Wilson-Jones Company

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

May 29, 1939

12 N.L.R.B. 1351 (N.L.R.B. 1939)

In the Matter Of WILSON-JONES COMPANY and METAL POLISHERS,
BUFFERS, PLATERS & HELPERS INTERNATIONAL UNION , LOCAL No. 6
In the Matter of WILSON-JONES COMPANY and INTERNATIONAL Asso-
CIATION OF MAOHINISTS, DISTRICT No. 8
Cases Nos. R-1167 and R-1166, respectively. Decided May 29, 1939
General Office Supplies Manufacturing Industry-Investigation of Representa-
taves: controversy concerning representation of employees : rival organizations;
refusal by employer to negotiate changes in agreement with petitioning craft
union and execution of exclusive bargaining agreement with industrial union ;
exclusive bargaining agreement not claimed bar to proceeding-Unit Appropriate
for Collective Bargaining : tool and die makers and maintenance machinists in
toolroom : separate and distinct group in certain respects ; history of contractual
relationship ; factors determinative of their exclusion from or inclusion in indus-
trial unit evenly balanced ; determining factor desire of employees in such
crafts-Representatives : proof of choice : signed petition designating union as
bargaining representative-Certification of Representatives : upon proof of major-
ity representation-Order Dismissing Petition : as to polishers , buffers, platers,
and helpers : no evidence by craft union as to unit ; shift of entire membership
from craft union to industrial union.
Mr. Jack G. Evans, for the Board.
Tenney, Harding, Sherman d Rogers, by Mr. George E. Howell, and
Mr. William W. Miller, of Chicago, Ill., for the Company.
Mr. Charles White, of Chicago, Ill., for the Polishers' Union.
Mr. Thomas Dixon and Mr. J. W. Ramsey, of Chicago, Ill., and Mr.
Paul Hutchings, of Washington, D. C., for the I. A. M.
Mr. M. J. Myer and Mr. Leon M. Despres, of Chicago, Ill., for the
United.
Mr. Robert Burstein, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
AND
ORDER
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On June 17 and on July 11, 1938, respectively, Metal Polishers,
Buffers, Platers & Helpers International Union, Local No. 6, herein
called the Polishers' Union, and International Association of Machin-
12 N. L. R. B., No. 131
1351
1352 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
ists, District No. 8, herein called the I. A. M., filed with the Regional
Director for the Thirteenth Region (Chicago, Illinois) separate peti-
tions alleging that questions affecting commerce had arisen concerning
the representation of employees of Wilson-Jones Company,' herein
called the Company, who are employed at its plant in Chicago, Illinois,
and requesting an investigation and certification of representatives
pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49
Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On November 28, 1938, 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 1, as amended, ordered
an investigation and authorized the Regional Director to conduct it
and to provide for an appropriate hearing upon due notice; and,
pursuant to Article III, Section 10 (c) (2), of said Rules and Regula-
tions, ordered that the two cases be consolidated for the purposes of
the hearing. On December 3, 1938, the Polishers' Union and the
I. A. M., respectively, filed amended petitions which did not differ in
any material respect from the original petitions.
On December 6, 1938, the Regional Director issued a notice of hear-
ing and on December 9, 1938, an order of continuance of hearing,,
copies of both of which were duly served upon the Company, upon
the Polishers' Union, upon the I. A. M., and upon United Loose Leaf
and Blank Book Workers of America, Local Industrial Union No. 148,
herein called the United, a labor organization claiming to represent
employees directly affected by the investigation.
Pursuant to the notice and order of continuance, a hearing was
held on December 16, 19, and 20, 1938, at Chicago, Illinois, before
Horace A. Ruckel, the Trial Examiner duly designated by the Board.
The Board, the Company, the I. A. M., and the United were repre-
sented by counsel and participated in the hearing. The Polishers'
Union appeared by a representative only on the first day of the hear-
ing, and introduced no evidence in support of its petition. Full op-
portunity 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 reviewed the rulings of the Trial Examiner and finds
that no prejudicial errors were committed. The rulings are hereby
affirmed.
