Sloss-Sheffield Steel & Iron Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 17, 1941

32 N.L.R.B. 710 (N.L.R.B. 1941)

In the Matter of SLOSS-SHEFFIELD STEEL & IRON COMPANY and UNITED
OFFICE AND PROFESSIONAL WORKERS OF AMERICA, C. I. O.
Case No. R-25-39-Decided June 17,1941'
Jurisdiction : pig iron and by-products manufacturing industry
Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question : re-
fusal to accord union recognition ; election necessary. ,
Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : office and clerical employees at
Company's various stores and plant offices, excluding employees at Company's
general offices where functions of employees differ; excluding employees at one
plant office upon the basis of present extent of organization; excluding plant
accountants, store managers, and employees having the right to hire and fire;
Company's contention that office and clerical employees at several plants be
divided to conform to bargaining units of production and maintenance em-
ployees, rejected.
Mr. E. L. All and Mr. W. M. Neal, of Birmingham, Ala., for the
Company.
Mr. Frank L. Parsons, Mr. William E. Mitch, Jr., and Mr. Yelverton
Cowherd, of Birmingham, Ala., for the Union.
Mr. Malcolm A. Hoffmann, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On April 10, 1941, United Office and Professional Workers of Amer-
ica, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, herein
called the Union, filed with the Regional Director for the Tenth Re-
gion (Atlanta, Georgia) a petition alleging that a question affecting
commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees in
the plant offices and stores of Sloss-Sheffield Steel &- Iron Company,
Birmingham, Alabama, herein called the Company, and requesting an
investigation and certification of representatives pursuant to Section
9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called
the Act. On April 26, 1941,'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 Regulations-Series 2, as amended, ordered an investigation and
32 N. L. R. B., No. 129.
710
SLOSS-SHEFFIELD STEEL & IRON COMPANY '711
authorized the Regional Director to conduct it, and to. provide for an
appropriate hearing upon due notice.
_ , On May 1, 1941, the Regional Director issued a notice of hearing,
copies of which were duly served upon the Company and the Union.
Pursuant to notice, a hearing was held on May 7 and 8, 1941, at Bir-
mingham, Alabama, before Earle K. Shawe, the Trial Examiner duly
designated by the Chief Trial Examiner. The Company and the
Union were represented by counsel and participated in the hearing.
Full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses
and to introduce evidence bearing on the issues was afforded all parties.
During the course of the hearing the Union moved to amend its peti-
tion to change in certain respects the unit there alleged to be appro-
priate for the purposes of collective bargaining. The Company did
not oppose this motion, and it was granted by the Trial Examiner.
During the' course of the hearing the Trial Examiner made several
other rulings on motions and on objections 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
affi'rnied.
On May 24, 1941, the Company submitted a brief which has been
considered by the Board.
1Upon the entire record in the case the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Sloss-Sheffield Steel' & Iron Company is a New Jersey corporation
maintaining its general offices and place of business in Birmingham,
Alabama, where it is engaged primarily in the manufacture and sale
of pig iron and the by-products thereof. It owns and operates within
the State of Alabama two coal mines, four ore mines, four blast fur-
naces, a by-products plant and a ready-mixed concrete plant. The
Company's various operations constitute a well integrated enterprise.
During the year 1939, the Company produced approximately 1,400,000
long- tons of products, 38 per cent of which were shipped to places
outside the State of Alabama. During the same period the Company
used approximately 1,600,000 long tons of raw materials, about 2 per
cent of which were obtained from sources outside the State of Alabama.
During the fiscal years ending January 31, 1940, and January 31, 1941,
the Company's sales of finished products and purchases of raw mate-
rials were in substantially the same amounts as those above stated.
In connection with its other operations the Company maintains
stores or commissaries at its various mines and plants for the purpose
of selling: food and other products to its, employees. During the
712 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
calendar year 1940, the sale of products to company employees at such
stores and commissaries approximated $900,000 in value. Six per
cent of these sales were in cash, 94 per cent on a credit basis. Approxi-
mately 25 per cent of the purchases of products resold at company
stores came from places outside the State of Alabama. The Company
concedes that it is engaged in interstate commerce within the meaning
of the Act!
H. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
United Office and Professional Workers of America, Local No. 97,
affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, is a labor
organization admitting to membership office and clerical employees of
the Company at its various mines, plants, furnaces, and stores.'
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING{ REPRESENTATION'
On April 2 and 7, 1941, the Union requested exclusive recognition
as the bargaining agent of the store and office employees of the Com-
pany, exclusive of the Company's general offices, and presented a pro-
posed contract for consideration by the Company. The Company
questioned the Union's status as majority representative and asserted
that this question should be determined by the Board. Consequently,
on April 10, 1941, the Union filed its petition herein. A statement of
the Trial Examiner introduced in evidence shows that a substantial
number of employees in the unit hereinafter found to be appropriate
designated the Union as their representative for the purposes of
Collective bargaining.3
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
' For other descriptions of the business of the Company see Matter of Sloss -Sheffield
Steel & Iron Company and International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers, 14
N. L. R. B 1185 , 1186 ; Matter of Sloss-Sheffield Steel & Iron Company and Brotherhood
of. Railroad Trainmen, et al., 14 N. L. R. B. 186, 188.
