Summerill Tubing Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Feb 27, 1945

60 N.L.R.B. 896 (N.L.R.B. 1945)

In the Matter of SUMMERILL TUBING COMPANY and INTERNATIONAL
UNION , UNITED AUTOMOBILE , AIRCRAFT , AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENT
WORKERS OF AMERICA (UAW-CIO)
Case No. 4-R-1626.-.Decided February °27, 19.45
Mr. T. Ewing Montgomery, of Philadelphia, Pa., for the Company.
Messrs. Witt c^ Cammer, by Samuel Rosenwein, of New York City,
for the UAW-CIO.
Messrs. Henry L. Shenkle and John Hathaway, of Norristown, Pa.,
for the Association.
Mr. Samuel G. Hamilton, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by International Union, United Auto-
mobile, Aircraft, Agricultural Implement Workers of America
(UAW-CIO), herein called the UAW-CIO, alleging that a question
affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of em-
ployees of Summerill Tubing Company, Bridgeport, Pennsylvania,
herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board pro-
vided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before Eugene M.
Purver, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Norristown, Penn-
sylvania, on January 31, 1945. During the hearing, the Trial Exam-
iner granted the motion to intervene made by Bridgeport Tubing
Workers Association, Inc., herein called the Association. The Com-
pany, the UAW-CIO, and the Association 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'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 makes the following:
60 N L R . B., No. 153.
896
SUMMERILL TUBING COMPANY
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
897
Summerill Tubing Company is a Pennsylvania corporation with a
plant, involved in this proceeding, located at Bridgeport, Pennsyl-
vania. It is there engaged in the manufacture and distribution of steel
tubing. For this purpose it purchases monthly approximately $125,000
worth of raw materials, consisting of hot rolled steel tubing, of which
approximately 64 percent comes from points outside the Common-
wealth of Pennsylvania. The approximate monthly value of its
finished products is $450,000, of which 90 percent is shipped to points
outside the Commonwealth.
The Company admits, for the purpose of this proceeding, that it is
engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Rela-
tions Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
International Union, United Automobile, Aircraft, Agricultural
Implement Workers of America, affiliated with the Congress of Indus-
trial Organizations, is a labor organization admitting to membership
employees of the Company.
Bridgeport Tubing Workers Association, Inc., is an unaffiliated
labor organization admitting to membership employees of the
Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
On December 26, 1944, the UAW-CIO requested recognition from
the Company as the exclusive collective bargaining representative of
certain of its employees. The Company refused this request on the
ground that it was operating under a contract with the Association.
On February 29, 1944, the Company and the Association executed a
collective bargaining contract providing, in part, as follows :
SECTION 16. TERMINATION DATE
(a) This agreement shall continue in force and effect for a
period of two years from the date hereof, provided, however,
that upon ten days written notice either party may demand.the
commencement of conferences for the purpose of negotiating any
change desired in the terms and conditions of this agreement,
and said conferences shall be held at the offices of the Company
in Bridgeport, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, unless other-
wise mutually agreed.
628563-45-vol 60-58
898 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
(b) If after negotiations and within thirty days from the date
of said written notice the parties cannot agree upon the said
change or changes desired, by written agreement, then this agree-
ment and all the provisions hereof shall terminate after the expira-
tion of sixty days from the date of the said written notice.
At the hearing, the Company and the Association raised the Feb-
ruary 29, 1944, contract as a bar to a present determination of repre-
sentatives. However, by- requesting changes to which it knows the
other will not agree, either party may unilaterally cause the termina-
tion of the agreement at any time. Thus, the agreement is tantamount
to a contract terminable at will and hence no bar to the instant
proceeding.'
A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the
hearing, indicates that the UAW-CIO 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 accord with a stipulation of the parties, that all em-
ployees of the Company at its Bridgeport, Pennsylvania, plant, in-
cluding probationary employees, but excluding salaried employees,
clerical employees, watchmen, plant-protection employees, executives,
foremen, bench foremen, assistant foremen, and all other supervisory
employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or.
otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or effectively rec-
ommend such action, and persons on temporary loan to the Company,
from other companies by virtue of the War Manpower Commission's
request that persons in non-essential industries transfer for the dura-
tion of the emergency to war plants, constitute a unit appropriate for
the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section
9 (b) of the Act.
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-
1 See Matter of Ionia Desk Company, 59 N. L. It. B 1522 , and cases therein cited
2 The Field Examiner reported that the UAW-CIO submitted 344 application for member-
ship cards ; that the names of 294 persons appearing on the cards were listed on the Com-,
pany's pay roll of January 20, 1945; that there were 478 employees in the unit alleged in
the petition to be appropriate ; and that the cards were dated : 145 in September 1944, 55
in October 1944, 15 in November 1944, 23 in December 1944, and 56 in January 1945.
The Association relies upon its contract to establish its interest in this proceeding.
SUMMERILL TUBING COMPANY 899
ployees in the appropriate unit who were employed during the pay-roll
period immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Election
herein, subject to the limitations and additions set forth in the
Direction.'
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 Summerill Tub-
ing Company, Bridgeport, Pennsylvania, 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 super-
vision of the Regional Director for the Fourth 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 employees 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 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 rep-
resented by U. A. W.-C. I. 0., or by Bridgeport Tubing Workers As-
sociation, Inc., for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither.
8 The UAW-CIO requested that It be designated on the ballot as "U. A . W: C. I. 0." This
request is hereby granted.