Standard Stoker Co., Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 22, 1948

77 N.L.R.B. 1369 (N.L.R.B. 1948)

In the Matter Of READ MACHINERY DIVISION OF TI3E STANDARD STOKER
COMPA'QY, INC., EMPLOYER and PATTERN MAKERS' LEAGUE OF NORTH
AMERICA, DISTRICT #3, A. F. OF L., PETITIONER
Case No. 4-R-2764.-Decided June 02, 1948
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before a hearing
officer of the National Labor Relations Board. At the hearing, the
Employer and District 50, United Mine Workers of America, herein
called the Intervenor, moved to dismiss the petition on the ground
that the proposed unit is inappropriate. The hearing officer referred
the motion to the Board; For reasons stated hereinafter, the motion
is denied. 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 labor organization named below claims to represent em-
ployees of the Employer.,
3. A question of representation exists concerning the representation
of employees of the Employer, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) (1)
and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.2
*Chairman Herzog and Members Murdock and Gray.
' At the hearing , the hearing officer permitted the Intervenor to inteivene in this pro-
ceeding because of its contractual interest in the employees sought herein . The Inter-
venor stated that it did not desire that its name appear on the ballot if the Board directed
an election in this proceeding However , irrespective of the Intervenor 's request, we
would not place its name on the ballot, as it has not complied with Section 9 (f), (g), and
( h) of the Act, as amended See Matter of Rite -Form Corset Company, 75 N. L R B 174.
= We find no merit in the Employer 's contention that the agreement executed on August
21, 1947 , between the Employer and the Intervenor , constitutes a bar to this proceeding,
as the Petitioner asserted its claim for recognition on August 20, 1947, and filed its peti-
77 N. L R. B., No. 210.
1369
1370 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
4. The appropriate unit; the determination of representatives:
The Petitioner seeks a unit composed of all pattern makers and
pattern-maker apprentices employed at the Employer's York, Penn-
sylvania, plant, excluding supervisors. The Employer and the Inter-
venor assert that the proposed unit is inappropriate, contending that
the pattern makers are a part of the existing plant-wide production
and maintenance unit which the, Intervenor currently represents.
Because the pattern makers constitute a well-recognized, apprentice-
able craft group, customarily represented on a separate' basis for
collective bargaining purposes, we believe that they may, if they so
desire, constitute a separate unit.3 They may also continue as part
of the production and maintenance unit in which, for more than 4
years, they have been included. We shall, therefore, direct an election,
including apprentices as is our practice,4 in the following voting
group :
All pattern makers and pattern-maker apprentices employed at the
Employer's York, Pennsylvania, plant, excluding all supervisors as
defined in the Act.
However, we shall make no final unit determination at this time,
but shall be guided in part by the desires of these employees as ex-
pressed in the election hereinafter directed. If a majority vote for
the Petitioner, they will be taken to have indicated their desire to
constitute a separate appropriate unit.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with the Employer, 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 Region in which this
case was heard, and subject to Sections 203.61 and 203.62 of National
Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 5, among the
employees described in paragraph numbered 4, above, who were em-
ployed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the elate of
this Direction of Election, including employees who did not work
tion on August 21, 1947 See Matter of Mac's Equipment Co, 72 N L R. B. 583, and cases
cited therein
In view of the foregoing, we also find no merit in the Employer's further contention that
the provisions of Section 103 of the amended Act render the contract a bar to this pro-
ceeding. See Matter of National Tube Company, 76 N. L. R. B. 1199
3 See Matter of Westinghouse Electric Corporation, 75 N. L R. B 638; Matter of The
Buckeye Steel Castings Company, 75 N. L R. B 982.
4 See Matter of Baltimore Castings Corporation, 73 N. L R. B. 128; Matter of The Bab-
cock & Wilcox Company, 72 N. L. R. B 1256.
STANDARD STOKER COMPANY, INC. 1371
during said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation or
temporarily laid off, but excluding those employees who have since
quit or been discharged for cause and have not been rehired or rein-
stated prior to the date of the election, and also excluding employees
on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine whether
or not they desire to be represented, for the purposes of collective
bargaining, by Pattern Makers' League of North America, District
.f$3, A. F. of L.