The Etna Machine Co.

In the Matter of THE ETNA MACHINE COMPANY and LOCAL 12, IN- TERNATIONAL UNION UNITED AUTOMOBILE WORKERS, C. I. O. Casey No. R-5.321.-Decided March 12, 1942 Jurisdiction : castings and machinery manufacturing industry. Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question. dispute as to appropriate unit ; conflicting claims of rival unions ; elections necessary. Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : determination of whetner (1) all employees in the machine shop excluding supervisory and office employees, and (2) all employees in the foundry excluding supervisory and office em- ployees, shall constitute single or separate units, held dependent upon desires of employees ; elections necessary to determine Mr. Ramey Donovan, for the Board. Fraser, Effler, Shumaker, and Winn by Mr. George R. Effler of Toledo, Ohio, for the Company. ' Mr. Edward: Lantb and Mr. Walter Murphy-, of Toledo, Ohio, for Local 12, U. A. W. Mr. Tor Cedervall, Mr: Earl lS. Streeter, and Mr. Vincent J. Chlopek, of Toledo, Ohio, for M. E. S. A. Mr. Ralph Holbert, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS STATEMENT OF THE CASE On January 2, 1942, Local 12, International Union, United Auto- mobile Workers of America, affiliated with the C. I. 0., herein called Local 12, U. A. W., filed with the Regional Director for the Eighth Region (Cleveland, Ohio) a petition alleging that a question affect- ing commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of The Etna Machine Company,' Toledo, Ohio, herein called the Company, and requesting an investigation and certification of repre- sentatives pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On January 26, 1942, the 'At the hearing Local 12, U A W, moved that its petition be amended to include `instead of to exclude watchmen and that the article "The" be prefixed to the name of the Company Wherever it appeared in the petition. Both motions were granted by the Trial Examiner in the absence of objection to either motion. 39 N. L. R. B., No. 139. 733 734 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD 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 on due notice. On January 28, 1942, the Regional Director issued a notice of hearing, copies of which'were duly served upon the Company, Local 12, U. A: W., and Mechanics Educational Society of America, herein called M. E. S. A.,2 a labor organization claiming to represent em- ployees directly affected by the investigation. Pursuant to notice a hearing was held on February 4, 1942, at' Toledo, Ohio, before E. G. Smith, the Trial Examiner duly designated by the Chief Trial Ex- aminer. The Company and Local 12, U. A. W., were represented by counsel ; M. E. S. A. was represented by its representatives, and 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 objec- tions 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 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY The Etna Machine Company is an Ohio corporation with its place of business at Toledo, Ohio. The operations of the Company are carried on in two separate buildings known as the foundry and the machine shop. The foundry is engaged in the manufacture of cast- ings which are used to make dies in the automotive industry. During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1941, about 71/z percent of the products made in the foundry were sent to the machine shop of the Company for further processing. Products of the foundry not sent to the machine shop were sold to jobbers. The principal raw materials used in the foundry, gray iron and scrap, are purchased locally. Raw materials valued at approximately $70,000 are annually used by the foundry ; the rough castings produced by the foundry are valued 8 Notice of hearing was also served upon Local 974 , International Union, . United Auto- mobile Workers of America, C. I 0 The charter of this organization had been revoked by its parent body prior to the institution of these proceedings and no appearance was entered at the hearing on its behalf. - 9 At one point during the hearing, Local 12, U A W., raised an objection to the partici- pation of M. E . S. A in the proceeding. Inasmuch as M. E. S. A. was served with notice of hearing and submitted to the Feld Examiner evidence of membership among employees here involved there is no merit in the contention and it is hereby overruled THE ETNA MACHINE COMPANY 735 at approximately $225,000 annually. The machine shop is engaged principally in the manufacture of various machinery for working on tubing, swedging machines, tube forming, and welding machines. Iron castings as required in the machine shop are secured from the foundry. The raw materials used in the machine shop consist mainly of fabricated steel, steel sheets and bars. Raw materials valued at ap- proximately $70,000 annually are used in the machine shop. About 40 percent of the raw materials are received from points outside the State of Ohio. The finished products of the machine shop are valued at approximately $225,000 annually; about 60 percent of these prod- ucts are sold and shipped to points outside the State of Ohio. II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED Local 12, International Union, United Automobile Workers, affili- ated with the C. I. 0., is a labor organization admitting to member- ship employees of the Company. Mechanics Educational Society of America, is an unaffiliated labor organization, and its Locals 3 and 4 admit to membership employees of the Company. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION- Local 12, U. A. W., has sought to negotiate with the Company, since the first part of September 1941, as the bargaining agent for the employees in both the foundry and machine shop. The Company has declined to bargain with Local 12, U. A. W., as the exclusive representative of the employees in both shops on the ground that the machine-shop employees had made known their desire not to be included in a unit with the foundry employees. The Company ex- pressed its willingness to\ Local 12, U. A. W., to bargain with it as the representative of the foundry employees. Local 12, U. A. W., and the Company have been unable to agree on a bargaining unit. M. E. S. A., in a letter to the Company on January 12, 1942, asserted it represented a majority of the employees in the machine shop and requested recognition as their exclusive bargaining agent. From a report prepared by the Field Examiner and introduced into evidence, it appears each of the labor organizations has been designated by a substantial number of employees within the unit claimed by each to be appropriate.' f The Field Examiner ' ,; statement shows that the Company