Republic Steel Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Oct 19, 1940

27 N.L.R.B. 955 (N.L.R.B. 1940)

In the Matter of REPUBLIC STEEL CORPORATION and IRON ORE MINERS
UNION Nd.,22247, AFFILIATED WITH A. F. OF L.
Case No. R-2080.Decided October 19, 191/0
Jurisdiction : iron ore mining industry.
Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question: re-
fusal to accord recognition to union; election unnecessary to resolve question.
Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : production and maintenance em-
ployees with specified exclusions : stipulation as to.
Mr. Thomas F. Patton, of Cleveland, Ohio, for the Company.
Mr. John J. Walsh, of Utica, N. Y., for the Union.
Mr. Robert F. Koretz, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On May 27, 1940, Iron Ore Miners Union No. 22247, herein called
the Union, filed a petition with the Regional Director for the Second
Region (New York City), alleging that a question, affecting com-
merce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Re-
public Steel Corporation, Port Henry, New York, herein called the
Company, employed at the Port Henry Division of the Company
in its mines, mills, and related enterprises at Mineville, Witherbee,
and Port Henry, New York, and requesting an investigation and
certification of representatives pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the Na-
tional Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On
September 6, 1940, the National Labor Relations Board, herein called
the Board, acting pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the Act and Article
III, Section 3 , of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regu-
lations-Series 2, as amended, ordered an investigation and author-
ized the Regional Director to conduct it and to provide for an appro-
priate hearing upon due notice.
On September 18 the Regional Director issued a notice of hearing,
copies of which together with copies of the petition were duly served
upon the Company and upon the Union. Pursuant to the notice a
'27 N. L. It. B., No. 159.
955
956 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
hearing was held on October 3 at Port Henry, New York, before
Christopher Hoey, the Trial Examiner duly designated by the Board.
The Company and the Union appeared; were represented by counsel,
and participated in the hearing. Full opportunity to be heard, to
examine and cross-examine witnesses, and'to introduce evidence bear-
ing on the issues was afforded the parties. During the course of the
hearing the Trial Examiner ruled on a motion and on various objec-
tions to the admission of evidence. The Board has reviewed the
rulings of the Trial Examiner and finds that no prejudicial errors
were committed. The rulings are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE'COMPANY
Republic Steel Corporation Is a New Jersey corporation with its
principal executive offices in Cleveland, Ohio. This proceeding is
concerned only with employees of the Company employed at, and
in connection with its business and operations at, its Port Henry
Division, a division of the Company's enterprise located at Mine-
ville, Witherbee, and Port Henry, New York. At Mineville and
Witherbee the Company operates iron ore mines, and, in connection
therewith, a crushing plant, a sawmill, and certain shops for main-
tenance purposes. The ore mined at Mineville - and Witherbee is
shipped 7 miles to the Company's concentrating mill at Port Henry.
where the ore is processed for the purpose of removing impurities.
A portion of the processed ore is removed to the Company's sintering
plant at Port Henry where such ore is combined with coal. In 1939
a total of 500,546 gross tons of iron ore and sinter were shipped from
the Port Henry Division, of which 91.91 per cent, or 460,071 gross
tons, were shipped from this division to' points outside the State of
New York. During the first 6 months of 1940 a total of 226,305
gross tons of iron ore and sinter were shipped' from the Port Henry
Division, of which 85.59 per cent, or 193,690 gross tons, were shipped
from the division to points-outside the State of New Yofk.
The Company employs approximately 736 persons at its Port
Henry Division.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
Iron Ore Miners Union No. 22247 is a Federal labor union affili-
ated with American Federation of Labor, a labor organization.
It admits to membership production and maintenance employees
engaged in various operations in the mines, mills, and related enter-
prises of the Company at Mineville, Witherbee, and Port Henry,
REPUBLIC STEEL CORPORATION '957
New York, excluding salaried, supervisory, clerical and office
employees.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
In April'1939 the Union requested the Company to recognize it
as the statutory representative of employees of the Company in the
Port Henry Division, and submitted to the Company a draft of a
proposed collective bargaining contract between the Union and the
Company as a basis for negotiation. The Company refused and still
refuses to recognize, the Union as the statutory representative of any
of its employees.
