Pressed Steel Car Co., Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

May 16, 1942

41 N.L.R.B. 6 (N.L.R.B. 1942)

In the Matter Of PRESSED STEEL CAR COMPANY, INC. and STEEL
WORKERS ORGANIZING COMMITTEE
Case No. R-3740.-Decided May 16, 194.2
Jurisdiction : railway car manufacturing industry
Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question: re-
fusal to accord petitioner recognition because of prior certification of another
union; prior certification in effect more than a year held no bar to a present
determination of representatives; alleged automatic renewal of contract held
no bar- where petitioner notified, the Company of its claim to represent the
Company's employees before a 60-day notice of termination provision became
inoperative; election necessary
Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : all production and maintenance
employees at ,one of Company's plants, excluding supervisors, clerical and
salaried employees, gang leaders, inspectors, timekeepers, and watchmen;
agreement as to
Thorp, Bostwick, Reed & Armstrong, byMr. C. M. Thorp, Jr., of
Pittsburgh, Pa., fdr the Company.
Mr. Philip M. Curran, of Pittsburgh, Pa., for the S.- W. O. C.
Mr. Joseph I. Winslow, of Pittsburgh, Pa., for the' C. F. W. U.
Mr. Robert E. Tillman, of counsel'to the Board. - -
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION -
,STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon petition duly filed by Steel Workers Organizing Committee,
herein called the S. W. O. C., alleging that a question affecting com-
merce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of
Pressed Steel Car Company, Inc., McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, herein
called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided
for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before Henry Shore,
Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
on April 20, 1942. The Company, the S. W. O. C., and Car and
Foundry Workers Union, Inc., herein called the C. F. W. U., ap-
peared, participated, and were afforded full opportunity to be heard,
41 N. L. R B., No. 2.
6
PRESSED STEEL CAR COMPANY, INC. 7
to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence
bearing on the issues. The Trial Examiner's rulings, made at the
hearing, are free from prejudicial errors and are hereby affirmed.
On April 29, 1942, the S. W. O. C., and on May 4, 1942, the, Company
and the C. F. W. U., respectively, filed briefs, which the Board
has considered.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following:
FINDINGS of FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Pressed Steel Car Company, Inc., a Pennsylvania corporation, is
engaged in the business of manufacturing and assembling railway
passenger cars, freight cars, mine cars and equipment , shell forgings,
and armor plate . The Company has a number of subsidiaries located
in the United States and foreign countries . It owns and operates
a plant in Hegewisch , Illinois , and one in McKees Rocks, Pennsyl-
vania. Only the latter plant is involved in this proceeding . During
1941 the Company purchased for use at its McKees Rocks plant raw
materials of a value in excess of $22,000,000, of which approximately
50 percent was purchased from sources outside Pennsylvania . During
the same period , net sales of the Company at its McKees Rocks
plant were in excess of $22,000,000 , of which over 80 percent represents
the value of products shipped to points outside Pennsylvania.
The Company admits that in its operations at its McKees Rocks
plant, it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National
Labor Relations Act.
H. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
Steel Workers Organizing Committee is a labor organization
affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations. It admits
to membership employees of the Company.
Car and Foundry Workers Union, Inc., incorporated in the Com-
monwealth of Pennsylvania, is an unaffiliated labor organization. It
admits to membership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
On September 3, 1941, the S. W. O. C. filed a petition alleging
that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the repre-
sentation of employees of the Company. After a hearing on Sep-
tember 29 and 30, 1941, upon this petition, the Board issued a de-
8 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
cision and order dated October 31, 1941,1 dismissing the petition
on the ground that in view of the existence of a valid contract be-
tween the Company and the C. F. W. U., covering the employees
in the unit petitioned for, no question concerning. representation ex-
isted. By letter dated January 26, 1942, the S. W. O. C., stating that
it represented a majority of the Company's employees, again re-
quested the latter to bargain with it. The Company rejected this
request because the C. F. W. U. previously had been certified by
the Board as collective bargaining agent of the Company's employees.
The record discloses that the C. F. W. U. was certified by the Board
on February 23, 1940.2 Obviously, this prior certification, having
been in effect for over a year, is no bar to a present determination
of representatives.3
The C. F. W. U. and the Company again plead the existence of
the contract, between them, as renewed, as a bar to such a determina-
tion. The contract in question was executed by the parties thereto
on February 25, 1941. It contains a provision to the effect that the
contract is to remain in force from April 1, 1941, to March 31,
