Snowden & McSweeney Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 10, 1944

55 N.L.R.B. 372 (N.L.R.B. 1944)

In the Matter Of SNOWDEN & MCSIVEENEY COMPANY and OIL WORKERS,
INTERNATIONAL UNION, CIO
Case No. 14-R--851.-Decided March10,1944
Mr. Ben A. Townsend, of Mt. Carmel, Ill., and Mr. John Baldwin,
of Bridgeport, Ill., for the Company.
Mr. Ona C. Allen, of Lawrenceville, Ill., for the Union.
Mr. William Strong, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by Oil Workers International Union,
CIO, herein called the Union, alleging that a question affecting com-
merce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of
Snowden & McSweeney Company, Bridgeport, Illinois, herein called
the Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided for an
appropriate hearing upon due notice before James C. Batten, Trial
Examiner. Said hearing was held at Lawrenceville, Illinois, on
February 14, 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. The Trial
Examiner reserved for the Board a motion by the Company that the
petition be dismissed. The motion is denied. 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
1. THE BUSINESS OF TIIE COMPANY
The Company, a Delaware corporation, is engaged in drilling and
pumping oil from the earth. Its principal office is in Ft. Worth, Texas,
and its operations are conducted in eight States. The Illinois produc-
55 N L . R. B., No. 69.
372
SNOWDEN & MCSWEENEY COMPANY 373
tion of the Company is sold to The Ohio Oil Company. The Kentucky
production is sold to the Sohio Oil Company and the Owensboro-Ash-
land Company of Ashland, Kentucky. During 1943, the Company
sold oil in the value of $1,030,998.56. During this same period, the
Company purchased engine and tank parts, pipes, tubes, rods, and
other supplies in the value of $250,000, of which over 50 percent in
value was shipped in interstate commerce to points of consumption or
utilization.
The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
Oil Workers, International Union, is a labor organization, affiliated
with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, admitting to member-
ship employees of the Company.
III. THE 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 in effect until the Union has been certified by the Board in
an appropriate unit.
A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the hear-
in0% indicates that the Union represents a substantial number of
employees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate
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 asserts that all production and maintenance employees
in the Illinois field of the Company,2 excluding clerical and supervisory
employees, constitute an appropriate unit. The Company claims that
the unit should consist of all production and maintenance employees
of its Eastern Division, consisting of the Illinois and Kentucky fields.
The Company's employees in each State are under the direct super-
vision and control of a State Superintendent. Some of the wage rates
in the Illinois field are substantially higher than those in the Kentucky
field. While there have been a few transfers of employees between
i The Field Examiner reported that the Union submitted 13 authorization cards and that
19 employees are in the alleged appropriate unit.
2 The Trial Examiner granted the Union's motion to amend the description of the unit
in the petition by inserting the qualifying phrase in the Illinois field of the Company"
shown above.
374 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
the fields, in most instances they were of a permanent character. The
two fields are about 70 miles apart. The Union has thus far limited
its organizational efforts to the Illinois field. We are of the opinion
that under all the circumstances here present, including the wage dif-
ferentials between the two fields, the distance between them, and the
limited extent of the Union's organization of the Company's employees,
a unit embracing production and maintenance employees at the Illi-
nois field is appropriate.
We find that all production and maintenancg employees of the Com-
pany in its Illinois field, excluding clerical employees and all super-
visory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline,
or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or effectively
recommend such action, constitute a unit appropriate for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of
the Act.
V. TIIE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We shall direct that the question concerning representation which
has arisen be resolved by an election by secret ballot among the employ-
ees 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.3
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 representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Snowden &
McSweeney Company, Bridgeport, Illinois, an election by secret bal-
lot 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 Fourteenth Region, acting in
this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and
subject to Article III, Sections 10 and 11, of said Rules and Regula-
tions, among the employees in the unit found appropriate in Section
1V, above, who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately
preceding the date of this Direction, including employees who did not
3 The Union asks that the December 10, 1943, pay roll be used to determine eligibility
for voting in the election We have considered the Union's arguments in this respect and
conclude that no cogent reason is shown requiring deviation from our normal policy with
respect to the eligibility date.
SNOWDEN & MCSWEENEY COMPANY 375
Work during 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
Oil Workers, International Union, CIO, for the purposes of collective
bargaining.