The Oliver Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jan 9, 1947

71 N.L.R.B. 1477 (N.L.R.B. 1947)

In the Matter of THE OLIVER CORPORATION, EMPLOYER and UNITED
FARM EQUIPMENT AND METAL WORKERS OF AMERICA, CIO,
PETITIONER
Case No. 14-R-1518.-Decided January 9 , 1947
Mr. J. C. Wittner, of Chicago , Ill., for the Employer.
Mr. Irving Meyers , of Chicago, Ill., for the Petitioner.
Illr. Warren C. Riley, of St . Louis, Mo., for the Intervenor.
IIIr. Jack J. Mantel, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Shelby-
ville, Illinois, on October 14, 1946, before Charles K. Hackler, hearing
officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from
prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. At the hearing, the Inter-
venor moved to dismiss the petition on the ground that its -contract
with the Employer constitutes a bar to this proceeding. The hearing
officer referred the motion to the Board. For the reason stated herein-
after, the motion is hereby denied.
Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations
Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER
The Oliver Corporation is a Delaware corporation having its
principal office in Chicago, Illinois. It operates plants in the States
of Iowa, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Illinois. We are here con-
cerned with the plant located at Shelbyville, Illinois, where the En7-
ployer is engaged in the manufacture of hay balers. During each
fiscal year, the Employer purchases'raw materials valued at approxi-
mately $600,000, of which about 50 percent is shipped to the Shelby-
ville plant from points outside the State of Illinois. During a similar
period, the Employer manufactured finished products' valued at
approximately $1,000,000, of which about 90 percent was sold and
shipped to points outside the State.
71N L R B, No 243
1477
1478 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
The Employer admits and we find that it is engaged in commerce
within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress
of Industrial Organizations, claiming to represent employees of the
Employer., -
International Association of Machinists. Lodge #1633, herein called
the Intervenor, is an unaffiliated labor organization, claiming to rep-
resent employees of the Employer.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
By letter dated June 27, 1946, the Petitioner advised the Employer
that it represented a majority of the employees and requested the
Employer not to enter into any contractual relationship with any other
labor organization until the Board had determined the collective bar-
gaining'representative. The Employer received this letter the follow-
ing day, but made no reply thereto. The Petitioner filed its petition
herein on July 9, 1946.
The Employer and the Intervenor entered into a contract on July
31, 1945, which provided that it should remain in full force and effect
until July 31, 1946, and from year to year thereafter, unless either
party should give written notice of a desire to modify or terminate the
contract, not more than 60 days nor less than 30 days prior to the
expiration date. Prior to this expiration date, the Intervenor notified
the Employer of its desire to negotiate a new agreement and there-
after they entered into negotiations which resulted in a new 1-year
contract being executed on July 15, 1946.
The Intervenor, relying on the doctrine enunciated by the Board
in the General Electric X-Ray case,' contends that the new contract
constitutes a bar to a present election because the petition herein was
not filed within 10 days after the Petitioner had presented its repre-
sentation claim to the Employer. In that case, the Board held that
where a petition is filed more than 10 days after the assertion of a
bare claim of representation, an agreement, otherwise valid, which is
executed in the interval before the petition is actually filed would con-
stitute a bar. In the present proceeding it is clear that the new con-
tract between the Employer and the Intervenor was not executed dur-
ing that interval and therefore the above doctrine is not applicable.
Inasmuch as the petition was filed before the execution of the 1946
contract, we find that it does not constitute a bar to a present deter-
mination of representatives.
I Matter of General Electric X -Ray Cot poration , 67 N L R B 997
THE OLIVER CORPORATION 1479
We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the
representation of employees of the Employer, within the meaning of
Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
We find, in substantial accord with the agreement of the parties,
that all employees of the Employer employed at its Shelbyville, Illi-
nois, plant, excluding executives, general foremen, shipping clerks,
confidential clerks. timekeepers, office employees, engineering person-
nel, and field service employees, 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 action, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective
bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with The Oliver Corporation,
Shelbyville, Illinois, 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 Fourteenth Region, acting in this matter as agent for
the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Sections 203.55
and 203.56, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regula-
tions-Series 4, 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 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 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 they desire to
be represented by United Farm Equipment and Metal Workers of
America, CIO, or by International Association of Machinists, for the
purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither.