Precision Manufacturing Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Feb 3, 1950

88 N.L.R.B. 509 (N.L.R.B. 1950)

In the Matter of PRECISION MANUFACTURING CO.,' EMPLOYER and
INTERNATIONAL UNION, UNITED AUTOMOBILE , AIRCRAFT & AGRICUL-
TURAL IMPLEMENT WORKERS OF AMERICA (UAW-CIO), PETITIONER
Case No. 7-RC-731.Decided February 3, 1950
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before Francis E.
Burger, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hear-
ing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
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-member panel [Chairman Herzog and Members
Reynolds and Murdock].
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 labor organization involved claims to represent certain
employees of the Employer.
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa-
tions of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section 9
(c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The following employees of Employer constitute a unit appro-
priate for purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of
Section 9 (b) of the Act:
All employees at the Employer's West Branch, Michigan, plant,
excluding office and clerical employees, guards,2 foremen and other
supervisors as defined in the Act.
5. The Employer contends that the petition should be dismissed
without prejudice because a substantial and representative number
' The name appears as amended at the hearing.
2 The duties of the employees employed under the classification of "guard" appear prin-
cipally to be the duties of janitorial workers. As they spend the major portion of their
time in the performance of such janitorial duties , they are not guards within the meaning
of the Act and therefore will be included in the unit. See Steelweld Equipment Company,
Inc., 76 NLRB 831.
88 NLRB No. 103.
509
510 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
of employees is not employed at the present time and that, therefore,
an election at this time would be inappropriate.
The Employer, a Michigan corporation, and 1 of 4 wholly owned
subsidiaries of the Miller Manufacturing Company, is engaged at
West Branch, Michigan, in the. manufacture of automotive service
tools and equipment. Its present plant and equipment, valued at
approximately $575,000, was constructed with a view toward ultimate
employment of from 175 to 200 production and maintenance em-
ployees. However, when the Employer commenced manufacturing
operations sometime in April 1949, accumulated inventories of manu-
factured products in the possession of the parent concern and an un-
anticipated depressed market made it desirable for the Employer to
limit its manufacturing operations to the production of parts neces-
sary to keep an inventory of some 600 items in balance.3 Because of
such limited operations, employees at the West Branch plant at no
time exceeded 18 in number, employed in some 13 of 33 classifications;
at the time of the hearing in November 1949 the number had been
reduced to 9, exclusive of 3 employees classified as guards. The Em-
ployer's president testified that due to a steady reduction in the size
of the inventory of manufactured items and the known volume of its
current orders, it will definitely have to expand its operations com-
mencing January 1950, and enter upon the manufacture of complete
items, making full use of existing facilities. It expects, therefore, to
employ a.minimum of 65 employees by April 1950.4 The witness also
testified that the Employer expects to have its full complement of
175 to 200 employees by the end of 1950, but admitted that this ob-
jective, as well as its planned acquisition of additional equipment,
was entirely dependent on business conditions.
.Under the circumstances, and upon the basis of the Employer's
reasonable expectations, it appears that the Employer will have a
substantial and representative number of employees employed by
April 1950:5 However, its expectations beyond such period are wholly
uncertain and speculative being contingent on unpredictable factors
in the industrial picture. In view thereof, we shall not dismiss the
petition, as requested by the Employer, but shall provide that an
election be held during the month of April 1950, or on such earlier
3 Monthly production of such parts have amounted to approximately $15,000 in value
whereas monthly sales have totaled $100,000.
* The testimony also indicated that the Employer might be able with a working force
of about 50 employees to produce sufficient goods to meet the current demands of its
customers.
5 Although the Employer estimates that it will have a substantial and representative
number of employees by April 1950 , it also appears that it may achieve its objective
before that time, because of its stated ability to hire and train as many as 25 to 30
employees each month.
PRECISION MANUFACTURING CO . 511
date, to be selected by the Regional Director, as it shall appear that
a substantial and representative number of employees are then em-
ployed.' Eligibility shall be determined by the payroll period im-
mediately preceding the issuance of a notice of election.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with the Employer, an election by
secret ballot shall be conducted on a date to be selected by the Regional
Director, subject to instructions set forth in paragraph numbered 5,
above, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director
for the Region in which this case was heard, and subject to Sections
203.61 and 203.62 of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regu-
lations, among the employees in the unit found appropriate in para-
graph numbered 4, above, who are employed during the payroll period
immediately preceding the date of the issuance of a notice of election,
including employees who do not work during said payroll period
because they are ill or on vacation or temporarily laid off, but ex-
cluding those employees who thereafter quit or are discharged for
cause and are not rehired or reinstated prior to the date of the election,
and also excluding employees on strike who are not entitled to rein-
statement, to determine whether or not they desire to be represented,
for purposes of collective bargaining, by International Union, United
Automobile, Aircraft & Agricultural Implement Workers of America
(UAW-CIO).
See Waite Carpet Company , 85 NLRB 1130.