Pursuant to notice, a hearing was held before the Board on Feb-
ruary 15, 1939, at Washington, D. C., for the purpose of oral argu-
ment. The Company was represented by its vice president and the
I The original petitions and the order directing investigation designate the Company as
Wilson-Jones Looseleaf Company. In the amended petitions , referred to below, the
Company is correctly designated.
WILSON-JONES COMPANY 1353
I. A. M. by counsel; both participated in the argument. The United
filed a brief to which the Board has given due consideration.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY 2
Wilson-Jones Company is a Massachusetts corporation having its
principal office and place of business at Chicago, Illinois. It is en-
gaged at manufacturing plants, at Chicago, Illinois, and at Elizabeth,
New Jersey, in the manufacture and distribution of loose-leaf, file
and stationery equipment, indices, and other general office supplies.
Approximately 850 employees are normally employed at the Chicago
plant and approximately 350 at the Elizabeth plant. This proceed-
ing concerns representation of employees at the Chicago plant.
For use in manufacture at the Chicago plant, the Company, for
the first 6 months of 1938, purchased paper and board aggregating
in value approximately $175,000; leather and imitation leather, ap-
proximately $45,000; and steel and other materials, approximately
$30,000. The percentages of such materials secured outside of the
State of Illinois were 99, 97, and 90, respectively. During the same
period 75 per cent of the Company's output, valued at approximately
$1,306,000, was shipped outside of the State of Illinois.3
IT. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
Metal Polishers, Buffers, Platers & Helpers International Union,
Local No. 6, is a labor organization affiliated with the American
Federation of Labor. It admits to membership employees of the
Company engaged in polishing and plating work.
International Association of Machinists, District No. 8, is a labor
organization affiliated with the American Federation of Labor. It
admits to membership employees of the Company engaged in
machinist work, including tool and die makers and maintenance
machinists.
United Loose Leaf and Blank Book Workers of America, Local
Industrial Union No. 148, is a labor organization affiliated with the
Congress of Industrial Organizations. It admits to membership all
employees of the Company, except those having the power to hire
and discharge.
2 The facts concerning the business of the Company are taken from Board Exhibit No. 7,
a stipulation entered into between counsel for the Company and counsel for the Board
3 During the same 6 months ' period , in the regular course of business , raw materials
aggregating approximately $ 10,000 and finished products aggregating $ 137,000 were trans-
ported from one of the Company's plants to the other.
The respective percentages of interstate and intrastate shipments of raw materials and
finished products at the Elizabeth plant approximate those at the Chicago plant.
1354 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The organizational activities among the respondent's employees
at the Chicago plant, which finally culminated in the unionization
of such plant, began early in 1937. Shortly before March 15, 1937,
a number of employees circulated petitions in the plant, stating :
"We, the undersigned, do hereby apply for application or member-
ship in the C. I. 0." On March 16 a meeting of the employees was
held at which a temporary chairman was elected and a committee,
composed of representatives from the various departments, was ap-
pointed for the purpose of drawing up demands and formulating
a name for the contemplated organization. On the following night,
the committee designated the organization as the United and drew
up demands. On March 18 the committee submitted such demands
to a representative of the Company. As a result of the Company's
refusal to grant the United immediate recognition, a sit-down strike
was called to commence at 5: 30 on that day. The plant was evacu-
ated by the strikers after about 4 days, but the strike continued for
about 7 weeks longer.
The tool and die makers and maintenance machinists employed
in the toolroom 4 were not represented on the committee which sub-
mitted the demands, left the plant at the conclusion of their work-
day before 5: 30, and did not participate in the strike. Shortly after
the commencement of the strike, they met to discuss the question of
negotiating an agreement with the Company. They communicated
with William Jones, a business agent of the I. A. M., and upon his
advice enrolled in the I. A. M. Jones conferred with Colonel Paddock,
the Company's vice president, and reached an oral understanding that
the toolroom employees would return to work and that thereafter an
agreement would be negotiated for them. They resumed work on
March 26, and on March 30 the Company executed an agreement with
the I. A. M. governing wages, hours, and working conditions of the
toolroom employees and certain other employees at its Chicago plant.
