The Union Fork & Hoe Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Aug 8, 1945

63 N.L.R.B. 194 (N.L.R.B. 1945)

In the Matter of THE UNION FORK & HOE COMPANY and THE CABLE
GUILD INDEPENDENT UNION
Case No. 3-R-978.-Decided August 8,1945
Mr. Warnick J. Kernan, of Utica, N. Y., for the Company.
Mr. Peter J. Crotty, of Buffalo, N. Y., for the Independent.
Mr. H. 1. Smith, of Buffalo, N. Y., for the A. F. L.
Mr. Harold M. Humphreys, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEME-NT OF THE CASE
Upon an amended petition duly filed by The Cable Guild Independ-
ent Union, herein called the Independent, alleging that a question
affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of em-
ployees of The Union Fork & Hoe Company , Rome, New York, herein
called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided
for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before Eugene Von Well-
sheim, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Rome, New York,
on May 25, 1945. The Company, the Independent, and Fort Stanwix
Lodge 1512, International Association of Machinists, AFL,' herein
called the A. F. L., 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. At the
hearing the A. F. L. moved to dismiss the petition and the Trial Ex-
aminer referred the motion to the Board for determination. For rea-
sons set forth in Section III, infra, the motion is denied. 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
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
The Union Fork & Hoe Company, an Ohio corporation, operates a
plant at Rome, New York, where it is engaged in the manufacture of
This appears to be the correct designation of the intervening labor organization.
63 N. L. R. B., No. 28.
194
THE UNION FORK & HOE COMPANY 195,
war ordnance items, such as boosters, fuses, and bayonets. During
the year 1944, the Company consumed raw materials amounting in
value to more than $920,000, of which in excess of 30 percent, was.
shipped to the Company from points outside the State of New York.
For the same period, the total value of the products finished at the
Rome plant was in excess of $4,030,000, of which more than 60 percent
was shipped to points outside the State of New York.
The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the.
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
The Cable Guild Independent Union, unaffiliated, is a labor organi-
zation admitting to membership employees of the Company.
Fort Stanwix Local 1512, International Association of Machinists,,
affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, is a labor organiza-
tion admitting to membership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
At the hearing the Company refused to grant recognition to the
Independent as the exclusive bargaining representative of certain of
its employees.2
On March 4, 1942, after a consent cross-check held under Board
auspices, the A. F. L. was designated by the Regional Director as the
collective bargaining representative of the Company's employees in the
unit hereinafter found appropriate.3 In 1944 a contract containing a
maintenance-of-membership clause was executed between the Com-
pany and the A. F. L. which provided that it was to remain in effect
"from April 14, 1944 to April 13, 1945, and thereafter from year to,
year unless, 30 days prior to any expiration date, either party shall
have given to the other notice in writing, of the changes which they
desire to negotiate." Negotiations concerning changes 'in the agree-
ment took place between the contracting parties in March and April
1945, and on April 11 they signed a written contract extending the
terms of their 1944 agreement until "negotiations are satisfactorily
completed." On April 12, 1945, the Independent filed the original
petition herein.4
Plainly, a current determination of representatives is not precluded,
for the automatic renewal of the 1944 contract for another year certain
was forestalled by the negotiations of the contracting Parties in March
N Despite the A. F L.'s contrary assertion , we find that the Independent ' s failure to
demand recognition from the Company prior to the filing of the original petition herein is
not fatal to the instant proceeding . See Matter of Houston Blow Pipe and Sheet Metai'
Works, 53 N . L. R. B 184.
"Case No 3-R-367.
A On May 3 , 1945 , the amended petition was filed.
662514-46-vol. 63-14
196 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
and April 1945, and their execution of the extension agreement of
April 116 Nor can the extension agreement be relied upon to bar the
instant proceeding, since it merely transformed the 1944 contract into
,one of indefinite duration e While the A. F. L. also calls attention to
the fact that it was in the midst of negotiating a new contract with the
Company when the Independent filed the original petition, no final
understanding had been reduced to writing and signed by the A. F. L.
and the Company at that time.'
A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the
hearing, indicates that the Independent represents a substantial num-
ber of employees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.8
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 (G) and (7) of the Act.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
• We find, in substantial accordance with the agreement of the parties
and based upon the entire record, that all employees of the Company
employed at its Rome, New York, plant, excluding clerical employees,
guards, watchmen, and all supervisory employees with authority to
hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or othewise 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.
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 Relations Act,
0 See Matter of American Woolen Company, 57 N. L . R. B. 647 , and Matter of Purepao
Corporation & Klingmoth Chemical Corporation, 55 N. L . R. B. 1386.
See Matter of General Electric Company, 48 N. L . R. B. 1044.
a See Matter of Eicor, Inc ., 46 N. L . R. B. 1035.
a The Field Examiner reported that the Independent submitted 127 authorization cards;
that the names of 115 persons appearing on the cards were listed on the Company's pay
roll of April 7, 1945, which contained the names of 471 employees in the alleged appro-
priate unit. The A . F. L. relies upon its contract as evidence of interest . In view of
the maintenance of membership provision in the contract between the Company and the
A. F. L., we find the Independent 's showing to be substantial . See Matter of The Champion
Machine & Forging Company, 53 N. L. R. B. 934.
THE UNION FORK & HOE COMPANY 197
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 Union Fork &
Hoe Company, Rome, New York, 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 Third 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 em-
ployees 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 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 they desire to be represented by The Cable Guild
Independent Union, or by Fort Stanwix Lodge 1512, International As-
sociation of Machinists, AFL, for the purposes of collective bargain-
ing, or by neither.
MR. GERARD D. REILLY took no part in the consideration of the above
Decision and Direction of Election.