Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 7, 1941

32 N.L.R.B. 375 (N.L.R.B. 1941)

In the Matter of TENNESSEE COAL, IRON AND RAILROAD COMPANY and
UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA, DISTRICT 20, C. I. O.
Case No. R-2523.-Decided June 7, 1941
Jurisdiction : coal mining industry.
Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question: re-
fusal to accord union recognition until it is certified by the Board; election
necessary.
Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : production and maintenance em-
ployees of the Company's four mines in Jefferson County, Alabama, with the
exception of executives, supervisory employees, technical employees, mine
foremen, assistant mine foremen, fire bosses, bosses in charge of any classes
of labor inside or outside the mines, coal inspectors, weigh bosses, watchmen,
and clerical employees.
Mr. Earle K. Shawe and Mr. Alexander E. Wilson, Jr., for the
Board.
Mr. Borden Burr, of Birmingham, Ala., for the Company.
Mr. Yelverton Cowherd, Mr. William E. Mitch, Mr. Noel R. Bed-
dow, and Mr. Frank L. Parsons, of Birmingham, Ala., for the Mine
Workers.
Mr. Ralph W. Quinn and Mr. W. F. Spencer, of Birmingham,
Ala., for the Captive Miners.
Mr. Frederic B. Parkes, 2nd, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On March 31, 1941, United Mine Workers of America, District 20,
C. I. 0., herein called the Mine Workers, filed, with the Regional
Director for the Tenth Region (Atlanta, Georgia), a petition alleging
that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the repre-
sentation of employees of Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Com-
pany, Birmingham, Alabama, herein called the Company, and re-
questing an investigation and certification of representatives pursuant
to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor, Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449,
herin called the Act. On April 11, 1941, the National Labor Rela-
tions Board, herein called the Board, acting pursuant to Section
32 N. L. F. B , No. 79.
375
376 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
9 (c) of the Act and Article III, Section 3, of National Labor Rela-
tions Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, ordered
an investigation and authorized the Regional Director to conduct it
and to provide for an appropriate hearing upon due notice.
On April 14, 1941, the Regional Director issued a notice of hearing,
copies of which were duly served upon the Company , the Mine
Workers, and Captive Coal Miners Unions, herein called the Captive
Miners, a labor organization claiming to represent employees directly
affected by the investigation . Pursuant to notice, a hearing was
held on April 30, 1941, at Birmingham, Alabama, before Walter
Wilbur, the Trial Examiner duly designated by the Chief Trial
Examiner. The Board, the Company, the Mine Workers, and the
Captive Miners were represented by counsel or official representatives
and participated in the hearing. Full opportunity to be heard, to
examine and cross-examine witnesses , and to introduce evidence
bearing on the issues was afforded all parties . During the course of
the hearing , the Trial Examiner made various rulings on motions
and on objections to the admission of evidence . The Board has
reviewed the rulings of the Trial Examiner and finds that no preju-
dicial errors were committed . The rulings are hereby affirmed. On
May 5 and 12, 1941, respectively, the Captive Miners and the Mine
Workers filed briefs which the Board has considered.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following::
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company, a Delaware corpora-
tion and subsidiary of U. S. Steel Corporation , has its main office
and place of business in Jefferson County, Alabama . The Company
is engaged in the mining of coal, iron ore, limestone , and other prod-
ucts; using these minerals in the manufacture of pig iron which,
in turn, is made into steel products . The Company operates the
following four coal mines, with which this proceeding is concerned
and which are within a radius of ten miles from the center of Bir-
mingham , Alabama: ( 1) Hamilton Mine at Pratt City; ( 2) Docena
Mine at Docena; ( 3) Edgewater Mine at Edgewater; and (4) Wylam
Mine near Fairfield. During 1940 , these four mines produced
4,341,000 tons of coal, all of which were used in the manufacture and
transportation of the Company 's products except a negligible portion
sold to employees . During the same year the Company manufactured
a total of 1,430,256 tons of products . Of that amount 322,871 tons
(22.57 per cent ) were sold or otherwise disposed of in the State of
Alabama, and 1,107,385 tons (77.43 per cent ) were sold and shipped to
TENNESSEE COAL, IRON & RAILROAD CO. 377
points outside ,the State of Alabama. For the first quarter of 1941,
the Company produced a total of 502,)17 tons of products, of which
135,442 tons (26.98 per cent) were disposed of within the State of
Alabama, and 366,575 tons (73.02 per (ent) were sold and shipped to
points outside the State of Alabama. The Company employs approx-
imately 29,000 employees, of whom about 5,500 are employed in
the mines.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
United Mine Workers of America, District 20, is a labor organiza-
tion affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, which
has chartered the following four locals in Jefferson County : Hamilton
Local 5795, Docena Local 6257, Wylam Local 6273, and Edgewater
Local 6256. The locals admit to membership the employees of the
Company who work in the corresponding mines.
