The Colorado Fuel & Iron Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Dec 26, 1942

46 N.L.R.B. 387 (N.L.R.B. 1942)

N
In the Matter of THE COLORADO FUEL & IRON CORPORATION and UNITED
MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA, DISTRICT 50, LOCAL 12508
Case No. R-4612.-Decided December 06,1942
Jurisdiction : iron products manufacturing industry.
Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question.: re-
fusal to accord recognition ; contract asserted as bar held no bar to, when con-
tracting union precluded automatic renewal by entering into negotiations for
new contract prior to automatic renewal date. and rival union gave timely notice
of claims ; election necessary.
Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : all employees engaged in timber,
-sawmill, and incidental trucking operations, with specific inclusions and exclu-
sions ; stipulation, as to.
Mr. Arthur Cassidy, of Denver, Colo., and Mr. H. W. Scatterday, of
Pueblo, Colo., for the Company.
Mr. Frank M. Price, of Denver, Colo., for District 50.
Mr. Mike Livoda, of Denver, Colo., for the I. W. A.
Mr.'Louis Cokin, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon petition duly filed by United Mine Workers of America, Dis-
trict 50, Local 12508, herein called District '50, alleging that a question
affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of em-
ployees of The Colorado' Fuel & Iron Corporation, Weston, Colorado,
herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board pro-
vided for an appropriate hearing upon due- notice before Charles W.
Sitler, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Denver, Colorado,
on December 2, 1942. At the commencement of the hearing the Trial
Examiner granted a motion of International Woodworkers of America,
Local M-285, herein called the I. W. A., to intervene. The Company,
District 50, and the I. W. A. appeared and participated at the hearing,
and all parties were afforded full opportunity to be'heard, to examine
and cross-examine witnesses, and to- introduce evidence bearing on
46 N. L R. B., No 45.
387
388 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
the issues. The Trial Examiner's rulings made at the hearing are free
from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF,THE COMPANY
The Colorado Fuel & Iron Corporation is a Colorado corporation
engaged in the manufacture of iron and steel products at Pueblo,
\Colorado. As a necessary part of its steel manufacture, the Company
,operates logging and milling operations in and- around Weston, Colo=
rado, with which we are here concerned. During 1941 over 400,000
tons of iron and other -raw materials valued in excess of $5,000,000
were shipped to the 'Company from points outside Colorado. During
the same period the Company shipped over 400,000 tons of iron and
,steel products to points outside Colorado. The Company produces
.approximately 376,000 board feet of lumber monthly at its Weston
-operations, all of which is shipped to other operations of the Company
within Colorado. The products of the Weston operation are used as
an integral part of the Company's major operation, which is the manu-
facture of steel.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
United Mine Workers of- America, District 50, Local 12508,, isa
labor organization admitting to membership employees of the
Company.
International Woodworkers of America, Local M-285, is a labor
organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations,
admitting to membership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
,,On August 25, 1942, District 50 requested the Company to recognize
it as exclusive representative of employees at.the Weston operation.
The Company refused this request stating that it was operating under,
a contract with the I. W. A.
On December 1, 1941, the Company and the I. W. A. entered into an
exclusive bargaining contract. The contract provided.that it should
continue in effect until December 1, 1942,'and from year to year there-
after unless thirty days' notice was given by either party -thereto prior
to any expiration date. On October 21, 1942, the I. W. A., requested
the Company to open negotiations for a new agreement. The petition
in'the instant proceeding was filed on October 19, 1942. The Company
,thereupon notified the I. W. A. that negotiations and a new agreement
THE COLORADO FUEL & IRON CORPORATION 389
should be deferred until such time as the petition was disposed of.
Inasmuch as the I. W. A., by its request upon the Company of October
21, 1942, precluded its then existing agreement from being automati-
cally renewed and in view of the fact that District 50 presented its
claim to the Company prior to November 1, 1942, the date upon which
the contract might. have automatically renewed itself, we find that the
contract of December 1, 1941, does not constitute a bar to a present
determination of representatives.
A statement of the, Regional Director, introduced into evidence at
the hearing, and a statement of the Trial Examiner, indicate that Dis-
trict 50 and the I. W. A. each represents a substantial number of
employees in the unit hereinafter found to be appropriate.'-
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 National Labor
Relations Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
We find, in accordance with a stipulation of'the parties,-'that all
employees'of the Company engaged in timber, sawmill, a'id'' incidental
trucking operations, in and around Weston, Colorado, including work-
ing foremen, but excluding superintendents, foremen, timekeepers,
watchmen, and clerical employees, constitute a unit appropriate for
the purposes of collective bargaining, within the meaning of Section
(b) of the.Act.2
fi
V. THE DETERMINA'IION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We shall direct that the question concerning representation be re-
solved by means of.an election by secret ballot among the employees
within 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.
On November 30, 1942, they Company hired 46 Japanese employees
from a United States Relocation Center in Colorado. They were
hired on a temporary basis and will be employed only until such time
as local labor becomes' available. The I. W. A. and District 50 con-
tend that such employees should be deemed ineligible to vote and the
'Statements of the Regional Duector and the Tilal Examiner show that District 50.
presented 32 membership application cards bearing apparently genuine signatures of persons
whose names appear on the Company ' s pay roll of October 1, 1942 . The statements further
show that the I W . A presented an authorization petition bearing apparently genuine
signatures of 22 persons whose names appear on the Company 's pay roll of October 1, 1942.
There are approximately 53 employees in the unit hereinafter found to be appropriate
2 This is substantially the same unit that is provided for in the contract between the
I W A and the Company alluded to aboie.
390 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Company takes no position. Inasmuch as the tenure of such em-
ployees is purely temporary, we shall exclude them from voting.
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 2, as amended it
is hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with The Colorado Fuel
& Iron Corporation, Weston, Colorado, 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 Twenty-second Region, acting
in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and
subject to Article III, Section 10, 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 any such 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 temporary employees and any who have
since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whether they
desire to be represented by United Mine Workers of America, District
50, Local 12508, or by International Woodworkers of America; Local
M-285, affiliated With the Congress of Industrial Organizations, for
the purposes of collective bargaining, or; by neither.