U. S. Steel Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Nov 22, 1943

53 N.L.R.B. 810 (N.L.R.B. 1943)

In the Matter Of PITTSBURGH LIMESTONE CORPORAVON (SUBSIDIARY OF
U. S. STEEL CORPORATION) and UNITED CEMENT, LIME AND GYPSUM
WORKERS INTERNATIONAL UNION, LOCAL UNION No. 207, AFL.
Case No. 5-R 1391.-Decided November 02,1943
Mr. R. E. Larry, of Pittsburgh, Pa., for the Company.
Mr. Del Barr, of-Martinsburg, W. Va., for the Union.
Miss Frances Lopinsky, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by United Cement, Lime and Gypsum
Workers International Union, Local Union No. 207, AFL, herein called
the Union, alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen con-
cerning the representation of employees of Pittsburgh Limestone Cor-
poration (Subsidiary of U. S. Steel Corporation), herein called the
Company,'the National Labor Relations Board provided for an appro-
priate hearing upon due notice before Robert A. Levett, Trial Exam-
iner. Said hearing was held at Charlestown, West Virginia, on Octo-
ber 21, 1943. 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.
The Trial Examiner's rulings made at the hearing are free from prej -
udicial 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
Pittsburgh Limestone Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of
United States Steel Corporation, is a Pennsylvania corporation. The
Company is engaged in quarrying, mining and processing furnace-
stone, limestone, and dolomite which are used in the production of iron
53N,L. R.B.,No:149,
810
PITTSBURGH LIMESTONE CORPORATION' I ' ' Sill
and steel. The only plant of the Company involved in this proceeding
is located at Millville, West Virginia, and is known as the Moler plant.
This plant quarries and processes dolomite. Much of- the equipment
and supplies used by the Moler plant originate outside the -State of
West Virginia. This plant produces dolomite at the estimated. rate of
800,000 tons per annum, of which the larger portion is shipped to points
outside the State of West Virginia.
The Company admits that it is engaged' in commerce' within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED
United Cement, Lime and Gypsum Workers International Union,
Local Union No. 207, affiliated with the American Federation f Labor,
is a labor organization admitting to membership employees of the
Company.
M. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company has refused to grant, recognition to the Union as the
exclusive bargaining representative of its employees until the Union
has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit.
A statement of the Field Examiner, introduced into evidence at
the hearing, indicates that the Union represents a substantial number
of employees in the unit hereinafter found 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
The Union requests a unit of all production and maintenance em-
ployees of the Moler plant at Millville , West Virginia , including
watchmen and patrolmen, but excluding clerical , technical ,, medical,
and supervisory employees. The Company agrees that the 'unit
requested is appropriate except for the inclusion of watchmen and
patrolmen whom it classifies as confidential employees.
I The Field Examiner reported that the Union submitted 61 application -for-membetohip
cards all of which bore apparently. genuine original signatures ; that the names of 59 per-
sons appearing on the cards were listed on the Company's pay roll of 'September 25, 1943,
which contained the names of 93 employees in the appropriate unit; that, the cards were
dated in the months of April through September 1943.
2 The Company specified and the Union agreed that under these general headings, the
.persons holding the following positions with the Company should be excluded : ( asteraakt
indicate positions unfilled at present) plant superintendent , assistant plant 'superintend-
ent*, plant engineer *, general foreman , master mechanic,' chief electrician, tipple fore-
man, chief clerk and paymaster , timetaker and clerk, stenographer and clerk,, stenographer,
storekeeper , assistant storekeeper , first clerk*, second clerk*, junior clerk*, and plant
physician . The Company employs a labor foreman who is in charge of a small group of
laborers. Both parties agree that he should be included in the duct because,,he has no
power to discipline and is simply a gang leader.
812 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
The watchmen, like the production and maintenance employees, are
under the supervision of the plant superintendent. They are, paid,
on an hourly basis, a wage comparable to that paid the production
and maintenance employees. They work in three shifts, three men to
a shift, patrolling the plant, performing minor maintenance work in
the course of their rounds. They take turns performing stationary
guard duty at specific posts. They are recruited from the ranks of
the production and maintenance employees and sometimes return' to
those ranks. Although some of them are armed,, they are neither
militarized nor uniformed. They do not have access to confidential
records bearing on labor relations of the Company. In view of the
nature of their duties, the fact that they are not militarized and the
`interchange of personnel between the watchmen and the maintenance
and production employees, it is our opinion that the watchmen do not
constitute an occupational group distinct,from maintenance and pro=
duction workers. We shall, therefore, include watchmen and patrol-
men in the unit.
We find that all production and maintenance employees of the
Company's Moler plant at' Millville, West Virginia, including watch-
men and patrolmen, but excluding clerical, technical, and medical
employees and all supervisory employees with authority to hire, pro-
mote, 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.
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 Rela-
tions 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 Pittsburgh Lime-
stone Corporation (Subsidiary of U. S. Steel Corporation), an election
by secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later
PITTSBURGH LIMESTONE CORPORATION 813
than thirty (30) days from the date of this Direction, under the direc-
tion and supervision of the Regional Director for the Fifth 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 Regu-
lations, 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 or not they desire to be repre-
sented by United Cement, Lime and Gypsum Workers International
Union, Local Union No. 207, affiliated with: the American Federation
of Labor for the purposes of collective bargaining. .
559015-44-vol. 53-53