Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jul 9, 1937

3 N.L.R.B. 1 (N.L.R.B. 1937)

DECISIONS AND ORDERS OF THE NATIONAL LABOR
RELATIONS BOARD
In the Matter Of WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC & MANUFACTURING COM-
PANY and UNITED ELECTRICAL & RADIO WORKERS OF AMERICA,
LOCAL No. 601, INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL
WORKERS, and EMPLOYEES REPRESENTATION PLAN OF WESTINGHOUSE
ELECTRIC & MANUFACTURING COMPANY
Case No. R-158-Decided July 9, 1937
Electric Equipment Manufacturing Industry-Investigation of Represent-
atives: controversy concerning representation of employees-rival organiza-
tions ; refusal by employer to recognize union as exclusive representative-
question affecting commerce : confusion and unrest among employees-Unit
Appropriate for Collective Bargaining: organization of business; eligibility for
membership in labor organization ; employees on hourly wage basis ; no contro-
versy as to-Represa tatives: proof of choice: membership in union; signature
of cards authorizing union as bargaining agency--Certification of Representa-
tives: after investigation but without election.
Mr. Robert H. Kleeb for the Board.
Mr. William E. Miller, of Pittsburgh, Pa., for the Company.
Mr. Alexander Shaw, of Pittsburgh, Pa., for United Electrical &
Radio Workers of America, Local No. 601.
Mr. Alexander B. Hawes, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
STATEMENT OF CASE.
On April 26, 1937, United Electrical & Radio Workers of America,
Local No. 601, herein called the Union, filed with the Regional Di-
rector for the Sixth Region (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), a petition
alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning
the representation of the employees, except supervisory employees,
working at the East Pittsburgh Works, Trafford Works, and Home-
wood Service Works (including Linhart and Copper Mill) of West-
inghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company, East Pittsburgh, Penn-
sylvania, herein called the Company, and requesting the National
I
NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Labor Relations Board to conduct an investigation pursuant to Sec-
tion 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat . 449, herein
called the Act. On May 6, 1937, the Union filed an amended peti-
tion, which was to the same effect except that it designated the em-
ployees involved as all "check" (i. e., hourly rate) employees in such
plants. On May •14, 1937, the Board, acting pursuant to Section
9 (c) of the Act and Article III, Section 3 of National Labor Rela-
tions Board Rules and Regulations-Series 1, as amended, author-
ized the Regional Director to conduct an investigation and to pro-
vide for an appropriate hearing. On June 4, 1937 , the Regional
Director issued a notice of a hearing to be held at Pittsburgh, Penn-
sylvania , on June 11 , 1937, copies of which were duly served upon
the Company , upon the Union, upon a representative of the Inter-
national Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, herein called the Broth-
erhood, a labor organization named in the petition as claiming to
represent the Company's employees, and upon certain officers of the
Employees Representation Plan of Westinghouse Electric & Manu-
facturing Company, hereinafter referred to as the E . R. P., a labor
organization which, preliminary investigation indicated , purported
to represent some of such employees.
Pursuant to the notice , a hearing was held at Pittsburgh, Penn-
sylvania , on June 11 , 1937, before David M. Harrison , the Trial
Examiner duly designated by the Board. The Board, the Company,
and the Union were represented by counsel and participated in the
hearing. Neither the Brotherhood nor the E. R. P. appeared or
took any part in the proceedings. On June 18, 1937, the Board
caused the issuance of a notice of a further hearing, to be held at
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on June 24, 1937. Copies were duly
served upon counsel for the Company and the Union . Pursuant to
the notice , a hearing was held at Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania, on June
24, 1937 , before the same Trial Examiner. The Board, the Company,
and the Union were again represented by counsel.
At both hearings , full opportunity to be heard , to examine and
cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing on the
issues was afforded all parties appearing. No motions or exceptions
to rulings of the Trial Examiner were made during the course of
either hearing.
Upon the entire record in the case the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE COMPANY AND ITS BUSINESS
Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company is a Pennsyl-
vania corporation , incorporated April 9, 1872, having executive
offices in East Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania, and New York, New York.
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 3
The Company and its subsidiaries manufacture and sell machinery
and appliances for the generation, transmission, and utilization of
electricity. To name specifically a few of its electrical products,
the Company makes generators, refrigerators, vacuum cleaners,
lamps, switches, air-conditioning equipment, locomotives, elevators,
fans, furnaces, transformers, and x-ray equipment. The principal
plants of the Company are located in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts,
New York, Ohio, New Jersey, California, and Missouri. Subsidi-
aries own important plants in New Jersey, Connecticut, Illinois,
New York, and Norway. The Company and its subsidiaries own
warehouses and office buildings in New York, Illinois, Michigan,
Missouri, Minnesota, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, California, Oregon,
Washington, and Florida. The Company's advertising material lists
customers for at least one of its products in 41 States, two terri-
tories, and six foreign countries. It lists sales offices in 105, "agent-
jobbers" in 83, and "service shops" in 36 cities throughout the United
States.
The plants with which we are concerned comprise what is desig-
nated by the Company as its East Pittsburgh Division. They are
located at East Pittsburgh, Trafford, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The East Pittsburgh Works manufactures large electrical equipment,
such as generators, motors, switchgears, and electrical railway equip-
ment. It also contains a copper rolling mill, a research laboratory,
and office buildings. The Trafford Works contains an iron foundry
and a plant for the manufacture of micarta products. The Home-
wood Works, in Pittsburgh, is a plant devoted to renewal parts and
service of equipment. The East Pittsburgh Division employs ap-
proximately 11,500 hourly rate workers, exclusive of supervisory, and
clerical employees.
Approximately half of the materials purchased by the Company
in its operation of this Division are bought outside Pennsylvania.
About 90 per cent of the finished products of the Division are
shipped to destinations outside Pennsylvania.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
United Electrical & Radio Workers of America, Local No. 601, is
a labor organization admitting to its membership hourly rate em-
ployees (except supervisory employees) working in the East Pitts-
burgh Division of the Company. It is a local union, member of an
international union affiliated with the Cominittee for Industrial
Organization.
The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers also is a
labor organization, claiming to represent a majority of the Com-
pany's employees. The Employees Representation Plan of Westing-
house Electric & Manufacturing Company is another labor organiza-
4 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
tion existing among Company employees. The conditions of admis-
sion to membership in these two organizations do not appear from
the record.
III. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
At the original hearing the Company stipulated that the number
of hourly rate employees in the works of the East Pittsburgh Divi-
sion was 11,521, distributed among the different departments as
follows :
I eeder Division------------------------------------------ 2914
Factory Service------------------------------------------- 1696
Generator Division--------------------------------------- 1939
Micarta Division----------------------------------------- 311
Motor Division------------------------------------------- 2358
Printing Division----------------------------------------- 202
Switchgear Division-------------------------------------- 2037
Miscellaneous--------------------------------------------- 64
Total----------------------------------------------- 11521
These figures do not include supervisory or clerical employees.
Some of these departments are confined to one or two of the plants,
but others have employees in all of them. As indicated above, all of
these plants are included by the Company in a single administrative
division, the East Pittsburgh Division, which corresponds to divi-
sions of the Company in other localities, such as the separate divi-
sions at Cleveland, Ohio, and at Mansfield, Ohio. The East Pitts-
burg Division is under the charge of a single official of the Company.
This feature of the Company's organization is reflected in the or-
ganization of the Union. It, too, treats the various plants at East
Pittsburgh, Trafford, and Homewood, including Linhart and Cop-
per Mill, as a single unit, and its membership is open and confined
to employees in that unit. The Union claims that the bargaining
unit should include employees in all of these various plants. At the
hearing no objection was raised to this contention.
The amended petition designates the "check" (hourly rate) em-
ployees in the East Pittsburgh Division as the appropriate bargain-
ing unit. Such a designation would include only production em-
ployees, excluding clerical help. It would also include certain super-
visory employees if literally interpreted. It is clear, however, that
the Union does not intend to include foremen in the unit. Such em-
ployees are not admitted to its membership. Nor did the testimony
given at the hearing as to the number of hourly rate employees,
which was clearly intended to show the size of the proposed bar-
gaining unit, include any supervisory employees.
We therefore find that, in order to insure to the employees of the
East Pittsburgh Division of Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 5
Company the full benefit of their right to self-organization and col-
lective bargaining, and otherwise to effectuate the policies of the
Act, all of the Company's hourly rate employees in such Division,
except supervisory employees, constitute a unit appropriate for the
purposes of collective bargaining.
