Screw Machine Products Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Sep 24, 1948

79 N.L.R.B. 980 (N.L.R.B. 1948)

In the Matter of C. A. BRAUKMAN AND LUCILLE A. BRAUKMAN, A
PARTNERSHIP, D/B/A SCREW MACHINE PRODUCTS COMPANY, EM-
PLOYER and INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS, LOCAL
No. 47, PETITIONER
Case No. 30-RC-82.-Decided September 24, 1948
DECISION
AND
ORDER
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before a hearing
officer of the National Labor Relations Board. The hearing officer's
rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are
hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER
C. A. Braukman and Lucille A. Braukman, a partnership doing
business as Screw Machine Products Company, operate a machine shop
at Denver, Colorado. The Employer makes, on order, small machine
parts for its customers, who use the parts in their own production and
assemblies?
The Employer purchased within Colorado all the machinery and
equipment used in the business; the value of such machinery and
equipment is $35,000.2 The principal raw materials used by the Em-
ployer are steel, brass,, and aluminum. During 1947, the Employer
purchased raw materials valued at approximately $40,000. All of
such materials were purchased from wholesale distributors located
within Colorado, and were shipped to the Employer from the
sellers' warehouses located within that State. All of the raw materials,
however, were originally brought into Colorado from another State.3
3 Examples of the items produced by the Employer are : parts for gun sights ; parts for
fishing reels and rods ; parts for camera photo flood synchronizing device ; pipe and hose
joints and fittings ; rivets ; bits for horse harnesses ; screws ; knobs ; and cams.
s The machinery and equipment was manufactured outside Colorado.
$ Frequently the raw materials used by the Employer bear the names of nationally known
producers engaged in interstate commerce within the meaning of the Act.
79 N. L. R. B., No. 120.
980
SCREW MACHINE PRODUCTS COMPANY 981
During 1947, the Employer sold finished parts valued at approxi-
mately, $95,000. Except for two relatively unimportant sales,4 all
parts were sold and delivered to purchasers located within Colorado.
Of all such parts, "a great many" go into customers' products and
assemblies which are ultimately shipped in interstate commerce.5
The Employer contends that it is not engaged in commerce within
the meaning of the Act. Without resolving that issue, we do not
believe that it would effectuate the policies of the Act to assert
jurisdiction in this case, because we think that the effect of the Em-
ployer's business on interstate commerce is too remote. Accordingly,
we shall dismiss the petition.
ORDER-
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the petition be, and it hereby is, dismissed.
CHAIRMAN HERZOG took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision and Order.
MEMBER REYNOLDS, dissenting :
I disagree with my colleagues' conclusion that the effect of the Em-
ployer's operations on interstate commerce is too remote to warrant
asserting jurisdiction in this case. The machine parts manufactured
by the Employer are a vital element of the products manufactured
and shipped in interstate commerce by many other concerns. Dis-
ruption of the Employers' operations by a labor dispute would directly
affect the manufacture and shipment in interstate commerce of these
products. Consequently, I would assert jurisdiction in this case and
would direct an election.
4 One such sale, amounting to $131, was shipped outside Coloradb at the request of a
local purchaser . The other , amounting to approximately $700, was shipped outside Colorado
when the business of a local customer was sold to an out-of-State purchaser after the order
had been placed.
5 The records of the Board show that the Board has asserted jurisdiction over 7 of the
37 concerns cited at the hearing as purchasers of parts made by the Employer.
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