Sparton Teleoptic Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Mar 8, 1949

81 N.L.R.B. 1228 (N.L.R.B. 1949)

In the Matter Of SPARTON TELEOPTIC COMPANY, EMPLOYER and INTER-
NATIONAL UNION, UNITED AUTOMOBILE , AIRCRAFT AND AGRICULTURAL
IMPLEMENT WORKERS OF AMERICA, (UAW-CIO), PETITIONER
Case No. 13-IBC-43<5.Decided March 8, 1949
DECISION
AND
ORDER
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before a hearing
officer of the National Labor Relations Board. The hearing officer's
rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are
hereby affirmed.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the National Labor
Relations Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with
this case to a three-man panel consisting of the undersigned Board
Members.*
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds:
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the
National Labor Relations Act.
2. The Petitioner and the Intervenor, International Association of
Machinists, are labor organizations claiming to represent employees
of the Employer.
3. The alleged question concerning representation :
In September 1948, the Employer purchased the assets at public
auction, of a bankrupt manufacturer of automobile lighting equip-
ment in Racine, Wisconsin, and resumed the production of such
equipment on a reduced scale at the premises where the bankrupt had
been located. As of the date of the hearing, the Employer employed
26 production and maintenance employees in these operations, whom
the Petitioner here seeks to represent. The Employer's vice president
testified at the hearing, however, that the Employer intended to end
all production at Racine, and to discharge all its employees there,
except perhaps for 1 shipping clerk and an office employee, on or before
March 1, 1949.
.Chairman Herzog and Members Reynolds and Gray.
81 N. L. R. B., No. 189.
1228
SPARTON TELEOPTIC COMPANY 1229
After its purchase of the bankrupt's assets, the Employer attempted
to secure an extension of the lease on one of the bankrupt's two loca-
tions in Racine, which was due to expire on December 31, 1948, but
was unable to do so. For this reason, and because its cost studies indi-
cate that its operations at Racine were uneconomical, the Employer
decided to move all its production machinery and most of its inven-
tory from Racine to its parent corporation's plant at Jackson, Mich-
igan. It agreed to vacate the other of the two facilities in Racine by
February 28, 1949, and has made no effort to find other suitable loca-
tions in Racine for its operations.
As the Employer expected to terminate all its production in Racine
on or before February 28, 1949, with no likelihood of resumption, we
believe that no useful purpose will be served by proceeding with a
determination of representatives.' We shall dismiss the petition.
ORDER
Upon the basis of the foregoing findings of fact and upon the
entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations Board hereby
orders that the petition filed herein be, and it hereby is, dismissed.
1 Matter of International Harvester Company, 73 N. L. R. B. 436 ; Matter of Armour &
Company, 62 N. L. R. B. 1194. We find it unnecessary, in view of this decision, to discuss
and rule on the Intervenor's contention that its contract with the bankrupt manufacturer
whose assets were bought by the Employer constitutes a bar to this proceeding.