Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jan 13, 1939

10 N.L.R.B. 1111 (N.L.R.B. 1939)

In the Matter Of PITTSBURGH PLATE GLASS COMPANY and FEDERATION
OF FLAT GLASS WORKERS OF AMERICA, AFFILIATED WITH C. I. O.
Case No. B-1058.-Decided January 13, 1939
Glass Manufacturing Industry-Investigation of Representatives : controversy
concerning representation of employees : controversy concerning appropriate unit;
employer questions appropriateness of unit proposed by union and refuses to
bargain collectively-Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : production
and maintenance employees , excluding window-glass cutters, supervisory em-
ployees, and clerical employees not directly connected with production ; exclusion
of all plants of Company except those in flat-glass division from unit ; exclusion
of two plants in flat-glass division from unit ; inclusion of all other plants in
flat-glass division in unit: history of union organization and of collective bar-
gaining ; desire of majority at one plant for separate unit not controlling under
circumstances of case-Representatives : proof of choice : majority of union :
stipulations as to-Certification of Representatives : upon proof of majority
representation.
Mr. Robert H. Kleeb, for the Board.
Smith, Buchanan c Ingersoll, by Mr. John G. Buchanan and Mr.
William J. Kyle, Jr., of Pittsburgh, Pa., and Mr. J. Wesley McAfee, of
St. Louis, Mo., for the Company.
Mr. H. B. Holmes and Mr. William Lewis, of Columbus, Ohio, for
the Federation.
Mr. Fred Hoffineister, of St. Louis, Mo., for the Crystal City Union.
Mr. Robert Kramer, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On April 4, 1938, Federation of Flat Glass Workers of America,
affiliated with C. I. 0., herein called the Federation, filed with the
Regional Director' for the Sixth Region (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
a petition, and on May 13, 1938, an amended petition, alleging that a
question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation
of employees of Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company, Pittsburgh,'Penn-
sylvania, herein called the Company, at its plants located in Ford City
and Creighton, Pennsylvania; Mt. Vernon, Ohio; Clarksburg," West
Virginia; Henryetta, Oklahoma;- and Crystal City, Missouri, and
10 N. L.R.B,No.102. ----- -
-- 1111
1112 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
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 May 26, 1938, 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; and, acting
pursuant to Article II, Section 37 (b), and Article III, Section 10
(c) (2), of said Rules and Regulations, further ordered that for the
purpose of hearing the proceedings in this case be consolidated with
those in Matter of Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company, Works No. 9 and
Federation of Flat Glass Workers of America, affiliated with C. I. 0.,
Case No. C-778, in which on June 17, 1938, the Board, upon charges
duly filed by the Federation, issued and duly served its complaint
alleging that the Company had engaged in and was engaging in un-
fair labor practices affecting commerce, within the meaning of Sec-
tion 8 (1), (2), and (3) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. In
respect to the unfair labor practices within the meaning of Section
8 (2) of the Act, the complaint alleged in substance that the Coin-
pany had dominated and interfered with the formation and adminis-
tration of Crystal City Glass Workers' Union, herein called the
Crystal City Union, a labor organization of the Company's employees
at its Crystal City, Missouri, plant. On July 21, 1938, the Board,
in accordance with Article II, Section 37 (b), and Article III, Sec-
tion 10 (c) (2), of said Rules and Regulations, issued an order sever-
ing the two cases which had been consolidated for the purpose of
hearing. In Case No. C-778, a hearing was held in Crystal City,
Missouri, on July 18, 20, and 22, 1938, before Joseph L. Maguire,
the Trial Examiner duly designated by the Board. On July 22, 1938,
counsel for the Board, the Company, and the Federation entered
into a stipulation, on the basis of which the Board, on September 22,
1938, issued a Decision and Order 1 requiring the Company to cease
and desist "from recognizing or dealing with the Crystal City Glass
Workers' Union as a labor organization, or any person or group of
persons purporting to represent said organization."
On September 27, 1938, the Regional Director issued a notice of
hearing in the instant representation proceedings, copies of which
were duly served upon the Company, the Federation, and Window
Glass Cutters' League of America, herein called the League, a labor
organization claiming to represent employees directly affected by the
investigation. Pursuant to the notice, a hearing was held on October
13 and, 14, 1938, at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, before Tilford E.
I S •N. L. R . B. 1210.
