The Bigelow Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Feb 1, 1946

65 N.L.R.B. 769 (N.L.R.B. 1946)

In the Matter of THE BIGELOW COMPANY and UNITED ELECTRICAL,
RAD10 & MACHINE WORKERS OF AMERICA , C. I. O.
Case No. 1-R-?687.Decided February 1, 1,946
Mr. J. S . Whiteside , Jr., of New Haven, Conn ., for the Company.
Mr. Richard Linsley , of New Haven, Conn ., for the CIO.
Mr. Paul M. Hovey, of Providence , R. I., for the AFL.
Mr. Warren H. Leland, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by United Electrical, Radio & Machine
Workers of America, C. I. 0., herein called the CIO, alleging that a
question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation
of employees of The Bigelow Company, Lloyd and River Streets, New
Haven, Connecticut, herein called the Company, the National Labor
Relations Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice
before Robert E. Greene, Trial Examiner. The hearing was held at
New Haven, Connecticut, on November 26, 1945. The Company, the
CIO, and the. AFL' 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 opportunity
to file briefs with the Board.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following:
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS,OF THE COMPANY
The Bigelow Company is a Connecticut corporation engaged in
the manufacture of water tube and fire tube steam boilers. The prin-
1 At the hearing International Brotherhood of Boilermakers. Iron Shipbuilders and
Helpers of America A F L , herein called the AFL moved to intervene The motion
was allowed by the Trial Examiner
(ii N. L R B. No 128
769
770 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
cipal raw materials used by the Company are steel and tubing. The
value of these products used by the Company approximates $250,000
annually, of which approximately 90 percent is purchased and shipped
to the Company's New Haven plant from points outside the State of
Connecticut. The Company's finished products, consisting of steam
boilers, are valued at approximately $1,000,000, annually. Approxi-
mately 75 percent of these finished products is shipped to points out-
side of the State of Connecticut.
We find that the Company is engaged in commerce within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
H. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
United Electrical , Radio & Machine Workers of America is a labor
organization , affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organiza-
tions, admitting to membership employees of the Company.
International Brotherhood of Boilermakers , Iron Shipbuilders and
Helpers of America, is a labor organization, affiliated with the Amer-
ican Federation of Labor, admitting to membership employees of the
Company.
III. TIIE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company has refused to grant recognition to the CIO as the
exclusive bargaining representative of its employees until the CIO
has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit.
A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the hear-
ing, indicates that the CIO and the AFL each 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
The Company, the CIO, and the AFL agree that production and
maintenance employees at the Company's plant, excluding main office
and clerical employees and supervisory employees, constitute an ap-
propriate unit. The AFL would include, and the CIO and the
Company would exclude, the stock room clerk. They further disagree
as to the status of working foremen under the term "supervisory
employees."
' The Field Examiner reported that the CIO submitted 87 cards, bearing the names of
66 employees , listed on the Company's pay roll of October 1, 1945, and that the cards are
dated in July , September , and October 1945 ( 18 cards were undated ) ; and that the AFL
submitted 52 cards, bearing the names of 46 employees, listed on the Company's pay roll
of October 1, 1945, and that the cards are dated in July and October , 1945 . There are
q pproximately 97 employees in the appropriate unit.
THE BIGELOW COMPANY 771
The stock room clerk spends about 50 percent of his time keeping
inventories and other records. But the remainder of his time is spent
in placing materials in the stock room and distributing them on
requisition, and he reports to the factory works manager. Inasmuch
as he performs a substantial amount of labor which is related to the
production process, we shall include him in the unit .3
The Company employs two working foremen designated in the
record as the lay-out man and the machinist, each of whom supervises
the work of eight or more other employees. The record indicates
that these two employees have the power to discharge and that their
recommendations as to hiring are given considerable weight. It is
apparent that they are supervisory employees within the meaning of
our customary definition. Hence, we shall exclude them from the
unit.
We find that all production and maintenance employees of the
Company, including the stock room clerk, but excluding office and
clerical employees, foremen, working foremen, and all other super-
visory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, disci-
pline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or effec-
tively recommend such action, 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 employees
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 Relations
Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor Rela-
tions 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 The Bigelow
Company, New Haven, Connecticut, 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 First Region, acting in this matter
See Matter of Food Machinery Corporation , Sprague -Sella Division , 64 N. L. R. B.
1405; and Matter of Brown Shoe Co., 57 N. L. R. B. 1687.
772 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and su'bjBet to
Article III, Sections 10 and 11, of said Rules and Regulations, among
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 tempo-
rarily 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 represented by United
Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America, affiliated with the
Congress of Industrial Organizations, or by International Brother-
hood of Boilermakers, Iron Shipbuilders and Helpers of America,
affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, for the purposes of
collective bargaining, or by neith@r.