Pullman-Standard Car Manufacturing Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

May 6, 1943

49 N.L.R.B. 542 (N.L.R.B. 1943)

In the Matter Of PULLMAN-STANDARD CAR MANUFACTURING COMPANY
and UNITED STEELWORKERS OF AMERICA, CIO
Case No., R-5040.=Decided _May 6, 1943
Winston, Strawn & Shaw, by Mr. G. B. Christensen, of Chicago,
Ill., for the Company.
Mr. Norman L. Harris, of East Chicago, Ind., for the CIO.
Mr. A. Robert Pakulaz, of Chicago, Ill., for the Independent.
Mr. Glenn L. Moller, of counsel to the Board.'
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon petition duly filed by United Steelworkers of America, CIO,
herein called the CIO, alleging that a question affecting commerce
had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Pullman-
Standard Car Manufacturing Company, at its Calumet Shipyard
Division, Chicago, Illinois, herein called the Company, the National
Labor Relations Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due
notice before Lester Asher, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held
at Chicago, Illinois, on March 22 and 23, 1943. The Company, the
CIO, and the Pullman-Standard Employees Union, Calumet Ship-
yard Division, herein called the Independent, appeared, participated,
and were afforded full opportunity to be heard, 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 prej-
udicial error and are hereby affirmed. The Company- filed a brief
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
Pullman-Standard Car Manufacturing Company, it Delaware cor-
poration, has its principal office. and principal place of business in
49 N. L. R. B., No. 76. ,
542
PULLMAN-STANDARD CAR MANUFACTURING COMPANY '543
Chicago, Illinois. The Company is engaged in the manufacture of
railroad cars, locomotives, equipment, tanks and other war products
at its various plants in Chicago, Illinois, Worcester, Massachusetts,
Bessemer, Alabama, Butler, Pennsylvania, Hammond, Indiana, and
Michigan City, Indiana. The Company operates a shipyard in Chi-
cago, Illinois, known as the Calumet Shipyard Division, where it is
engaged--in building ships-for the United States Navy. The Calumet
shipyard is the only operation involved in the proceeding.
The principal raw materials used at the shipyard are steel, iron, and
electrical equipment. During the period from October 1942 until
March 15, 1943, the Company purchased and used at the shipyard raw
materials valued at more than $500,000, more than 50 percent of which
was delivered to the shipyard from points outside the State of Illinois.
All'of the finished products of the shipyard are sent to points outside
the State of Illinois.
The Company admits that it,is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
H. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
United' Steelworkers of America, affiliated with the Congress of
Industrial Organizations, is a labor organization admitting to mem-
bership employees of the Company.
Pullman-Standard Employees Union, Calumet Shipyard Division,
is an unaffiliated labor organization, admitting to membership em-
ployees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTIONS CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
On or about=Januaty 15, 1943, the CIO requested that the`Company
recognize it as the exclusive bargaining representative of the employees
at the shipyard, but the Company refused to extend such recognition
until there has been a certification by the Board. The Company also
contended that an election should not be ordered at this time, on the
ground that a representative group of employees is not yet employed.
A statement of the Regional Director, introduced into evidence at the
hearing, indicates that the CIO represents a substantial number of
employees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.'
1 The Regional ,, Director reported that the CIO submitted 404 authorization cards, all
bearing apparently ; genuine signatures , At the hearing ;the Trial Examiner' ' stated - that
a check of thee404 cards against a sampling,of 166 names on the shipyard pay roll of
March 12, 1943, showed that of the cards which the CIO had submitted 51 bore the names
of persons whose names appeared among the 166 names on the pay roll.
The Independent submitted 123 authorization cards to the Trial Examiner. A check
of these 123 cards against a sampling of 166 names on the pay roll showed that 10 of the
cards bore the names of persons whose names appeared among the 166 names on the pay roll-
544 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD',
' 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 Section2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The parties agreed that the appropriate unit should,consist, in part,
of all employees of the shipyard, excluding executives, superintendents;
foremen, assistant foremen, office clerical employees, safety inspectors,
rate clerks and plant-protection department employees. There is dis-
agreement with respect to the inclusion or exclusion of the following
classifications of employees : leaders, plant clerical employees, stores
and shipping department employees, layout men in the loft depart-
ment, the tug captain, the tug engineer, pilots, ship engineers, deck
crews, watchmen, and employees in the gatekeepers' department. Of
the contested groups, the CIO seeks to include the leaders and exclude
the remainder while the Company and the Independent would exclude
leaders and include the remaining groups.
Leaders : The Company, at the time of the hearing, employed about
150 leaders 'and about 22 foremen and assistant foremen. Leaders
have the designation "Leader"- on their identification badges.
Although they -are paid on an hourly basis while the foremen and
assistant foremen are paid salaries, leaders direct and give orders -to
the ordinary production workers, recommend the hire and discharge
of employees, and spend all their time in supervision. A witness
for the CIO testified that his leader interviewed him before he was
hired and that when he wished to transfer to the night shift, he asked
his leader to effect the transfer for him.' Leaders are considered
by the management to be supervisors.
We find that leaders exercise substantial supervisory authority
over production employees. Accordingly, we will exclude them from
the appropriate unit.
- Plant clerical employees: These are clerks'who are attached to and
work directly under the supervision of the foremen of the various
production departments. They work in the plant rather than 'in the
office and are not under the supervision' of the office. They 'are paid
on an hourly basis. ,We find that their interests are closely related
to those of other production employees. Accordingly, we will include
