Standard Lime and Stone Co.

In the Matter Of STANDARD LIME AND STONE COMPANY and UNITED CEMENT, LIME AND GYPSUM WORKERS INTERNATIONAL UNION, LOCAL 178, A. F. of L. Case No. R-3534.-Decided March 6, 1942' Jurisdiction :'hme producing industry. Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question: refusal of Company to accord union recognition until certified by the Board; election necessary. Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : production and maintenance employ- ees at the Company's Knoxville, Tennessee, plant, exclusive of clerical and supervisory employees; stipulation as to. Mr. L. I. Rice, of Martinsburg, W. Va., and Mr. Williston M. Cox, of Knoxville, Tenn., for the Company. M^Ir. J. D. Bradford, of Knoxville, Tenn., for the Union. Mr. Robert E. Tillman, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION STATEMENT OF THE CASE On December 31, 1941, United Cement, Lime and Gypsum Workers International Union, Local 178, A. F. of L., herein called the Union, filed with the Regional Director for the Tenth Region- (Atlanta, Georgia) a petition alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Standard Lime and Stone Company at its plant in Knoxville, Tennessee, herein called the Company, 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 January 29, 1942, 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 ' 39 N. L. R. B., No. 93. 538 STANDARD LIME AND STONE COMPANY 539 On February 2, 1942, the Regional Director issued a notice of hearing, copies of which were duly served upon the Company and the Union. Pursuant to notice, a hearing was held on February 12, 1942, at Knoxville,- Tennessee, before Marion A. Prowell, the Trial Exam- iner duly designated by the Chief Trial Examiner. The Company and the Union were represented and 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 par- ties. During the course of the, hearing the Trial Examiner made 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. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following: FINDINGS OF FACT I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY Standard Lime and Stone Company is a Maryland corporation engaged in the manufacture and production of cement, lime, rock wool in both bulk and fabricated form for insulation, and lime mag- nesia and allied products . It maintains plants at Millville , Martins- burg, and Bakerston, West Virginia, Woodville, Ohio, Wabash, Indiana, McCook, Illinois, Capon Road and - Strassburg, Virginia, and Knoxville, Tennessee . Only the Knoxville plant is involved in this proceeding. This plant produces lime in hydrated and bulk forms at the approximate rate of 150 tons daily . Approximately 90 percent of this lime is shipped to points outside the State of Tennessee. The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act. II. THE ORGANIZATION 'INVOLVED United Cement, Lime and Gypsum Workers International Union, Local 178, A. F. of L., is a labor organization admitting td member- ship employees of the Company. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION On or about December 8, 1941, the Union requested the Company to recognize it as the exclusive representative of employees of the Knoxville plant . The Company has refused to give this recognition until the Union is certified . The Union has submitted to the Regional Director evidence showing that it represents a substantial number of employees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.' I The Regional Director 's statement shows that the Union submitted a certified list of its membership, dated January 16; 1942. The list contained 40 names A pay roll for January 22 , 1942, listing the names of approximately 60 employees in the proposed unit, contained the names of 36 of the 40 names on the Union's certified list 540 , DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD 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 The parties stipulated, and we find, that all production and main- tenance employees of the Knoxville plant, exclusive of clerical and supervisory employees, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective -bargaining. We further find 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 will 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 the holding of an election by secret ballot, and we shall so direct. The Union stated that it desired that the December 15, 194f, pay roll be used in determining eligibility to vote; the Company asserted a preference for-the current pay roll. The record discloses no substantial reason for departing from our usual practice, which is to employ the pay-roll period immediately -pre- ceding the date of our Direction of Election. We find that those eligible to vote shall be the employees in the appropriate unit who were employed during the pay-roll period im- mediately preceding the date of our Direction of Election, subject.,to the limitations and additions set forth therein. 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 repre- sentation of employees of Standard Lime and Stone Company at its plant in Knoxville, Tennessee, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. 2. All production and maintenance employees of Standard Lime and Stone Company at its Knoxville plant, exclusive of clerical and STANDARD LIME AND STONE COMPANY 541 supervisory employees, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the 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 Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, 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 Standard Lime and Stone Company at its plant in Knoxville, Tennessee, 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 of Election, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the Tenth 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 production and maintenance employees of the Company who were employed at the Knoxville plant during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction of Election, including employees who did not work during such 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 clerical and supervisory employees, and those employees who have since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whether or not they desire to be represented by United Cement, Lime and Gypsum Workers International Union, Local 178, A. F. of L., for the purposes of collective bargaining.