Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Co.Download PDFNational Labor Relations Board - Board DecisionsMay 3, 194131 N.L.R.B. 574 (N.L.R.B. 1941) Copy Citation } In the Matter of WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC & MANUFACTURING COM- PANY (CINCINNATI SERVICE SHOP) and INTERNATIONAL BROTHER- HOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS, LOCAL UNION B-212 (AFFILIATED WITH THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR) Case No. R-2474.-Decided May 3, 1941 Jurisdiction : electrical equipment manufacturing industry. Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question: re- fusal to accord union recognition until it is certified by the Board ; election necessary. Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : all employees at one of the Com- pany's plants excluding those in the general office, salesmen, porters, ele- vator men, and all employees having the right to hire and discharge; stipulation as to. Mr. William E. Miller, of Pittsburgh, Pa., for the Company. Mr. W. H. Wilson, of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, and Mr. E. C. Bundy, of Cincinnati, Ohio, for the Union. Mr. Herbert Shenkin, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION STATEMENT OF THE CASE On March 25, 1941, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local Union B-212, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, herein called the Union, filed with the Regional Director for the Ninth Region (Cincinnati, Ohio) a petition alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company (Cincinnati Service Shop), herein called the Company, and requesting an investigation and certification of representatives pursuant to Sec- tion 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act', 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On April 10, 1941, the -National Labor Relations Board, herein called the Board, acting pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the Act and Article III, Section 3, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, ordered an investigation and authorized the Regional Director to conduct it and to provide for an appropriate hearing upon due notice. 31 N. L. R. B., No. 94. 574 - WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC & MANUFACTURING CO. 575 On April 10, 1941, the Regional Director issued a notice of hearing, copies of which were duly served upon the Company and the Union. Pursuant to the notice a hearing was held on April 14, 1941, in Cincin- nati, Ohio, before Drexel A. Sprecher, the Trial Examiner duly desig- nated by the Chief Trial Examiner. The company was represented by counsel and the Union by its representatives; both participated in the hearing. Full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing on the issues was afforded all parties. The Board has reviewed the various rulings of the Trial Examiner and finds that no prejudicial errors were committed. - Upon the entire record in the case the Board makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company is a Pennsyl- vania corporation, with its principal office and place of? business in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is engaged in the manufacture, sale, and distribution of a wide variety of electrical machinery and equip- ment and has numerous plants in various parts of the United States. The present proceeding concerns only its place of business in Cincin- nati, Ohio, known as the Cincinnati Service Shop, where the Company manufactures and services switchboards, panelboards, transformers, and other related electrical equipment. The chief raw materials used at the Cincinnati Service-Shop are rolled steel, cast iron, rolled and drawn copper, and various insulating materials. The monthly pur= chases of raw materials for the Cincinnati Service Shop averaged $13,722 during 1940; approximately 80 per cent of such purchases were shipped to the Cincinnati Service Shop from outside the State of Ohio. The average monthly production of the Cincinnati Service Shop is approximately $37,000, and about 55 per cent of these products are shipped outside the State of Ohio. The total number of employees at the Cincinnati Service Shop on March 31, 1941, was 67. H. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local Union B-212, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, is a labor or- ganization admitting to membership all production employees exclu- sive of supervisory and clerical employees. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION The Company has refused to grant the Union exclusive bargaining rights until the Union is certified as such representative by the Board. 576 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS, BOARD A statement of an attorney for the Board, introduced in evidence, indicates that a substantial number of the Company's employees within the unit alleged and hereinafter' found to be appropriate have designated the Union as their bargaining representative.' We find that a question has arisen concerning the representation of employees of the Company. IV. THE EFFECT OF THE QUESTION, CONCERNING REPRESENTATION UPON COMMERCE We find that the question concerning ,representation which has arisen, occurring in connection with the operations of the Company described in Section 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. V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT In accordance with a stipulation of the parties at the hearing we find that all the employees of the Company at the Cincinnati Service Shop, excluding those in the general office, salesmen, porters, elevator men, and all employees having the right to hire and discharge, con- stitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining, and that said unit will insure to employees of the Company at the Cincinnati Service Shop the full benefit of their right to self -organi- zation and to collective bargaining and otherwise effectuate the policies of the Act. VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES We find that the question concerning representation which has arisen can best be resolved by an election by secret ballot. We shall direct that all employees of the Company at the Cincinnati Service Shop, in the appropriate unit as indicated in Section V above, who were employed during the pay-roll period last preceding this Direc- tion of Election, subject to such limitations and additions as are set forth in the Direction, shall be eligible to vote.2 ' The attorney reported that he had examined 28 signed applications for membership in the Union , 19 of which are dated between February 4 and April 11, 1941, and 9 of which are undated. He further reported that he'had checked the pay roll of March 31 , 1941, for the Cincinnati Service Shop and found that there are 44 employees within the unitialleged by the Union to be'appropriate , and that the name of each of the 28 persons who had signed 1G: applications for membership in the Union was on that pay roll. 2 The parties agreed at the hearing that the pay roll of March 31, 1941, a copy of which was introduced into evidence at the hearing , might be used in the election. No reason appears, however , 'why the Board'should depart from its usual practice of ordering use of the pay roll immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Election WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC & MANUFACTURING CO. 577 Upon the basis of the above findings of fact and the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following : CONCLUSIONS OF LAw 1. A question affecting commerce has arisen concerning repre- sentation of employees of Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company (Cincinnati Service Shop), within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act. - - 2. All the employees of the Company in the Cincinnati Service Shop, excluding those in the general office, salesmen, porters, elevator men, and all employees having- the right to hire and discharge, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the National Labor Relations Act. 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 Re- lations Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 8, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and 'Regulations-Series 2, as amended, it is hereby DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation authorized by the Board to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company (Cincinnati•Service Shop), an election by secret ballot shall be con- ducted as early as possible but not later than thirty (30) days from the date of.this Direction of Election, under the direction and super- vision of the Regional Director for the Ninth Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board and subject to Article-III, Section 9, of said Rules and Regulations, among all employees employed by Westinghouse Electric- & Manufacturing Company at the Cincinnati Service Shop during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction of Election, includ- ing any who' did not work during said 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 em- ployees in the general office, salesmen, porters, elevator men, all employees having the right to hire and discharge, and any who have since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whather,-or not they desire to be represented by ' International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers",;Local Union.B-212 (affiliated with the American Federation of, Labor), for the purposes of collective bargaining: - Copy with citationCopy as parenthetical citation