The agreement was to be in effect until April 30, 1938, and there-
after "unless thirty (30) days notice is given by either party desiring
a change."
There is little evidence regarding the history of collective bargain-
ing of the polishers, buffers, platers, and helpers, claimed by the
Polishers' Union as an appropriate collective bargaining unit. The
record indicates, however, that about April 16, 1937, the employees
of the polishing and plating department joined the Polishers' Union
and then, through the efforts of the latter's business representative,
reached an oral agreement with the Company as to certain wage
increases and returned to work.
& Also referred to as the toolroom department and the tool and die department.
WILSON-JONES COMPANY 1355
On the morning following the evacuation of the plant by the sit-
down strikers, the United held an organizational meeting at which
affiliation with the C. I. O. was voted and officers were elected. Late
in March or early in April, the United instituted negotiations with
the Company, and on May 1 entered into a contract with it providing
for recognition by the Company of the United "as the collective bar-
gaining agency for such of the company employees as are members
of the Union" and governing wages, hours, and working conditions
of the employees at the Chicago plant generally. The contract was
renewable by mutual agreement. As a result of negotiations com-
menced on April 2, 1938, the Company, on May 13, 1938, executed
a new contract with the United which provided for recognition of
the United as the exclusive bargaining agency for all its employees
and which was applicable in operation to the employees of both the
Chicago and Elizabeth plants. It further provided that the "Com-
pany will not aid, promote or finance any other labor group or organ-
ization which purports to engage in collective bargaining, or come
to any agreement with any such group or organization." Letters
were sent to all the employees of both plants and notices were posted
throughout such plants embodying this provision and the provision
for exclusive recognition. Late in April or early in May, 1938, the
I. A. M. similarly attempted to negotiate changes in its agreement
but was unsuccessful. Although the Company did not explicitly
terminate the existing contract, it refused to grant the request to con-
form it to the revised I. A. M. standard form. It similarly refused
the request of the I. A. M. to execute a rider to the existing contract
embodying as a provision thereof the 40-hour week clause contained
in the contract with the United. Both at the hearing and at the oral
argument the Company contended that it was not qualified to decide
whether or hot the contract with the I. A. M. continued in effect,
but that it was a matter to be determined by the Board. The nego-
tiations continued until late in June when the I. A. M. notified the
Company that it would submit the controversy to the Board. There-
after, on July 11, the I. A. M. filed its original petition in these
proceedings.
The exclusive bargaining contract between the Company and the
United was entered into at a time when the Company was negotiating
with the I. A. M. regarding certain proposed changes in an agree-
ment theretofore executed between them, and covering a different
unit. The United did not contend that its exclusive bargaining con-
tract constitutes a bar to this proceeding.
We find that questions have arisen concerning representation of
employees of the Company.
1356 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
IV. THE EFFECT OF THE QUESTIONS CONCERNING 'REPRESENTATION UPON
COMMERCE
We find that the questions concerning representation which have
arisen, occurring in connection with the operation of the Company
described in Section I above, have a close, intimate, and substantial
relation to trade, traffic, and commerce among the several States,
and tend to lead to labor disputes burdening and obstructing com-
merce and the free flow of commerce.
V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The I. A. M. claims that the tool and die makers and the mainte-
nance machinists in the toolroom at the Chicago plant, 17 in number,
constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargain-
ing.5 The Polishers' Union, in its amended petition, claims as an
appropriate collective bargaining unit the polishers, buffers, platers,
and helpers at the Chicago plant. The United, on the other hand,
contends that all the production and maintenance employees of thq
Company, including those claimed by the Polishers' Union and the
I. A. M., constitute an appropriate unit, and that such unit has
proved most conducive to effective collective bargaining.