2 Local No . 97 is the only local of the United Office and Professional Workers of America
in Birmingham , Alabama, and its vicinity.
3 The Trial Examiner reported that the Union submitted 43 authorization cards, 30 of
which are dated from January to March 1941 , and 13 of which are undated . Forty of
these cards were signed by persons whose names appear on a pay roll submitted in evidence
by the Company listing 76 employees in the unit hereinafter found to be appropriate. At
the hearing an additional card dated May 6 , 1941, was submitted to the Trial Examiner.
The name of this person does not appear on the Company pay roll . The Trial Examiner's
statement also indicates that of the 40 persons on the pay roll, the names of 21 who
authorized the Union to bargain for them , appear on the plant offices' pay roll and 19
appear on the pay roll of the Company 's stores. The Union has no members at the Com-
pany 's office at Russellville Brown Ore Mine.
SLOSS-SHEFFIELD STEEL & IRON COMPANY 713
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 Union contends that the appropriate unit consists of office
workers and clerks employed at the Company's various offices and
stores,4 excluding employees working in the office at Russellville
Brown Ore Mine 5 and further excluding all plant accountants, store
managers, and all other employees having the right to hire and fire,
and all clerical employees employed at the Company's general offices
in Birmingham, Alabama.
The several plant offices do bookkeeping work, keep records of
costs and production and compute pay rolls for plant employees as
well as credit authorizations dependent on earnings for use at the
Company's stores. The Company's stores-sell general merchandise,
and the clerks there are employed in selling, making inventory, and
minor bookkeeping functions. All office and store employees are
salaried within similar salary ranges. All offices and stores are
within a 23-mile ambit of Birmingham, except Russellville, which
is 125 miles away.
The Company contends that the unit sought by the Union is in-
appropriate and urges the Board to divide employees at plant offices
and stores into separate units and further to subdivide such units
so as "to conform to the groups of production and maintenance em-
ployees with respect to their bargaining contracts" 6 in order "that a
stoppage of work in one phase of the Company's business would not
interfere with . . . the operation of any other phase of the busi-
ness." The Company declares that a stoppage of work in the plant
offices might result in a stoppage of production work.
The interests of the office and clerical employees at the separate
plants are very similar-all are salaried employees within comparable
4 The stores or commissaries are designated as follows , City Store , North Birmingham
Store , By-Product Store , Ruffner Store , Sloss Store , Lewisburg Store, Alden Store , Flat Top
Store , Bessie Store.
5 The other plant offices are located at City Furnaces , North Birmingham Furnaces, By-
Products Plant, Ruffner Ore Mines , Sloss Red Ore Mine, Flat Top Mine ( Flat Top Offices
and Alden Office ) and Lewisburg Mine ( Office and Payroll Office)
The production and maintenance workers of the coal mines at Lewisburg and Flat Top
are covered by joint contract and also two "supplemental" rate contracts entered into with
District # 20 of the United Mine Workers of America . Sloss Ore Mines has a contract
with Local No. 109 of International Union of Mine , Mill & Smelter Workers , and Ruffner
Ore Mine has a separate contract with Local No. 152 of the latter union . District #50 of
the United Mine Workers of America has separate contracts covering production and main-
tenance employees of the By -Products Plant, and the City Furnaces ; the latter contract
includes also employees at the North Birmingham Furnaces . At Russellville Brown Ore
Mine there is an agreement with unaffiliated employees ' representatives . The Company in
its brief, alternatively to its other contentions , opposes separation of the Russellville Brown
Ore Mine from the unit sought by the Union.
714 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
salary ranges,' performing related functions similar in kind although
varying in detail and complexity. While the functions of store clerks
consist prinicpally of the sale of items such as food and dry goods,
and clerical work occupies but a little of their time, we find that
they may properly be included in the unit.
Although we give weight to the history of the bargaining relation-
ship in making determination of the appropriate unit, the only
evidence before us of bargaining on behalf of -the employees here
involved consists of the two conferences between the Union and
the Company described in Section 3 above, conducted by the Union
on behalf of the employees in the unit claimed by the Union to be
appropriate. - We do not deem the organizational patterns of the
production and maintenance employees helpful in making our de-
termination of an appropriate unit for office and clerical employees."
We therefore find that office and store employees of the Company
constitute in general an appropriate unit for the purposes of collec-
tive bargaining. There remain for consideration certain exclusions
from such unit proposed by the parties.