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 1113
Dudley, the Trial Examiner duly designated by the Board. At the
opening of the hearing the Crystal City Union, claiming to repre-
sent employees directly affected by the investigation, requested leave
to intervene in the proceedings. The Trial Examiner denied this
motion, on the ground that the Crystal City Union, having been
named in the Federation's petition and amended petition as a labor
organization claiming to represent employees directly affected by the
investigation, was already a party to the proceedings. The Crystal
City Union then waived any absence of formal notice to it of the
hearing. The Board, the Company, the Federation, and the Crystal
City Union were represented by counsel and participated in the hear-
ing. The League did not appear at the hearing. Full opportunity
to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to intro-
duce evidence bearing on all the issues was afforded all parties, ex-
cept that the Trial Examiner, because of the Board's Decision and
Order, dated September 22, 1938, in Case No. C-778,2 refused to allow
the Crystal City Union to introduce evidence as to its membership or
representation of employees. During the hearing the Company
moved that the Board conduct an election among its employees at
Crystal City to determine their desires concerning representation.
The Crystal City Union moved that its name be placed upon any
ballot used in any election conducted by the Board among the Com-
pany's employees. The Trial Examiner stated that he could not
rule upon these motions and reserved them for decision by the Board.
For reasons hereinafter set forth these motions are hereby denied.
During the course of the hearing the Trial Examiner made a num-
ber of other rulings on motions and on objections to the admission
of evidence. The Board has reviewed the rulings of the Trial Ex-
aminer and finds that no prejudicial errors were committed. The
rulings are hereby affirmed.
After the hearing, the Company, the Federation, and the Crystal
City Union filed briefs, which the Board has considered. On De-
cember 20, 1938, pursuant to notice duly served upon all the parties,
oral argument, in which representatives for the Company and the
Federation participated, was had before the Board in Washington,
D. C.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
The Company is a Pennsylvania corporation with its principal
place of business in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is engaged in the
28 N. L R B. 1210.
1114 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS -BOARD
manufacture, sale, and distribution of chemicals, paints, varnishes,
lacquers, brushes, and many types of flat glass. The Company has
separated its operations into five main divisions; namely, commer-
cial, chemical, paint, brush, and flat glass. The present proceeding
involves the flat-glass division only.
The following table shows the location of each plant in the flat-
glass division, the type of glass it produces, the volume of its pro-
duction in 1937, the percentage of this production shipped in 1937
to points outside the State in which the plant is located, the per-
centage of the raw materials used at each plant shipped to it in
1937 from points outside the State in which it is situated, and the
normal number of employees at each plant.
n
r
F1 p
b
0a'
p
^^a
AdIoM
Volume of production in o ?
a°
c a
rya
°H WPlant Location Products 1937 0 .
md+ myo
q
^
;M, 0
v J7 w~„
U,.y HOB
awo wpm aa
35,072,350 .33 sq. ft. of plate 1 99 21, 289
Works No. 1 __ Creighton , Pa------ Plate and safety glass.
8
1
glass. 17,416 , 303.36 sq. ft . of a 95 947
safety glass
Works No. 4__ Ford City , Pa______ Plate glass -------- 22,203,732 94 sq. ft_________ 95 14 1,408
Works No. 6__ _____ do______________ Carrara structural 150,219.16 sq.ft------ ------ 95 45 268glass
34,511,734 .17 sq. ft. of plate a 99
Works No.9__ Crystal City, Mo__ Plate and safety glass. t 08^'49j
I
20 1,607
glass. 240,234 sq. ft. of safety13 a 100,
ass
Works No. 10_ Henryetta, Okla ___ Window glass----- 494,530 boxes ______________ 83 50 6 273
Works No. 11_ Mount Vernon, _____do_____________ 893,389 boxes______________ 92 28 6 350
Ohio.
Works No. 12 Clarksburg , W.Va_ _____do_____________ 975 ,806 boxes-------------- 99 39 353
Normal total number of em_ ____________________ ____________________________ 6,495
ployees.
I Plate glass.
2 Plate workers . This figure is taken from the pay roll of Dec. 8, 1937, the last one prior to the hearing
which reflected normal employment at this plant.
a Safety glass.
4 Safety workers . This figure is taken from the pay roll of Feb 1, 1938, the last one prior to the hearing
which reflected normal employment at this plant.
6 This figure is taken from the payroll of Dec. 8, 1937 , the last one prior to the hearing which reflected
normal employment at this plant.