Captive Coal Miners Unions is a labor organization affiliated' with
the American Federation of Labor, which has chartered the following
four locals in Jefferson- County: Local 21967, Local 21968, Local
21969, and Local 21970. The locals admit to membership the em-
ployees of the Company who work in the Hamilton, Docena; Wylam,
and Edgewater mines, respectively.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
On May 2, 1934, the Company negotiated a contract with the Mine
Workers recognizing it, as the collective bargaining representative
of its members at the Company's four mines and containing provi-
sions governing labor policies, working conditions, and wage scales.
Four copies of the contract for the term of 1 year were executed, one
for each mine inserting the name of the mine to 'which the contract
extended. From the date of the expiration of those contracts until
1939,'the Company and the Mine Workers apparently negotiated a
series of similar agreements. In 1937 and 1939, qt least, the Company
and the Mine Workers entered into such contracts, each for the period
of 2 years. The last contracts expired on March 31, 1941.
In ' 1937, the Company entered into similar contracts with the
Brotherhood of Mine Workers of Captive Mines, an idependent
labor organization, herein called the Brotherhood. , In 1939, the
Brotherhood became an affiliate of the American Federation of
Labor, changing its name to Captive Coal Miners Unions. On
June 28,' 1939, the Company entered into similar contracts with the
Captive Miners, recognizing it as the collective bargaining repre-
sentative of its members at the four mines of the Company. The
contracts expired on March 31, 1941.
378 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Both the Mine Worker and the Captive Miners attempted to
negotiate a new wage agreement during March 1941. Since the
respective parties were unable to reach an agreement, the mines were
shut down at the expiration of the contracts on March 31, 1941.
On March 17, 1941, the Mine Workers requested the Company to
recognize it as exclusive bargaining agent for all the production and
maintenance employees in the Company's four coal mines in Jef-
ferson County. On March 25, 1941, the Company refused to grant
such recognition until the Mine Workers was certified by the Board.
The contracts above referred to provided for a "check-off," of
membership dues in the unions, that is, such dues were deducted by
the Company from the employees' pay if the employees so desired.
In lieu of authorization cards or other proof of union membership,
the Company, furnished to the Board a list of employees who paid
their dues under the "check-off" arrangement. The list shows that
both the Captive Miners and the Mine Workers represent a sub-
stantial number of employees in each of the four mines.,
We find that a question has arisen concerning the representation
of employees of the Company.
IV. THE EFFECT OF THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
UPON COMMERCE
We find that the question concerning representation which has
arisen, occurring in connection with the operations of the Company
described in Section I above, has a close, intimate, and substantial
relation to trade, traffic, and commerce among the several States and
tends to lead to labor disputes burdening and obstructing commerce
and the free flow of commerce.
V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Mine Workers contends that the production and maintenance
employees in all four of the Company's mines constitute a single
unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining. The
' See the following table :
Hamilton
Mine
Wylam
Dyne
Docena
Mine
Edge-
Water
Mine
Total
1. Number of employees at each Coal Mine who
are eligible for representation by anyone of
their choosing_________ ____ ______ 1,358 1,086 1 , 123 1,642 5,209
2 Number of United Mine Workers of America
and Captive Coal Mmei s Unions Check-Off
Cards on file at each Coal Mine
United Mine Workers of America_______ 873 554 595 875 2,897
Captive Coal Miners Unions______ ______ 298 396 341 448 1,483
Total__________________________________ 1,171 950 936 1,323 4,380
PENNEISIS'EE COAL, LRAN & RAILROAD co. 379
Captive Miners, on the other hand, contends that the production and
maintenance employees constitute four separate units appropriate
for collective bargaining purposes, one for each of the Company's
mines. The Company takes no definite position upon the unit issue.
As indicated in Section I above, the four mines are located within
a radius of 10 miles from the center of Birmingham, Alabama, and
form a compact group. The Hamilton mine is approximately 4
miles from the Docena mine, which is separated by an equal dis-
tance from the Edgewater mine. The Wylam mine is 3 miles
further removed from the Edgewater mine.
The following three seams of coal are mined by the Company in
Jefferson County: (1) The Pratt seam, which is nearest the surface,
furnishes all the output of the Docena mine and part of the Edge-
water and Wylam mines; (2) The American seam, which underlies
the Pratt vein, is worked at Edgewater and Wylam; (3) The Mary
Lee seam is mined exclusively at Hamilton. In general, the same
type of work is done at all four _ mines ; the variety in width of the
three seams, of coal, however, creates somewhat different working
conditions in each mine. Although each mine has its own superin-
tendent, the mines are all subject to the supervision of the general
superintendent of the mines who is the head of the Coal Mine
Division of the Company with offices at Pratt City, Alabama.
Similarly each mine " has a coal inspector, supervised by a chief
inspector from the main office. The Company has adopted a code
of safety rules and a code of disciplinary rules which extend to all
four mines. A central accounting office at Pratt City keeps the
records, accounts, and final pay roll for all four mines, although
Each mine draws up its own initial pay roll. The Company main-
tains one central employment office and a general hospital for all
employees.
Although the Wylam, Edgewater, and Docena mines have vil-
lages and camps nearby composed of employees working in the
mines, it appears that many miners do not live in the villages near-
est the mines where they work. There is a considerable amount of
social intercourse among the employees of the various mines. When
the operations of one of the mines is curtailed or shut down, the
employees of that mine are transferred to other mines. The Com-
pany-operates commissary or industrial stores at each mine for its
employees.
The Company and the Captive Miners assert that the bargaining
practice in the past has been to negotiate' individual contracts for
each mine. The Mine Workers, on the other hand, negotiated one
basic contract, copies of which were printed, one for each mine
inserting the name of the particular mine which the contract cov-
380 DECISIONS OF ,NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Bred. The provisions of the four contracts negotiated by the Captive
Miners, as well as those negotiated by the Mine Workers, are identi-
cal, the only differences being in the name of the mine to which the
contract extends.
In view of all the circumstances including the fact that both the
Captive Miners and the Mine Workers have organized the workers
in all four mines, we find that the production and maintenance
employees in all four of the Company's mines constitute a unit
appropriate for the purpose of collective bargaining.2
The Mine Workers and the Captive Miners stipulated at the
hearing "that the eligibles within the appropriate unit to be found
by the Board, shall include all maintenance and production em-
ployees in the coal mines, exclusive of mine foremen, assistant mine
foremen, fire bosses, or bosses in charge of any classes of labor inside
or outside of the mines, or coal inspectors or weigh bosses, watchmen.
clerks or members of the executive, supervisory and technical forces
of the company." The Company indicated no disagreement with
this stipulation. We find no reason to depart from the stipulation of
the labor organizations. We accordingly find such employees to be
within the unit as stipulated by the parties.
We find that all production and maintenance employees of the
Company's four mines in Jefferson County, Alabama, with the ex-
ception of executives, supervisory employees, technical employees,
mine foremen, assistant mine foremen, fire bosses, bosses in charge
of, any classes of labor inside or outside the mines, coal inspectors,
weigh bosses, watchmen, and clerical employees, constitute a unit
appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining, and that said
unit will insure to employees of the Company the full benefit of their
right to self-organization and to collective bargaining, and otherwise
effectuate the policies of the Act.
VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We find that the question which has arisen concerning representa-
tion can best be resolved by, and we shall accordingly direct, an
election-by secret ballot. The Mine Workers and Captive Miners
requested that the pay roll of March 31, 1941, be used as a basis for
determining eligibility to vote.3 Since the mines ceased-operation
on that date and since that pay roll is the most recent, we shall direct
2 Cf. Matter of MoKell Coal & Coke Company and United Mine Workers of America,
District 17, 4 N. L. It. B: 508; Matter of Tennessee Copper Company and Ameriban Federa-
tion of Labor, 25 N . L. R B 218
3 In its brief the Captive Miners requested that the election be deferred since it was
still negotiating for a new wage agreement and hoped to end the controversy in the near
future ; We do not find the reasons advanced by the Captive Miners sufficient to_warrant
a postponement of the election.
TENNESSEE COAL, PRON & RAILROAD CO. 381
that the employees of the Company eligible to vote in the election
shall be those in the appropriate unit-who were-employed during the
pay-roll period ending March 31, 1941, subject to such limitations
and additions as are set forth in the Direction of Election herein.
Upon the basis of the above findings of fact and upon the entire
record in the case, the Board makes the following :
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
1. A question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the repre-
sentation of employees of Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Com-
pany, Birmingham, Alabama, within the meaning of Section 9 (c)
and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
2. All production and maintenance employees in the Company's
four mines in Jefferson County, Alabama, with the exception of
executives, supervisory employees, technical employees, mine fore-
men, assistant mine foremen, fire bosses, bosses in charge- of any
classes of labor inside or outside the mines, coal inspectors, weigh
bosses, watchmen, and clerical employees, constitute a unit appro-
priate for the purposes of collective bargaining, within the meaning
of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
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 Re-
lations Act, 49 Stat. 449, and pursuant to Article III, Section 8, of
National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2,
as amended, it is hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation authorized by the
Board to ascertain representatives for the purpose of collective bar-
gaining with Tennessee Coal,' Iron and Railroad Company, Birming-
ham, Alabama, 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 Tenth Region, acting in this matter as agent for
the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Article 111,
Section 9, of said Rules and Regulations, among all production and
maintenance employees in the Company's four mines in Jefferson
County, Alabama, who were employed during, the pay-roll period
ending March 31, 1941, including employees who did not work dur-
ing such pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation or in the
active military service or training of the United States, or tem-
porarily laid off, but excluding executives, supervisory employees,
technical employees, mine foremen, assistant mine foremen, fire
382 DECISION'S OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
bosses, bosses in charge of any classes of labor inside or outside the
mines, coal inspectors, weigh bosses, watchmen, clerical employees,
and employees who have since quit or been discharged for cause, to
determine whether they desire to be represented for the purposes of
collective bargaining by United Mine Workers of America, District
20, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, or Cap-
tive Coal Miners Unions, affiliated with the American Federation of
Labor, or by neither.