It appears that the parties are in agreement as to the exclusion from
the unit of clerical employees at the Company's general executive
offices in Birmingham, Alabama. The record does does not precisely
disclose the number of clerical employees there employed or the
nature of their duties, although it is suggested that their work is of
a confidential character in the employ of the Company's executives,
and the function of the Company's general offices is unlike that of
the plant offices elsewhere run by the Company. We shall exclude
employees in the Company' s general offices in Birmingham, Alabama,
from the unit found to be appropriate. The Union also seeks the
exclusion from the, unit of employees in the office at the Russellville
Brown Ore Mine, and has made no effort to organize and has no
membership among such employees.9 All the plant offices and the
stores or commissaries are within a distance of 23 miles of Birming-
ham with the exception of the Russellville office which is 125 miles
away. Upon the basis of the present extent of organization we shall
exclude employees at the office ' at Russellville Brown Ore Mine
from the unit.
4 Cf. Matter of International Harvester Company Tractor Works and Fai in Equipment
Workers Association Division of A. A. I. S it T. W. N. A. Lodge No 1320, C 1. 0.,
5 N. L R. B 192, 196.
8 We have had frequent occasion to indicate the diffeiences in interest between clerical
and production and maintenance employees See e g, Matter of Consolidated Aircraft
Corporation and International Association of Machinists, Aircraft Lodge No 1125, 2 N. L.
R B. 722 at 779; Matter of Pacific Gas and Electric Company and United Electrical it
Radio Workers of America, 3 N L. R B. 835; Matter of Atlantic Basin Iron Works and
Industrial Union of Maisne and Shipbuilding Workers of America, Local No. '13, 5 N. L.
R. B. 402.
The Company maintains an office at Russellville but does not there maintain a store.
'SLOSS-SHEFFIELD STEEL & IRON COMPANY , 715
The Union seeks the inclusion within the unit of T. McMeekin,
whom the Company urges us to exclude. McMeekin is subordinate to.
one Carroll in the Lewisburg plant office,-but in the absence of Carroll
is superior to three other clerks working there with him. McMeekin
does not have the right to hire and discharge. We find McMeekin to
be within the unit hereinafter found appropriate.
The Union seeks the exclusion of Mrs. Stella Glenn from the unit,
while the Company contends that she should be included. Mrs.
Glenn's work is divided between the City Furnaces' office within the
general unit found appropriate and the' Company's executive office
in Birmingham which falls outside such unit. Her work at the gen-
eral executive office in Birmingham, that of a relief switchboard
operator, occupies but a small part of her time. Four and one-half
hours of a 7-hour day are spent by her at the City Furnaces' office
doing bookkeeping work as well as 3 hours and 45 minutes of the 4
working hours on Saturday. We believe that Mrs. Glenn's primary
employment at the Company is as a clerical employee at the City
Furnaces' office. Accordingly we find that Mrs. Glenn is within the
unit hereinafter found to be appropriate.
We find that the Company's office and clerical employees at the
Company's various offices and stores, excluding the Company's
general offices in Birmingham, Alabama, and its plant office at the
Russellville Brown Ore Mine, and excluding all plant accountants,
store managers, and employees having the right to hire and fire,
constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective-bargaining,
and that said unit will insure to the employees of the Company the
full benefit of the right to self-organization, to form, join, or assist
labor organizations and otherwise effectuate the policies of the Act.
VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We find that the question concerning representation which has
arisen can best be resolved by an election by secret ballot. The Com-
pany and the Union are agreed on the use of a current pay roll for
determination of eligibility, and in accordance-with our usual prac-
tice we shall direct that the employees of the Company eligible to vote
in the election shall be those in the -appropriate unit who were
;employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the
Direction of Election herein, subject to such limitations and additions
as are set forth in the Direction.
Upon the basis of the above 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 doss-Sheffield Steel and Iron Company,
716 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Birmingham, Alabama, within the meaning of Section 9 (c), and Sec-
tion 2 (6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act.
2. All office and clerical employees of the Company at its various
plant offices and stores, excluding employees at the Company's gen-
eral offices in Birmingham, Alabama, and in its plant ,office at the
Russellville Brown Ore Mine, and excluding all plant accountants,
store managers, and employees having the right to hire and fire,
constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargain-
ing, within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the National Labor
Relations Act.
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 Rela-
tions Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 8, of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, it is
hereby
DIREVPED that, as part of the investigation ordered-by the Board
to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargain-
ing with Sloss-Sheffield Steel and Iron Company, Birmingham, Ala-
bama, an election by secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possi-
ble, but not later than thirty (30) days from the date of this Direc-
tion, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director
for the Tenth Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National
Labor Relations Board, and subject to Article III, Section 9, of said
Rules and Regulations, among all office and clerical employees of
Sloss-Sheffield Steel and Iron Company, Birmingham, Alabama, who
were employed by , the Company during the pay-roll period imme-
diately preceding the date of this Direction of Election, including
employees who did not work during such pay-roll period because they
were ill or on vacation or in the active military service or training
of the United States, or temporarily laid off, but excluding all em-
ployees employed at the general offices of the Company in Birming-
ham,_ Alabama, and in the office at the Russellville Brown Ore Mine,
and further excluding all plant accountants, store managers, and
other employees having the right to hire and fire, and employees' who
have since quit or been.discharged for cause, to determine whether
or, not they desire to be represented for the purposes of collective
bargaining by United Office and Professional Workers of America,
Local No. 97, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations.