The Electric Auto-Lite Company, American Enameled Magnet Wire Division

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jan 17, 1939

10 N.L.R.B. 1239 (N.L.R.B. 1939)

In the Matter of THE ELECTRIC AUTO-LITE COMPANY, AMERICAN
ENAMELED MAGNET WIRE DIVISION and INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION
OF MACHINISTS , LOCAL 218
In the Matter of THE ELECTRIC AUTO-LITE COMPANY, AMERICAN
ENAMELED MAGNET WIRE DIVISION and LOCAL 21317, AMERICAN
FEDERATION OF LABOR
Cases Nos. R-1121 and R-1122, respectively.Decided January
1 7, 1939
Electric Wire and Cable Manufacturing Industry-Investigation of Repre-
sentatives : controversy concerning representation of employees : refusal of
employer to recognize unions until certified by Board ; rival organizations-
Unats Appropriate for Collective Bargaining: machinists as separate craft; no,
controversy as to ; production unit ; exclusion of time checkers where rival or-
ganizations disagree-Certification , of Representatives * upon stipulation of
majority entered into by all parties-Election Ordered
Mr. Harry N. Casselman and Mr. George J. Bott, for the Board.
Mr. James P. Falvey, of Toledo, Ohio, for the Company.
Davidow cC Davidow, by Mr; Leonard B. Netzorg, of Detroit, Mich.,
for the U. A. W.
Mr. L. 0. Thomas, of Battle Creek, Mich., for the I. A. M.
Mr. Harold E. Fawcett, of Port Huron, Mich., for Local 21317.
Mr. Richard Salant, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On November 6, 1937, International Association of Machinists,
Local 218, herein called the I. A. M.; and Local 21317, American Fed-
eration of Labor, herein called Local 21317, each filed with the
Regional Director for the Seventh Region (Detroit, Michigan) a
petition alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen con-
cerning the representation of employees of The Electric Auto-Lite
Company, American Enameled Magnet Wire Division,' herein called
Incorrectly designated in the petitions as American Enamel Magnet Wire Company, a
corporation . At the beginning of the hearing the pleadings were amended , without objec-
tion, to state the name of the Company as it appears in the caption above.
10 N. L. R. B., No. 110.
1239
1240 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
the Company,2 and requesting an investigation and certification of rep-
resentatives pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Rela-
tions Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On May 20, 1938, the
National Labor Relations Board, herein called the Board, acting pur-
suant to Section 9 (c) of the Act, and' Article III, Section 3, of Na-
tional Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 1, as
amended, ordered an investigation and authorized the Regional
Director to conduct it and to provide for an appropriate hearing on
due notice. At the same time the Board, acting pursuant to Article
III, Section 10 (c) (2), of said Rules and Regulations, further
ordered that the cases be consolidated for the purposes of hearing..,
On June 15, 1938, the Regional Director issued a notice of hearing,
copies of which were duly served upon the Company, the I. A. M.,
Local 21317, and upon Local 127, International Union, United Auto-
mobile Workers of America, herein called the U. A. W., a labor organ-
ization claiming to represent employees directly affected by the inves-
tigation. Pursuant to the notice, a hearing was held on June 30, 1938,
at Port Huron, Michigan, before I. L. Broadwin, the Trial Examiner
duly designated by the Board. The Board, the Company, the I. A. M.,
Local 21317, and the U. A. W. were represented by counsel and par-
ticipated in the hearing. Before any formal proceedings were taken,
however, the hearing was adjourned indefinitely, because shortly prior
to June 30 the U. A. W. had filed with the Regional Director charges
of unfair labor practices against the Company. On October 29, 1938,
the Regional Director dismissed these charges. On November 1, 1938,
the Regional Director issued another notice of hearing, copies of
which were duly served upon all the parties named above. Pursuant
to the notice, a hearing was held on November 14, 1938, at Port
Huron, Michigan, before R. N. Denham, the Trial Examiner duly
designated by the Board. The Board, the Company, the I. A. M.,
Local 21317, and the U. A. W. were represented by counsel and partic-
ipated in the hearing. Full opportunity to be heard, to examine and
cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing on the is-
sues was afforded all parties. During the course of the hearing, the
Trial Examiners made a number of rulings on motions and on objec-
tions to the admission of evidence. The Board has reviewed the rul-
ings of the Trial Examiners and finds that no prejudicial errors were
committed. The rulings are hereby affirmed.
