Standard Steel Sections, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Sep 16, 1944

58 N.L.R.B. 321 (N.L.R.B. 1944)

In the Matter of STANDARD STEEL SECTIONS , INC. and UNITED CON-
STRUCTION WORKERS , UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA
Case -No.-2-R-4874.Decided September 16, 191,4
Messrs. Aaron Kurz and Harold F. Hirschhorn, of New York City,
for the Company.
Messrs. Michael E. Rosenstein and Lean Zwicker, of New York City,
for the Union.
Miss Ruth Rtmch, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by United Construction Workers , United
Mine Workers of America , herein called the Union , alleging that a
question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation
of employees of Standard Steel Sections , Inc., New York City , herein
called the Company , the National Labor Relations Board provided
for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before Jerome I. Macht,
Trial Examiner . Said hearing was held at New York City, on August
15, 1944 . The Company and the Union appeared and participated.
All parties were afforded full opportunity to be heard, to examine and
cross-examine witnesses , and to introduce evidence bearing on the
issues. The Trial Examiner reserved rulings for the Board on the
Company's motion to dismiss the petition on the ground that the
Union is not a labor organization within the meaning of the Act. For
reasons hereinafter stated, the motion is denied . The Trial Exam-
iner 's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and
are hereby affirmed . All parties were afforded an opportunity to file
briefs with the Board.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board m ake 's the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
The Company is a New York corporation which is engaged in the
manufacture, sale, and distribution of pressed steel products and the
58 N. L. R. B., No. G5.
609591-45-vol. 5S-22 321
322 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
fabrication thereof as subcontractors. During the past year, the
Company purchased hot rolled steel sheets, which is the principal raw
material used, amounting to more than $100,000 in value, of which 75
percent was shipped from sources outside the State of New York.
For the same period, the Company's products sold for more than
$100,000 in value, of which approximately 5 percent was shipped out-
side the State of New York.
The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
United Construction Workers is a labor organization affiliated with
the United Mine Workers pf America, admitting to membership em-
ployees of the Company.'
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company has refused to grant recognition to the Union as the
exclusive bargaining representative of its employees until the Union
has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit.
A statement of a Field Examiner, introduced into evidence at the
hearing, indicates that the Union represents a substantial number of
employees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate 2
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
We find, in accordance with the stipulation of the parties'and the
record, that all production employees engaged in the fabrication of
steel products, chauffeurs, and shipping employees, but excluding all
office and clerical employees, buyers, salesmen, draftsmen, executives of
the corporation, and all supervisory and managerial employees with
authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect
changes in the status of employees, or effectively recommend such ac-
tion, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bar-
gaining within the meaning of Section (b) of the Act.3
1 The Company denies that the Union is a labor organization within the meaning of the
Act. The record discloses that the Union Is an organization in which employees partici-
pate and that It represents employees for purposes of collective bargain i ng. We, there-
fore, fill (] that the Union is a labor organization within the meaning of Section 2 ( 5) of the
Act.
2 The Field Examiner reported that the Union submitted 36 authorization cards, 24 of
which bore the names of persons appearing on the Company 's pay roll of July 31, 1944,
which contained the names of 27 employees in the appropriate unit. There were 16 cards
dated in June and 8 were dated in July of this year.
a The Company did not engage any employees as maintenance employees at the time of
the hearing . Maintenance work is done by a vice president of the Company.
STANDARD STEEL SECTIONS, INC . 323
V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We shall direct that the question concerning representation which
has arisen be resolved by an election by secret- ballot among the em-
ployees in the appropriate unit who were employed during the pay-roll
period, immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Election
herein, sul ject to the limitations aiid-additions set forth in the Direc-
tion.
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 9, of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, as amended, it is
hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Standard Steel
Sections, Inc., New York City, 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 Second 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 Regulations, among the em-
ployees in the unit found appropriate in Section IV, above, who were
employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date
of this Direction, including employees who did not work during the
said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation or tempo-
rarily 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
United Construction Workers, affiliated with the United Mine Workers
of America, for the purposes of collective bargaining.