Sheller Manufacturing Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Dec 16, 1954

110 N.L.R.B. 1652 (N.L.R.B. 1954)

1652 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
We are, of course, aware of the substantial turnover and the work-
sharing practices in the shipping industry on the Pacific Coast. How-
ever , despite contentions in prior cases that we should, in view of these
factors, broaden the base of eligibility, we have held, and the election
results have confirmed our view, that use of our usual maritime elec-
tion eligibility rules result in a representative vote and avoid uncon-
trollable difficulties that would otherwise arise. We are not persuaded
that there are in this case any reasons warranting a departure from
the Board's usual policy in this respect. We shall therefore apply
the customary rules in determining eligibility to vote.23
Accordingly, those employees who were employed during the pay-
roll period immediately preceding the date of the issuance of the notice
of election and who are still employed at the time of balloting will
be eligible to vote in the election directed herein.
It is generally Board practice in directing elections among em-
ployees on seagoing vessels to leave the method of voting to the dis-
cretion of the Regional Director. We shall therefore follow this
practice in the instant case. Consistent with such practice, we hereby
vest in the Regional Director discretion to determine the exact time,
place, and procedure for conducting the election.
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication.]
z3 Pacific Maritime Association , 100 NLRB 12,59, at 1265. In view of our above deter-
mination concerning eligibility, we shall exclude from voting all those employees , including
the trip-off men in the steward department, who have left their jobs under the spread-
the-work programs in the three departments . Also, standbys who fill in only when a ship
is in port and are carried on the shoreside payroll are clearly ineligible to vote under the
Board 's customary eligibility tests . Because of the inadequacy of the record , the eligibil-
ity of employees who have been sailing on a ship in drydock on the eligibility date, can
best be resolved by challenges
DRYDEN RUBBER DIVISION, SHELLER MANUFACTURING CORPORATION '
and LOCAL 437 , INTERNATIONAL CHEMICAL WORKERS UNION, AFL,
PETITIONER . Case No. 18-RC-f332. December 16, 1954
Decision and Direction of Election
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor
Relations Act, a hearing was held on September 22, 1954, before
Clarence A. Meter, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made
at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and hereby affirmed.2
1 The petition and other formal papers were amended at the hearing to show the correct
name of the Employer as indicated above
2 The hearing officer referred to the Board the motion of the Intervenor, United Rubber,
Cork, Linoleum and Plastic Workers of America, CIO, to dismiss the petition on the
grounds that : ( a) Its contract bars this proceeding ; ( b) the Petitioner 's parent organiza-
tion, International Chemical Workers Union , AFL, has requested withdrawal of the instant
petition ; and (c ) the Petitioner is not a labor organization within the meaning of the Act.
For the reasons stated infra, this motion is denied.
110 NLRB No. 248.
DRYDEN RUBBER DIVISION 1653
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the Act.
2. The labor organizations involved claim to represent certain em-
ployees of the Employer.'
3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa-
tion of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section 9
(c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
The Intervenor contends that its current contract with the Em-
ployer is a bar to this proceeding. This contract became effective on
August 7, 1952, for a period of 4 years, terminating on August 7,
1956, with provision for its automatic renewal thereafter. The peti-
tion herein was filed on August 4, 1954. We find that the existing
contract does not constitute a bar to a present election. In so finding,
Member Murdock relies on the lack of evidence that a substantial part
of the industry in which the Employer is engaged is covered by con-
tracts in excess of 2 years' duration, and the fact that the petition was
timely filed with respect to the initial 2 years of the contract' Mem-
ber Rodgers agrees that the contract is no bar because, as more fully
set forth in his dissent in Republic Aviation Corp., 109 NLRB 569,
he would adopt a flat 2-year rule, and the present contract has been
in effect more than 2 years. Member Beeson joins in the position of
Member Rodgers. In Member Beeson's opinion, the "substantial part
of the industry test" should be abandoned and a period of 2 years,
which is fixed and readily ascertainable, should be established as the
rule for contracts in all industries.5
The Intervenor further urges that this proceeding should be dis-
missed because the Petitioner's parent organization, International
Chemical Workers Union, AFL, has requested withdrawal of the
petition." The Petitioner opposes this contention. In view of the
fact that International Chemical Workers Union, AFL, did not file
the petition herein, and in view of the further fact that the Board,
under these circumstances, is not concerned with internal disputes
between a local and its parent organization, we find no merit in the
Intervenor's contention.7
S United Rubber, Cork, Linoleum and Plastic Workers of America, CIO, was permitted
to intervene on the basis of its contract with the Employer. Contrary to the Intervenor's
contention , we find that the Petitioner is a labor organization within the meaning of the
Act whether or not its charter has been revoked
+ See General Motors Corporation , 102 NLRB 1139 , 1143; Pabco Products, Inc., 101
NLRB 281, 282, footnote 2.
B To the extent that Member Beeson's position in the present case conflicts with his
concurring opinion in Republic Aviation, that opinion is hereby modified.
6 After the case was transferred to the Board following the hearing herein , Interna-
tional Chemical Workers Union, AFL, reasserted to the Board its earlier request for
dismissal , which the Regional Director had previously denied. We also deny this request.
7 Statements of Procedure, Part 101, Subpart C, Section 101.17 ( b) ; New Castle Prod-
ucts, Incorporated , 99 NLRB 811, 815
1654 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
4. The parties agree, and we find, that the following employees of
the Employer constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of col-
lective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act:
All production and maintenance employees at the Employer's
Keokuk, Iowa, plant, excluding clerical, salaried, laboratory, technical,
sales, and medical department employees and other office employees,
and all guards, professional employees and supervisors (including
leadmen and leadwomen), as defined in the Act.
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication.]
CHAIRMAN FARMER and MEMBER PETERSON, dissenting :
We disagree with the majority's decision to direct an election on
the present petition.
Since the hearing in this case, the Petitioner's parent organization,
International Chemical Workers Union, AFL, notified the Board that
it had revoked the Petitioner's charter and that ,it desired to withdraw
the petition herein. A similar request, which the International had
made to the Regional Director before the hearing, was denied. Al-
though duly served with notice of this second. request, the Petitioner
has filed no opposition. Moreover, the Board has been administra-
tively advised that a petition to decertify the Intervenor (Case No.
18-RD-130) has been filed by an employee, which appears to be sup-
ported by the same individuals supporting the petition in the instant
proceeding. In these circumstances, we believe that it would effect-
uate the policies of the Act to permit the withdrawal of the petition
herein and to proceed with the processing of the pending decertifica-
tion petition.
GRAND SHEET METAL PRODUCTS Co. and LOCAL 1150, UNITED ELEC-
TRICAL, RADIO & MACHINE WORKERS OF AMERICA, PETITIONER. Case
No. 13-RC-4066. December 16, 1954
Decision and Direction of Election
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor
Relations Act, a hearing was held before Raymond A. Jacobson, hear-
ing officer. 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 Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the Act.
2. The labor organizations involved claim to represent certain em-
ployees of the Employer.'
1 Local 713, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, AFL, herein referred to
as Intervenor, intervened.
110 NLRB No. 225.