Thomas A. Edison, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Dec 9, 1942

45 N.L.R.B. 1215 (N.L.R.B. 1942)

In the Matter of THOMAS A. EDISON, INCORPORATED and AFFILIATED,
CRAFTS OF THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR
Case No. R-4570. Decided- December 9, 19412
Jurisdiction : ordnance manufacturing industry.
Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question: re-
fusal to grant recognition until certification by the Board ; election necessary.-
Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : all production and maintenance em-
ployees, excluding office, clerical and supervisory employees, draftsmen, and-
guards.
Mr. B. F. Morris, of Cairo, Ill., for the Company.
Mr. W. C. Riley, of St. Louis, Mo., for the A. F. of L.
Mr. Morris J. Levin and Mr. Louis Kimmel, of -St. Louis, Mo., for
the C. I. O. -
Mr. Robert E. Tillman, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
` Upon petition duly filed by Affiliated Crafts of the American
Federation of Labor, herein called the A. F. of L., alleging that a
question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representatioii
of employees of Thomas A., Edison, Incorporated, Cairo, Illinois,
herein , called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board
provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before William
W. Ward, Jr., Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Cairo,.
Illinois, on November 17, 1942. The Company, the A. F. of L., and,
United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America, affiliated
with the C. I. 0., herein called the C. I. 0., appeared, participated,
and were-afforded full opportunity to be heard, to examine and ci•oss-
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.
45 N. L. R. B., No. 165
1215
1216 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Thomas A. Edison, Incorporated, a New Jersey corporation,
,operates several plants throughout the United States, including the
one involved in this proceeding, located at Cairo, Illinois. The Cairo
;plant is engaged in the manufacture of naval ordnance. The prin-
cipal raw materials used at the plant are aluminum, - steel, copper,
brass, and other metals. The value of the raw materials used
monthly by the Company at the Cairo plant exceeds $500,000. Large
quantities of the raw materials are shipped to the plant from points
outside the State of Illinois. The value of finished products produced
at the,plant monthly exceeds $500,000. All the finished products are
-shipped to points outside the State of Illinois. The Company, admits
that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National
Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
Affiliated Crafts of the American Federation of Labor represents
several labor organizations which are affiliated with the American'
Federation of Labor, and admit to membership employees of the
Company.
United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America is a labor
organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations,
admitting to membership employees of the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The parties stipulated that on October 26, 1942, the A. F. of L.'
informed the Company that it claimed to represent a majority of the
latter's employees and requested the Company to recognize it as the
collective bargaining representative of such employees, and that the
Company refused to recognize the A. F. of L. 'in the absence of cer-
tification by' the Board.
A statement of the Regional Director, 'introduced in evidence at
the hearing, and a statement of the Trial Examiner made at the
hearing, indicate that the A. F. of L. and the C. I. O. each represents
THOMAS A. EDIS'ON, INCORPORATED 1217
a, substantial number of employees in the unit hereinafter found
appropriate.1
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 APPROPRL,TE UNIT
The parties were in agreement that the appropriate unit should
consist of all production and maintenance employees of the Com-
pany, excluding office, clerical and supervisory employees,2 draftsmen,
and guards. The parties disagreed, however, as to the disposition
of four employees : Carl Lockett, Charles Foster, Glen Porter, and
William Hotz. The A. F. of L. desired to include these four men in
the appropriate unit because they were minor supervisory employees;
the Company and the C. I. 0. requested that they be excluded because
they will assume more important supervisory positions when the plant
reaches full production.
At the time of the hearing the four employees in dispute represented
the ,totality of the Company's supervisors of 'lower rank than fore-
man. They were hourly paid employees engaged at least 50 percent
of their working time in manual labor. They had no authority to
hire or discharge. It is clear from the evidence that their status
at the time of the hearing was that of gang leaders or working fore-
men. We` shall include them in the unit. Should their status be
changed hereafter to that of foremen, they will no longer be included
in the unit.
We find that all production and maintenance employees of the
Company, including the gang leaders or working foremen, but ex-
cluding office, clerical and supervisory employees, draftsmen, and
guards, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective
bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
1 The statements of the Regional Director and the Trial Examiner may be summarized
as follows :
Cards or Names
of Dues Payers Employees Cards inUnion Submitted in Pant Unit
A F of L-------------------------------------- 162 180 150
C.I.O------------------------------------------ 30 180 24
The C I 0 . submitted approximately 550 additional cards at the hearing, all bearing dates
prior to the coin mencement of production in the plant . The Trial Examiner properly
excluded these cards from the record
2 The parties agreed to exclude the following employees as foremen : Charles Chasteen,
Alden Wiggs, Joseph Humbrecht , George Sevrain , William Windecker, Clyde Stone, Eugene
Monroe, Richard Williamson , Gustav Dumbo, Andrew Martin , Theodore Meadows, and
Stephen Balogh
493508-43-vol 45-77
' 1218 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We shall direct that the question concerning representation which
has arisen be resolved by an election by secret ballot. The C. I. O.
requested that the election be delayed for at least 60 days because of
unfair tactics allegedly employed by the A. F. of L. to acquire mem-
bers among the Company's employees. We shall not postpone the
election because one of the labor organizations whose name will appear
on the ballot is alleged to have engaged in unfair tactics in its organi-
zational campaign. However, the record indicates that the Company
now employs less than half the number of production and main-
tenance employees it ultimately intends to employ at this plant. The
Company expressed the expectation that the half-way mark would be
reached by January 1, 1943. In order that the majority group of
future employees shall not be bound by the choice of the minority
group of present employees, we shall direct that those eligible to
vote shall be the employees in the appropriate unit who were employed
during the first pay-roll period exclusively in January 1943, provided,
however, that the election be held not later than 45 days from the
date of -our Direction of Election, subject to the limitations and addi-
tions set forth therein.
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, and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor Rela-
tions 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 Thomas A. Edi-
son, Incorporated, Cairo, Illinois, an election by secret ballot shall
be conducted as early as,possible, but not later than forty-five. (45)
days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and super-
vision of the Regional Director for the Fourteenth Region, acting in
this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and
'subject to 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 first pay-roll period exclusively
in January 1943, including employees who did not work during such
pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation or in the active
military service or training of the United States, or temporarily laid
off, but excluding any 'who have since quit or been discharged for
cause, to determine whether they desire to be represented by Afliliato