Pressed Steel Car Co., Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Feb 11, 1943

47 N.L.R.B. 425 (N.L.R.B. 1943)

In the Matter of PRESSED STEEL CAR, COMPANY, INC. and UNITED
"STEELWORKERS OF AMERICA , LOCAL #2387 (C. I. 0.)
Case No. R-41769.-Decided February 11, 1943
Jurisdiction : train car nvdnufacturing'industry
Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question': recog-
nition refused when appropriateness of unit was disputed ; union which made
some showing of representation accorded place on ballot ; participation in
election held not dependent upon eligibility of employees involved to member-
ship in participating union : election necessary.
Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : all watchmen, patrolmen, and
guards, excluding sergeants and captains.
Mr. C. Al. Thorp, Jr., of Pittsburgh, Pa., for the Company.
Mr. Ernest 'G. Nassar and Mr. Morris Mallinger, of Pittsburgh, Pa.,
for the Steelworkers.
Mr. L. E. Clark, of Pittsburgh, Pa., for the Car & Fouridry
Workers. -
Miss Viola Janes, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon petition duly filed by United Steelworkers of America, Local
#2387, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations,
herein called the Steelworkers , alleging that :i questioli 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 pro-
vided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before Henry
'Shore, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Pittsburgh, Penn-
sylvania , on January 16, 1943. The Trial Examiner , over the objec-
tion of the Steelworkers, granted the motion of Car & Foundry
Workers Union , Inc., to intervene . The Company , the Steelworkers,
and the Car & Foundry Workers, appeared and participated. All
parties were afforded full opportunity to be heard , to examine and
cross-examine witnesses , and to introduce evidence bearing on the
47 N. L.R.B,No 59.
425
426 DECISSOT"S OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
issues. The Trial Examiner's rulings are free from prejudicial
error and are hereby affirmed. On January 26 and 28, 1943, the
Company and the Steelworkers, respectively, filed briefs, and on
February 2, 1943, the Company filed a reply brief, all of which the
Board has considered.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following:
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
The Company, a Pennsylvania corporation, is engaged in the
business of manufacturing and assembling railroad passenger cars,
freight cars, mine cars and equipment, shell forgings, and armor-
plate. The Company owns and operates two plants, one in McKees
Rocks, Pennsylvania, and one in Hegewisch, Illinois. The former
is the only plant whose employees are involved herein. Materials
purchased by the Company consist principally of steel, castings,
lumber, and operating supplies. During 1942, the .total. pur,c}aases; of
these materials for use at the plant in McKees Rocks exceeded
$20,000,000 in value, of which approximately 50 percent was pur-
chased from sources outside the State of Pennsylvania. During the
same period, the net sales were in excess of $24,300,000, of which
approximately 75 percent represented the sale of products shipped
to points outside the State of Pennsylvania. The Company employs
approximately- 2,200 persons at its McKees Rocks -plant. For. the
purpose of this proceeding, the Company admits that it is engaged
in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
United Steelworkers of America, Local #2387, affiliated with the
Congress of Industrial Organizations, and Car & Foundry Workers
Union, Inc., are labor organizations, each admitting to membership
employees of the Company. The latter does not admit to member-
ship watchmen, patrolmen, and guards, who are the employees
involved herein.
/ III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Steelworkers has requested the Company for recognition as
the bargaining agent of the Company's watchmen, patrolmen, and
guards. The Company denied the request because it disputed that
such employees constituted an appropriate unit.
On February 23, 1940, the Car & Foundry Workers was certified
by the Board as the exclusive representative of the Company's pro-
PRESSED STEEL CAR COMPANY, INC. 427
duction and maintenance employees, excluding, inter alia, watchmen.'
On February 25, 1941, the Company and the Car & Foundry Workers
entered into a bargaining contract in which the Company recognized
the Car & Foundry Workers as the sole representative of all the
employees;, it appears that watchmen were also covered by this
contract. In June 1941, the watchmen petitioned the Car & Foundry
Workers to represent them in spite of the fact that watchmen were
not admitted to membership in that organization. As a result, a
joint committee was set up which functioned for nearly a year.