In addition to the above plants, the flat-glass division includes a.
factory at Elwood, Indiana, employing a maximum of 40 men and
manufacturing refractories which are used in building tanks and
furnaces at the glass plants, and a factory at Kokomo, Indiana, em-
ploying about 25 men and manufacturing metal strips for store fronts.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
Federation of Flat Glass Workers of America is a labor organiza-
tion affiliated with the Committee for Industrial Organization and
admitting to its membership all production and maintenance em-
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 1115
ployees, excluding window-glass cutters, clerical employees not di-
rectly connected with production, and supervisory employees, at all
the plants in the flat-glass division of the Company.
Window Glass Cutters League of America is a labor organization
affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, admitting to its
membership the window-glass cutters at all the plants in the flat-
glass division of the Company.
Crystal City Glass Workers' Union, prior to the Board's Decision
and Order of September 22, 1938, in Case No. C-778,$ disestablishing
it as a labor organization, was an unaffiliated labor organization ad-
initting to its membership only employees at the Crystal City Plant
of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
Both before and at the hearing the Company expressed its willing-
ness to bargain collectively at each of its plants in its flat-glass divi-
sion with any labor organization which represented a majority of
the employees at that,plant, and the Company accordingly has bar-
gained collectively with the Federation and has a written agreement
with it for all the plants in the flat-glass division except those at
Crystal City, Missouri, and Kokomo and Elwood, Indiana. The
Federation has requested the Company to bargain collectively with
it at the Crystal City plant and to include that plant in the written
agreement between the Company and it covering the other plants, but
the Company has refused to do so on the ground that the Federation
does not represent a majority of the employees at the Crystal City
plant.
We find that a question has arisen concerning 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 com-
merce and the free flow of commerce.
V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Federation admits to its membership all production and main-
tenance employees in the flat-glass division of the Company, exclud-
ing clerical employees not directly connected with production, super-
38 N. L. R . B. 1210.
1116 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
visory employees, and window-glass cutters. The flat-glass division-
of the Company, in the words of the vice president in charge of it,
operates "quite separately" from the four other main divisions of the-
Company; namely, the commercial, paint, brush, and chemical. It
produces flat glass, an entirely different product from those produced
by the other divisions of the Company, and has its own labor policies.
At the hearing neither the Company nor the Crystal City Union
objected to the Federation's request to exclude the employees in the
four other divisions of the Company from the appropriate unit, or
to the classification of employees proposed by the Federation. The
Federation's constitution makes window-glass cutters ineligible for
membership in it, and the Company has an agreement with the
League by which all its window-glass cutters must be members of the
League. We see no reason for departing from the Federation's classi-
fication of employees, or for not granting its request to exclude
employees in the Company's other four divisions from the appropriate
unit.
The Federation asserts that all the employees eligible for member-
ship in it at all the plants in the flat-glass division except those at
Kokomo and Elwood, Indiana, constitute a single unit appropriate
for the purposes of collective bargaining. Neither the Company nor
the Crystal City Union objected at the hearing to the exclusion of the
Kokomo and Elwood plants from the appropriate unit. The work
done at Kokomo-the manufacture of store front metal strips-and the
work done at Elwood-the manufacture of refractories used in con-
structing tanks and furnaces at the glass factories-is not similar ill
any respect to that done in the other plants in the flat-glass division.
There is no evidence that the Federation has ever attempted to organ-
ize the 65 employees at these two plants or has any members among
them. In view of the unopposed desire of the Federation to exclude
these two plants, the lack of any organizational activity at these plants
by the Federation, and the different nature of the work done there
from that done in the other flat-glass plants, we will not include the
Kokomo and Elwood plants in the appropriate bargaining unit.'
The Company and the Crystal City Union, however, assert that
either the employees at each plant in the flat-glass division constitute
separate units appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining or
the employees at all these plants except Crystal City constitute one
appropriate unit and the employees at Crystal City-the only plant
at which the Federation admittedly has not as members a majority
of the employees-constitute another. Inasmuch as the Crystal City
Union admits to membership only employees at the Crystal City plant,
and the Company asserts its willingness to consider all the plants
4 Cf. Matter of United Shipyards . Inc and Locals No 12, No 13, No 15 of the Industrial
Union of Marine and Shipbuilding Workers of America, 5 N L. R. B. 742.
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 1117
except Crystal City as a single appropriate unit because the Federa-
tion at each of them has a majority of employees as members, the
question at issue between the parties narrows down to whether Crystal
City should constitute a bargaining unit by itself or be included in a
-unit composed of all the other flat-glass factories of the Company,
except those at Kokomo and Elwood, Indiana.
The Federation was formed immediately after the passage of the
National Industrial Recovery Act in 1933. From the very beginning it
sought to represent all flat-glass workers in all the Company's plants,
including Crystal City. In 1934 the first organizer for the Federation,
Robert McVay, came to Crystal City but had little success because of
the intense hostility he encountered there, resulting in part from the
activities of the Crystal City Union which had been founded in 1933.
By the end of 1934 the Federation had about 12 members at Crystal
City. On November 13, 1934, the Federation entered into a written
agreement with the Company, covering all employees at all the plants
of the Company, including Crystal City, who were Federation mem-
bers. Not until January 20, 1937, did the Company for the first time
insist that Crystal City be excluded from the agreement between it
and the Federation on the ground that the Federation did not have
as members a majority of the employees at this plant. The written
agreement signed on that day, at the insistence of the Company, de-
spite the Federation's objections, did not cover the Federation mem-
bers at Crystal City. Since then the Federation has intensified its
.activities at Crystal City, chartering a local there in April 1938 and
-obtaining approximately 463 members by September 1938.
Thus, almost from its inception, the Federation has attempted to
organize the employees at Crystal City and to include them in one
bargaining unit with the employees at the Company's other flat-glass
factories. Since the failure to include Crystal City in the 1937
agreement after having done so on three previous occasions resulted
from the demand of the Company and despite the Federation's pro-
-tests, little weight can be given this omission as an argument against
the unit sought by the Federation. Moreover, the Crystal City em-
ployees never attempted to bargain with the Company separately
from the other plants. The slow progress made by the Federation
in obtaining members at Crystal City and its failure to secure as
members a majority of the employees there-in sharp contrast to its
rapid growth and attainment of majorities at the other plants of
the Company-has undoubtedly been due in large part to the fact
that at Crystal City, unlike the other plants, it was vigorously op-
posed by another labor organization, the Crystal City Union, which
at one time claimed over 1,300 members. However, the Crystal
City Union, by virtue of the Board's Decision and Order in Case No.
1118 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
C-7781 ' dated September 22, 1938, based on a stipulation entered into,
by the Company, the Board, and the Federation, requiring the Com-
pany to cease and desist from "recognizing or dealing with the Crys-
tal City Glass Workers' Union as a labor organization, or any person
or group of persons purporting to represent said organization,"
in the mean-ceased to be able to function as a labor organization with
ing of Section 2 (5) of the, Act, and its existence as such at Crystal
City then terminated.s The Company has emphasized the fact that
in opposition to the wishes and attempts of the Federation to include
the Crystal City plant in a unit with the other glass plants there
must be considered the wishes of the Crystal City Union and of the
1,300 employees at Crystal City who signed a petition asking for a
separate unit at Crystal City. Since the Crystal City Union can no
longer function as a labor organization, its wishes are immaterial.
Moreover, the prior existence of the Crystal City Union for over 3
years, until almost the day of the hearing in this proceeding, to a
large degree explains the desire of the 1,300 Crystal City employees
for a separate bargaining unit, as expressed in their petition, and
such desires may well undergo a radical change as the effect of the•
termination of the Crystal City Union's function, as a labor organi-
zation is fully realized by these employees. In addition, the evidence
strikingly reveals the importance to the Federation, to its members,
and to the employees at all the other flat-glass plants of the Company
of presenting a united front in dealing with the Company. During
a 10-day strike conducted by the Federation in January 1935 all the
flat-glass plants of the Company were closed except Crystal City.
During this period the Company filled orders from Crystal City
that normally it would have filled from its other plants. Thus to
give effect to the wishes of the 1,300 Crystal City employees for a
separate bargaining unit, as expressed in their petition, would in-
evitably hamper and obstruct the far larger number of the Com-
pany's employees at the other plants in their efforts to organize and
to bargain collectively with the Company.' Furthermore, at the
conclusion of this 10-day strike, the Federation secured a 5-cent wage
5 8 N. L. R B 1210.
6 In its brief the Crystal City Union contends that this stipulation and order are not
binding upon it, because it did not intervene or participate in the hearing or sign the stipu-
lation The Crystal City Union made no attempt voluntarily to intervene or appear in the
complaint proceedings . It was not entitled to notice of the hearing in the complaint pro-
ceedings and its presence was not necessary to enable the Board to issue an appropriate
order against the Company. National Labor Relations Board v. Pennsylvania Greyhound
Lines, Inc, and Greyhound Management Company, 303 U. S. 261 ( 1938).
