The Meteor Motor Car Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Sep 22, 1944

58 N.L.R.B. 500 (N.L.R.B. 1944)

In the Matter of THE METEOR MOTOR CAR COMPANY and INTERNATIONAL
UNION, UNITED AUTOMOBILE, AIRCRAFT & AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENT
WORIuRs OF AMERICA (U. A. W.-C. I. 0.)
Case No. 8-R-1599.-Decided September 22, 1944
Mr. Wilbur F. Pell, of Shelbyville, Ind., and Mr. John B. Ji dkins,
of Piqua, Ohio, for the Company.
Mr. Howard Ser6n, of Lima, Ohio, and Dlr. Harold Tull, of Troy,
Ohio, for the Union.
Mr. Julius 1Kirle, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by International Union, United Automo-
bile , Aircraft & Agricultural Implement Workers of America (U. A.
W.-C. I.0 .), herein called the Union , alleging that a question affecting
commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of
The Meteor Motor Car Company, herein called the Company, the
National Labor Relations Board provided for an appropriate hearing
upon due notice before Thomas E. Shroyer , Trial Examiner. Said
hearing was held at Piqua, Ohio, on August 12, 1944. The Company
and the Union 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 an 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 Meteor Motor Car Company, an Ohio corporation having its
principal office and place of business at Piqua, Ohio, is engaged in the
58 N. L. R. B., No. 97.
500
THE METEOR MOTOR CAR COMPANY 501
manufacture of aircraft parts and truck bodies. During the fiscal year
ending September 5, 1943, the Company purchased raw materials
valued in excess of $1,800,000, more than 80 percent of which was
purchased' from sources outside the State of Ohio. During the same
period the Company manufactured finished products valued in excess
of $2,600,000, more than 75 percent of which was shipped to sources
outside the State.
We find that the Company engaged in commerce within the meaning
of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
International Union, United Automobile, Aircraft & Agricultural
Implement Workers of America (U. A. W.-C. I. O.), affiliated with the
Congress of Industrial Organizations, is a. labor organization ad-
mitting to membership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERiN] REPRESENTATION
The Company has refused to grant recognition to the Union as the
exclusive bargaining representative of certain of the Company's em-
ployees until the Union has been certified by the Board in an appropri-
ate unit.
A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the hear-
ing, indicates that the Union represents a substantial number of
employees in the unit hereinafter found 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 Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
,We find substantially in accordance with an agreement of the parties.
that all employees of the Company's Piqua, Ohio, plant, including
watchmen, inspectors, and stockhandlers, but excluding executive; ad-
1 The Field Examiner reported that the Union submitted 98 cards, 11 dated in May 1944,
46 in June 1944 , 23 in July 1944, 18 were undated , and that there are approximately 150
employees in the appropriate unit. The Company objected at the hearing to the Trial
Examiner's denial of permission to cross-examine the Field Examiner with respect to the
foregoing representation statement of the Field Examiner , and its application for a sub-
poena duces tecum directing the Field Examiner and certain union representatives to
appear at the hearing and produce their records pertaining to membership and authoriza-
tion cards. On August 18, 1944, subsequent to the hearing , the Company also filed a peti-
tion with the Board for leave to adduce additional evidence to prove that the Union did
not represent a substantial number of employees . We find the objection of the Company
to be without merit, and the petition is hereby denied . As we have frequently stated,
authorization or membership cards are required, not as proof of the precise number of
employees who desire to be represented by a labor organization, or as a basis for_deter-
mining the appropriate representative , but simply to provide a reasonable safeguard
against the indiscriminate institution of representation proceedings by labor organizations
which might have little or no membership in the unit claimed to be appropriate See Mat-
ter of H . U . Hill Stores , Inc., Warehouse, 39 N L . R B 874.
502 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD }
ministrative, and clerical employees; draftsmen,' time clerks, tool
engineer, chief engineer, and all other supervisory employees with
authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect
changes in the status of employees, or effectively recommend such ac-
tion, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bar-
gaining 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 the em-
ployees 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 Rela-
tions Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor
Relations 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 Meteor Motor
Car Company, Piqua, Ohio, an election by secret ballot shall be,con-
ducted 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 Eighth Region, acting in this matter as agent
for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Article III,
Sections 10 and 11, of said Rules and Regulations, among the employees
in the unit found appropriate in Section IV, above, who were em-
ployed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date
of this Direction, including employees who did not work during the
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
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 or not they desire to be represented by Inter-
national Union, United Automobile, Aircraft & Agricultural Im-
plement Workers of America (U. W. A.-C. I. 0.), for the purposes of
collective bargaining.
'The parties agree, and we find, that Robert Francis , who performs some drafting work,
does not fall within the above category of draftsmen , and is therefore not excluded from
the unit