Vard, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Aug 27, 1945

63 N.L.R.B. 572 (N.L.R.B. 1945)

In the Matter Of VARD, INC. and MECHANICS EDUCATIONAL SOCIETY OF
AMERICA, LOCAL 75
, Case No. 21-R-2933.-Decided August 07,1945
Dick Coleman and Associates, by Mr. Dick Coleman, of Los Angeles,
Calif., and Mr. Arthur Hailey, of Pasadena, Calif., for the Company.
Messrs. K. E. Pauli and Richard Franklin, of Los Angeles, Calif.,
for the M. E. S. A.
Mr. Archie B. Patterson, of Los Angeles, Calif., for the U. A. W.
Mr. Joseph D. Manders, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon a petition duly filed by Mechanics Educational Society of
America, Local 75, herein called the M. E. S. A., alleging that a ques-
tion affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of
employees of Vard, Inc., Pasadena, California, herein called the Com-
pany, the National Labor Relations Board provided for an appropriate
hearing upon due notice before David Aaron, Trial Examiner. , Said
hearing was held at Los Angeles, California, on July 3, 1945. The
Company, the M. E. S. A., and the United Automobile, Aircraft &
Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW-CIO) ,1 herein
called the U. A. W., 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. The Trial
Examiner's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial
error and are hereby affirmed. All parties were afforded an oppor-
tunity to file briefs with the Board.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Vard, Inc., a California corporation, is engaged in the manufacture
of hydraulic and gear activators and valves, drafting machines, navi-
I The CIO's motion to intervene was granted.
63 N. L. R. B., No. 89.
572
VARD, INC. 573
gational plotters, gages, and optical parts. Its principal place of busi-
ness, located in Pasadena, California, is involved in this proceeding.
The Company annually purchases materials and parts, valued in excess
of $400,000, practically all of which are shipped from points inside
the State of California. The Company's annual sales are in excess of
$2,000,000, approximately 40 percent of which is shipped to points out-
side the State of California; and its remaining sales are to intrastate
customers who are engaged in interstate commerce.
The Company admits that its operations affect commerce within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act, and we so find.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
Mechanics Educational Society of America, Local 75, is a labor
organization admitting to membership employees of the Company.
United Automobile, Aircraft & Agricultural Implement Workers
of America (UAW), affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organ-
izations, is a labor organization admitting to membership employees of
the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company has refused to grant recognition to the M. E. S. A.
as the exclusive bargaining representative of its production and mainte-
nance employees until the M. E. S. A. has been certified by the Board
in an appropriate unit.
A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the hear-
ing, indicates that the M. E. S. A. represents a substantial number of
employees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.2
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 parties stipulated and we find that all employees of the Com-
pany, excluding office employees, guards, nurses, temporary employees,
personnel department employees, secretaries to supervisory employees,
2 The Field Examiner reported that the M . E. S. A. submitted 208 application cards,
180 of which bore apparently genuine original signatures of persons appearing on the Com-
pany's pay roll of May 15, 1945, which contained the names of 233 employees in the appro-
priate unit ; and that the cards were dated from February to June 1945 , inclusive . Twenty
cards were undated.
The U. A. W submitted 58 application cards, 53 of which bore apparently genuine orig-
inal signatures The names of 53 persons appearing on the cards were listed on the afore-
said pay roll . The cards were dated December 1944 and from January to May 1945,
inclusive . Five cards were undated.
The International Association of Machinists , A. F. L., United Electrical, Radio & Machine
Workers, C . I 0., United Mine Workers of America, L. A. Industrial Council, CIO, and
Central Labor Council, AFL , were requested to submit representation evidence , but did
not do so.
574 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
engineering department employees, executives, foremen, group lead-
ers, small department heads, other supervisory employees above the
grade of leadmaii, and all other supervisory employees who have
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.'
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 Elec-
tion 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 3, as amended, it is
hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Vard, Inc., Pasa-
dena, California, 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 Twenty-first 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 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 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 any 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 Mechanics Educational Society of
America, Local 75, or by United Automobile, Aircraft & Agricultural
Implement ,Workers of America (UAW-CIO), for the purposes of
collective bargaining,-or by neither.
3 The Company submitted in evidence 'a list of the names of employees of the Company
who fall within the unit agreed upon