Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Co.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Dec 4, 1939

18 N.L.R.B. 115 (N.L.R.B. 1939)

In the Matter Of WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC & MANUFACTURING
COMPANY and WESTINGHOUSE EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION, INC. (IN-
DEPENDENT)
Case No. R-1570.-Decided December 4, 1939
Electrical Products Manufacturing Industry-Investigation of Representatives:
controversy concerning representation of employees : refusal of employer to
recognize petitioning union-Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining: con-
troversy between craft union and industrial unions as to appropriate unit ;
craft unit held inappropriate because of failure to show substantial member-
ship in such unit and no collective bargaining history on a craft basis ; hourly
paid employees , excluding supervisors , clerical employees , designing and techni-
cal engineers , tool designers , draftsmen , time-study employees , and policemen;
constituting an appropriate unit; stipulation as to-Representatives : claim of
two industrial unions to represent majority ; substantial doubt as to choice
of majority-Election: ordered
Mr. Bernard Bralove and Mr. Harry Lodish, for the Board.
Mr. William E. Miller, of Pittsburgh, Pa., for the Company.
Mr. Edwin Beal, of Mansfield, Ohio, and Mr. James J. Mattes, of
New York, N. Y., for the United,
Mr. S. G. Bushman, of Mansfield, Ohio, for the Association.
Mr. A. G. Skundor, of New Castle, Pa., for the I. A. M.
Mr. Allan Lind, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On March 27 and August 17, 1939, respectively, Westinghouse
Employees Association, Incorporated, herein called the Association,
filed with the Regional Director for the Eighth Region (Cleveland,
Ohio) a petition and an amended petition alleging that a question
affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of
employees of Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company,
Mansfield, Ohio, herein called the Company, and requesting an in-
vestigation and certification of representatives pursuant to Section
9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called
18 N. L. R. B., No. 15.
115
116 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
the Act. On August 25, 1939, 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, ordered an investigation and authorized
the Regional Director to conduct it and to provide for an appro-
priate hearing upon due notice.
On October 2, 1939, the Regional Director issued a notice of
hearing, copies of which were duly served upon the Company, upon
the representative for the Association herein, and upon United
Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America, Local 711, herein
called the United, a labor organization claiming to represent em-
ployees directly affected by the investigation.
Pursuant to the notice, a hearing was held on October 23, 1939, at
Cleveland, Ohio, before Earl S. Bellman, the Trial Examiner duly
designated by the Board. At the hearing the International Associa-
tion of Machinists, Local No. 453, herein called the I. A. M., a labor
organization claiming to represent certain employees directly affected
by the investigation, filed a motion requesting leave to intervene in
the proceeding. This motion was granted by the Trial Examiner.
The Board and the Company were represented by counsel; the United
by counsel and an international representative; the Association by
its president; and the I. A. M. by a duly .authorized representative.
All 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. During the course of
the hearing the Trial Examiner made several rulings on motions and
on objections to the admission of evidence. The Board has re-
viewed the rulings of the Trial Examiner and finds that no preju-
dicial errors were committed. The rulings are hereby affirmed. At
the conclusion of the hearing the United moved to dismiss the petition
of the Association on the ground that no question concerning rep-
resentation had arisen. On the basis of the facts set forth in Section
III below, the motion is hereby denied.
Pursuant to leave granted by the Board, the Association and the
United filed briefs. The Board has considered the arguments
presented therein.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following:
FINDINGS OF FACT
I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company is a Pennsyl-
vania corporation having headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Plants of the Company are located in California, Maryland, Massa-
WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC & MANUFACTURING COMPANY 117
chusetts, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Plants
of company subsidiaries are located in Connecticut, New Jersey, and
New York. The Company has and transacts business through sales
offices, agent-jobbers, service shops, and warehouses in various cities
throughout the United States, as well as abroad.
These proceedings are concerned solely with the plant of the Com-
pany, hereinafter referred to as the Mansfield plant, located at Mans-
field, Ohio. The Company engages at its Mansfield plant in the
manufacture of electric refrigerator cabinets, electric water heaters,
electric dish washers, electric irons, electric roasters, commercial
thermostats, and, miscellaneous electric heating table appliances.
After selling such products the Company affords its customers free
service for defective workmanship and materials for a period of 1
year, except that on refrigerator units it renders free service for a
period of 4 years. It also renders unlimited repair service, after a
guarantee period, at a nominal cost to the customer.
During the year 1938, approximately 75 per cent of the raw mate-
rial used in the Mansfield plant in the course of manufacture came
from outside the State of Ohio, and approximately 95 per cent of
the finished products of said plant were shipped from the plant in
the regular course of business to points outside the State of Ohio.
During the year 1938, the total amount of purchases at said plant
was approximately $10,000,000 and the total amount of sales was
approximately $15,000,000. The total volume of business of the
Company during 1938 amounted to $136,712,279. The Company
employed at the Mansfield plant during the week of October 17,
1939, 3,253 persons, including supervisors, salaried employees, and
other employees.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
Westinghouse Employees Association, Inc., is a labor organization
incorporated under the laws of Ohio, admitting to its membership all
hourly paid employees, except those having executive authority, at
the Mansfield plant of the Company. It has no national affiliation.
United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America, Local
711, is a labor organization chartered by United Electrical, Radio &
Machine Workers of America, a labor organization affiliated with the
Congress of Industrial Organizations. The United admits to its mem-
bership all hourly paid employees of the Company except super-
visors and clerical employees.
The International Association of Machinists, Local No. 453, is a
labor organization affiliated with the American Federation of Labor.
It admits to membership all tool and die makers, maintenance ma-
chinists, their helpers and apprentices employed by the Company at
its Mansfield plant.
