South Fork Foundry and Machine Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

May 13, 1953

104 N.L.R.B. 980 (N.L.R.B. 1953)

980 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Millwrights in Case No. 39-RC-570,- are inappropriate for the
purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section
9 (b) of the Act, and we therefore dismiss the petitions in those
cases . We further find that all production and maintenance em-
ployees at the Employer's Houston, Texas, steel pipe manu-
facturing plant, including pipefitters, machine repairmen, and
welders, but excluding electricians and their helpers, office
and clerical employees, professional employees, chemists,
metallurgists, laboratory technicians, guards, watchmen, and
supervisors as defined in the Act, constitute aunit appropriate
for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning
of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
ORDER
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the petitions in Cases Nos.
39-RC-568 and 39-RC-570 be, and the same hereby are,
dismissed.
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication.]
E. W. LOUDER AND C. E. DUNMIRE, d/b/a SOUTH FORK
FOUNDRY AND MACHINE COMPANY and UNITED STEEL-
WORKERS OF AMERICA, CIO, Petitioner
UNIVERSAL ELECTRIC AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY
and UNITED STEELWORKERS OF AMERICA, CIO, Petitioner
NATIONAL BOOTH AND LOUNGE COMPANY and UNITED
STEELWORKERS OF AMERICA, CIO, Petitioner
FLOOD CITY BRASS AND ELECTRIC COMPANY and UNITED
STEELWORKERS OF AMERICA, CIO, Petitioner
WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC CORPORATION JOHNSTOWN
MANUFACTURING AND REPAIR PLANT and INTERNA-
TIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS, AFL,
Petitioner. Cases Nos. 6-RC-1226, 6-RC-1227, 6-RC-1228,
6-RC-1230, and 6-RC-1234, May 13, 1953
DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
Upon separate petitions duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the
National Labor Relations Act, a consolidated hearing was held
before Harold L. Hudson, hearing officer. The hearing officer's
rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error
and are hereby affirmed. At the hearing, United Electrical,
Radio, and Machine Workers of America, and its amalgamated
Local 619, herein called the UE and Local 619, moved to dis-
miss the petitions upon the ground that its several contracts
with the individual Employers involved herein constitute re-
104 NLRB No. 123.
SOUTH FORK FOUNDRY AND MACHINE COMPANY 981
spective bars. For reasons hereinafter stated, the motion is
denied.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the Act, the
Board has delegated its powers in connection with these cases
to a three-member panel [Chairman Herzog and Members
Styles and Peterson] .
Upon the entire record in this consolidated proceeding, the
Board finds:
1. The Employers are each engaged in commerce within
the meaning of the Act.
2. The labor organizations involved claim to represent cer-
tain employees of the Employers.
3. The UE contends that the several current collective-
bargaining agreements between Local 619 and the Employers
named herein, to which it also was a party, constitute bars to
an immediate determination of representatives. The Petitioners
disagree. The Employers take no position on this issue.
The UE and Local 619 hold contracts with 7 individual con-
cerns in the Johnstown, Pennsylvania, area, including the 5
named as Employers in this consolidated proceeding.'
Local 619 of the UE was recognized as the bargaining repre-
sentative for production and maintenance employees at 4 of the
plants involved in this proceeding, and was certified as the
bargaining representative for employees at the fifth, the
Westinghouse plant, several years ago. The executive board of
Local 619 is composed of its 5 officers and the chief shop
steward from each of the 7 plants. On January 30, 1953, the
executive board met and discussed recent publicity concerning
alleged Communist control of the UE and voted unanimously to
call a special membership meeting for February 3, 1953, to
consider the question of disaffiliating from the UE.2 Recording
Secretary Stutzman prepared a typewritten notice calling the
special meeting and personnaly delivered it to each of the 7
plants under the jurisdiction of Local 619 and supervised its
posting on the bulletin boards. This notice, as prepared, did
not state the purpose of the meeting. However, the purpose of
the meeting was well understood inasmuch as executive board
members had discussed the matter with the membership in
their respective plants. The plants are all small; employees
easily communicate with one another.3
i The two other concerns , Smith Machine Shop and Penn Machine Shop, with whom the UE
and Local 619 held contracts, are not directly involved in this proceeding . Smith Machine
Shop terminated its contract, pursuant to provisions therein, and recognized the Steelworkers
as successor bargaining agent for its employees . Penn Machine Shop continues to recognize
the UE and Local 619, pursuant to a decertification election which the latter won in October
of 1952 (Case No. 6-RC-77.)
2At the same time, the executive board considered and rejected a request from the UE that
the executive board meet with International Representative Richard Niebur on the subject of
union affairs.
9Vice-President Burkey of Local 619 amended the notice posted on the bulletin board at
Flood City Brass and Electric Company, wherehe is employed, in order to show the true pur-
pose of the meeting . The notices at all plants were also amended to postpone the meeting from
February 3 to February 4, because of the inability to secure the regular meeting place on
February 3.
283230 0 - 54 - 63
982 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
The disaffiliation meeting was attended by approximately 92
employees out of the entire membership of 145 employees in
the 7 plants represented by Local 619.` After a discussion of
the UE's political reputation, employees from each individual
plant voted separately to disaffiliate from the UE and Local
619. Seventeen of the twenty Westinghouse employees were
