Reliance Foundry Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 17, 1945

60 N.L.R.B. 1301 (N.L.R.B. 1945)

In the Matter Of JAMES E. JONES, FLORA A. STEVENS, MARGARET BECK,
OLIVE. CASKEY, MARTHA SUDHOFF, AND RAYMOND E. JONES, D/R/A
RELIANCE FOUNDRY COMPANY and INTERNATIONAL MOLDERS AND
FOUNDRY WORKERS UNION OF NORTH AMERICA, A. F. OF L.
Case No. 11-R-759.-Decided March 17, 1945
Messrs. R. L. Kennedy and J. E. Jones, of Richmond, Ind., for the
Company.
Mr. Lester Campbell, of Indianapolis, Ind., for the Union.
Mr. Louis Cokin, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon petition and amended petition duly filed by International
Molders and Foundry Workers Union of North America, A. F. of L.,
herein called the Union, alleging that a question affecting commerce
had arisen concerning the representation of employees of James E.
Jones, Flora A. Stevens, Margaret Beck, Olive Caskey, Martha Sud-
hoff, and Raymond E. Jones, d/b/a Reliance Foundry Company, Rich-
mond, Indiana, herein called the Company, the National Labor Re-
lations Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice
before William O. Murdock, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held
at Richmond, Indiana, on February 21, 1945. The Company and the
Union appeared, participated, and were afforded full opportunity to
be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce
evidence bearing on the issues., During the course of the hearing the
Company moved to dismiss the petition. The Trial Examiner re-
served ruling thereon. The motion is hereby denied. The Trial
Examiner's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial
error and are hereby affirmed. All parties were afforded opportunity
to file briefs with the Board.
i Although United Electrical , Radio and Machine Workers of America , C I. 0., was
served with Notice of Hearing , it did not appear. It notified the Regional Director prior
to the hearing that it had no interest in the instant proceeding.
60 N. L. R' B., No. 223.
1301
1302 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Reliance Foundry Company is a partnership with its principal
place of business at Richmond; Indiana, where it is engaged in the
manufacture of grey iron castings. During 1944 the Company pur-
chased raw materials valued at about $50,000, 50 percent of which
was shipped to it from points outside the State of Indiana. During
the same period the Company sold products valued in excess of $250,-
000, about 1 percent of which was shipped to points outside the State
of Indiana. The Company's principal customers are Borg-Warner
Corporation at Muncie, Indiana, and Schwitzer-Cummins Company,
at Indianapolis, Indiana. The latter two concerns ship most of their
products in interstate commerce.
We find, contrary to the contention of the Company, that it is
engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Rela-
tions Act.
H. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
International Molders and Foundry Workers Union of North
America is a labor organization affiliated with the American Federa-
tion of Labor, admitting to membership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
During January 1945 the Union requested the Company to recog-
nize it as the exclusive collective bargaining representative of the
Company's employees. The Company did not reply to this request.
A statement of a Field Examiner of the Board, introduced into evi-
dence at the hearing, indicates that the Union represents a substantial
number of employees in the unit hereinafter found to be appropriate?
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
The Union urges that all production and maintenance employees of
the Company, including the core room - foreman, but excluding' office
and clerical employees, the plant manager, the shipping and receiving
clerk, and the handyman, constitute an appropriate unit. The only
controversy with respect to the unit concerns the core room foreman.
2 The Field Examiner reported that the Union presented 38 authorization cards. There
are approximately 79 employees in the appropriate unit.
RELIANCE FOUNDRY COMPANY 1303
The record indicates that the core room foreman is in complete
charge of the operations of the core room and that his duties are clearly
supervisory in nature, although he spends a portion of his time actually
making cores. We find that the core room foreman is a supervisory
employee, and as such, we shall exclude him from the unit.
We find that all production and maintenance employees of the Com-
pany, excluding office and clerical employees, the plant manager, the
shipping and receiving clerk, handyman, core room foreman, and any
other supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge,
discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or
effectively recommend such action, 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
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 the Direction of
Election herein, subject to the limitations and additions set forth in
the Direction.
The record indicates that, in accordance with an agreement between
the Company and the United States Employment Service, the Com-
pany carries persons who absent themselves from the plant without
reason on its pay roll for 60 days before removing them from the rolls.
At the time of the hearing, the Company had from 10 to 15 persons
on its pay roll who had been absent, apparently without cause or ex-
cuse, for over 30 days. The record does not show whether such persons
expect to return to the Company's employ, or whether they are now
permanently employed elsewhere. We are of the opinion that the
eligibility of any such persons to vote must depend upon the facts of
each case, subject to the general eligibility criteria set out in our
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 Relations
Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor Rela-
tions Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, as amended, it is hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with James E. Jones,
Flora A. Stevens, Margaret Beck, Olive Caskey, Martha Sudhoff, and
Raymond E. Jones, d/b/a Reliance Foundry Company, Richmond,
Indiana, an election by secret ballot shall be conducted as early as
possible, but not later than sixty (60) days from the date of this
1304 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Direction, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Direc-
tor for the Eleventh Region, acting in this matter as agent for the
National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Article III, Sections
10 and 11, 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 and have not been rehired
or reinstated prior to the date of the election, to determine whether or
not they desire to be represented by International Molders and Foun-
dry Workers Union of North America, affiliated with the A. F. of L.,
for the purposes of collective bargaining.