The Electric Storage Battery Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jun 19, 1951

94 N.L.R.B. 1308 (N.L.R.B. 1951)

1308 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
be included. We are of the opinion that the switchboard operators
are an integral part of the powerhouse crew and we shall therefore
include them.
Repairmen. The boiler repairman and his helper, and the turbine
repairman have as their primary function the maintenance of the
turbines and the boiler room equipment. Although they are assigned
to the machine shop, a. substantial portion of their time is spent in the
powerhouse and boiler room and we shall therefore include them.'
We shall direct an election in the following group : 6
All powerhouse and boiler room employees, including engineers,
firemen and their helpers, coal passer, ashman, switchboard operators,
boiler and turbine repairmen and their helpers, at the Employer's
Providence, Rhode Island, plant, but excluding guards, professional
employees, all other employees, and supervisors as defined in the Act.
[Text of Direction of Election omitted from publication in this
volume.]
5 Worthington Pump and Machinery, 93 NLRB No . 79; American Box Board Company,
90 NLRB 122; International Shoe Company, 92 NLRB No. 37.
6 while this group is larger than the unit sought by the Petitioner , the Petitioner has
submitted an adequate showing of interest herein.
THE ELECTRIC STORAGE BATTERY COMPANY and INTERNATIONAL UNION
OF ELECTIfICAL , RADIO AND MACHINE WORKERS, CIO, PETITIONER.
Case No. 13-RC-1786. Jane 19, 1951
Decision and Direction of Elections
Upon a petition duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the National Labor
Relations Act, a hearing was held before Irving M. Friedman, hear-
ing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free
from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
. Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the Act, the Board
has delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three-member
panel [Members Houston, Reynolds, and Styles].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the Act.
.2. The labor organizations involved claim to represent certain
employees of the Employer.
3. United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America, Local
1150,' an Intervenor in this proceeding, hereinafter called the UE,
alleges that its certification by the Board on May 17, 1950, and its
94 NLRB No. 195.
THE ELECTRIC STORAGE BATTERY COMPANY 1309
contract with the Employer covering employees in the certified unit
now sought by the Petitioner, which will not expire until June 1, 1952,
constitutes a bar to this proceeding. The Petitioner disagrees. The
Employer takes no position with respect to these issues. Interna-
tional Union of Operating Engineers, Local 399, also an intervenor in
this proceeding, hereinafter called the Engineers, seeks to sever boiler-
room employees from the established unit of production and main-
tenance employees. The Employer, the Petitioner, and the UE assert
that the contract noted above constitutes a bar to an election among
the boiler-room employees at this time.
On May 17, 1950, the Board certified the UE as exclusive bargain-
ing representative of production and maintenance employees at the
Employer's Chicago plant.' On June 1, 1950, the Employer and the
UE entered into the 2-year contract, which the UE urges as a bar
to this proceeding.
On July 11, 1950, the UE's district office addressed a letter to the
UE shop stewards and other employees at the Employer's plant, criti-
cizing this country's participation in the Korean situation and exhort-
ing the employees to feel and act accordingly. The UE shop stewards
held several meetings and determined to take up with the-employees
the questions, of denouncing the political position announced by the
UE and of terminating its status as their bargaining representative.
On July 27, 1950, 230 of the approximately 350 employees in the
contract unit met and voted to reject the political position announced
by the UE and to disaffiliate from the UE. Six of the nine UE stew-
ards at the plant quit the UE and were designated as the "Independ-
ent's" stewards; similarly, 3 members of the shop bargaining commit-
tee, whose names appear as signatories on the 1950 contract, the shop
grievance committee, the rating committee, the shop secretary-treas-
urer and his cosigner left the UE and joined the "Independent." Sub-
sequently, 270 of the plant employees signed a petition demanding that
the Employer hold in escrow the dues being checked. off from their
pay and that the Employer cease to recognize the UE as their bargain-
"ing representative. On September 26, 1950, the "Independent" group
at the plant voted unanimously to affiliate with the Petitioner. There-
after, stewards and other officers of the UE represented themselves
at the plant as officers of the Petitioner. In October 1950, the Em-
ployer announced that it would no longer check off dues except for
such employees as would sign new dues and authorization cards. The
Employer then refunded to employees the accumulated dues that it
then held. Also in October 1950, the Employer received from the
1 Case 13-RM-80 (unpublished).
1310 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
UE a petition signed by 120 employees, requesting it to continue to
recognize-the UE. A number -of employees signed new UE dues de-
duction cards, and the Employer is presently checking off dues of
these employees and remitting such dues to the UE.
The Petitioner's stewards have represented employees in the plant
on matters of grievances, and the Employer has also continued to deal
with new stewards selected by the UE adherents in the plant. In
December 1950, the Employer and the UE agreed on a wage modifica-
tion, which was ratified by 45 UE adherents. Although requested to
do so by the UE, the Petitioner did not participate in these December
negotiations. The UE and the Petitioner have each held regular
meetings of plant employees since July 1950, and each of the rival
groups have a full roster of stewards and other officers. The Em-
ployer has continued to operate under the 1950 contract, except as indi-
cated above.
The foregoing facts demonstrate that the normal bargaining rela-
tionship between the Employer and the UE has become a matter of
confusion and uncertainty. Under these circumstances, to find that
the 1950 contract constitutes a bar to an immediate election would
seriously impede, rather than encourage, the practices of collective
bargaining at the plant. Without passing upon the property rights
or the collective bargaining duties of the parties with respect to the
current contract, we find that the contract is not a bar to a present de-
termination of representatives among the production and maintenance
employees at the plant.2
As noted above, the Employer, the Petitioner, and the UE question
the right of the Engineers to attempt, under these circumstances, to
'sever the boiler-room employees from the existing production and
'maintenance unit, which all parties, except the Engineers, agree is
appropriate, urging that the existing contract does not expire until
June 1, 1952. For reasons stated in Pratt & Letchworth Co., Inc.,3
we find that the contract does not constitute a bar to an election among
'the boiler-room employees'
9 Boston Machine Works Company , 89. NLRB 59 ; Airtemp Division, Chrysler Corpora-
tion, 89 NLRB 448. Sun Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, 86 NLRB 20.
For reasons stated in Boston Machine Works Company, supra, we must reject the
Employer ' s request that the Board rule upon the contractual rights of the parties in
the event an election is directed . See, also, Signal Manufacturing Company, 89 NLRB
457 ; Airtemp Division , Chrysler Corporation , supra.
The statutory bar to an election within 12 months of a prior valid election is clearly
inapplicable as more than a year has now elapsed since the earlier election resulting in
the. UE's certification of May 17, 1950. As the anniversary date of the UE's certification
date has now passed, we find without merit the UE 's contention that its certification
constitutes a bar to an election in this proceeding . Victor Chemical Works, 85 NLRB 495.
See Fru.itvale Canning Company, 85 NLRB 684.
89 NLRB 124.
Accordingly , the motion to dismiss the petition filed by the Engineers is hereby denied.
THE ELECTRIC STORAGE BATTERY COMPANY 1311
A question affecting commerce exists 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. The Employer, the Petitioner, and the UE agree that production
and maintenance employees at the Employer's lead and storage bat-
teries manufacturing plant at Chicago, Illinois, constitute an appro-
priate bargaining unit for all plant employees. The Engineers seeks
to sever employees in the boiler room as a separate appropriate unit.
There are 4 licensed engineers and an ashman in the boiler room
sought by the Engineers. The boiler room is separately located and
designated as department 18 of the plant. It is a part of the mainte-
nance division under the general supervision of the plant engineer.
The engineers are licensed and responsible for the operation and main-
tenance of the boiler-room equipment. They work on rotating 24-
hour shifts, primarily to maintain pressure in the boiler room. Al-
though the engineers rarely work outside the boiler room, they may
occasionally be required to work elsewhere during vacation periods.
Only on rare occasions, however, do other plant employees work in the
boiler room.
The boiler-room employees at the Employer's plant are readily
identifiable and form a functionally coherent group of employees,
such as the Board has repeatedly found may constitute a separate ap-
propriate unit, despite a history of collective bargaining on a broader
basis.5 Accordingly, we find that the boiler-room employees may con-
stitute a separate appropriate unit or may appropriately remain part
of the production and maintenance unit.
We shall make no final unit determination at this time, but shall
first ascertain the desires of the employees as expressed in the elections
hereinafter directed. Separate elections shall be held among em-
ployees at the Employer's Chicago, Illinois, plant, within the following
voting groups, from which are excluded all office clerical employees,
watchmen, guards, professional employees, and supervisors :
a. All boiler-room employees, including engineers and ashman;
b. All production and maintenance employees, excluding boiler-
room employees.
If a majority of the boiler-room employees select the Engineers as
their bargaining representative, they will be taken to have indicated
their desire to constitute a separate appropriate unit.
[Text of Direction of Elections omitted from publication in this
volume.]
'International Harvester Company, McCormick Works, 92 NLRB 1504 ; Chase Candy
Company, 88 NLRB 27; American Hoist & Derrick Company, 87 NLRB 654