Rudolph Wurlitzer Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 23, 1950

88 N.L.R.B. 1403 (N.L.R.B. 1950)

In the Matter Of RUDOLPH WURLITZER COMPANY , EMPLOYER and LOCAL
350, INTERNATIONAL UNION OF ELECTRICAL , RADIO AND MACHINE
WORKERS , CIO, PETITIONER
Case No. 3-RC_373.Decided March 23,1950
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before John C. McRee,
hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are
free from prejudicial error and are hereby affigmed 1
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the National Labor
Relations Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with
this case to a three -member panel [Chairman Herzog and Members
Houston and Styles].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :2
I For the reasons stated below , we find no merit in the contention of Local 303 , United
Electrical , Radio and Machine Workers of America, herein called the Intervenor , that the
refusal of the hearing officer to permit the Intervenor to see the petitions , submitted by
the Petitioner as evidence of its showing of interest, for the purpose of cross-examination,
constituted a deprivation of due process.
, At the hearing the Intervenor moved to dismiss the petition on the following grounds:
(1) A current contract between the Employer and the Intervenor is a bar to this pro-
ceeding ; ( 2) the numerical designation of the Petitioner 's local is an attempted fraud
on the employees in the unit ; and (3 ) the Petitioner did not produce any showing of
interest for either Local 3030 or for Local 350. The hearing officer referred this motion
to the Board.
For the reasons stated below , we find that the contract between the Employer and the
Intervenor is not a bar to this proceeding . There is no evidence in the record to show
that the number of the Petitioner ' s local is designed to perpetrate a fraud on the employees
in the unit , or that the employees who signed the authorizations were misled into thinking
that they were designating the Intervenor . It is well established that a Petitioner's
prima facie showing of interest is a matter for administrative determination , not subject
to litigation at the hearing . Farm Tools , Inc., 88 NLRB 606; Farrell-Cheek Steel Com-
pany, 88 NLRB 303. Moreover , we are satisfied that the Petitioner 's showing of interest
is in all respects proper.
We find no merit in the Intervenor 's contention that the showing of interest designates
another labor organization than the Petitioner . The original petition was filed in the
name of Local 303, International Union of Electrical , Radio and Machine Workers, CIO.
After the filing of this petition, an injunction was granted by the New York Supreme
Court enjoining the Petitioner from using the number 303. The Petitioner then filed an
amended petition using the number 3030 . Thereafter, the local was notified by the Inter-
national Union of Electrical , Radio and Machine Workers , CIO, herein called the IUE,
that its charter was being issued with the number 350 rather than 3030 . The fact that
the Petitioner was subsequently chartered under a different number is immaterial. It is
clear from the record that although the number of its local has been changed , the union
88 NLRB No. 188.
1403
1404 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the National Labor Relations Act.
2. The labor organizations involved claim to represent certain
employees of the Employer 3
3. The Intervenor contends that a collective bargaining agreement
between the Employer and the Intervenor executed on May 4, 1948,
constitutes a bar to this proceeding. By its terms the contract was to
remain in effect until April 30, 1950, with provision for indefinite
extension and cancellation upon 60 days' notice. The instant petition
was filed on December 8, 1949.
As the present contract will expire in less than 2 months, we find,
apart from other considerations, that the 1948 contract is not a bar to
this proceeding.' -
We find, therefore, that a question affecting commerce exists con-
cerning the representation of employees of the Employer within the
meaning of Section 9 (;) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. We find, in accordance with the stipulation of the parties, that
all production and maintenance employees employed at the Employ-
er's North Tonawanda, New York, plant, including inspectors, stock
chasers, toolroom employees, stockroom employees, and nurses, but
excluding office and clerical employees, production clerks, timekeepers,
engineering department employees, model shop employees, canteen
employees, professional employees, guards, and supervisors, consti-
tute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining
within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act .5
5. The Intervenor contends that the election should be postponed
because the Employer expects to increase the number of employees in
the unit. The record shows that the Employer expects to hire a num-
ber of additional employees in February and March 1950. The num-
ber of such employees to be hired is, however, not substantial, and it
is probable that the Employer will have its full complement of em-
ployees by the time the election is held. In any event, the present
working force is a representative and substantial group. We shall,
which filed the original petition , and the union which later appeared at the hearing,
is one and the same labor organization . The Intervenor 's motion to dismiss the petition
is hereby denied. Cf . Westinghouse Electric Supply Company , 83 NLRB 174; Bloomingdale
Brothers, Inc., 81 NLRB 1252 ; New Era Shirt Co., 79 NLRB 213 ; Noblitt -Sparks Industries,
Inc., 76 NLRB 1230; The Colson Corporation, 70 NLRB 1235.
The Petitioner is composed of employees of the Employer who were formerly members
of Local 303, United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America. The Petitioner,
as an affiliate of the IUE, complied with the filing requirements of the Act, and filed the
petition herein.
* General Motors Corporation, Frigidaire Division, 88 NLRB 450 ; Texas-Empire Pipe
Line Company, 88 NLRB 631.
6 This is substantially the same unit found appropriate by the Board in 1943. Rudolph
Wurlitzer Company, 51 NLRB 536.
RUDOLPH WURLITZER COMPANY 14.05
therefore , follow our customary practice of directing an immediate
election among those currently employed .6
DIRECTION OF ELECTION 7
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
-purposes of collective bargaining with the Employer, an election by
secret ballotshall be conducted as early as possible, but not later than
30 days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and super-
vision of the Regional Director for the Region in which this case
was heard, and subject to Sections 203.61 and 203.62 of National La-
bor Relations Board Rules and Regulations, among the employees in
the unit found appropriate in paragraph numbered 4, above, who
were employed during the payroll period immediately preceding the
date of this Direction of Election, including employees who did not
work during said payroll period because they were ill or on vacation
or temporarily laid off, but excluding those employees who have since
quit or been discharged for cause and have not been rehired or rein-
stated prior to the date of the election, and also excluding employees
on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine whether
they desire to be represented, for purposes of collective bargaining,
by International Union of Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers,
CIO,s or by Local- 303, United Electrical, Radio and Machine Work-
ers of America, or by neither..
6 Mueller Brass Company, 88 NLRB 431.
7 Either participant in the election directed herein may , upon its prompt request to,
and approval thereof by, the Regional Director , have its name removed from the ballot.
8 Although the name of the Petitioner was amended at the hearing to read Local 350,
International Union of Electrical , Radio and Machine Workers , CIO, the Petitioner re-
quested that its name be placed on the ballot as International Union of Electrical, Radio
and Machine Workers, CIO, in order to remove any possible confusion in the minds of
the voters . This request is hereby granted . Lane Wells Company, 79 NLRB 252.