present and voted unanimously to disaffiliate. Approximately
19 of the 26 employees of Flood City Brass and Electric were
present, and 16 of the 19 voted to disaffiliate. An undisclosed
number of employees from South Fork Foundry and Universal
Electric plant voted unanimously to disaffiliate. Although no
employees from National Booth and Lounge, which employs 8
employees, were present , the recording secretary discussed
the meeting with employees at this plant the following day and
they agreed to the disaffiliation. After the meeting , the re-
cording secretary informed the UE and each of the several
Employers of the action taken.5 The instant petitions were
then filed.
Although Local 619 is an amalgamated local and has one set
of officers, the contracts with Employers involved in this pro-
ceeding have in the past been separately negotiated and signed
by each of the Employers individually. Shop stewards at each
separate plant normally process grievances on behalf of Local
619. There have been, however, no meetings of Local 619 since
the disaffiliation meeting, and no grievances have been pro-
cessed on behalf of employees in any of the five plants in-
volved in this proceeding.6 It thus appears that substantially
autonomous segments of the amalgamated local as broad in
scope as the separate units covered by the contracts urged in
bar have ceased to function as a bargaining agent at the plants
in question . In these circumstances , we conclude that the con-
tracts do not constitute bars to a present determination of
representatives.'
We find that questions affecting commerce exist concerning
the representation of employees of the Employers within the
meaning of Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. Pursuant to the agreement of the parties, we find that the
following employees of each named Employer constitute sepa-
4 This was a large attendance . Only 3 or 4 employees attended the regular January meeting;
no witness could remember whether there had been any December meeting; approximately 15
employees attended the meeting held in November 1952.
SOn February 16, 1953, all 20 employees at Westinghouse submitted a signed petition re-
questing that Westinghouse discontinue payroll deduction of union dues payable to the UE ef-
fective as of that date . Westinghouse has continued to deduct the dues , but has set them aside
pending a decision of this Board.
e The treasurer of Local 619, an employee at Penn Machine Company , which is not directly
involved in this proceeding , testified that his shop committee had engaged in negotiations with
Penn Machine Company since the disaffiliation meeting with respect to minor adjustments on
health and accident insurance . He further testified , however , that he had voted with other
executive board members for the disaffiliation meeting , and that he knew of no other active
officers ofL,ocal 619.
TOrdill Foundry & Mfg. Co., Inc., 98 NLRB 412; Schaefer Body Inc ., 85 NLRB 195 . In view
of our finding above, we find it unnecessary to consider the further contention that certain of
the contracts urged in bar contain illegal union-security clauses.
BRASWELL MOTOR FREIGHT LINES 983
rate units appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining
within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act:
(1) All production and maintenance employees at the South
Fork , Pennsylvania , foundry and machine shop of E. W. Louder
and C. E. Dunmire , d/b/a South Fork Foundry and Machine
Company, excluding office clerical employees , professional
employees , guards, and supervisors as defined in the Act.
(2) All production and maintenance employees at the Johns-
town, Pennsylvania , Job electrical repair shop of Universal
Electric and Manufacturing Company, excluding office clerical
employees , professional employees , guards, and supervisors
as defined in the Act.
(3) All production and maintenance employees at the Johns-
town, Pennsylvania , bar and restaurant equipment plant of
National Booth and Lounge Corporation , excluding office clerical
employees , professional employees , guards, and supervisors
as defined in the Act.
(4) All production and maintenance employees at the Johns-
town , Pennsylvania , brass foundry and machine shop of Flood
City Brass and Electric Company, excluding office clerical em-
ployees, professional employees , guards, and supervisors as
defined in the Act.
(5) All production , maintenance , and service employees in
the manufacturing and repair department at the Johnstown,
Pennsylvania , manufacturing and repair plant of Westinghouse
Electric Corporation , including group leaders , drivers , store-
room clerks , shippers , and receivers , but excluding all office
clerical employees , guards, professional employees, and
supervisors as defined in the Act.
[Text of Direction of Elections omitted from publication.]
BRASWELL MOTOR FREIGHT LINES and INTERNATIONAL
ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS, PASS CITY LODGE 730,
AFL, Petitioner. Case No. 33-RC-429. May 14, 1953
DECISION AND ORDER
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National
Labor Relations Act, a hearing was held before Byron E.
Guse, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made
at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are
hereby affirmed.'
1 The hearing officer referred to the Board the Employer 's motions to dismiss the petition
on the ground , among others, that a contract with the Union of Transportation Employees,
herein called the UTE, the terms of which were orally agreed to on February 14, 1953, is
a bar to this proceeding . On December 23, 1952, in Case No. 39-CA- 163 ( Braswell Motor
Freight Lines , 101 NLRB 1151), the Board found that the Employer dominated and interfered
with the formation and administration of the UTE and contributed to its support in violation of
the Act, and ordered the Employer to cease and desist from these activities , from recog-
nizing the UTE, or any successor , as the representative of any of its employees , and from
giving effect to its then current contractor to any extension , renewal, or modification thereof,
104 NLRB No. 127.