Kennecott Copper Corp.

In the Matter=of KENNEC07T' COPPER`CORPORATION'and AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR Case No. R-4.832.=Decided February 18, 1943 Jurisdiction : copper mining and milling industry. Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question : re- fusal to accord petitioner recognition; election necessary.' Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : production and maintenance em- ployees at one of Company's mills, excluding supervisors. clerical and technical employees, and deputized watchmen ; agreement as to Messrs. Richard Fennemore, of Phoenix, Ariz., and Robert W. Thomas, of Ray, Ariz., for the Company. Messrs. Paul M. Peterson and E. C. DeBaca, both of Miami, Ariz., for the AFL. Mr. David V. Easton; of couulseko'the'Board,. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION STATEMENT OF THE CASE Upon an amended petition duly filed by the American Federation of Labor,' herein called the AFL, alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Kennecott Copper Corporation, Ray Mines Division, Hayden, Arizona, herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board pro- vided for an appropriate hearing upon due notide"before Elmer S: Hunt, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Hayden, Arizona, on February 3, 1943. The Company and the AFL 2 appeared, par- ticipated, and were afforded full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing on the issues. The Trial Examiner's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. I The original petition was filed by Mill & Smelter Workers Union # 23280 affiliated with the American Federation of Labor. The name of the petitioner was amended during the hearin . 2 International Union of'Mine , Mill andiSmeltcr>workers; C. I. O.,'although duly notified, made no appearance in this proceeding 47 N. L. R. B., No. 95 732 KENNECO'i`T COPPER CORPORATION . r 733 Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following: FINDINGS OF FACT I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY Kennecott Copper Corporation is a New York corporation, licensed to do business in Arizona, and engaged in the mining, milling, ' and production of copper. The Company has a concentrator or mill located at Hayden, Arizona, which receives ore from the mines of the Company located.at.Ray, Arizona. , The,mill and the mines constitute the Ray Mines Division of the Company. We are concerned herein only with the operations of the Company at the Hayden, Arizona, mill. At the present time in excess of 75,000,000 pounds of copper is pro- duced annually at the,Company's mining property at Ray, Arizona. The ore is shipped from the mines to the mill, and is, after treatment, transported by the Southern Pacific Railroad to a smelter owned and operated by the American Smelting and Refining Company. From there the blister concentrate (a form of copper) is shipped via the Southern Pacific Railroad and its connecting lines to Baltimore, Mary- land. Approximately 100 percent of the products of the Company produced by the Ray Mines Division goes into the war effort. Natural gas is used by the Company in its power plant connected With the Ray Mines Division, which is purchased from a gas field in New Mexico, at an average cost of $14,000 to $16,000 per month. We find that-the Company is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED The American Federation of Labor is a labor organization which admits to membership employees of the Company. III. THE QUESTION. CONCERNING REPRESENTATION On December 28, 1942, and on January 7, 1943, the Company refused to recognize the AFL as the bargaining representative for the produc- tion and maintenance employees of the Company at its mill in Hayden, Arizona. A statement of the ,Acting Regional Director, introduced into evi- dence' at the hearing, indicates that the AFL represents a substantial number of employees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate,' 8 The Acting Regional , Director reported that , the AFL submitted 48' designation cards bearing apparently genuine original signatures of persons whose names appear 'on the Company's payrroll' of January 7, 1943. The _unit,contains approximately 147 employees. 734 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD We find that a , question affecting conihierce 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'_U NIT' In accordance with the-agreement of the parties, we find that all pro- duction and- maintenance employees-of the Company at its Hayden, Arizona, mill, excluding supervisors, clerical and technical employees, anddeputized watchmen, constitute-a unit appropriate for the. purposes of collective bargaining, within the meaning of Section 91 (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 Rela- tions Act, and pursuant to Article III, 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 representa- tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Kennecott Copper Corporation, Ray Mines Division, Hayden, Arizona, 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 Twenty-second Region, acting in, this matter as agent for the National Labor Rela- tions 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 'employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction, including any such 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 dis- charged for cause, to determine whether or not they desire to be repre- sented by American Federation of Labor for the purposes of collective bargaining.