General Chemical Co.

In the Matter of GENERAL CHEMICAL COMPANY and INTERNATIONAL UNION OF MINE, MILL & SMELTER WORKERS, LOCAL 635 Case No. R-4867.-Decided February 22, 1943 Jurisdiction : mining and milling industry. Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question : re-, fusal to recognize without certification of Board ; election necessary. Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : all production and maintenance em- ployees at its Jamestown, Colorado, mines, including the watchman, but excluding the superintendent, shift bosses, and surveyor. Mr. Ralph S. Newcomer and Mr. Wilbert J. Trepp, of Boulder, Colo., for the Company. Mr. Ray Lee, of--Denver, Colo.,-for the Union. 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 of Mine, Mill & Smelter Workers, Local 635, herein called the Union, alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of General Chemical Company at its Jamestown, Colorado, mines, herein called the Company, the Na- ,tiofral Labor `Relations 'Board- provided, for an,appropriate hearing upon due notice before Willard Y. Morris, Trial' Examiner. Said hearing was held at Boulder, Colorado, on February 8, 1943. The Company and the Union appeared, participated, and were afforded full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine wit- nesses, 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. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the fol- lowing: FINDINGS OF FACT I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY The General Chemical Company, a New York corporation, oper- ates mines at Jamestown and a mill at Valmont, and it owns mining 47 N. L. R. B., No. 112. 885 i I 886 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD properties at Colorado Springs and at Minturn, all situated in the State of Colorado. 'We are here alone concerned with. the Com- pany's Jamestown fluorspar mines, from which about 75 tons of ore are taken daily to. the., Company-s, Valmont mill, where it is reduced to concentrate. All the, concentrates thus extracted are shipped to points outside the State of Colorado for the production of hydrofluoric acid. II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED International Union of Mine, Mill & Smelter Workers, Local 635, is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, admitting to membership employees of the Company. III: THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION On or about December -21, 1942;-the Union requested the Company to recognize it as exclusive bargaining agent of the Company's em- ployees at Jamestown, Colorado. The Company in a letter dated December 30, 1942, refused recognition unless and until the Union is duly certified as such by the Board. A statement of the Trial Examiner made at the hearing indicates that the Union represents: a' substantial number of employees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate., 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 National Labor. Relations Act. IV. THE, APPROPRIATE UNIT, The parties are agreed 'that 'the 'appropriate unit should consist' of the Company's production and maintenance Workers, excluding the superintendent, employed at the Company's three Jamestown mines .2 The mines are about one-fourth of a mile apart and the employees work in all the mines from time to time. No clerical workers are employed at the mines.' There are, however, diverse contentions as to whether several categories of employees, hereinafter described, are or are not production and maintenance employees. The Company claims that all employees of the mine, excepting -the superintendent, i The Trial Examiner reported that the Union had submitted 36 designations of which 21, dated December 1942 and January 1943, all bearing apparently genuine signatures, correspond with names on the Company's pay roll of February 6, 1943, containing a total of 30 names within the appropriate unit 2 In its petition the-Union claimed representation for the Company's employees. at both the Valmont mill and the Jamestown mines However, at the hearing the Union moved to-amend the,petition to include only the,•mine employees The motion was 'granted. The Company at all times contended that the mine alone constituted an appropriate unit GENERAL CHEMICAL COMPANY 887 should _be .included as production workers on the ground that -they are all employed on an hourly basis and work under substantially, the same conditions.. The Union urges that the contested employees should be excluded, as being supervisory personnel. The categories in dispute are as follows. Shift bosses. There are two shift bosses with equal authority in charge of the day and night shifts, respectively.. Fifty percent of their time is spent in` the actual workof mining.- The rest of their time is devoted to seeing that the orders of the mine superintendent are,properly executed. It appears.that although they do not have the power to hire and discharge they can recommend such action. Since they. clearly are supervisory employees Ave shall, in accordance with our usual policy, exclude these shift bosses. The surveyor. There is one surveyor who works with a transit and sloes the actual, surveying.and mapping. We find that the surveyor performs duties, requiring technical skill,,which are functionally different from the duties of production,and maintenance employees. We shall accordingly exclude him .from the unit. - • I 'The watehmcan. There is only one watchman who is neither depu- tized nor armed. He comes on the property when there are no oper- ations in progress and makes routine inspections.' We find no ade- quate reason for this exclusion and shall, therefore, place him within the unit. , We find that all production and maintenance employees of the Company at its Jamestown, Colorado, mines, including the watch- man, but excluding the superintendent, shift bosses, and the surveyor, 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 We shall direct that the question concerning representation which has arisen be resolved by an election by secret ballot among the employees in the appropriate unit who were employed during the pay- roll period immediately preceding the date of our Direction of Elec- tion, subject to the limitations and additions set forth in the Direction. 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 e 7 888 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATI I ONS BOARID DIRECTED that , as part of the investigation to ascertain representa- tives'for the purposes •of-collective• bargainingawith,General Chemical Company, Jamestown , Colorado, 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 Twenty-second 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 all employees of the Company 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 or not they desire to be represented by International Union of Mine, Mill & Smelter Workers, Local 635, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, for the purposes of collective bargaining.