Wire Products, Inc.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Feb 20, 1950

88 N.L.R.B. 730 (N.L.R.B. 1950)

In the Matter Of WIRE PRODUCTS, INC., EMPLOYER and AMALGAMATED
LOCAL 257, INTERNATIONAL UNION OF ELECTRICAL, RADIO AND MA-
CHINE WORKERS, CIO, PETITIONER
Case No. 1-RC-1318.-Decided February 00, 1950
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before Thomas H.
Ramsey, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the
hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the National Labor
Relations Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with
this case to a three-member panel [Chairman Herzog and Members
Houston and Reynolds].
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of
the National Labor Relations Act.
2. The labor organizations involved claim to represent certain em-
ployees of the Employer.
3. United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America,
herein called the Intervenor, contends that a collective bargaining
agreement executed by the Employer and the Intervenor on August
8, 1949, prior to the filing of the petition herein, is a bar to this pro-
ceeding.' This contract, however, contains the following union-secu-
rity provisions :
Section 2. All present employees covered as above shall become
and remain members in good standing of the United Electrical,
Radio & Machine Workers of America, C. I. O. Local 257 as a
condition of employment.
Section 3. All new employees hired by the Employer shall be-
come members of the said Union within fifteen (15) days of their
employment.
1 The petition was filed on December 5, 1949.
88 NLRB No. 144.
730
WIRE PRODUCTS, INC. 731
No election has ever been conducted by the Board, under Section
9 (e) of the Act, authorizing the Intervenor to execute a union-security
agreement with the Employer. Moreover, the above provisions are
invalid under the statute even without regard to the absence of an
election. Accordingly we find, apart from other considerations, that
the contract is not a bar to this proceeding.2
We find that a question affecting commerce exists concerning the
representation of employees of the Employer within the meaning of
Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.3
4. The following employees of the Employer constitute a unit
appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the mean-
ing of Section 9 (b) of the Act:
All production and maintenance employees at the Employer's Lynn,
Massachusetts, plant, excluding executives, office and clerical em-
ployees, guards, professional employees, and supervisors.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION 4
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with the Employer, an election by
secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later than
30 days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and super-
vision of the Regional Director for the Region in which this case was
heard, and subject to Sections 203.61 and 203.62 of National Labor Re-
lations Board Rules and Regulations, among the employees in the unit
found appropriate in paragraph numbered 4, above, who were em-
ployed during the payroll period immediately preceding the date
of this Direction of Election, including employees who did not work
during said payroll period because they were ill or on vacation or
temporarily laid off, but excluding those employees who have since
quit or been discharged for cause and have not been rehired or rein-
stated prior to the date of the election, and also excluding employees
2 Penn Paper 6 Stock Company, 88 NLRB 17; The Hofmann Packing Co ., Inc., 87
NLRB 601 ; Pacific Gas and Electric Company, 87 NLRB 257 . It is immaterial that
the parties have not given effect to this provision of the contract . Hickey Cab Company,
88 NLRB 327 ; Empire Zinc Division, The New Jersey Zinc Company, 86 NLRB 685;
Penick d Ford, Ltd., Inc., 86 NLRB 659; Reading Hardware Corporation, 85 NLRB 610.
1 In view of our finding that the contract Is not a bar to this proceeding because of the
invalid union-security provision , we find it unnecessary to resolve the Issue as to whether
or not there is a substantial doubt concerning the identity of the labor organization which
represents the employees , as alleged by the Petitioner.
* The record Is not clear as to whether Local 257 , United Electrical , Radio and Machine
Workers of America Is still in existence . If this local is in existence , the Intervenor's
participation in the election directed herein is conditioned upon the full compliance with
Section 9 (f), (g), and ( h) of the Act by Local 257. See Lane Wells Company, 79
NLRB 252.
Either participant in the election herein may, upon its prompt request to , and approval
thereof by, the Regional Director , have its name removed from the ballot.
732 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine whether
they desire to be represented, for purposes of collective bargaining, by
Amalgamated Local 257, International Union of Electrical, Radio and
Machine Workers, CIO,' or by United Electrical, Radio and Machine
Workers of America, or by neither.
6 The motion of the Intervenor not to permit the Petitioner to use Local 257 as part of
its name on the ballot in the @lection is denied . General Motors Corporation, Frigidaire
Division , 88 NLRB 450.