Standard Lime & Stone Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

May 26, 1947

73 N.L.R.B. 1279 (N.L.R.B. 1947)

In the Matter Of STANDARD LIME & STONE Co., EMPLOYER and WABASH
ROCK WOOL SPECIALTY WORKERS UNION, LOCAL 512, AFFILIATED
WITI-I I. P. P. A. U. OF N. A., A. F . OF L., PETITIONER
Case No. 13-R-4171.-Decided May 26, 1947
Rice and Hannis, by Mr. L. I. Rice and Mr. G. W. Brandshaw, of
Martinsburg, W. Va.; and Mr. Donald B. McCloud, of Wabash, Ind.,
for the Employer.
Mr. Arthur B. Welshans, of Indianapolis, Ind., for the Petitioner.
Mr. Sidney Weinberg, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Wabash,
Indiana, on March 20, 1947, before Gustaf B. Erickson, hearing
officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free
from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations
Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER
Standard Lime & Stone Co. is a Maryland corporation, having its
principal office and place of business in Baltimore, Maryland. It
operates several plants throughout the United States, one of which
is located at Wabash, Indiana, the only plant involved in this pro-
ceeding. At its Wabash plant, the Employer is engaged in the pro-
duction of mineral wool, which is used for insulation purposes. The
plant's annual purchases of raw materials exceed $50,000 per year
in value; 50 percent or more is shipped from points outside the State
of Indiana. The sales of its products exceed $75,000 per year in value;
75 percent or more is shipped in interstate commerce to points outside
the State of Indiana.
73 N. L R B., No. 229.
739926-47-vol. 73-82 1279
1280 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
The Employer admits and we find that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
H. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED 1
The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the Interna-
tional Printing Pressmen's and Assistants' Union of North America,
in turn affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, claiming
to represent employees of the Employer.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
On Jalniary 6, 1947, the Petitioner notified the Employer that it
represented a majority of the Employer's employees and requested
recognition as their exclusive bargaining agent, but the Employer
refused to grant such recognition. On January 9, 1947, the Peti-
tioner filed its petition with the Board. On January 16, 1947, the
Employer and the Independent executed an agreement governing the
hourly rates of pay for the Employer's employees.
The Employer contends that this agreement operates as a bar to
a present determination of representatives. We find no merit in this
contention. As the Petitioner filed its petition prior to the execution
of the agreement, the agreement cannot bar an election.2
We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning
the representation of employees of the Employer within the meaning
of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Employer and the Petitioner agree, and we find, that all pro-
duction and maintenance employees of the Employer's Wabash, In-
diana, plant, including yardmen and powerhouse employees, but
excluding office and clerical employees, supervisors of quality, and
all other 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 appro-
' The Independent Employees Organization, heiem called the Independent, was duly
served with Notice of Hearing , but did not appear. At the hearing , the Petitioner con-
tended that the Independent was not a labor organization within the meaning of the Na-
tional Labor Relations Act. The record shows that the Independent had negotiated with
the Employer since 1938 through a committee of three elected by the employees. These
negotiations had resulted in agreements concerning the hourly rate of pay for the em-
ployees , the most recent of which'was reached on January 16, 1947 The record further
shows that it had been the practice of the Employer to meet quarterly with the committee
for discussion of wages and working conditions We find, from the above facts, that the
Independent is a labor organization within the meaning of Section 2 (5) of the Act.
2 Matter of Ste Genevieve Lune & Quarry Company, 70 N. L R B 1259.
STANDARD LIME & STONE CO. 1281
priate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning
of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
V. TILE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We shall direct that the question concerning representation which
has arisen be resolved by an election by secret ballot, subject to the
limitations and additions set forth in the Direction.
The Independent, we have found, is a labor organization within
the meaning of the Act, and has entered into a contract with the
Employer. We shall, therefore, accord it a place on the ballot.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION 3
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with Standard Lime & Stone Co.,
Wabash, Indiana, 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 supervision of the Regional
Director for the Thirteenth Region, acting in this matter as agent for
the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Sections 203.55 and
203.56, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-
Series 4, among the employees in the unit found appropriate in Sec-
tion IV, above, who were employed during the pay-roll period unmedi-
ately preceding the date of this Direction, including employees who
did not 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 they desire to be repre-
sented by the Wabash Rock Wool Specialty Workers Union, Local
512, affiliated with I. P. P. A. U., of N. A., A. F. of L., or by the In-
dependent Employees Organization, for the purposes of collective
bargaining, or by neither.
3 Any participant in the election herein may, upon its prompt request to and approval
thereof by the Regional Director, have its name removed from the ballot.