York Corp.

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Jul 31, 1947

74 N.L.R.B. 934 (N.L.R.B. 1947)

In` the Matter of YORK CORPORATION, EMPLOYER and PATTERN
MAKERS' LEAGUE OF N. A., AFL, PETITIONER
Case No. 4-R-02417.-Decided July 31, 1947
Mr. William F. Howe, of Washington, D. C., and Mr. Marion F.
Dick, of York, Pa., for the Employer.
Messrs. George Q. Lynch and Ely J. Oakley, of Washington, D. C.,
for the Petitioner.
Mr. Judson E. Ruch, of York, Pa., for the Intervenor.
Mr. Henry W. de Kozmian, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at York,
Pennsylvania, on January 24, 1947, before John H. Garver, hearing`
officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free
from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations
Board makes the following:
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. TIIE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER
York Corporation is a. Delaware corporation engaged in the manu-
facture of refrigeration and air conditioning machinery at its Grant-
ley plant in York, Pennsylvania , which is solely, involved in this pro-
ceeding. During the year ending September 30, 1946 , the Employer
purchased raw materials valued at approximately $10,551,000, more
than 90 percent of which was shipped to the Employer from points
outside the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. During the same pe-
riod the Employer; sold finished products valued at approximately
$32,000,000 , approximately 80 percent of which was shipped to points
outside the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
74 N. L. R B ., No. 148.
934
YORK CORPORATION 935
The Employer admits and we find that it is engaged in conm-
merce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
H. TILE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the American
Federation of Labor, claiming to represent employees of the Em-
ployer.
Ice Machinery Independent Employees Association, herein called
the Intervenor, is an unaffiliated labor organization, claiming to rep-
resent employees of the Employer.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Employer refuses to recognize the Petitioner as the exclusive
bargaining representative of employees of the Employer until the
Petitioner has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit.
We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning
the representation of employees of the Employer, within the meaning
of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
IV. TIIE APPROPRIATE UNIT; THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
The, Petitioner seeks a unit consisting of all pattern makers and
apprentices at the Employer's Grantley plant. The Employer and
the Intervenor contend that the unit sought by the Petitioner is inap-
propriate and that the petition should be dismissed.
The Employer's pattern makers work in the pattern department
under separate supervision. They are centralized and enjoy a degree
of physical segregation from the Employer's remaining employees.
They perform the conventional duties of pattern makers generally.
As such, they constitute a traditional and recognized craft group.
Evidence was adduced at the hearing indicating that the Petitioner
represents pattern makers in separate units at the plants of many
other employers in York, Pennsylvania, as well as in the industry
involved.
The Employer and the Intervenor, in support of their contention
that the unit sought is inappropriate, rely particularly on a previous
decision by the Board in 1945 where it was held that, because of the
prior history of collective bargaining on a plant-wide basis, the pat-
tern makers would not be offered an opportunity to express their de-
sires as to representation in a separate unit.' Our decision in that
case was primarily based upon the recency of the pattern makers'
'Matter of York Corporation , 61 N L. R B 462.
936 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
membership in the Petitioner and their prior participation in the his-
tory of collective bargaining on a plait-wide basis. The Employer's
pattern makers have, however, retained their membership in the Peti-
tioner since the 1945 proceeding, and thus it can no longer be said that
their desire to be represented in a separate unit is but a temporary
matter. Inasmuch as the Intervenor was certified as a result of the
1945 proceeding, it necessarily continued to represent the pattern
makers in the plant-wide unit for which it was certified. This fact,
a consequence of our 1945 decision, should not now be invoked to deny
the right of craft severance to the Employer's pattern makers if other
factors justifying craft severance are present.
Considering that the Employer's pattern makers constitute a tra-
ditional and'well-defined craft, that such craft units are customary in
the industry involved, and that the Employer's pattern makers have
never had an opportunity to express their desires as to representation
in a separate unit, we believe they should now be afforded that oppor-
tunity.- Hence, we shall not make a final determination as to the
appropriate unit at this time. Such determination will depend, in
part, upon the desires of the pattern makers as reflected by the results
of the election we shall direct among them. If they choose the Peti-
tioner they will be taken to have indicated a desire to be represented
in a separate unit. If, on the other hand, they choose the Intervenor,
they will be taken to have indicated a desire to continue to be,repre-
sented in the plant-wide unit in which the Intervenor was certified in
1945.
There remains for consideration the composition of the • voting
group. The parties agree generally that if a separate unit for pattern
makers would be appropriate, it would consist of all pattern makers
and apprentices, including the pattern checker, but excluding pat-
tern storage men, the flask maker, the clerk, and all supervisory em-
ployees. There is disagreement, however, as to pattern repair men
and pattern maker trainees whom the Petitioner would include, but
whom the Employer and the Intervenor would exclude.
Pattern repair men: These employees, three in number, are charged
with repairing patterns which may be injured or damaged. While
their duties require less skill than those of journeymen pattern makers,
their work is closely integrated and related with that of the pattern
makers. Accordingly, we shall include pattern repair men in the
voting group.
Pattern maker trainees: These employees, two in number, are em-
ployed as trainees under the G. I. Bill of Rights. At the end of a
2 Matter of National Aniline Division, Allied Chemical and Dye Corporation, 71 N. L.
R B. 1217
YORK CORPORATION 937
-year, if qualified, they will become pattern makers' apprentices. Ac-
cordingly, we shall include the pattern maker trainees in the voting
group.3
We shall direct that the question concerning representation which
has arisen be resolved by an election by secret ballot among all pattern
makers and apprentices at the Employer's Grantley plant in York,
Pennsylvania, including the pattern checker, pattern repair men, and
pattern maker trainees, but excluding pattern storage men, the flask
maker, the clerk, and all supervisory employees, subject to the limi-
tations and additions set forth in the Direction.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION 4
As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the
purposes of collective bargaining with York Corporation, York,
Pennsylvania, 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 Direc-
tor for the Fourth Region, acting in this matter as agent for the
National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Sections 203.55 and
203.56, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-
,Series 4,'among the employees in the voting group described in Sec-
tion IV, above, who were employed during the pay-roll period imme-
,diately preceding the date of this Direction, including employees who
did not work during said pay-roll period because they were ill or on
vacation or temporarily laid off, and including employees in the armed
forces of the United States who present themselves in person at the
polls, but excluding those employees who have since quit or been dis-
,charged for cause and have not been rehired or reinstated prior to the
-date of the election, to determine whether they desire to be represented
by Pattern Makers' League of N. A., AFL, or by Ice Machinery Inde-
pendent Employees Association, for the purposes of collective bar-
gaining, or by neither.
3 Hatter of Gullett G in Co , 72 N L R B 1101
4 9nv 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