A. The tool and die makers and maintenance machinists
The history of collective bargaining at the Chicago plant, as out-
lined in Section III above, shows that the Company bargained origi-
nally with the tool and die makers and maintenance machinists as
a separate craft organization and thereafter with the United. Tool
and die makers and maintenance machinists are well recognized
craftsmen. Although there are other skilled crafts in the plant, such
as paper rulers, printers, bookbinders, punch-press operators, and
leather cutters, the tool and die makers and maintenance machinists
form in certain respects a separate and distinct group. They are
located together in one department on the main floor of the plant
where all the metal work is performed. Neither the tool and die
makers nor the maintenance machinists are directly engaged in pro-
duction work. The work of the latter consists chiefly in the mainte-
nance of machinery on the main floor of the plant. The former are
engaged primarily in making and repairing dies most of which are
used in the punch presses and spend a large portion of their time
8 Although Raymond Everett, I. A. M. shop steward, expressed his belief at the hearing
that certain employees in the screw-macbi-ne department should also be included in the
unit because of their membership in the I. A. M., counsel of the I. A. M. and Its business
representatives both reaffirmed the claim alleged in the petition that the unit should be
limited to the tool and die makers and maintenance machinists.
WILSON-JONES COMPANY 1357
in the punch-press department. In support of its contention that
the unit claimed by the I. A. M. is inappropriate, the United at-
tempted to prove that employees other than those in the toolroom
are engaged in maintenance machine work. The evidence shows that
there is a so-called maintenance room on the second floor of the plant
composed of five employees, an oiler, a carpenter, a tool sharpener,
an electrician, and a general maintenance man. None of these em-
ployees, however, can be deemed strictly maintenance machinists.6
The United further contends that there is interdependence and func-
tional coherence between the tool and die makers and maintenance
machinists and the other employees in the plant, and stresses the fact
that the work of the tool and die makers is an integral part of the
production scheme as a whole, since it is indispensable to the opera-
tion of the punch-press department. The United also urged in sup-
port of its contention that the industrial unit is the most feasible,
the fact that its contract with the United applied equally to all em-
ployees and that the employees of the toolroom also benefited by its
provisions.
Under all the circumstances we are of the opinion that the tool
and die makers and maintenance machinists employed in the toolroom
might properly constitute a separate bargaining unit, or might be
merged into the industrial unit claimed to be appropriate by the
United. We will, therefore, follow our usual rule that the desire
of the employees themselves is the determinative factor.7 Here, as
noted below in Section VI, a large majority of the tool and die
makers and maintenance machinists in the toolroom are included
in the I. A. M. membership and have shortly before the hearing
signed a petition showing their preference for a craft unit and the
desire that the I. A. M. be certified as their bargaining representa-
tive. Inasmuch as they have'thus sufficiently indicated their wishes,
no election is necessary for that purpose.'
. We find that the tool and die makers and maintenance machinists
employed by the Company in the toolroom at its plant in Chicago,
Illinois, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective
bargaining, and that said unit will insure to the employees the full
benefit of their right to self-organization and to collective bargain-
ing and otherwise effectuate the policies of the Act.
"Joe Gagnon, the general maintenance man, performs maintenance machine work to
some extent, but his duties consist also of general building maintenance work, such as
steamfitting , repairing the concrete floors , and cleaning sewers.
° See Matter of The Globe Machine and Stamping Co. and Metal Polishers Union, Local
No. 3; International Association of Machinists , District No. 54; Federal Labor Union
18788, and United Automobile Workers of America, 3 N. L R. B. 294; Matter of Willys
Overland Motors, Inc . and International Union, United Automobile Workers of America,
Local No. 12, 9 N. L R B. 924.
8 Matter of Fairbanks , Morse & Company and Pattern Makers' Association of Beloit,
7 N. L. R. B. 229 ; and Matter of The Electric Auto -Lite Company and International Union,
United Automobile Workers of America No . 12, 9 N. L. R. B. 147.
