Pressed Steel Car Co., Inc.

In the Matter of PRESSED STEEL CAR, COMPANY, INC. and UNITED " STEELWORKERS OF AMERICA , LOCAL #2387 (C. I. 0.) Case No. R-41769.-Decided February 11, 1943 Jurisdiction : train car nvdnufacturing'industry Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question': recog- nition refused when appropriateness of unit was disputed ; union which made some showing of representation accorded place on ballot ; participation in election held not dependent upon eligibility of employees involved to member- ship in participating union : election necessary. Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : all watchmen, patrolmen, and guards, excluding sergeants and captains. Mr. C. Al. Thorp, Jr., of Pittsburgh, Pa., for the Company. Mr. Ernest 'G. Nassar and Mr. Morris Mallinger, of Pittsburgh, Pa., for the Steelworkers. Mr. L. E. Clark, of Pittsburgh, Pa., for the Car & Fouridry Workers. - Miss Viola Janes, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION STATEMENT OF THE CASE Upon petition duly filed by United Steelworkers of America, Local #2387, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, herein called the Steelworkers , alleging that :i questioli affecting com- merce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Pressed Steel Car Company, Inc., McKees Rocks , Pennsylvania, herein called the Company , the National Labor Relations Board pro- vided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before Henry 'Shore, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Pittsburgh, Penn- sylvania , on January 16, 1943. The Trial Examiner, over the objec- tion of the Steelworkers, granted the motion of Car & Foundry Workers Union, Inc., to intervene . The Company , the Steelworkers, and the Car & Foundry Workers, appeared and participated. All parties were afforded full opportunity to be heard , to examine and cross-examine witnesses , and to introduce evidence bearing on the 47 N. L.R.B,No 59. 425 426 DECISSOT"S OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD issues. The Trial Examiner's rulings are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. On January 26 and 28, 1943, the Company and the Steelworkers, respectively, filed briefs, and on February 2, 1943, the Company filed a reply brief, all of which the Board has considered. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following: FINDINGS OF FACT I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY The Company, a Pennsylvania corporation, is engaged in the business of manufacturing and assembling railroad passenger cars, freight cars, mine cars and equipment, shell forgings, and armor- plate. The Company owns and operates two plants, one in McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, and one in Hegewisch, Illinois. The former is the only plant whose employees are involved herein. Materials purchased by the Company consist principally of steel, castings, lumber, and operating supplies. During 1942, the .total. pur,c}aases; of these materials for use at the plant in McKees Rocks exceeded $20,000,000 in value, of which approximately 50 percent was pur- chased from sources outside the State of Pennsylvania. During the same period, the net sales were in excess of $24,300,000, of which approximately 75 percent represented the sale of products shipped to points outside the State of Pennsylvania. The Company employs approximately- 2,200 persons at its McKees Rocks -plant. For. the purpose of this proceeding, the Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED United Steelworkers of America, Local #2387, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, and Car & Foundry Workers Union, Inc., are labor organizations, each admitting to membership employees of the Company. The latter does not admit to member- ship watchmen, patrolmen, and guards, who are the employees involved herein. / III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION The Steelworkers has requested the Company for recognition as the bargaining agent of the Company's watchmen, patrolmen, and guards. The Company denied the request because it disputed that such employees constituted an appropriate unit. On February 23, 1940, the Car & Foundry Workers was certified by the Board as the exclusive representative of the Company's pro- PRESSED STEEL CAR COMPANY, INC. 427 duction and maintenance employees, excluding, inter alia, watchmen.' On February 25, 1941, the Company and the Car & Foundry Workers entered into a bargaining contract in which the Company recognized the Car & Foundry Workers as the sole representative of all the employees;, it appears that watchmen were also covered by this contract. In June 1941, the watchmen petitioned the Car & Foundry Workers to represent them in spite of the fact that watchmen were not admitted to membership in that organization. As a result, a joint committee was set up which functioned for nearly a year. On July .9, 1942, the S. W. O. C., the predecessor of the Steelworkers, was certified by the Board as the representative