IV. QUESTION CONCERNING, REPRESENTATION
Both the Union and the Brotherhood claim to represent a majority
of the employees of the East Pittsburgh Division of the Company.
Certain representatives of the E. R. P. have written to the Regional
Director stating that they do not believe the Union has the support
of the majority of the employees at the East Pittsburgh works.
The Company, however, has indicated its willingness to bargain
collectively with the Union as the sole bargaining agent, if the Na-
tional Labor Relations Board determines that the Union has been
designated as representative by such a majority. It has stated that
it wishes to have evidence of majority representation, since, as it
says, other groups also claim to represent members in the Division.
The Company's present refusal to recognize the Union as sole
bargaining agent has created resentment and dissatisfaction among
the employees who are members of the Union.
V. THE EFFECT OF TIIE QUESTION OF REPRESENTATION ON COMMERCE
We find that the question of representation which has thus arisen,
in connection with the operations of the Company described in Sec-
tion 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.
VI. THE EXCLUSIVE BARGAINING AGENCY
The bargaining unit stated above included, at the time of the orig-
inal hearing, 11,521 employees.
At the second hearing, the secretary of the Union produced books
containing a record of the Union membership. These showed the
names of a total of 7,207 employees in the East Pittsburgh Division
as having joined the Union since its formation in 1935. Among
these are the names of members who have since died. According
to a count made by the secretary within the past three months,
the deceased members number not more than 15. All others were
members at the date of the hearing. Certain clerical employees are
apparently admitted to membership in the Union, but of course
should not be counted in determining a majority of the unit set
49446-38-vol irr--2
6 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
forth above. The secretary testified, however, that not more than
100 of the members carried on the Union books belonged in this
category.
In addition to the book record of members, a batch of Union
membership application cards was produced at the hearing signed
by hourly rate employees whose names had not yet been recorded.
Thirty-five of such employees had already paid their initiation fees,
while 29 had not. Each card carried the following statement : "The
undersigned hereby authorizes and requests the United Electrical
and Radio Workers of America, through its officers, to represent me
for the purpose of collective bargaining with regard to wages, hours
and working conditions."
Since one of the purposes of the Union is to carry on collective
bargaining for its members, all members must be considered as hav-
ing designated the Union as their representative for this purpose.
We are, therefore, justified in counting all present recorded mem-
bers, except clerical employees, together with all persons who have
signed membership applications, in determining whether the Union
has been designated as the collective bargaining agency by a ma-
jority of the East Pittsburgh Division employees. On this basis
the Union appears to have been so designated by at least 7,156 em-
ployees in the unit of 11,521, a clear majority. No secret ballot is
necessary, and we will certify the Union as the exclusive representa-
tive of all the employees in the appropriate unit.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
Upon the basis of the above findings of fact, the Board makes the
following conclusions of law :
1. All hourly rate employees employed by Westinghouse Electric
& Manufacturing Company in the East Pittsburgh, Trafford, and
Home Service Works, including Linhart and Copper Mill, except
supervisory employees, constitute a, unit appropriate for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining, within the meaning of Section 9 (b)
of the National Labor Relations Act. ,
2. A question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the rep-
resentation of the employees in the aforesaid unit, within the mean-
ing of Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act.
3. United Electrical & Radio Workers of America, Local No. 601,
having been selected for the purposes of collective bargaining by
the majority of the employees in the aforesaid unit, is, by virtue of
Section 9 (a) of the National Labor Relations Act, the exclusive rep-
resentative of all the employees in such unit for the purposes of
collective bargaining in respect to rates of pay, wages, hours of em-
ployment and other conditions of employment.
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 7
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, 49 Stat. 449, and pursuant to Article III, Section 8 of
National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 1,
as amended,
IT IS HEREBY CERTIFIED that United Electrical & Radio Workers
of America, Local No. 601, has been designated and selected by a ma-
jority of the hourly rate employees, employed by Westinghouse Elec-
tric & Manufacturing Company in its East Pittsburgh, Trafford, and
Homewood Service Works, including Linhart and Copper Mill, ex-
cluding supervisory employees, as their representative for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining, and that, pursuant to the provisions of
Section 9 (a) of the Act, United Electrical & Radio Workers of Amer-
ica, Local No. 601, is the exclusive representative of all such em-
ployees for the purposes of collective bargaining in respect to rates
of pay, wages, hours of employment, and other conditions of employ-
ment.