1358 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
B. The polishers, buffers, platers, and helpers
The Polishers' Union made an appearance the first day of the
hearing but presented no testimony in support of its petition. From
the testimony of a witness for the United, it appears that 22 out of
the approximately 24 employees in the polishing and plating depart-
ment, who had joined the Polishers' Union in April 1937, ceased
paying dues in about April 1938 and the remainder, in July 1938.
Several days before the hearing they all enrolled with the United.
We must conclude that the record affords no basis for a finding that
the polishers, buffers, platers, and helpers constitute an appropriate
collective bargaining unit. The petition of the Polishers' Union will
be dismissed.
VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
At the hearing, the Company submitted in evidence a list of the
toolroom employees taken from the pay roll as of December 16, 1938.
This list reveals that on that date there were 16 employees in the
unit we have found appropriate, 12 of them being tool and die makers
and the remaining 4, maintenance machinists.9 The I. A. M. intro-
duced in evidence a petition expressing the desire of the signers to
be represented by the I. A. M. The petition was signed by 20 em-
ployees, 16 of whom were tool and die makers and maintenance ma-
chinists in the toolroom. The signatures were secured during the
period between December 8 and 10, 1938, and were identified by the
I. A. M. official who secured them as being those of I. A. M. members.
The authenticity of the signatures was not questioned, nor was any
evidence introduced to contest the fact that they were those of I. A. M.
members. A comparison of such signatures with the list supplied
by the Company shows that 15 of the 16 employees in the appropriate
unit have designated the I. A. M. as their bargaining agency.10 We
find that the I. A. M. has been designated and selected by a majority
of employees in the appropriate unit as their representative for the
purposes of collective bargaining. It is, therefore, the representative
of all the employees in such unit for the purposes of collective bar-
gaining, and we will so certify.
Upon the basis of the above findings of fact and upon the entire
record in the case, the Board makes the following :
0 There is also employed in the toolroom a crib boy v. ho has charge of the supplies and
stock but does not engage in any tool and die or maintenance machine work.
10 This number does not include John Monighan, who has been absent from work because
of illness since June 1938, and whose name appears on the petition but not on the
Company's list.
WILSON-JONES COMPANY 1359
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
1. A question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the repre-
sentation of employees of Wilson-Jones Company, Chicago, Illinois, at
its Chicago plant, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section
2 (6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act.
2. The tool and die makers and maintenance machinists employed
by the Company in the toolroom at its Chicago plant constitute a
single unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining,
within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the National Labor Relations
Act.
3. International Association of Machinists, District No. 8, is the
exclusive representative of all the employees in such unit for the pur-
poses of collective bargaining, within the meaning of Section 9 (a)
of the National Labor Relations Act.
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, and pursuant to Article III, Section 8, of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 1, as amended,
IT IS HEREBY CERTIFIED that International Association of Machinists,
District No. 8, has been designated and selected by a majority of the
tool and die makers and maintenance machinists employed by Wilson-
Jones Company, Chicago, Illinois, in the toolroom at its Chicago
plant, as their representative for the purposes of collective bargaining
and that, pursuant to the provision of Section 9 (a) of the Act, Inter-
national Association of Machinists, District No. 8, is the exclusive
representative of all such employees for the purpose of collective bar-
gaining in respect to rates of pay, wages, hours of employment, and
other conditions of employment.
ORDER
Upon the basis of the foregoing findings of fact, the National Labor
Relations Board hereby dismisses the amended petition for investiga-
tion and certification filed by Metal Polishers, Buffers, Platers &
Helpers International Union, Local No. 6.
MR. EDWIN S. SMITH, dissenting :
For reasons similar to those given by me in other dissenting state-
ments 11 I believe that the Board should here find that the industrial
unit claimed by the United is the appropriate bargaining unit.
n See, for example , Matter of Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Company and International
Union, United Automobile Workers of America, Local 248, 4 N. L. R. B. 159, 175 ; Matter
of Fairbanks, Morse and Company and Pattern Makers Association of Beloit, 7 N. L. R. B.
229, 235.