Stant Manufacturing Co.Download PDFNational Labor Relations Board - Board DecisionsApr 17, 195193 N.L.R.B. 1519 (N.L.R.B. 1951) Copy Citation STANT MANUFACTURING COMPANY 1519 firemen, loom fixer instructors, mechanics, machinists, head over- haulers, color grader, head grader and other graders, card room com- bination man, section men, machinery movers, and loomfixers. Exclusions: Office clericals, general payroll men, payroll clerks, production statistics man, accounts payable clerk, supply clerk typist, switchboard operator, general typists, timekeeper, head designer, as- sistant designer, costs and standards men, laboratory technician, cloth salesgirl, office janitor, gatemen, head slasher tenders, secretary to gen- eral manager, personnel clerks, standards typists, raw material and inventory supervisor, paymaster, waste control man, personnel super- visor, assistant personnel supervisor, overseers, shift foremen (second hands), master mechanics, warehouse supervisor, machinery mover superintendent, production and standards supervisor, supply super- visor, planning supervisor, guards, professional employees, and other supervisors as defined in the Act. [Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication in this volume.] STANT MANUFACTURING COMPANY and LOCAL 70, METAL POLISHERS, BUFFERS, PLATERS & HELPERS INTERNATIONAL UNION, A. F. L., PETITIONER STANT MANUFACTURING COMPANY and AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR, PETITIONER . Cases Nos. 35-RC-413 and 35-RC-454. April 17, 1951 Decision and Direction of Elections Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, a hearing was held before William A. McGowan, 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 this case, the Board finds : 1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act. 2. The labor organizations involved claim to represent certain em- ployees of the Employer. 3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa- tion of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. 4. The appropriate unit : The Employer is engaged in the manufacture of automobile parts and accessories, and employs approximately 550 employees. From 93 NLRB No. 253. 1520 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD 1936 to 1946, Stant Independent Employees Association, herein called the Independent, represented all the production and maintenance em- ployees in the Employer's plant. In 1946, pursuant to a consent election, the Board certified Local 70, Metal Polishers, Buffers, Platers Helpers International Union, A. F. L., hereinafter called the Metal Polishers, as the bargaining agent for the approximately 122 em- ployees in the coloring, buffing, and plating departments? The Metal Polishers now seeks to add to this unit the 8 rack and 9 solution makers employed by the Employer. United Automobile, Aircraft and Agri- cultural Implement Workers of America, C. I. 0., hereinafter called the UAW, the Independent, and the Employer contend that the em- ployees now sought by the Petitioner should remain in the production and maintenance unit in which they have been included, and for which the Independent and the UAW seek to be certified. The American Federation of Labor, hereinafter called the A. F. of L., also seeks to represent the employees of the Employer on a production and mainte- nance basis, but has no objection to the severance of the employees sought herein by the Metal Polishers. All parties agree that the employees already represented by the Metal Polishers should be ex- cluded from the production and maintenance unit, as well as all guards, professional employees, and supervisors. The rack makers make and repair racks on which the parts that are to be plated are placed prior to their immersion in the plating solution. The solution makers prepare the plating solution. The plating department does the actual plating of the parts, and the polish- ing and coloring departments polish and color the plated parts. One supervisor is in charge of rack and solution making and also in over- all charge of the various plating operations, which have different direct supervisors for various types of plating. One supervisor supervises both the polishing and coloring departments. The rack and solution makers work out of separate departments which are lo- cated close to the plating department. Most of the solution makers work at night when the plating department is not in operation, but at least one of them is continuously present in the plating department during the plating operations to see that the plating solutions are properly maintained. With the exception of one rack making job, rack and solution making require little skill and training. The rack and solution men receive the same base pay as the polishers and slightly more than the platers, but receive less total pay than either of these groups of employees, as they are entitled to a direct production bonus which the rack and solution men do not get. The rack and solution men do receive an indirect production bonus, as do the employees in various other de- ' The record shows that there are 54 employees in the plating department , and 68 In the polishing department , but does not give the number in the coloring department. STANT MANUFACTURING COMPANY 1521 partments of the Employer who perform a maintenance type of func- tion. Production departments receive direct production bonuses. Prior to the advent of the Metal Polishers , seniority was plant-wide, and transfers between the various departments of the Employer were common. At present the Employer tries to avoid transfers of em- ployees between the groups represented by the Independent and by the Metal Polishers. Seniority is acquired in each group, and em- ployees transferring from a department represented by the Inde- pendent to a department represented by the Metal Polishers are not given credit for any seniority they have acquired while working for the Employer as Independent members. The Independent, however, gives seniority credit for time worked while a member of the Metal Polishers. It appears from the foregoing that the rack and solution makers are a fringe of the craft unit now represented by the Metal Polishers and may appropriately be added to that unit. On the other hand, in view of their long bargaining history as part of the production and main- tenance unit and their common interests with employees in that group, the rack u,nd solution makers may also appropriately continue to be included in the production and maintenance unit. We shall, there- fore, make no final unit determination at this time, but shall first ascertain the desires of the employees herein involved as expressed in the elections hereinafter directed. Accordingly, we shall direct elections among the employees of the Employer at its Connersville, Indiana, plant, in the following voting groups, excluding from each group all guards, professional employees , and supervisors : 1. All rack and solution makers. 2. All production and maintenance employees, excluding all office and clerical employees, timekeepers, metal polishers, buffers, platers, and helpers. If a majority of the employees in voting group 1 vote for the Metal Polishers, they will be taken to have indicated their desire to become part of the unit now represented by the Metal Polishers. If they do not elect the Metal Polishers as their collective bargaining agent, they will be taken to have indicated a desire to remain part of the produc- tion and maintenance unit, and their ballots will be counted together with those cast by the employees in voting group 2 to determine which, if any, of the unions seeking such unit shall represent them for the purposes of collective bargaining. [Text of Direction of Elections omitted from publication in this volume.] CHAIRMAN HERZOG took no part in the consideration of the above Decision and Direction of Elections. 943732-51-97 1522 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD MARQUETTE CEMENT MANUFACTURING COMPANY and UNITED, CEMENT, LIME AND GYPSUM WORKERS INTERNATIONAL UNION, AF OF L, PETI- TIONER. Case No. 32-RC-309. April 17,1051 Decision and Direction of Election Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, a hearing was held before Anthony J. Sabella, hearing officer. 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 Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three-member panel [Members Houston, Murdock, and Styles]. Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds : 1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act. 2. The labor organizations involved claim to represent certain em- ployees of the Employer. 3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa- tion of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. The Employer and the Intervenor, United Stone and Allied Prod- ucts Workers of America, CIO, contend that the contract between the Employer and Local No. 69 of the Intervenor, covering the period June 1, 1950, to June 1, 1952, is a bar to this proceeding. The Peti- tioner contends that Local No. 69 is no longer in existence. On November 16, 1950, at a regular meeting of Local No. 69, the 38 officers and members present voted unanimously to disaffiliate from the Intervenor and to affiliate with the Petitioner. On December 4, 1950, pursuant to resolutions adopted at meetings on November 16 and November 22, 1950, a letter signed by 53 former officers and members of Local No. 69 was inailed to the international secretary of the Inter- venor advising that they had resigned their membership in Local No. 69. On the same day, a letter was mailed to the Employer which was similarly signed, notifying the Employer to the same effect, and also directing the Employer to discontinue the checkoff of union dues.,, In accordance with a resolution adopted at a meeting on December 15, 1950,2 the funds and most of the books of Local No. 69 were turned over to the Intervenor. On January 22, 1951, the same individuals who had served as officers of Local No. 69 were elected to identical offices in Local 312 of the Petitioner. Local 312 holds meetings twice I The letters were dated November 25, 1950 2 On December 15, 1950, the employees requested a wage increase from the Employer. Because of the question concerning representation involved herein, this request was made by a petition individually signed by 53 employees 93 NLRB No. 254. Copy with citationCopy as parenthetical citation