7 Cf. Matter of American Hardware Corporation and United Electrical and Radio
Workers of America, 4 N. L. R. B . 412; Matter of Tennessee Copper Company and A. F.
of L. Federal Union No. 8116y , 5 N. L. R . B. 768; Matter of C. A. Lund Company and Novelty
Workers Union, Local 1866 (A. F. of L.) successor, 6 N. L. R B. 423 ; Matter of Inland
Steel Company and Steel Workers Organizing Committee and Amalgamated Association of
Iron, Steel, and Tin Workers of North America, Lodge Nos. 64, 1010 , and 1101, 9 N. L.
R B 783.
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 1119
increase. Not only was this wage increase immediately granted to
the Crysi al City employees, but also, since the increase was retro-
active and this plant had not closed during the strike, the Crystal
City employees, because of the strike called by the Federation, re-
ceived extra pay for the work they did to impede the success of the
strike. Under these circumstances, we cannot regard the wishes of
the 1,300 employees at Crystal City as being decisive of the issue here
presented." Nor are we impressed by the argument that the absence
of any "union" background differentiates Crystal City from the
other plants. Since 1934 both the Federation and the Crystal City
Union have been active at this plant. Moreover, the very inexpe-
rience of Crystal City employees in collective bargaining is a cogent
reason for giving them the benefit and use of the services of the more
experienced employees at the other plants by having them bargain
together with such employees.
The chief, if not the sole, respects in which Crystal City differs
from the other flat-glass plants are the small membership of the
Federation there and the desire of many employees there for a sepa-
rate bargaining unit. For,reasons set forth in the previous para-
graph, these factors do not seem controlling to us in view of all the
circumstances of this case. On the other hand, we have carefully
examined the entire record in this proceeding and are unable to find
any substantial reason why the request of-the Federation for a single
bargaining unit for all the flat-glass plants of the Company should
not be granted as the best method of insuring to all employees the
full benefit of their right to self-organization and collective bargain-
ing under the Act.' Almost without exception the reasons advanced
by the Company or the Crystal City Union as to why the Crystal
City plant would function better as a separate bargaining unit apply
with equal if not greater force to any one of the Company's other flat-
glass plants which have bargained together successfully in one unit
since 1934. The Company emphasizes the large amount of control
vested in the Crystal City plant's superintendent over labor and other
policies, but the other plant superintendents have similar powers.
With the fact that Crystal City is almost 700 miles away from other
plants making the same product, plate and safety glass, must be con-
sidered the fact that the almost equally great distances separating
the window-glass plants have not prevented their bargaining together
successfully. The Crystal City plant is an independent unit in the
sense that there is almost no interchange of workers between it and
the other plants, and that it neither receives nor sends materials
8 Cf. Matter of Tennessee Electric Power Company and International Brotherhood of
Electrical Workers, 7 N. L R. B. 24.
9 Cf. Matter of American Steel and Wire Company and Steel and Wire Workers Protective
Association, 5 N. L. R. B. 871.
1120 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
to the other plants, but each'of the other plants is equally independent
of the rest. The wages, the working hours and conditions, and the
manufacturing processes in effect at Crystal City differ very little,
if at all, from those in effect at the Company's other flat-glass plants.
Such differences as exist are no greater than those found among the
Company's other flat-glass plants, and inasmuch as they have bar-
gained together successfully since 1934 despite these differences, we
are unable to see any reason why Crystal City should experience diffi-
culty because of any such differences in bargaining together with the
other flat-glass plants of the Company.10
We find that the production and maintenance employees of the
Company, excluding window-glass cutters, clerical employees not
directly connected with production, and supervisory employees, at
the Company's flat-glass plants situated in Mt. Vernon, Ohio ; Clarks-
burg, West Virginia; Henryetta, Oklahoma; Crystal City, Missouri;
Creighton, Pennsylvania ; and Ford City, Pennsylvania, constitute 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 to collective bargaining and
otherwise effectuate the policies of the Act.
VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
At the hearing it was stipulated by all parties not only that the
Federation has as members a majority of the employees at each plant
1i Compare such decisions as Matter of Atlantic Refining Company and Local Nos. 810
and 318, International Association of Oil Field, Gas Well and Refinery Workers of America,
1 N L. R B. 359 ; Matter of Motor Transport Company and General Chauffeurs , Teamsters
and Helpers, Local No 200, 2 N L R B 492; Matter of Hoffman Beverage Company
and Joint Local Executive Board of International Union of United Brewery, Flour, Cereal,
and Soft Drink Workers of America, 3 N. L. R. B 584 ; Matter of Chase Brass and Copper
Company, Inc and Waterbury Brass Workers Union , 4 N L R. B 47; Matter of Industrial
Rayon Corporation, a Delaware Corporation and Textile Workers Organizing Committee,
7 N -L. R B 878 ; and Matter of Belmont Iron Works and International Association of
Bridge, Structural, and Ornamental Iron Workers, 9 N L R. B 1202, in which the
Board refused to find appropriate units consisting of many plants of one employer because
of the lack of any history of collective bargaining or union organization proving such
units feasible , with such decisions as Matter of Portland Gas and Coke Company and
Gas and Coke Workers Union , Local No 19591 , affiliated with the American Federation of
Labor, and Gasco Employees Association, 2 N. L. R. B. 552 ; Matter of Remington Rand,
Inc and Remington Rand Joint Protective Board of the District Council 01/lee Equipment
Workers, 2 N L B B 626 , 642-43, Matter of Shell Oil Company of California and
International Association of Oil Field, Gas Well and Refinery Workers of America, Inter-
national Association of Machinists , International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship-
builders and Helpers, International Brotherhood of Blacksmiths , Drop Forgers and Helpers,
International Brotherhood of Electrical 'Workers , and Welders International Association,
Intervener, 2 N. L. R . B 835 , Matter of Rossie Velvet Company and Charles B. Rayhall
and Textile Workers Organizing Committee of the Committee for Industrial Organization,
3 N. L R B 804 ; Matter of Todd Shipyards Corporation , Robins Dry Dock Corporation
and Repair Co , and Tiet/en and Lang Dry Dock Co and Industrial Union of Marine and
Shipbuilding 'Workers of America, 5 N. L. R B 20 , and the decisions cited in footnotes
7, 8, and 9 , supra, in which the Board found appropriate multi -plant units , despite
distances and differences between the plants, where the history of union organization and
collective bargaining proved such units feasible and desirable.
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 1121
in the appropriate unit except Crystal City, but also that the Feder-
ation has as members a majority of all the employees in the appro-
priate unit. We are satisfied, under the circumstances of this case,
that a majority of all the employees in the appropriate unit are
members of the Federation. I
We find that the Federation has been designated and selected by a
majority of the employees in the appropriate unit as their representa-
tive for the purposes of collective bargaining. It is, therefore, the
exclusive representative of all the employees in such unit for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining, and we will so certify.
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 Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company, Pitts-
burgh, Pennsylvania, at its flat-glass plants situated in Mt. Vernon,
Ohio; Clarksburg, West Virginia; Henryetta, Oklahoma; Crystal
City, Missouri; Ford City, Pennsylvania; and Creighton, Pennsyl-
vania, 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, ex-
cluding window-glass cutters, clerical employees not directly con-
nected with production, and supervisory employees, at the Company's
flat-glass plants situated in Mt. Vernon, Ohio; Clarksburg, West Vir-
ginia; Henryetta, Oklahoma; Crystal City, Missouri; Creighton,
Pennsylvania; and Ford City, Pennsylvania, constitute a unit appro-
priate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning
of Section 9 (b) of the National Labor Relations Act.
3. Federation of Flat Glass Workers of America, affiliated with
C. I. 0., is the exclusive representative of all the employees in such
unit for the purposes of collective bargaining, within the meaning of
Section 9 (a) of the National Labor Relations Act.
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National
Labor Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Rela-
tions Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 8, of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 1, as amended,
IT IS HEREBY CERTIFIED that Federation of Flat Glass Workers of
America, affiliated with C. I. 0., has been designated and selected by
a majority of the production and maintenance employees of Pitts-
burgh Plate Glass Company, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, excluding
1122 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
window-glass cutters, clerical employees not directly connected with
production, and supervisory employees, at the flat-glass plants of the
Company situated in Mt. Vernon, Ohio; Clarksburg, West Virginia;
Henryetta, Oklahoma; Crystal City, Missouri; Creighton, Pennsyl-
vania; and Ford City, Pennsylvania, as their representative for the
purposes of collective bargaining, and that, pursuant to the provi-
sions of Section 9 (a) of the Act, Federation of Flat Glass Workers
of America, affiliated with C. I. 0., is the exclusive representative of
all such employees for the purposes of collective bargaining in respect
to rates of pay, wages, hours of employment, and other conditions of
employment.
Mx. DONALD WAKEFIELD SMITH took no part in the consideration of
the above Decision and Certification of Representatives.