Chase Brass & Copper Co., Inc.

In the Matter Of CHASE BRASS & COPPER CO., INC. and INTERNATIONAL 11 UNION, MINE, MILL & SMELTER WORKERS, FOR ITSELF AN D ON, BEHALF OF ITS LOCAL 633, AFFILIATED WITH THE C. I. O. Case No. R-4734.-Decided February 1943 Jurisdiction : ordnance manufacturing industry. Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question • re- fusal to accord, recognition because existing contract allegedly covered em= ployees in the unit sought by petitioner ; contract covering employees of com- pany at time company's operations were conducted in •one plant held no bar to a determination of representatives for employees' at another plant of company subsequently acquired ; renewal of contract purporting to cover these employees' not given effect when it was not shown that employees at new plant participated in negotiations thereof ; election necessary. Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : all hourly paid and piecework pro- duction and maintenance employees at a government-owned, company-operated plant, excluding all supervisors, foremen, assistant foremen, office workers, research and laboratory workers, cafeteria workers, guards and watchmen held an appropriate unit. Mr. Rodney Chase, of Waterbury, Conn.,. and Mr. Val ter L. Smith, of Euclid, Ohio, for the Company. Mr. Edward Lamb and Mr. Peter Zvara, of Toledo, Ohio, for the Smelter Workers. Mr. J. J. Murphy and Mr. Matthew De More, of Cleveland, Ohio, for the Machinists. Mr. Roy E. Seitz, of Cleveland, Ohio, for the Firemen and Oilers. Mr. R. J. Jamieson, of Cleveland, Ohio, for the Operating Engineers. Miss Muriel J. Levor, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND - - DIRECTION OF ELECTION STATEMENT OF THE CASE Upon an amended petition duly filed by International Union, Mine, Mill & Smelter Workers, for itself and on behalf of its Local 633,E 1 The petition was filed in the name of the International ; thereafter it requested that _ the'proceedings be corrected to designate the petitioner as set forth above. The request is granted. 47 N L R. B, No 32. 298 - CHASE BRASS & COPPER CO,., INC. 299 affiliated with the C. I. 0., herein, called the Smelter Workers, alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the represen- tation of employees of Chase Brass & Copper Co., Inc., Euclid, Ohio, herein called the COmpany,2 the National Labor Relations Board pro- vided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before Max W. Johnstone, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Cleveland, Ohio, on January 7, 1943. The Company, the Smelter Workers and International Association of Machinists, District No. 54, herein called the Machinists, appeared,' participated, and were afforded full oppor- tunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing on the issues. The Trial Examiner's rul- ings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. The Smelter Workers, Machinists, and the Company filed briefs which the Board has duly considered. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY Chase Brass & Copper Co., Inc., a Connecticut corporation, has its principal office in Waterbury, Connecticut. The Company owns and operates three plants at Waterbury, Connecticut, and one plant, herein called the Old Mill, at Euclid, Ohio. The Company .also operates a plant owned by the United States Governnient which is not yet fully completed, although it has been in production since July 1942. This plant, herein called the Euclid Case Plant, is also situated at Euclid, Ohio, and is the only plant for which representation has been claimed by the Smelter Workers. Approximately all the raw materials, consisting principally of cop- per and zinc, used by the Company at its Euclid Case Plant, amount- ing to about $7;000,U00 in value annually, are shipped from points out- side the State of Ohio'. The finished products of the Euclid Case Plant consist of brass sheet and cartridge cases, of which approximately $15,000,600 in value are produced annually. About 100 percent of the finished products are shipped to points outside the State of Ohio. II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED International Union of Mine, Mill & Smelter Workers and its Local No. 633, are labor organizations affiliated with the Congress of Indus- 1 2 Incorrectly designated as "Chase Brass & Copper Company , Inc " in the petition and other formal papers and corrected by motion granted at the hearing I International Brotherhood of Firemen and Oilers , Local 52 , and International Union of Operating Engineers , Local 589, also appeared . However, at the hearing they withdrew - their motion to intervene International Brotherhood-of Electrical workers, Local 559, was served with notice but did not appear. 300 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD trial Organizations, admitting to membership employees of the, Company. • International Association of Machinists, District No. ':54, is a labor organization affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, admit- ting to membership employees of the Company. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION, On or about October 16, 1942, the Smelter Workers, in a letter to the Company, requested a conference for the purpose of collective bar- gaining as representative of the production and maintenance em- ployees of the Euclid Case Plant. The Company refused in a letter dated October 23, 1942, on the ground that it was under contract to recognize the Machinists as the collective bargining agency for cer- tain classes of its Euclid Case Plant employees. A statement of the Field Examiner, introduced in evidence at the hearing, together with a statement made by him after the hearing, and which, by agreement of the parties, is hereby made a part of the record, indicate that the Smelter Workers represents a substantial number of employees of the Company in the unit-it contends to be appropriate .4 On May 26, 1941, the Machinists filed a petition with the Board to represent the production and maintenance employees ofithe Company "at Euclid, Ohio." At that time the Company was operating only one plant at Euclid, Ohio, the Old Mill, and the ground was being cleared for the plant which is now known as the Euclid Case Plant. Thereafter, a consent election, for a unit of all hourly paid and piece- work production and, maintenance employees of the Company at its Babbit Road, Euclid, Ohio, plant, that is the Old Mill, took place on June 4, 1941. The Machinists won the election and on June 5, 1941, the Board's Regional Director issued a report certifying that the Machinists had been'designated as the sole bargaining! agent by the employees in the unit set forth in the consent election agreement. After protracted negotiations between the Company, and the Ma- chinists, in which the Federal Conciliation Service of the Department of Labor participated, an agreement was finally concluded on July 19, 1941. This agreement recognized the Machinists "as, the exclusive representative of all hourly paid and piece-work production and main- tenance employees at Euclid,'Ohio," with certain exclusions, a, descrip- tion which was meant to include the future employees of the Euclid * The Field Examiner reported that the Smelter workers had submitted 413 designations of which 351, bearing apparently genuine signatures, correspond with the names on the Company's pay roll of November 7, 1942, containing the names of 813 persons within the appropriate unit At the hearing 190 additional designations were submitted, of which 52 bear apparently genuine signatures and correspond with names on the November 7 pay roll The Machinists relied on the contract, and did not submit, any evidence of representation. CHASE BRASS & COPPER' CO., INC. 301 'Case Plant on which' construction was just beginning. A new, con- tract was entered into on August 19, 1942, by which time production was commencing at the new plant. This contract was amended on November 27, 1942. The term, "employees at Euclid, Ohio" used in these new contracts was the same as that used in the contract of July 1941. However, in the new contracts there is specific mention that by this term is also meant the employees of the new Euclid Case Plant. As heretofore stated, the Machinists contends that its contract is a bar to an investigation of representatives. However, the Euclid Case Plant was not operating and no employees were employed at the plant when the contract of July 19, 1941, was executed. There were only about 200 employees at the Euclid Case Plant in July 1942; in August, when the new contract was executed, there were about 600 employees at that plant, and at the time of the hearing, there were approximately 1,100 employees at the Euclid Case Plant. The record indicates that none of the employees at the Euclid Case Plant par- ticipated in negotiating the August and Noverizber agreements. Un- der these circumstances, we find that-this contract is not a bar to an investigation of representatives. We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the representation of employees of the Company, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT The Smelter Workers contends that the appropriate unit should consist of all the hourly paid and piece-work production, and mainte- nance employees of the Company at the Euclid Case Plant. The Com- pany prefers a 2-plant unit consisting of the Old Mill and the Euclid Case Plant. The Machinists relies on the contract covering the two plants, and urges that both plants together form a homogeneous unit for bargaining purposes. The parties agreed at the hearing that if the Board fourul-the Euclid Case Plant to be a separate unit, the appro- priate unit should consist of all hourly paid and piece-work I produc- tion and maintenance employees, excluding all supervisors, foremen, assistant foremen, office workers, research and laboratory workers, ,cafeteria workers, guards and watchmen.' Most of, the work done at the United States Government owned Euclid Case Plant is the manufacturing of fabricated products fdr the armed services of the government. On the other hand'the Old Mill produces only metals and metal alloys, none of which are sent to the Euclid Case Plant for fabrication. The two plants have separate em- ployment departments and pay-roll divisions. 6 These exclusions are in substance the same as those provided for in the contiact be tween the Company and the Machinists and requested in the petition 302 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD In view of the fact that the employes in the Euclid Case Plant area homogeneous group and can function effectively as a separate unit for the purposes of collective bargaining we conclude that a unit composed of production and maintenance employees of the Euclid Case Plant is appropriate. Accordingly we find that all hourly paid and piece-work production and maintenance employees at the Euclid, Case Plant, ex- cluding all supervisors, foremen, assistant foremen, office workers, re- search and laboratory workers, cafeteria workers, guards and watch- men, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bar- gaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES We shall direct that the question concerning representation which has arisen be resolved by an election by secret ballot among the em- ployees in the appropriate unit who were employed during the pay- roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Election herein, subject to the limitations and additions set forth in the Direc- tion. 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, and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor Rela- tions Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, it is hereby DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa- tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Chase Brass & Copper Co., Inc., Euclid, Ohio, 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 Director for the Eighth Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Article -III, Section 10, of said Rules and Regulations, among the employees in the unit found appropriate in, Section IV above, who were em- ployed during the pay-roll period immediately 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 any who have since quit or been discharged for-cause, to determine whether they desire to be represented by International Union; Mine, Mill-& Smelter Workers, and its Local 633, affiliated with the C. I. 0.. or by International Association of Machinists, District No. 54, affiliated with the A. F. of L., for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither.