The Niles Fire Brick Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jan 12, 1943

46 N.L.R.B. 1015 (N.L.R.B. 1943)

:In-,the.MWtter'•of-THE NIr.Es'Fn Biucg-CoMPANY dhd UNrri:D
e
STEELWORKERS OF AMERICA, C. I. O.
Case No. R-4661.-Decided January4 10, 1943
Jurisdiction : refractories manufacturing industry.
Investigation and Certification of Representatives ; existence of question : refusal
to accord recognition without Board certification ; election necessary.
Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining :, all production and 'maintenance
employees, excluding supervisory and office employees, timekeepers, and police
protection employees ; stipulation as to.
Mr. Paul Z. Hodge, of Warren, Ohio, for the Company. .
Mr. James C. Quinn, of Youngstown, Ohio, for the Union.
Mr. Louis, Cokin, of counsel to the Board:
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon petition duly filed by United Steelworkers of America, C. 1. 0.,
herein called the Union,'alleging that a question affecting commerce
had arisen concerning the representation of employees of The Niles
Fire Brick Company, Niles, Ohio; herein called the Company, the
National Labor Relations Board provided for an appropriate hearing
upon due notice before' Louis Plost, Trial Examiner. Said hearing
was held at Niles, Ohio, on December 12, 1942. The Company and
the Union appeared, participated, and were afforded full opportunity
to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce
evidence bearing on the issues. During the course of the hearing,
counsel for the Company moved to dismiss the petition for lack of
jurisdiction. The Trial Examiner reserved ruling. The motion is=
hereby denied. The Trial Examiner's rulings made at the hearing,
are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
On December 24, 1942, the Company filed a brief which the Board
has considered.'
1The Company contends in its brief that the petition should be dismissed because, (1)-
the Union has no jurisdiction among refractory employees and (2 ) because an election
conducted among its employees on September 28, 1940, resulted in a majority of the
employees voting against representation by a labor organization . We find no merit in
the Company's contentions.
46 N. L. R. B., No. 112.
1015
1016 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
The Niles Fire Brick Company is an Ohio corporation 'with its
principal place of business at Niles, Ohio, where it is engaged in the
manufacture, sale, and distribution of refractories, commonly known
as "fire brick." Raw materials used by the Company in its manufac-
turing operations, consisting of flint fire`clay, plastic clay, silica gravel,
lime, and coal, are purchased by the Company at an annual cost of
approximately, $350,000. Approximately 38 percent of ' this amount
is spent for coal purchased from an Ohio company but shipped by
that concern from its mines, in Pennsylvania directly to the Com-
pany's plant; 29 percent is spent for, raw materials other than coal
,obtained within the State of Ohio,I and approximately 33 percent is
spent for raw materials obtained from without the State of Ohio.
In addition a portion of the clay used by the Company in its manu-
facturing operations is obtained by the Company from mines v^hich
it leases and operates in the State of Pennsylvania. The Company
annually sells and distributes refractories valued at approximately
$1,000,000, of which approximately 5.7 percent is shipped to points
outside the State of Ohio. The Company has' a sales representative
located at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who takes orders for its finished
products. Among the chief customers of the Company are the
Carnegie-Illinois Steel Company, The Republic Steel Corporation,
and The Youngstown Sheet & Tube Company.
We find, contrary to the contentions of the Company, that the Com-
pany is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National
Labor Relations Act.2 '
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
United Steelworkers of America is a labor organization, affiliated
with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, admittting to mem-
bership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
During November 1942 the Union requested the Company to recog-
nize it as the exclusive representative of, the Company's employees.
2' See Matter of The Niles Fire Brick 'Company and , United Brick Workers L. I. U. No.
198, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations , 30 N. L. R. B. 426, enforced
128 F. ( 2d) 258 ( C. C. A. 6).
THE NILES FIRE BRICK -COMPANY 1017
The Company refused, this request until such time as the Union is
certified by the Board.
A statement of a Field Examiner of the Board, introduced into
evidence at the' hearing, indicates that the Union represents a sub-
stantial 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 Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
We find, in accordance with a stipulation of the parties, that all
production and maintenance employees at the Niles plant of the Com-
pany, excluding supervisory and office employees,' timekeepers, and
police protection employees, 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 the
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 Re-
lations 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 Niles Fire
Brick Company, Niles, Ohio, 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 Eighth Region, acting in this mat-
ter as agent for the National Labor'Relations Board, and subject to
'The Field Examiner reported that the Union presented 165 membership application,
cards bearing apparently genuine signatures of persons whose names appear on the Com-
pany's pay roll of November 15,'1942. There are 225 employees on that pay roll who are
in the appropriate unit.
1018 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
t
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 any who have since quit or been discharged for cause,
to determine whether or not they desire to be represented by United
Steelworkers of America, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial
Organizations, for the purposes of collective bargaining.
C1AII MAN MILLIS took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision and Direction of Election.
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