mately $1,000,000 from sales of goods, about 40 percent of which is
obtained from the sales of goods shipped to places located outside
the State of Illinois. The Company admits that it is engaged in
commerce within the meaning of the Act.
Notice of hearing was also served upon the Machinery Scrap Iron and, Metal Chauffeurs
and Helpers Union, Local 714, affiliated with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters,
a labor organization representing employees expressly excluded by the parties from the
unit hereinafter found appropriate.
1290 DECISIONS. OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
Warehouse and Distribution Workers, Local 2-8, affiliated with '
the Congress of Industrial Organizations, is a: labor organization
admitting to membership -employees of the Company.
Waste Material Handlers Union, Local No. 20467, affiliated. with
the American Federation of. Labor, is a labor organization admitting
to membership employees -of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
- On or about July 15, 1941, the Warehousemen requested the Com-
pany to negotiate with it as the bargaining. agent for the employees
in the, unit found appropriate below, The Company refused to
accede to this request. On July 16, 1941, the Warehousemen filed
,its petition. _
The Chicago Waste Material Merchants Association, acting for the
Company involved herein, and other firms in the scrap iron business,
entered into a contract with the Handlers Union covering the period
from January 20, 1941, to January 20, 1942.2 This contract provided
for automatic renewal on January 20,,1942, unless, at least 30 days
prior to its expiration date, a notice of modification or termination was
given by either party. The Handlers Union contends that inasmuch
as the requisite notice of modification or termination was not given the
contract automatically renewed and is therefore a bar to this proceed-
ing. We find no merit in this contention inasmuch,as the Ware-
housemen notified the Company of its claim to represent a majority and
filed its petition and amended petition long prior to the last date on
which the parties could give notice of modification or termination.
We hold, accordingly, that the contract does not constitute a bar to this
proceeding.3
From a report prepared by the Regional Director and introduced
into evidence, it appears that the Warehousemen and the Handlers
Union represent a substantial number of the employees in the unit
hereinafter found to be appropriate.4
2 Beginning in 1937 similar contracts were entered into by the above parties covering
the intervening period from 1937 to the contract most recently in effect, as noted above '
3 See Matter of Irving Shoe Company and United Shoe Workers of America , Local 1,8, 38
N. L. R. B. 228.
'.The Regional Director's Statement shows that the Warehousemen submitted 43 signed
application cards for membership in the union from employees in the appropriate unit
These applications were dated between July 1 and July 31, 1941, and are signed by persons
on the Company 's pay roll as of November 8, 1941. The Handlers Union submitted six
applications for membership in the union , dated in March and May 1937, and also dues
records showing dues paid under a check -off system from 1937 to November 1939, of 32
employees . These 32 names are the names of persons appearing on the Company's pay
roll as of November 8, 1941 The unit hereinafter found to be appropriate includes approxi-
mately 50 employees of the Company.
PEOPLES IRON AND METAL CO. 1291
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 tends to lead
to labor disputes burdening and obstructing commerce and the free
flow of commerce.
V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The parties stipulated, and we find, that the appropriate unit should
include all employees engaged in sorting, grading, and baling in the
rag, paper, and cotton departments of the Company but excluding super-
visory, office, and clerical employees, truck drivers and helpers to truck
drivers, yard sorters and helpers, yard shear men, yard press men
operators, yard torch men, and metal sorters. We further find that
said unit will insure to employees of the Company the full benefit of
their right to self-organization and to collective bargaining, and other-
wise will effectuate the policies of the Act.
VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We find that the question which has arisen concerning the repre-
sentation of employees of the Company can best be resolved by an
election by secret ballot. In accordance with our usual practice we
shall direct that those eligible to vote in the election shall be the
employees in the appropriate unit who were employed by the Com-
pany during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of
our Direction of Election, subject to the limitations and additions
hereinafter set forth in our Direction.
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 Peoples Iron and Metal Co., Chicago, Illi-
nois, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7)
of the Act.
2. All employees engaged in sorting, grading, and baling in the
rag, paper, and cotton departments of the Company but excluding
supervisory, office, and clerical employees, truck drivers and helpers to
1292 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
truck drivers, yard sorters and helpers, yard shear men, yard press
men operators, yard torch men, and metal sorters, constitute a unit
appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining, within the
meaning of Section 9 (b) of the 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
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation authorized by the Board
to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining
with Peoples Iron and Metal Co., 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 Thirteenth
Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Rela-
tions Board, and subject to Article III, Section 9; of said Rules and
Regulations, among all employees of the Company who were em-
ployed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of
this Direction, in sorting, grading, and baling in the rag, paper, and
cotton departments, of the Company, including employees who did
not work during said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vaca-
tion or in the active military service or training of the United States,
or temporarily laid off, but excluding supervisory, office, and clerical
employees, truck drivers and helpers to truck drivers, yard sorters
and helpers, yard shear men, yard press men operators, yard torch
men, and metal sorters, and those employees who have since quit or
been discharged for cause, to determine whether they desire to be
represented by Warehouse and Distribution Workers, Local 2-8, affili-
ated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, or by Waste
Material Handlers Union, Local No. 20467, affiliated with the Ameri-
can Federation of Labor, for the purposes of collective bargaining,
or by neither.