for the same unit for which the Car & Foundry Workers had been certified, with watchmen again excluded.2 Shortly before the hearing, the Car & Foundry Workers received a letter from some seven or eight watchmen asking that the Car & Foundry Workers represent them through a joint committee as before. The Steelworkers contends that the Car & Foundry Workers is not authorized to represent the employees herein, because that organization does not admit them to membership. We reject this contention. The Act accords employees the right to designate as their representative any individual or labor organization, regardless of their eligibility to membership in that organization. A statement of the Regional Director, introduced into evidence at the hearing, indicates that the Steelworkers represents a substantial number of employees in the unit hereinafter found to be appropriate.a We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the representation of employees of the Company, within the mean- ing- of Section 9 (c), and Section, 2 (6)^ and (7).of the' Act. IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT The Steelworkers and the Car .& Foundry Workers agree that the appropriate unit consists of all watchmen, patrolmen, and guards, excluding sergeants and captains' 1 20 N. L R B. 700. 2 42 N. L R B 262 8 The Regional Director reported that the Steelworkers , in support of its allegation that it represented a majority of the employees in the claimed unit , submitted 39 application- for-membership cards, dated from February 1941 to October 1942 , with 9 undated ; and that all 39 cards bore apparently genuine original signatures of persons listed on the Company's pay roll of November 15, 1942, which contains the names of 50 persons in the unit hereinafter found appropriate. The Car & Foundry workers submitted six application -for-membership cards to the Trial Examiner who found that all six were undated, that all six bore apparently genuine original signatures, and that all the signatures were the names of persons listed on the pay roll of November 15, 1942 4 The parties stipulated that watchmen , patrolmen , and guards are synonymous terms, and that all three categories perform the some duties. 428 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD The Company is opposed to such a unit on the ground that these employees are auxiliaries of the military police. The duties of these employees, as shown by the record, are similar to the duties of other plant-protection employees who are auxiliaries of the military police, and whom we have found in prior cases constitute appropriate units.-5 They clearly are employees of the Company. They guard the property and facilities of the Company, patrol the plant, report infractions of shop regulations, and guard against sabotage. We find that all watchmen, patrolmen, and guards, excluding ser-, geants and captains, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES The Steelworkers urges that eligibility to vote be determined by reference to the pay-roll period prior to the date of the hearing. We see no reason for departing from our usual practice of using a current pay roll. The Steelworkers contends that the Car & Foundry Workers should not be accorded a place on the ballot because of its small representation showing, and further alleges that it is inactive and is not authorized to represent the employees herein since it does not accept them into membership. As the Car & Foundry Workers has made some showing of representation, and inasmuch as an elec- tion is to be held, Ave shall accord it a place on the ballot. As stated above, we find no merit in the contention of the Steel workers that the Car & Foundry Workers should not be permitted to participate in an election because it does not admit watchmen to membership. 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 Rela- tions Act, and pursuant to Article TIT, Section 9, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, it is hereby DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain represen- tatives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Pressed Steel Car Company, Inc., McNees Rocks, 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 Director for the Sixth Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and 5See Matter of Clnnyslcr,Coaporation, Highland Paik Plant and Local IL§, United Auto- mobile, Aircraft and-Agricultural Implement R'oikers of Aniei ice, affiliated frith the 0 I 0, 44 N. L R B. 881 ; 'Matter of Cnrtis's-Wright Corporation and 4merican Federation of Labor, 45 N I, R B. 592; and Matter of Ford Motor Company and United P, otectii e Workers, Local 1, 45 N. L It B. 70. PRESSED STEEL CAR COMPANY, INC. 429 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 employed 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 United Steel- workers of Anmerica, Local #2387, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, or by Car & Foundry Workers Union, Inc., for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither.