Simpson Steel Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 30, 1944

55 N.L.R.B. 890 (N.L.R.B. 1944)

In the Matter of SIMPSON STEEL COMPANY and INTERNATIONAL AS-
SOCIATION or BRIDGE STRUCTURAL AND ORNAMENTAL IRON WORHERS,
LOCAL UNION No. 509, A. F. L.
Case No. 21-R--227.-Decided March 30, 1944
Mr. A. F. Simpson, Jr., of Los Angeles, Calif., for the Company.
Mr. G. J. Sliney, of Los Angeles, Calif., and Mr. Oliver C. King, of
Los Angeles, Calif., for the Union.
Mr. William Strong, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OP THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by International Association of Bridge,
Structural and Ornamental Iron Workers, Local Union No. 509, A.
F. L., herein called the Union, alleging that a question affecting com-
merce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of
Simpson Steel Company, Los Angeles, California,' herein called the
Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided for an ap-
propriate hearing upon due notice before Charles M. Ryan, Trial
Examiner. Said hearing was held at Los Angeles, California, on Feb-
ruary 28, 1944. The Company and the Union appeared and par-
ticipated. All parties were afforded full opportunity to be heard, to
examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bear-
ing on the issues. The Trial Examiner's rulings made at the hearing
are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. All parties
were afforded an opportunity to file briefs with the Board.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following:
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
The Company, a partnership consisting of A. F. Simpson, Jr., and
R. N. Simpson, is engaged at two locations in Los Angeles in the pro-
'Prior to November 1943 the Company was known as the Commercial Piping & Engi-
neering Company.
55 N. L. R. B., No. 159.
890
SIMPSON STEEL COMPANY 891
duction of parts for ships. Its production is valued at more than
$250,000 annually. All parts produced by the Company are used on
ships manufactured for the United States Government, and which
sail the high seas.
We find that the Company is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
H. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
International Association of Bridge, Structural and Ornamental
Iron Workers, Local Union No. 509, affiliated with the American
Federation of Labor, is a labor organization admitting to member-
ship employees of the Company.
III. TIIE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company has refused to grant recognition to the Union as
the exclusive bargaining representative of certain of the Company's
employees.
A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the
hearing, indicates that the Union represents a substantial number
of employees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.2
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 seeks a unit composed of all production and mainte-
nance employees of the Company at its East 26th Street plant,3
excluding clerical and supervisory employees. The Company dis-
agrees with the Union's contentions and would exclude electricians,
machinists, and hoisting engineers. The Company asserts that it
has had inquiries as to its organizational set-up from other labor
organizations which represent employees in these categories. How-
ever, no other labor organization has made any demands upon the
Company ,4 and there is no history of collective bargaining at the
plant on a craft basis. We shall include all production and mainte-
nance employees in the unit.
'The Field Examiner reported that the Union submitted 54 membership application
cards, all of which bore apparently genuine original signatures ; that the names of 43
persons appearing on the cards were listed on the Company's pay roll of December 5, 1943,
which contained the names of 65 employees in the alleged appropriate unit.
' The Company has plants at East 26th Street and East 51st Street, in Los Angeles.
Upon inquiry by these organizations, the Company stated that it "planned to keep our
shop an open shop .. .
892 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
We find that all production and maintenance employees of the
Company at its East 26th Street plant, excluding clerical employees
and all supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, dis-
charge, discipline , or otherwise effect changes in the status of em-
ployees, 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 REPRESENTATIVLS
The Company objects to any determination of representatives at
present on the ground that it plans to consolidate all the enterprises
controlled by it at the East 26th Street location, and for the further
reason that the Navy Department "may decide to take over our plant
or select us as a unit to perform work for them" requiring a substan-
tial increase in the number of employees. In addition, the Company
asserts that its personnel "will probably double" within the next 6
months, "with the permission of the War Manpower Commission."
The consolidation will not occur within the next 12 to 18 months,
at the earliest. The other considerations urged by the Company are
merely speculative. Also, the Company already has in its employ
.50 percent of the employees it would have were all the factors which
may cause an increase in its employment rolls resolved in its favor.
None of the reasons advanced persuade us that the election should
not be held at this time.
We shall direct that the question concerning representation which
has arisen be resolved by 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.
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 Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, it is hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain represen-
tatives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Simpson Steel
Company, Los Angeles, California , an election by secret ballot shall
be conducted as early as possible, but not later than thirty (30)
days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and super-
vision of the Regional Director for the Twenty-first Region, acting
in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and
SIMPSON STEEL COMPANY 893
subject to Article III, Sections 10 and 11, of said Rules and Regula-
tions, among the employees in the unit found appropriate in Section
IV, above, who were employed during the pay-roll period imme-
diately preceding the date of this Direction, including employees
who did not work during the 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 those employees 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 Association
of Bridge, Structural and Ornamental Iron Workers, Local Union
No. 509, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, for the,
purposes of collective bargaining.