Sunbeam Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Nov 18, 1949

87 N.L.R.B. 123 (N.L.R.B. 1949)

In the Matter of SUNBEAM CORPORATION, EMPLOYER AND PETITIONER
and DIE AND TOOL MAKERS LODGE No. 113, INTERNATIONAL AssoCIA-
TION OF MACHINISTS, PETITIONER and INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD
OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS, LOCAL 1031 and METAL POLISHERS, BUFFERS,
PLATERS AND HELPERS INTERNATIONAL UNION, LOCAL 6 and UNITED
ELECTRICAL, RADIO & MACHINE WORKERS OF AMERICA, CIO
Cases Nos. 13-RC-763,13-RC-830, and 13-ISM-58. Decided
November 18, 1919
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS
Upon separate petitions duly filed, a consolidated hearing 1 was held
on September 14, 1949, before Richard C. Swander, hearing officer.
The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prej-
udicial error and are hereby affirmed .2
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the National Labor
Relations Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with
I By order dated September 20, 1949 , Case No. 13-RC-830 was severed from this pro-
ceeding and remanded to the Regional Director for further proceedings pursuant to a
Stipulation for Certification Upon Consent Election.
2 United Electrical , Radio & Machine Workers of America , CIO, and Local 1150, herein
collectively called the UR, moved to intervene in this proceeding , on the basis of a Board
certification in 1943 as the representative of the Employer 's production and maintenance
employees , and subsequent contracts with the Employer , the most recent of which expired
May 31, 1949 . The UE also moved to postpone the hearing , on the ground that action
would be initiated at its then forthcoming convention , to begin September 19, 1949, to
bring the UE into compliance with Section 9 (f), (g), and ( h) of the Act . The hearing
officer properly denied both motions.
As the UE was not in compliance at that time , and had never been in compliance, it was
not entitled to intervene in the absence of a contract current at the time of the hearing
(Schutte & Koerting Company, 79 NLRB 599; Remington Rand, Inc., 77 NLRB 200),
despite an earlier Board certification . ( Precision Castings Company, Inc ., 77 NLRB 261.)
Neither the fact that the petition for the production and maintenance unit was filed by
the Employer ( see Herman Loewenstein , Inc., 75 NLRB 377, 381, in which the Board
denied a noncomplying union a place on the ballot in a case initiated by an employer
petition ), nor the possible intention of the UE to initiate compliance at some time follow-
ing the hearing ( cf. Continental Industries, Incorporated, 76 NLRB 561 , in which a
noncomplying union was permitted to intervene upon a showing that , at the time of
the hearing , it was already taking steps to comply), constituted grounds for creating an
exception to this rule.
The hearing officer's denial of the UE ' s motion for postponement was in accordance
with Board practice . ( Alaska Salmon Industry, Inc., et at., cases Nos. 19-RC-327, et al.,
administrative Finding and Order issued August 8 , 1949.)
87 NLRB No. 19. 123
124 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
this case to a three-member panel [Chairman Herzog and Members
Houston and Gray].
Upon the entire record 3 in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the National Labor Relations Act.
2. International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 1031,
herein called the IBEW, Die and Tool Makers Lodge No. 113, Inter-
national Association of Machinists, herein called the IAM, and the
UE,4 are labor organizations claiming to represent employees of the
Employer.'
3. Questions affecting commerce exist 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.
4. (a) In substantial accord with the stipulation of the IBEW,
the IAM, and the Employer, we find that the following employees of
the Employer at its plants located at 5600 West Roosevelt Road, 5444
West Roosevelt Road, and 4433 West Alton Avenue, Chicago, Illinois,
constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining
within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act :
All production and maintenance employees, but excluding tool-
room employees and experimental toolroom employees, tool crib at
tendants, maintenance machinists and helpers, machine repairmen
and helpers, pattern makers, apprentices and helpers, stationary engi-
neers, outside truck drivers, office, factory office, and shop clerical
employees, draftsmen and designers, cafeteria employees, stockchasers
and checkers, watchmen and guards, inspector-supervisors, set-up men,
line supervisors, foremen, and assistant foremen, and all other super-
visors as defined in the Act.
(b) Also in accord with the stipulation of the IBEW, the IAM,
and the Employer, we find that the following employees may appro-
8 The UE has also filed a motion to reopen the record for the purpose of adducing evidence
as to the appropriate unit . The UE had more than 2 years , between the enactment of the
amended Act and the hearing in this matter, to effect compliance with the filing require-
ments in Section 9 (f), (g), and (h). Its inability to adduce evidence at the hearing,
as to the appropriate unit, resulted only from its failure to comply. As the record herein
has now been made , its motion to reopen the record, for the purpose of adducing such
evidence , is hereby denied. Alaska Salmon Industry, et al., supra.
4 Since the bearing in this matter, the UE International has effected compliance with the
filing requirements in Section 9 (f), (g), and (h). Accordingly, we hereby grant , subject
to the conditions set forth in footnote 8, infra, the UE's request to be accorded a place
on the ballot in the elections hereinafter directed.
, Although served with Order Consolidating Cases and Notice of Representation Hear-
ing, Local 399, International Brotherhood of Operating Engineers , and Local 705, Interna-
tional Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs , Warehousemen and Helpers of America,
A. F. L., neither appeared at nor participated in the hearing . Pattern Makers Association
of Chicago and Vicinity (AFL) and Local 6, Metal Polishers , Buffers , Platers & Helpers
International Union (AFL) appeared at the hearing , but subsequently withdrew therefrom
and disclaimed further interest in the proceeding.
SUNBEAM CORPORATION 125
priately be added to the toolroom unit presently represented by the
IAM : 6
All tool crib attendants employed in the confines of the toolrooms
and on the toolroom pay rolls.
We shall direct an election among the employees in the above de-
scribed voting group. However, we shall make no final unit deter-
mination at this time, but shall first ascertain the desires of these
employees, as expressed in the election hereinafter directed. If a
majority of votes are cast for the IAM, we shall amend its prior
certification to include these employees in the toolroom unit. Such
amended certification shall not be construed as a present certification
of the IAM with respect to the employees certified on March 2,1948.7
DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS 8
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with the Employer, separate elec-
tions by secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not
later than 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, among the
employees in the appropriate unit and the voting group respectively
described in paragraph numbered 4, above, who were employed during
the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction
of Elections, including employees who did not work 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 reinstated prior to the date of
the election, and also excluding employees on strike who are not
entitled to reinstatement, to determine whether or not :
(a) The employees in the unit described in paragraph 4 (a) desire
to be represented, for purposes of collective bargaining, by Interna-
tional Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 1031.
(b) The employees in the voting group described in paragraph 4
(b) desire to be represented, for purposes of collective bargaining, by
Die and Tool Makers Lodge No. 113, International Association of
Machinists.
8 The IAM was certified to represent this unit on March 2, 1948.
7 See Sinclair Refining Company, 77 NLRB 1247.
8 The UE is omitted from the ballot because of the failure of its Local 1150 to comply
with the filing requirements in Section 9 (f), (g), and (h). In the event that Local 1150
effects compliance with the filing requirements of the Act within 2 weeks from the date
of this Direction, the Regional Director is instructed to accord Local 1150, United Elec-
trical, Radio & Machine Workers of America, a place on the ballot in the elections directed
herein.