has 36 employees in the foundry and 30 employees in the machine shop Local 12, U. A W, in support of its claim to represent 55 employees in the alleged appropriate unit , submitted 35 ledger cards to the Field Examiner covering 29 foundry and 6 machine -shop employees and 20 authoriza- tion cards covering 2 foundry and 18 machine-shop employees The Field Examiner reported that the signatures in the 20 authorization cards appear to be genuine and original signatures M E S. A . submitted authorization cards for 18 employees in the machine shop. The Field Examiner reported that the signatures appear to be genuine, and original signatures . Sixteen of the 18 employees who signed authorization cards for M E. S. A. also designated Local 12, U. A. W 448105-42-vol. 39-48 736 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 Local 12, U. A. W., contends that all employees in the foundry and machine shop of•the Company, excluding supervisory and office em- ployees, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining. M. E. S. A. contends that all employees in the machine shop, excluding clerical and supervisory employees, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining. The Company makes no contention as to the appropriate unit. The machine-shop employees and foundry employees ;work in separate buildings located on the Company's property. The em- ployees in each shop usually are engaged in work with which the other group has little or no actual part or interest. Local 12, U. A. MT., has attempted to organize employees in the two shops in a single unit. M. E. S. A. has limited its organization to employees of the machine shop. No collective bargaining agreements have been con- summated covering the employees in either the foundry or in ma- chine shop. On the entire record, we believe that the machine shop employees may properly be considered either as a separate unit or as part of a single industrial unit. Where-the considerations are evenly balanced, as here, we are of the opinion that the desires of the employees themselves should be the determining factor.5 We shall hold an election among the machine-shop employees of the Company to determine whether they wish to be represented by Local 12, U. A. W., by M.' E. S. A., or by neither. We shall also hold an election among the foundry employees to determine whether or not they wish to be represented by Local 12, 'U. A. W. If the machine-shop employees select a bargaining representative other than the representative selected by the employees in the foundry they will constitute a separate and distinct appropriate unit. If they G See Matter of The Globe Machine ,and Stamping Co. and Metal Polishers Union, Local No 3, et al, 3 N . L. R. B 294 , and subsequent cases. THE ETNA MACHINE COMPANY 737 choose the same representative as the employees in the foundry, they will be merged into a single unit with such employees. Both labor organizations desire to exclude from the appropriate unit or units supervisory and office employees. In accordance with our usual practice we shall exclude such employees from the two voting units in which elections will be held. The labor organiza- tions agree that the two watchmen should be included .13 We shall therefore include the watchman listed on the foundry pay roll in the voting unit of foundry employees and the watchman on the ma- chine-shop pay roll in the voting unit of machine-shop employees. We shall make no final determination of the appropriate unit or units for the purposes of collective bargaining pending the outcome of the elections hereinafter directed. VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES We find that the question concerning representation which has arisen can best be resolved by elections by secret ballot, and we shall direct such elections. Local 12, U. A. W. requested that the pay-roll records of Sep- tember 23, 1941, be used to determine eligibility to vote in the elections. M. E. S. A. requested that the pay roll of January 10; 1942, be used to determine eligibility to vote in machine-shop elec- tion. Inasmuch as there have been material changes in the number and identity of employees on the pay roll of the Company since Sep- tember 23, 1941, we shall follow our usual practice and shall direct that those eligible to vote in the elections shall be those employed by the Company during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Elections herein, subject to the addi- tions and limitations hereinafter set'forth in the Direction.7 Upon the basis of the above findings of fact and upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following : CONCLUSION OF LAW A question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the repre- sentation of employees of The Etna Machine Company', Toledo, Ohio, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act. , DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National Labor Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Re- See supra, note 1. ° The record discloses that there has been a substantial reduction in employment in the, foundry during the past few months Under the terms of our usual Direction, which we adopt herein, employees, whose lay-offs are temporary, are eligible to vote. 738 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD lations Act, 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 bar- gaining, with The Etna Machine Company, Toledo, Ohio, elections by secret ballot shall be conducted as soon 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 Rela- tions Board, and subject to Article III, Section 9, or said Rules and Regulations : 1. Among all employees in the machine shop of the Company who n ere employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction, 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 supervisory and office em- ployees, and those employees who have since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whether they desire to be represented by Local 12, International Union, United Automobile Workers, C. I. 0., or by Locals 3 and 4, Mechanics Educational Society of America, for the purposes of collective, bargaining, or by neither of said organizations ; and 2. Among all employees in the foundry of the Company who were employed during the- pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction, 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 tem- porarily laid off, but excluding supervisory and office employees, and those employees who have since quit or been discharged for cause to determine whether or not they desire to be represented by.Local 12. International Union, United Automobile Workers, C. I. 0., for the purposes of collective bargaining.