them in the appropriate unit.'
Stores and shipping ,department employees: These employees con-
sist of leaders, clerks, receiving clerks, and storehouse men. All are
paid'on an hourly basis, work out of the warehouse, handling various
2 Matter of Ken-Rad Tube and Lamp Corporation and International Union, United Auto-
mobile Workers of Amer ica, afhated'with the American Federation of Labor„42 N L R B
1235.
PULLMAN-STANDARD CAR MAII;UFACTURING COMPANY 545
materials used in production, and are under the supervision of the
head of the stores and shipping department rather than the general
office. These employees, except the leaders, shall be included in the
appropriate unit.
Layout m,en:-These employees work in the loft department. They
take drawings and blueprints and lay out the steel in accordance
with the specifications. They are not highly trained engineers, but
have been trained by loftmen who are higher paid and who, the
CIO agrees, should be in the appropriate unit. They work in the
plant rather than in the office. They shall be included in the appro-
priate unit.
Tug captain, tug engineer, pilots, ship engineers, and deck crews:
The tug captain and ,tug engineer operate a tugboat which is used
by the Company in maneuvering and moving ships after they are
launched. They are both licensed. When the Company begins
launching ships, it will also employ pilots, ship engineers, and deck
crews to handle the vessels on test runs, before they are turned over
to the Navy. These are groups which have traditionally bargained
through maritime unions. They are separated from the other em-
ployees of the shipyard both in the locale of their work and in respect
to their functions. They shall be excluded from the unit.
Watchmen: The fire and watch department includes 3 clerks,
1 matron, 23 watchmen, 3 fire guards, 12 janitors, 11 fire watchers,
1 sprinkler inspector, and 1 fireman. The watchmen are unarmed,
do not wear uniforms and are not deputized. They are mostly
employees who are too old to do production work. Their principal
duty is to keep a sharp watch for fires on the property: The CIO
wishes to exclude watchmen, but to include the other employees of
this department. We find nothing to distinguish the watchmen from
the other employees in the department whom, the parties agree to
include in the appropriate unit. They shall be included in the
unit.
Gatekeepers: There are six employees in this department, a head
gatewatcher, an assistant gatewatcher, a gatewatcher, a fire watcher, a
gatekeeper, and a check boy. They are not armed, uniformed' or
deputized. The head gatewatcher has some supervisory authority
and has charge of the department. The check boy works only on a
part-time, basis, handing out checks in the morning before going to
school.. The employees of this department are similar to maintenance
employees whom we have consistently included in unit's of produc-
tion and maintenance employees. We will exclude the head gate-
watcher because of his supervisory position and will exclude the check
boy, whose employment does not justify our considering him to be a
regular employee. The other employees in the gatekeepers' depart-
ment shall be included in the appropriate unit.
546 DEiCISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS, BOARD
We find that all employees of the Company's Calumet Shipyard
Division, excluding executives, superintendents, foremen, assistant
foremen, leaders, 'office clerical employees, safety inspectors, rate
clerks, plant-protection department employees, the tug captain, the
tug engineer, pilots, ship engineers, deck crews, the head gatekeeper,
and the check boy, constitute a unit' appropriate for the purposes
of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b)= of they
Act.
V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
The Company contends that no election should be held at this
time on the ground that the shipyard is in the process of expanding
and that a representative group of employees is not yet employed.
The Company began operations at the shipyard on October 19, 1942,
with a pay roll of about 100 employees. Since that time, the pay roll
has been expanded as rapidly as circumstances permitted and on
March 19, 1943, there were 1,701 persons employed in the yard.
The Company expects to continue to expand the shipyard pay roll
until it reaches approximately 4,400 employees. The Company esti-
mates that the peak employment figure of 4,400 will be attained by
about September 1, 1943, and that it will remain at that level for
several months and will then drop gradually, so that by the spring of
1944 the employment figure 'will be about 1,700. The superintendent
of the shipyard stated that the Company expects to have employed at
the shipyard, by May 1, 1943, about 2,200 employees, half the antici-
pated maximum complement. A substantial number of the per,
sonnel which the Company will hire in the future falls into the various
maritime categories which we have excluded from the appropriate
unit.
Under these- circumstances we do not believe that the eemployees
of the Company at the shipyard should be deprived of the present
opportunity to bargain collctively. We will accordingly proceed
with an immediate determination of representatives in the unit found
above to be appropriate.
We shall direct that the question concerning representation which
has arisen be resolved by 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 the Direction of
Election herein, subject to the limitations and additions set forth in
the Direction.
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-
PULLMAN-STANDARD CAR MANUFACTURING COMPANY 547
tions Act, and pursuant to Article III, 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 representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Pullman-
Standard Car Manufacturing Company, Chicago, Illinois, an elec-
tion 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 Thir-
teenth Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor
Relations Board, and subject to Article III, Section 10, of said Rules
and Regulations, among the employees in the unit found appro-
priate 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 em-
ployees in the armed forces of the United States who present them-
selves in person at the polls , but excluding those employees who have
since quit or been discharged for cause , to determine whether they
desired to be represented by United Steelworkers of America , affiliated
with the Congress of Industrial Organizations , or by Pullman-
Standard Employees Union, Calumet Shipyard Division , for the
purposes of collective bargaining , or by neither.
531647-43-vol. 49-36