11S DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
In 1937 the United began a campaign among the Mansfield plant
employees to have itself designated as their sole representative for
the purposes of collective bargaining. Shortly thereafter the Asso-
ciation also began to organize. The campaign of both organizations
continued throughout 1937 and 1938. On January 10, 1939, the Asso-
ciation requested the Company to recognize it as the exclusive bar-
gaining representative for all hourly paid employees of the Mansfield
plant, excluding certain classifications. The Company declined to do
so unless and until the petitioner had been so certified by the Board.
We find that a question has arisen concerning 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
The Company, the United, and the Association stipulated that all
hourly paid employees, excluding supervisors, clerical employees, de-
signing and technical engineers, tool designers, draftsmen, time-study
employees, and policemen, constitute a unit appropriate for the
purposes of collective bargaining. The I. A. M. objected to the
stipulated unit and requested that the tool and die makers, mainte-
nance machinists, their helpers and apprentices, be excluded from
said unit and be constituted a separate unit. However, aside from
the claim of the I. A. M. to "a membership" among the employees,
there was no showing that the I. A. M. represented any of the
Company's employees. Furthermore, there is no history of collective
bargaining on a craft basis which would tend to establish the claim
of the I. A. M. In the absence of more substantial evidence than is
here revealed we cannot grant the request of the I. A. M.'
We find that the hourly paid employees of the Company at its
Mansfield plant, exclusive of supervisors, clerical employees, design-
ing and technical engineers, tool designers, draftsmen, time-study
employees, and policemen, constitute a unit appropriate for the pur-
1Matter of Allis -Chalmers Manufacturing Company and International Union, United
Automobile Workers of America, Local 21,8, 4 N. L. R. B. 159, 199.
WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY 119
poses of collective bargaining, and that said unit will insure to
employees of the Company the full benefit of their right to self-
organization and to collective bargaining and otherwise effectuate
the policies of the Act.2
VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
In its petition the Association claimed that approximately 1,300
of the respondent's employees had designated it as their collective
bargaining agency and that the United had made a similar claim.
We find that the question concerning representation which has arisen
can best be resolved by holding an election by secret ballot. We shall
direct that such an election be held. Those persons eligible to par-
ticipate in the election shall be the employees in the appropriate
unit who were employed by the Company at its Mansfield plant dur-
ing the pay-roll period next preceding this Direction, including
employees who did not work during such pay-roll period because
they were ill or on vacation and employees who were then or have
since been temporarily laid off, but excluding those who have since
quit or been discharged for cause.
Upon the basis of the above findings of fact and upon the entire
record in the case, the Board makes the following :
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
1. A question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the rep-
resentation of employees of Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing
Company, Mansfield, Ohio, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and
Section 2 (6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act.
2. The hourly paid employees of the Company at its Mansfield
plant, excluding supervisors, clerical employees, designing and
technical engineers, tool designers, draftsmen, time-study employees,
and policemen, 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, 49 Stat. 449, and pursuant to Article III, Section 8, of
National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2,
it is hereby
2 See Matter of Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company and United Electrical,
Radio & Machine Workers of America, Local 724, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial
Organizations . 14 N. L. R. B. 263.
283029-41-vol. 18-9
120 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
DIRECTED that, as a part of the investigation authorized by the
Board to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective
bargaining with Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company,
Mansfield , Ohio, 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 Eighth 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 hourly paid em-
ployees of the Mansfield plant of Westinghouse Electric & Manufac-
turing Company, who were employed by the Company during the
pay-roll period next preceding the date of this Direction , including
employees who did not work during such pay-roll period because they
were ill or on vacation and employees who were then or have since
been temporarily laid off , but excluding all persons who have quit or
have been discharged for cause since that date, and further exclud-
ing all supervisors , clerical employees, designing and technical engi-
neers, tool designers , draftsmen , time-study employees , and policemen,
to determine whether they desire to be represented by Westinghouse
Employees Association , Inc., or by United Electrical , Radio &
Machine Workers of America, Local 711 , affiliated with the Congress
of Industrial Organizations , for the purposes of collective bargaining,
or by neither.
[SAME TITLE]
AMENDMENT TO DIRECTION OF ELECTION
December 16, 1939
On December 4, 1939, the National Labor Relations Board , herein
called the Board, issued a Decision and Direction of Election in the
above-entitled proceeding . The Direction of Election directed that
an election by secret ballot be conducted as early as possible but not
later than thirty ( 30) days from the date of the Direction among all
hourly paid employees of the Mansfield plant of Westinghouse Elec-
tric & Manufacturing Company, who were employed by the Company
during the pay-roll period next preceding the date of the Direction,
including employees who did not work during such pay-roll period
because they were ill or on vacation and employees who were then
or had since been temporarily laid off, but excluding all persons who
had quit or had been discharged for cause since that date, and further
excluding all supervisors, clerical employees , designing and technical
engineers , tool designers , draftsmen , time-study employees , and police-
men, to determine whether they desired to be represented by West-
WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC & MANUFACTURING COMPANY 121
inghouse Employees Association, Inc., or by United Electrical, Radio
& Machine Workers of America, Local 711, affiliated with the Con-
gress of Industrial Organizations, for the purposes of collective bar-
gaining, or by neither.
The Board, having been advised that United Electrical, Radio &
Machine Workers of America does not desire its name to appear upon
this ballot, hereby amends the Direction of Election by striking there-
from the words "to determine whether they desire to be represented
by Westinghouse Employees Association, Inc., or by United Elec-
trical, Radio & Machine Workers of America, Local 711, affiliated
with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, for the purposes of
collective bargaining, or by neither" and substituting therefor the
words "to determine whether or not they desire to be represented by
Westinghouse Employees Association, Inc., for the purposes of col-
lective bargaining."
18 N. L. R. B., No. 15a.