At the hearing there was introduced in evidence a report prepared
by the Regional Director showing that a substantial number of
employees in the unit hereinafter found to be appropriate have desig-
nated the Union as their representative for the purposes of collective
bargaining.,
We find that a question has arisen concerning the representation of
employees of the Company.
IV. THE EFFECT OF THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION UPON
COMMERCE
We find that the question concerning representation which. has
arisen, occurring in connection with the operations of the Company
described in Section I above, has a close, intimate, and substantial
relation to trade, traffic, and commerce among the several States,
and tends to lead to labor disputes burdening and obstructing com-
merce and the free flow of commerce.
V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Company and the Union stipulated, and we find, that all pro-
duction and maintenance employees of the Company employed in
its Port Henry Division, at Mineville, Witherbee and Port Henry,
New York, excluding salaried, clerical, and office employees; exclud-
ing the following hourly paid supervisory employees in the under-
ground mines at Mineville and Witherbee, viz., electrician foreman,
slope bosses, repairmen foremen, carpenter foremen, shift bosses,
roofmen foremen; and excluding the following employees on the
surface at Mineville,- Witherbee, and Port Henry, viz., electrician
1 The Regional Director reported that the Union had submitted to her 581 applications
for membership in the Union , all bearing apparently genuine original signatures , and that
483 of the said signatures are the names of persons whose names appear on the Company's
pay roll of May 27, 1940.
958 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
foremen, mill shift bosses, magnetic separator foremen, crusher
operator foremen, lump ore foremen, engineering and technical em-
ployees, assistant construction foremen, sintering plant shift bosses,
yard track foremen, mill foremen, assistant carpenter foremen, assist-
ant plumber foremen, hospital employees, and watchmen, constitute
a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining, and that
said unit will insure to employees of the Company the full benefit
of their right to self-organization and to collective bargaining and
otherwise effectuate the policies of the Act.
VI.' THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
At the hearing the Union requested that it be certified upon the
record. It introduced in evidence 616 application forms, each making
application on behalf of the respective signatory for membership
in the Union and in American Federation of Labor, and signed by
or on behalf of such signatory. Harry E. Hickok, financial secretary-,
of the Union since its organization, testified regarding these applica-
tions and with respect to a certain Union ledger which was produced
at the hearing and which contained the names of persons who paid
initiation fees and dues to the Union. In connection with the mem-
bership applications he testified that "possibly one-third" were signed
by himself with the authority of the person whose name appears
thereon,'that "in a few instances" other officers of the Union likewise
signed such applications, and that the remainder were signed by
the persons whose names appeared thereon as signatories. In con-
nection with the union ledger he testified that said record contained
only the names of persons who had paid their membership initia-
tion fee to the Union, and that each of the 576 persons whose name
appeared therein on July 1, 1940, paid a per capita tax to American
Federation of Labor, in accordance, with the constitution of that
labor organization. On the day prior to the hearing, representatives
of the Union and of the Company compared the above-mentioned rec-
.ords of the Union with a pay-roll list of the 534 persons within the
appropriate unit at that time. These parties stipulated 'that the
comparison showed that the names of 429 persons appearing in the
aforesaid union records as applicants for membership in or as mem-
bers of the Union and American Federation of Labor appeared on
the pay-roll list.2 Counsel for the Company stated at the hearing
2 The pay -roll list contained the names of 52 additional persons who have been "laid
off" by the Company between May 27, 1940, and the date of the hearing . These persons
were not considered as employees for the purpose of the aforesaid comparison . The record
does not show whether these persons, or any of them , retain their employment status for
purposes of selecting a bargaining representative . In any event the record shows that
the names of 43 of these persons appear in the above -mentioned union records.
REPUBLIC STEEL CORPORATION 959
that the Company "does not dispute the evidence which was offered
by the Union" and "does not insist on an election." No other labor
organization claims to represent employees of the Company. In
view of the foregoing and upon the record, we are ' satisfied and find
that a majority of the employees of the Company at its Port Henry
Division within the appropriate bargaining unit are members of,
or have applied for membership in, the Union and American Fed-
eration of Labor, and have thereby designated and selected the Union
as their representative for the purposes of collective bargaining. The
Union' is, therefore, the exclusive representative of all the employees
in such unit for the purposes of collective bargaining, and we'will
so certify.
Upon the basis of the foregoing findings of fact and upon the entire
record in the case, the Board makes the following :
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
1. A question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the repre-
sentation of employees of Republic Steel Corporation, Port Henry,
New York, . employed at the Port Henry, Division of the Company
in its mines, mills, and related enterprises at Mineville, Witherbee,
and Port Henry, New York, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and
Section 2 (6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act.
2. All production and maintenance employees of the Company em-
ployed at its Port Henry Division at Mineville, Witherbee, and Port
Henry, New York, excluding salaried, clerical and office employees;
excluding the following hourly 'paid supervisory employees in the
underground mines at Mineville and W' Ttherbee, viz., electrician fore-
men, slope bosses, repairmen foremen, carpenter foremen, shift bosses,
roofmen foremen; and excluding' the following employees on the sur-
face at Mineville, Witherbee and Port Henry, viz., electrician fore-
men, mill shift bosses, magnetic separator foremen, crusher operator
foremen, lump ore foremen, engineering and technical employees,
assistant construction foremen, sintering plant shift bosses, yard
track foremen, mill foremen, assistant carpenter foremen, assistant
plumber foremen, hospital employees and watchmen, constitute a unit
appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining, within the
meaning of Section 9 (b) of the National Labor Relations Act.
3. Iron Ore Miners Union No. 22247 is the exclusive representative
of all the employees in such unit for the-purposes of collective bargain-
ing, within the meaning of Section 9 (a) of the National Labor
Relations Act.
960 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
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 III, Sections 8 and 9, of National
Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended:
IT IS HEREBY CERTIFIED that Iron Ore Miners Union No. 22247 has
been designated and selected by a majority of the production and
maintenance employees employed by Republic • Steel Corporation,
Port Henry, New. York, at its Port Henry Division in its ,mines,
mills, and related enterprises at Mineville, Witherbee, and Port
Henry, New York, excluding salaried, clerical and office employees ;
excluding the i following hourly paid supervisory employees in the
underground mines at Mineville and Witherbee, viz., electrician fore-
men, slope bosses, repairmen foremen, carpenter. foremen, shift bosses,
roofmen foremen; and excluding the following employees on the
surface at Mineville, Witherbee, and Port Henry, viz., electrician
foremen, mill shift bosses, magnetic separator foremen, crusher oper-
ator foremen, lump ore foremen, engineering and technical employees,
assistant construction foremen, sintering plant shift bosses, yard track
foremen, mill foremen, assistant carpenter foremen, assistant plumber
foremen, hospital employees, and watchmen, as their representative
for the purposes of collective bargaining and that, -pursuant to Sec-
tion 9 (a) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat.- 449, Iron
Ore Miners Union No. 22247 is the exclusive representative of all
such employees for the purposes of collective bargaining in respect
to rates of pay, wages, hours of employment, and other conditions
of employment.
[SAME TITLE]
AMENDMENT TO DECISION AND DIRECTION OF
ELECTION
October 25, 1940
On October 19, 1940, the National Labor Relations Board, herein
called the Board, issued a Decision and Direction of Election in the
above-entitled proceedings. The Board, having been advised by the
Regional Director for the Second Region (New York City) that a
shorter period for posting notices of election is necessary, hereby
amends the Decision and Direction of Election issued on October
19, 1940, by striking from the first paragraph of the section entitled
"V. The determination of representatives" the following language,
"provided, however, that the vessel will be posted with a notice of
REPUBLIC STEEL CORPORATION 961
election, a sample ballot, a list of employees eligible to vote, and a
notice of the time and place where balloting will be conducted, at
some port of call in the United States prior to the port where ballot-
ing is conducted, or, in the event the vessel is to be posted and voted
in the same port without an intervening trip, at least 48 hours before
balloting is conducted." and by striking therefrom the comma fol-
lowing the word "vessel" first appearing in the eighth line of said
paragraph and substituting therefor a period.
27 N. L. R B.,No 160a
323428-42-vol. 27-62