Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Dec 16, 1948

80 N.L.R.B. 1331 (N.L.R.B. 1948)

In the Matter of PITTSBURGH PLATE GLASS COMPANY, COLUMBIA CHEM-
ICAL DIVISION, EMPLOYER and ALLIED CHEMICAL AND ALKALI
WORKERS OF AMERICA, LOCAL No. 1, PETITIONER
Case No. 8-RC-270.-Decided December 16, 1948
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Barber-
ton, Ohio, on September 30, 1948, before Charles A. Fleming, hearing
officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from
prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. 1
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the National Labor
Relations Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with
this case to a three-man panel consisting of the undersigned Board
Members.*
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the National Labor Relations Act.
2. The Petitioner and the Intervenor are labor organizations which
claim to represent certain employees of the Employer.
3. The question concerning representation :
On June 27, 1948, the Intervenor and the Employer entered into
a. collective bargaining agreement to terminate on June 27, 1950. On
August 7, 1948, the officers of Local 13013 called a special meeting of
the local, duly noticed, and a vote was taken to disaffiliate from the
Intervenor, surrender the charter and dissolve the local. At the same
meeting the members voted to organize Local No. 1, Allied Chemical
and Alkali Workers of America, the Petitioner herein, now claiming
to be the successor to Local 13013. Of the 1,600 employees at the plant
and mine of the Employer approximately 1,100 were dues-paying mem-
bers of the Petitioner at the time of the hearing. The former officers
1 Local 13013, District 50, affiliated with the United Mine Workers of America , herein-
after called the Intervenor, was allowed to intervene at the hearing by the hearing
officer on the ground of a contract between the Intervenor and the Employer.
*Chairman Herzog and Members Houston and Murdock.
80 N. L. R. B., No. 204.
1331
817319-49-vol. 80-85
1332 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
of the Intervenor became the newly elected officers of the Petitioner.
The former office of the Intervenor has been taken over by the Peti-
tioner, and regular meetings are held. The Intervenor conceded at
the hearing that it had no officers or dues-paying members at the Em-
ployer's plant or mine and that it had no office at Barberton, Ohio, and
held no meetings. However, the Intervenor's representative at the
hearing stated that Local 13013 was still in existence, and that it had
established an office at Akron, Ohio, and was prepared to handle
grievances of the Employer's employees. The Petitioner by letter
dated August 14, 1948, requested recognition by the Employer as the
exclusive bargaining representative of the employees. In a letter
dated August 16, 1948, the Employer refused to recognize the Peti-
tioner. The Intervenor contends that its existing contract with the
Employer is a bar to the instant petition.
We find no merit in this contention. It is clear on the foregoing
facts that there exists a doubt as to the identity of the labor organiza-
tion that the employees desire to represent them which can best be
resolved by an election. Under such circumstances we have held
that an existing contract does not constitute a bar to a present de-
termination of representatives.'
We find that a question affecting commerce exists concerning the
representation of employees of the Employer, within the meaning of
Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. In accordance with the agreement of the parties, we find that all
employees of the Employer's plant and limestone mine at Barberton,
Ohio, working on hourly rates, including group leaders who work on
hourly rates of pay, but excluding salaried employees and supervisors
within the meaning of the Act, constitute a unit appropriate for the
purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9
(b) of the Act.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION 3
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co.,
Columbia Chemical Division, Barberton, Ohio, an election by secret
ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later than thirty
' See Matter of Olive & Myers Manufacturing Company, 59 N. L . R. B. 650; Matter of
Revere Copper & Brass, Incorporated, 67 N. L. R. B. 1114 ; Matter of Carson Pirie Scott &
Company, 69 N. L. R. B. 935; Matter of Foley Lumber & Export Corporation, 70 N. L. R. B.
73 ; Matter of Riggs Optical Company, Consolidated , 77 N. L. R. B. 265.
$ Having failed to achieve compliance or to initiate steps for compliance with the filing
requirements of Section 9 (f), (g), and ( h) of the amended Act, the Intervenor will not
be accorded a place on the ballot. See Matter of Cardinal Products, Inc., 80 N. L. R. B.
113
PITTSBURGH PLATE GLASS COMPANY 1333
(30) days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and
supervision of the Regional Director for the Eighth Region, and
subject to Sections 203.61 and 203.62, of National Labor Relations
Board Rules and Regulations-Series 5, as amended, among the em-
ployees in the unit found appropriate in paragraph numbered 4, above,
who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding
the date of this Direction, including employees who did not work
during said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation or
temporarily laid off, but excluding those employees who have since
quit or been discharged for cause and have not been rehired or rein-
stated prior to the date of the election, and also excluding employees
on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine whether
or not they desire to be represented by Local No. 1, Allied Chemical
and Alkali Workers of America, for the purposes of collective
bargaining.