The Company requested oral argument before the Board in Wash-
ington, D. C., but subsequently waived such argument and instead,
on December 12, 1938, submitted a memorandum brief.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
2 In using the words "the Company," we refer only to the American , Enameled Magnet
Wire Division
DECISIONS AND ORDERS
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
1241
American Enameled Magnet Wire Division of The Electric Auto-
Lite Company formerly was a separate corporation under the name
of American Enameled Wire Company. On September 30, 1938, this
corporation was dissolved and its business and assets were acquired
by The Electric Auto-Lite Company, an Ohio corporation. The Com-
pany 8 maintains its plant at Port Huron, Michigan. It is engaged
in the manufacture and sale of electric wire and cable.
The principal raw materials used by the Company are copper, cot-
ton, and rubber. In 1937 the total purchases of raw materials aggre-
gated $4,474,000 in value, of which $4,099,000 represented' materials
shipped to the Company from points outside the State of Michigan.
During the same year the Company purchased miscellaneous supplies
aggregating $147,000 in value. Of this sum, $73,400 represented the
value of materials purchased outside the State of Michigan. The
Company's sales in 1937 totaled $4,700,000 in value, of which $3,-
450,000 represented products shipped to points outside the State of
Michigan.
The total cost of raw materials purchased by the Company during
,the first 6 months of 1938 was $439,129, of which 45 per cent repre-
sented raw materials purchased outside the State of Michigan. The
Company's total sales during the same period amounted to $850,548,
of which 55 per cent represented products shipped to points outside
Michigan.
The plant normally employs between 650 and 750 persons.
H. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
International Association of Machinists, Local 218, is a labor or-
ganization affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, admit-
ting to membership all the employees of the Company engaged as
machinists, machine riggers, millwrights, tool makers, machine re-
pairmen, and machinists' apprentices and helpers.
Local 21317, American Federation of Labor, is a labor organiza-
tion, admitting to membership employees of the Company engaged
in production.
Local 127, International Union, United Automobile Workers of
America, is a labor organization affiliated with the Committee for
Industrial Organization, admitting to membership employees of the
Company engaged in production.
H See footnote 2
1242 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
On October 2, 1937, a strike against the Company was begun by
the U. A. W. On October 14, 1937, the strike ended, with the execu-
tion of a contract by the Company and the U. A. W. This contract
was dated October 12, 1937, was to remain in effect for a year, and
was in terms applicable only to members of the U. A. W. None of
the parties contended that the contract, which in any event had ex-
pired at the time of the hearing, was a bar to this proceeding.
Although requested to do so, the Company has refused to deal with
the I. A. M. until the I. A. M. is certified by the Board as the exclusive
representative of employees of the Company in an appropriate unit.
Although requested to do so, the Company has also refused to recog-
nize Local 21317 or the U. A. W., both of which have substantial
membership among the Company's employees, as the exclusive rep-
resentative of employees of the Company in an appropriate unit until
the Board certifies one or the other union as such representative.
We find that questions have arisen concerning representation of
employees of the Company.
IV. THE EFFECT OF THE QUESTIONS CONCERNING REPRESENTATION UPON
COMMERCE
We find that the questions concerning representation which have
arisen, occurring in connection with the operations of the Company
'described in Section I above, have a close, intimate, and substantial
relation to trade, traffic, and commerce among the several States and
tend to lead to labor disputes burdening and obstructing commerce
and the free flow of commerce.
V. THE APPROPRIATE UNITS
It was agreed by the Company and all the labor organizations in-
volved that all persons engaged as machinists, machine riggers, mill-
wrights, tool makers, machine repairmen, and machinists' appren-
tices and helpers constitute an appropriate unit. It was further
agreed that oilers and die repairmen should be included in this unit,
but that supervisory employees and firemen or coal-heavers should
be excluded. We see no reason for departing from this unit agreed
upon by the parties.4 This unit will hereinafter be referred to as
the machinist unit.
The Company and the labor organizations involved agreed that all
factory employees, exclusive of those engaged in a supervisory capac-
ity, those included in the machinist unit, and watchmen, constitute an
Cf. Matter of Armour cE Company and International Association of Machinists, Local
92, 5 N. L R. B. 535.
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 1243
'appropriate unit. It was also agreed that sweepers, inspectors other
than those who were supervisors or were included in the machinist
unit, and firemen should be included in this unit. We see no reason
for departing from this unit as agreed upon by the parties.
The parties were unable to agree on the inclusion or exclusion of
the group of employees known as time checkers. The Company and
the U. A. W. desired their exclusion; Local 21317 desired their inclu-
sion. There are eight time checkers employed in the plant : two in
the coil department, three in the harness department, one in the
enamel department, one in the rubber department, and one in a de-
partment not clearly identified in the record. The duties of these
checkers derive from the existence in the plant of an "adaptation"
of the Bedaux time system. Under this system, a basic unit of, pro-
duction is assigned to the various departments and a bonus is'awarded
weekly for production over this basic unit. It is the duty of the'time
checkers to compute in the first instance the production figures on
which the bonus is based.
The function of the time checkers under this system • is as follows :
Each production employee makes out his own production and time
slip and submits it to the checker. The checker then "checks that pro-
duction on the production slip with the counters, and then turns in an
itemized list of the amount and that determines the - amount of
_pay . . ." The checker examines the itemized statement prepared by
the production employee; he then weighs the material, or examines
.the tags on the materials produced, and ascertains the correctness of
the statement. He then marks the production on the slip and turns
it over to the head checker, who again examines the slips and then
hands them in to the office, where the actual, computation on which
the pay roll is based is made.
Jack Harmon, a checker, testified that he rarely discovers discrep-
ancies between the amount claimed by the employee to have been
produced and the actual amount produced. If, however, an employee
is dissatisfied with the bonus sheet which is posted, complaint is made
to the foreman. The checker is then called in to explain his computa-
tion, and the employee's time slip and the checker's slip are produced
and compared by the foreman.
The checker shares a desk with the foreman and has drawers in it
for his own use. He divides his day equally between the desk and
the floor, where he pushes coils and lifts cotton for the purpose of
weighing.
The checker has no disciplinary power, but it is his duty to discover
errors, and it is on the basis of his computations that the pay roll is
made up. A head checker supervises all the work of the eight
checkers.
1244 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Checkers are eligible for membership in both the U. A. W. and
Local 21317. Two ' checkers are members of Local 21317; one is a
member of the U. A. W. The. contract between the U. A. W. and the
Company excluded checkers. The U. A. W.. attempted to handle a
grievance of one of the checkers, but when the Company pointed out
that the contract was not applicable to checkers, the U. A. W. aban-
doned its attempt. The Company, in its brief, showed that it consid-
ered that the time checkers' duties are supervisory in their nature.
Thus it appears that while checkers exercise no direct disciplinary
power over the production employees, their duties are, to some extent,
identified with supervision and management.,' Where, as here, rival
unions make conflicting claims in regard to the inclusion in a unit
made up of production employees, of employees whose duties are on
the borderline between production and management, we have ordi-
narily excluded them. The reason given by us in Matter of Rex Man-
ufacturing Co., Inc.," for excluding minor supervisory employees in
a similar situation is equally applicable here. There we said :
The subforemen and group leaders belong to a class of minor,
supervisory employees whose inclusion in or exclusion from a
unit made up of production workers must depend largely upon
the particular facts of each case.7 Where, as here, there is a his-
tory of rivalry among labor organizations claiming to represent
employees, it is important that the employer be free from the im-
putation of coercing his employees in their choice of representa-
tives. Since subforemen and group leaders are in some measure
identified with management, it is not improbable that their par-
' ticipation in a controversy between rival unions will lead to
charges of employer interference.
We shall, therefore, exclude time checkers.
We find that all persons engaged as machinists, machine riggers,
millwrights, tool makers, machine repairmen, machinists' apprentices
and helpers, oilers, and die repairmen, excluding supervisory em-
ployees and firemen, 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 purposes of the
Act.
s Cf. Matter of Westinghouse Airbrake Company and United Electrical and Radio
Workers of America, Railway Equipment Workers Local No. 610, 4 N. L. R. B. 403;
Matter of American Radiator Company ( Bond Plant and Terminal Plant) and Amalga-
mated Association of Iron, Steel d Tin Workers, Lodges 1199 and 1629, 7 N. L. R. B. 452.
eMatter of Rem Manufacturing Co., Inc. and A. F., of L. Federal Local Union No. 20893,
7 N L. R. B. 95.
E. g, Matter of •The Electric Auto -Lite Company and International Union, United
Automobile Workers of America No . 12, 9 N L R. B. 147; Matter of Willys Overland
Motors, Inc. and International Union, United Automobile Workers, Local No. 12, 9
N. L R B 924 ( time checkers iucluded in both ) ; see also cases cited in footnote 5
above ( time checkers excluded).
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 1245
We find, that all production employees, including inspectors, fire-
men, and sweepers, but excluding supervisory and office employees;
time checkers, machinists, machine riggers, millwrights, tool makers,
machine- repairmen, machinists' apprentices and helpers, oilers, and
die repairmen, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of col-
lective 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 purposes of the Act.
This unit will hereinafter be referred to as the production unit.
VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
The petition of the I. A. M. stated that there were 40 employeesin
the machinist unit. It claimed 34 members in this group. Counsel
for the Board, after conferences among the parties, read into the
record stipulations' by all the parties that the I. A. M. represents•a
majority of the employees in the machinist unit, and may be certified
as the bargaining representative of all the employees in that unit,
and that "owing to some duplications in membership and other un-
certainties, the best way to decide the question of representation"
among the employees in the production unit is by holding a secret
election. We are satisfied, under the circumstances, that the I. A. M.
has been designated by a majority of the employees in the machinist
unit as their representative for purposes of collective bargaining.
We find that the International Association of Machinists, Local 218,
has been designated and selected by a majority of the employees in
the machinist unit as their representative for the purposes of collec-
tive bargaining. It is, therefore, the exclusive representative of all
the employees in such unit for the purposes of collective bargaining
and we will so certify. We also find that the question concerning
representation of the employees in the production unit can best be
resolved by holding an election by secret ballot. Accordingly, we
shall direct such an election.
Although the U. A. W. originally objected to the use of the pay roll
for October 31, 1937,8 for the determination of eligibility of employees
to vote in the election, and requested that the pay roll for the week
prior to October 2, 1937, when the strike was called, be used, the
U. A. W., in the "interests of comity and amity," withdrew its objec-
tion and agreed that the pay roll for October 31, 1937, should be used.
Accordingly we find that those eligible to vote in the election shall
be the employees in the production unit on the Company's pay roll
of October 31, 1937, the period next preceding November 6, 1937, when
'Board Exhibit No 9A-9I{. During a recess, the parties marked all supervisors on the
pay roll with a cross mark, and all machinists with a check mark It is not clear, how-
ever, that die repairmen and oilers were checked
1246 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
the petition was filed. Those who have since quit or have been dis-
charged for cause,shall be excluded.
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. Questions affecting commerce have arisen concerning the repre-
sentation of employees'of The Electric Auto-Lite Company, American
Enameled Magnet Wire Division, Port Huron, Michigan, within the
meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the National
Labor Relations Act.
2. All employees of the Company engaged as machinists, machine
riggers, millwrights, tool makers, machine repairmen, machinists' ap-
prentices and helpers, oilers, and die repairmen, excluding super-
visory employees and firemen, constitute a unit appropriate for the
purposes of collective bargaining, within the meaning of Section
9 (b) of the National Labor Relations Act.
3. International Association of Machinists, Local 218, is the exclu-
sive representative of all employees in such unit for the purposes of
collective bargaining, within the meaning of Section 9 (a) of the
National Labor Relations Act.
4. All production employees of the Company, including inspectors,
firemen, and sweepers, but excluding supervisory and office employees,
time checkers, machinists, machine riggers, millwrights, tool makers,
machine repairmen, machinists' apprentices and helpers, oilers, and
die repairmen, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of col-
lective bargaining, within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Na-
tional Labor Relations Act.
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
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 8, of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 1, as amended,
IT IS HEREBY CERTIFIED that International Association of Machinists,
Local 218, has been designated and selected by a majority of the ma-
chinists, machine riggers, millwrights, tool makers, machine repair-
men, machinists' apprentices and helpers, oilers, and die repairmen of
The Electric Auto-Lite Company, American Enameled Magnet Wire
Division, Port Huron, Michigan, excluding supervisory employees
and firemen, as their representative for the purposes of collective bar-
gaining, and that, pursuant to the provisions of Section 9 (a) of the
Act, International Association of Machinists, Local 218, is the exclu-
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 1247
sive representative of all such employees for the purposes of collective
bargaining in respect to rates of pay, wages, hours of employment,
and other conditions of employment.
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 8, of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 1, as amended, it is
hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation authorized by the
Board to ascertain representatives for collective bargaining with
The Electric Auto-Lite Company, American Enameled Magnet
Wire Division, Port Huron, Michigan, an election by secret ballot
shall be conducted within fifteen (15) days from the date of this
Direction, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Di-
rector for the Seventh Region, acting in this matter as agent for the
National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Article III, Section
9, of said Rules and Regulations-Series 1, as amended, among the
production employees of the Company whose names appear on the
Company's pay roll of October 31, 1937, including inspectors, firemen,
and sweeper,-, but excluding supervisory and office employees, time
checkers, machinists, machine riggers, millwrights, tool makers, ma-
chine repairmen, machinists' apprentices and helpers, oilers, die re-
pairmen, and those employees who have since quit or been discharged
for cause, to determine whether they desire to be represented by Local
21317, American Federation of Labor, or by Local 127, International
Union, United Automobile Workers of America, for the purposes of
collective bargaining, or by neither.