1942, inclusive, and shall continue in force from year to year there-
after, unless either party gives written notice "at least sixty (60)
days before the said expiration date, of its desire to terminate."
The C. ;F. W. U. contends that the contract, was automatically re-
newed on January 31, 1942; at which time the 60-day notice pro-
vision became inoperative; that the S. W. O. C.'s petition, having
been ,filed on, February 4, 1942, was thus filed 4, days after the re-
newal, of the contract; and that, therefore, the contract is a bar.
This contention is without merit. Written notice was mailed to the
Company by the S. W. O. C., regarding its claim to represent a
majority of the Company's, employees, more-than 60 days-before-the
date for renewal of the contract. This notice was received by the Com-
pany on January 28, 1942, 3 days before the 60-day notice provision
became inoperative. Under these circumstances automatic renewal' of.
the contract would not operate as a bar to a present determination of
representatives.' S
1 Matter o f Pressed Steel Car Company, Inc. and Steel Workers Organizing Committee,
Local Union 1844, 36 N. L. R. B . '560.
2 Matter of Pressed Steel Car Company , Inc. and Steel Workers Organizing Committee,
20 N.L. R B 700:
3 See Matter of LaPlant -Choate Manufacturing Co., Inc. and United Farm Equipment
Workers -Organizing Committee , Local 116, affiliated with with . the C. 1. 0., 29 N. L. R. B.
40; and' cases cited therein.
-'k See ' Matter .. of International Harvester Company Tractor Works; and- Chicago Die
Sinkers Local No 100 of the International Die Sinkers Conference , 36 N. L. R. B. 520;
.Matter of Mitchell'Battery Company and United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers
of America, Loeali, #1140, of kliated with the C . 1. 0 , 35 . N. ^L. R B ; 198-, Matter of
Vincent Steel Process Company and International Union, United Automobile Workers of
PRESSED STEEL CAR COMPANY, INC. 9
A statement of the Acting Regional Director, introduced in evi-
dence at the hearing, indicates that the S. W. O. C. represents a
substantial number of employees in the unit hereinafter found ap-
propriate.6
We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning
the representation of employees of the Company, within the meaning
of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
We find, in accordance with a stipulation of the parties, that all
production and maintenance employees of the Company at its
McKees Rocks plant, excluding supervisors, clerical and salaried em-
ployees, gang leaders, inspectors, timekeepers, and watchmen, con-
stitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining
within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.6
V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We shall direct that the question concerning representation which
has arisen be resolved by means of an election by secret ballot among
the employees in the appropriate unit who were employed during the
pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of our Direction of
Election, subject to the limitations and additions set forth therein.
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 Re-
lations Act, 49 Stat. 449, and pursuant to Article III, Section 8, of
National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2,
as amended, it is hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Pressed Steel
Car Company, Inc., McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, an election by
secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later
America, C . I. 0, 32 N. L. R B 991; Matter of Utica Knitting Company and Textile
Workers Federal Labor Union #21500 , A. F. of L., 23 N. L. R B, 55; Matter of Colons
Fibre Company , Inc, and Cohoes Knit Goods Workers Union No. 21514, A. F. of L.,
9 N L R. B, 658
6 The Acting Regional Director stated that the S. W. 0 C. submitted 1368 application-
for-membership cards to him ; that 2 were dated in January and 7 in February 1942,
1119 were dated in 1941 , 17 were dated simply 1940 , and 223 were undated ; that 1327
cards bore apparently genuine original signatures ; and that 1326 of these bore names
of persons whose names appeared on the Company 's pay roll of February 8, 1942,
which listed 2726 employees in the appropriate unit
The C F. W. U. relies upon its contract with the Company to establish its interest
in this proceeding
6 This is the same unit previously certified as appropriate by the Board. See footnote 2,
supra.
10 DECISIONS `OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
than thirty (30) days from the date of this Direction of Election,
under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the
Sixth Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor
Relations Board, and subject to Article III, Section 9, of said Rules
and Regulations, among all employees of the Compaliy in ,the unit
found appropriate in Section IV, above, who were employed during
the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction
of Election, including employees who did not work during such 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 employees who' have since quit or been discharged
for cause, to determine whether they desire to be represented by
Steel Workers Organizing Committee or by Car and Found`r'y Work-
ers Union, Inc., for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by
neither.
MR. GERARD D. REILLY took no part in the consideration of the
above Decision and Direction of Election.