On July .9, 1942, the S. W. O. C., the predecessor of the Steelworkers,
was certified by the Board as the representative for the same unit for
which the Car & Foundry Workers had been certified, with watchmen
again excluded.2
Shortly before the hearing, the Car & Foundry Workers received
a letter from some seven or eight watchmen asking that the Car &
Foundry Workers represent them through a joint committee as
before. The Steelworkers contends that the Car & Foundry Workers
is not authorized to represent the employees herein, because that
organization does not admit them to membership. We reject this
contention. The Act accords employees the right to designate as
their representative any individual or labor organization, regardless
of their eligibility to membership in that organization.
A statement of the Regional Director, introduced into evidence
at the hearing, indicates that the Steelworkers represents a substantial
number of employees in the unit hereinafter found to be appropriate.a
We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning
the representation of employees of the Company, within the mean-
ing- of Section 9 (c), and Section, 2 (6)^ and (7).of the' Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Steelworkers and the Car .& Foundry Workers agree that the
appropriate unit consists of all watchmen, patrolmen, and guards,
excluding sergeants and captains'
1 20 N. L R B. 700.
2 42 N. L R B 262
8 The Regional Director reported that the Steelworkers , in support of its allegation that
it represented a majority of the employees in the claimed unit , submitted 39 application-
for-membership cards, dated from February 1941 to October 1942 , with 9 undated ; and
that all 39 cards bore apparently genuine original signatures of persons listed on the
Company's pay roll of November 15, 1942, which contains the names of 50 persons in the
unit hereinafter found appropriate.
The Car & Foundry workers submitted six application -for-membership cards to the Trial
Examiner who found that all six were undated, that all six bore apparently genuine original
signatures , and that all the signatures were the names of persons listed on the pay roll
of November 15, 1942
4 The parties stipulated that watchmen , patrolmen , and guards are synonymous terms,
and that all three categories perform the some duties.
428 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
The Company is opposed to such a unit on the ground that these
employees are auxiliaries of the military police. The duties of these
employees, as shown by the record, are similar to the duties of
other plant-protection employees who are auxiliaries of the military
police, and whom we have found in prior cases constitute appropriate
units.-5 They clearly are employees of the Company. They guard
the property and facilities of the Company, patrol the plant, report
infractions of shop regulations, and guard against sabotage.
We find that all watchmen, patrolmen, and guards, excluding ser-,
geants and captains, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of
collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
The Steelworkers urges that eligibility to vote be determined by
reference to the pay-roll period prior to the date of the hearing.
We see no reason for departing from our usual practice of using a
current pay roll. The Steelworkers contends that the Car & Foundry
Workers should not be accorded a place on the ballot because of its
small representation showing, and further alleges that it is inactive
and is not authorized to represent the employees herein since it does
not accept them into membership. As the Car & Foundry Workers
has made some showing of representation, and inasmuch as an elec-
tion is to be held, Ave shall accord it a place on the ballot. As stated
above, we find no merit in the contention of the Steel workers that
the Car & Foundry Workers should not be permitted to participate
in an election because it does not admit watchmen to membership.
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 Rela-
tions Act, and pursuant to Article TIT, Section 9, of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, it
is hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain represen-
tatives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Pressed Steel
Car Company, Inc., McNees Rocks, Pennsylvania, 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 Sixth Region, acting
in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and
5See Matter of Clnnyslcr,Coaporation, Highland Paik Plant and Local IL§, United Auto-
mobile, Aircraft and-Agricultural Implement R'oikers of Aniei ice, affiliated frith the 0 I 0,
44 N. L R B. 881 ; 'Matter of Cnrtis's-Wright Corporation and 4merican Federation of
Labor, 45 N I, R B. 592; and Matter of Ford Motor Company and United P, otectii e
Workers, Local 1, 45 N. L It B. 70.
PRESSED STEEL CAR COMPANY, INC. 429
subject to Article III, Section 10, of said Rules and Regulations, among
the employees in the unit found appropriate in Section IV, 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, and including employees in the armed forces of
the United States who present themselves in person at the polls, but
excluding any who have since quit or been discharged for cause, to
determine whether they desire to be represented by United Steel-
workers of Anmerica, Local #2387, affiliated with the Congress of
Industrial Organizations, or by Car & Foundry Workers Union, Inc.,
for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither.