The Osgood Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Dec 2, 1937

4 N.L.R.B. 312 (N.L.R.B. 1937)

In the Matter of THE OSGOOD COMPANY and INTERNATIONAL
ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS
Case No. R-314.-Decided December 2, 1937
Machinery Manufacttcring Industry-Investigation of Representatives: con-
troversy concerning representation of employees : refusal by employer to recog-
nize union as exclusive bargaining agent until certified by Board-Unit Appro-
priate for Collective Bargaining : employees on hourly rate basis ; production,
and maintenance employees ; community of interest ; no controversy as to-
Representatives : proof of choice : membership in union-Certification of Repre-
sentatives : upon proof of majority representation.
Mr. Max W. Johnstone, for the Board.
Mr. John J. Murphy, of Cleveland, Ohio, for the Union.
Mr. Herbert Fuchs, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On June 28, 1937, International Association of Machinists, herein
called the Union, filed with the Regional Director for the Eighth
Region (Cleveland, Ohio) a petition alleging that a question affecting
commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of
The Osgood Company, Marion, Ohio, herein called the Company, and
requesting an investigation and certification of representatives pur-
suant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat_
449, herein called the Act. On September 11, 1937, the National
Labor Relations Board, herein called the Board, acting pursuant to.
Section 9 (c) of the Act, and Article III, Section 3, of National 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 upon due notice.
On September 15, 1937, the Regional Director issued a notice of
hearing, copies of which were duly served upon the Company and
the Union. Pursuant to the notice a hearing was held on September
23, 1937, at Marion, Ohio, before Charles Bayly, the Trial Examiner
duly designated by the Board. The Board was represented by coun-
sel and the Union was represented by a Grand Lodge representative.
The Board and the Union participated in the hearing. The Com-
pany was not represented by counsel at the hearing. Full oppor-
0
312
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 313
tunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to
introduce evidence bearing upon the issues was afforded all parties.
No objections to the introduction of evidence and no exceptions to
rulings of the Trial Examiner were made at the hearing.
Upon the entire record,in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
The Company is an Ohio corporation with its principal place of
business at Marion, Ohio. It is engaged in manufacturing and sell-
ing power shovels, excavating machinery, and road rollers, and in
jobbing iron and steel castings. The Company's manufacturing
plant is located at Marion, Ohio, a branch sales office at Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, and a warehouse and sales office at Ridgefield, New
Jersey. The Company ranks among the larger concerns in the
industry.
The Company owns no transportation facilities or sources of raw
materials. Between 50 and 75 per cent of its raw materials come to
the plant by rail and truck lines from points outside Ohio, notably
from Illinois, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and California.
Distributors and commission agents sell the Company's products
in several states, including California, New Mexico, Colorado, Mis-
souri, New York, Pennsylvania, Alabama, Georgia, Michigan, West
Virginia, Indiana, and Nebraska. In 1936, the Company's sales to-
talled about $1,500,000. Between 85 and 90 per cent of its sales are
made to customers outside the State of Ohio. The Company usually
sends an instructor to deliver and put into operation a machine that
has been sold.
The products of the Company are used in a number of industries,
including coal mining, contracting, highway construction, and earth-
works. The attorney for the Board introduced in evidence a stipula-
tion signed by the president and the secretary of the Company
wherein the Company admits that it is engaged in interstate
commerce.
H. THE UNION
International Association of Machinists, Local No. 1281, is a labor
organization. It was formed among the production and maintenance
employees of the Company's plant on April 29, 1937, and is affiliated
with the American Federation of Labor. No other labor organiza-
tion exists at the Company's plant.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
On June 10, 1937, the Union sought recognition by the Company.
Negotiations have been under way since that time but the Company
314 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
refuses to recognize the Union as exclusive bargaining agent unless
and until the Union is certified as such by formal order of the Board.
We find that a question has arisen concerning the representation of
employees of the Company.
IV. THE EFFECT OF TILE- QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION UPON
COMMERCE
We find that the question concerning- representation which has
arisen, occurring in connection with the operations of the Company
described in Section I above, has a close, intimate, and substantial
relation to trade, traffic, and commerce among the several States, and
tends to lead to labor disputes burdening and obstructing commerce
and the free flow of commerce.
V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Union contends that all hourly rate employees at the Com-
pany's Marion plant, exclusive of employees in the main office, the
foundries, and the filling station, constitute an appropriate unit for
collective bargaining. These employees form the production and
maintenance crews. They have a common interest in rates of wages
and working conditions, and comprise an integrated group within
the plant. In the stipulation introduced in evidence by the Board's
attorney the Company admits the appropriateness of the proposed
unit.
We find that the employees of the Company at its Marion plant,
paid upon an hourly basis, excluding employees of the main office,
the foundries, and the filling station, 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 effec-
tuate the policies of the Act.
VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
The bargaining unit above determined includes 211 employees.
The president of the Union, testifying from its membership records,
stated that the Union has 159 members and that all of its members
are employees of the Company in the unit found appropriate above.
The Trial Examiner permitted the withdrawal of the membership
records and the substitution in evidence of a typewritten list of the
names of union members. The list in evidence' contains 161 names.
Nothing in the record raises a doubt as to the clear membership
majority established by the evidence introduced on behalf of the
Union.
1 Board's Exhibit No. 8.
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 315
We find that the Union has been designated and selected by a
majority of the employees in the appropriate unit as their representa-
tive for the purpose of collective 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.
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. A question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the repre-
sentation of employees of The Osgood Company, Marion, Ohio,
within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of
the National Labor Relations Act.
2. The employees of The Osgood Company at its Marion, Ohio,
plant, who are paid by the hour, excluding employees of the main
office, the foundries, and the filling station, constitute a unit appro-
priate 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 No. 1281, is the
exclusive representative of all the employees in such unit for the
purpose of collective bargaining, 'within the meaning of Section 9
(a) of the National 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 No. 1281, has been designated and selected by a majority of
the employees of The Osgood Company, Marion, Ohio, at its Marion
plant, who are paid by the hour excluding employees of the main
office, the foundries, and the filling station, as their representative
for the purposes of collective bargaining and that, pursuant to the
provisions of Section 9 (a) of the Act, International Association of
Machinists, Local No. 1281, is the exclusive 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.