Harry M. Williamson & Son

In the Matter of HARRY M. WILLIAMSON AND HARRY B. WILLIAMSON, A PARTNERSIIIP, D/B/A HARRY M. WILLIAMSON & SON and INTERNA- TIONAL UNION OF. MINE, MILL AND SMELTER WORKERS , LOCAL 635 Case No. R-4965.-Decided March 25, 1943 Jurisdiction : fluor spar ore mining and milling industry. Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence' of question : com- ,pany failed to answer union's request for recognition ; contemplated changes in operations in the event company obtained a contract with the United States Government,- found under the circumstances, not to warrant postponing the election Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : company-wide unit comprising mine and mill operations found appropriate notwithstanding union's contention that unit should be confined to the mine operations; mill operators, leadmen or shiftmen, included in the unit over objection of the union, when contrary to union's contention, they were found not to be supervisory employees. Mr. Frank McDonough, Jr., of Denver, Colo., for the Company. ,Mr. Ray Lee, of Denver, Colo., and Mr. Guy Bash, f ord, of James- town, Colo., for the Union. Mr. Louis Cokin, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION STATEMENT OF THE CASE Upon petition and amended petition duly flied 'by International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers, Local 635, herein called the Union, alleging ' that a question affecting commerce had arisen con- cerning the representation of employees of Harry M. Williamson and Harry B. Williamson, a partnership, d/b/a Harry M. Williamson & Son, Jamestown, Colorado, herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided for an appropriate'hearing upon due notice before Willard Y. Morris, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was, held at Denver, Colorado, on March 4, 1943. The Company and the Union appeared, participated, and were afforded full opportunity to be' heard, to examine and cross -examine witnesses, and to introduce 48N. L. R. B., No. 70. 547 " 521247-43-vol. 48-36 548 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD 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 following: FINDINGS OF FACT I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY Harry M. Williamson and Harry B. Williamson, a partnership, tl/b/a Harry M. Williamson & Son are engaged in the mining and milling of fluor spar ore at Jamestown, Colorado. During 1942 the Company mined approximately 4700 tons of ore. All the concen- trates resulting from the reduction of this ore were shipped to points outside the State of Colorado. The Company admits that it is engaged in' 'commerce within' the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act: II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers, Local 535, is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, admitting to membership employees of the Company., III. THE-QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION ^,^''On^January 11, 1943, the Union,;clailuing to"represent.a^niajulity of the Company's employees, requested the Company to recognize it as the exclusive representative of siicli employees. The Company did not reply to this request. A statement of the Trial Examiner, read. into evidence- during the hearing, indicates that `tile Union represents a substantial number of employees in the unit hereinafter found to be 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 Act. IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT ,The Union -urges that all production' nd' mainteiiance employees at the mining operations of the Company,'excluding supervisory;- techhical, and office employees, constitute an appropriate unit.-The Coiiipany contends that' its entire operations, . consistin' g of 'the em- ployees at the mine and the mill, constitute a single a ipropriate•unit^ In its petition, the Union requested a single unit of 'mine and mill ^'ifipl'oyees. )J`It,*as not,until'the shearing! that the' Union cha'nke& its ' The Trial Examiner reported that the Union presented 15 membership apphca "ion cards bearing apparently genuine signatures of persons whose names , appear- on -the -Company's pay roll of February 2S, 1943 There are approximately 32 employees in tl.e appropriate unit. HARRY M. WILLIAMSON & SON 549 position and asked that the unit be confined to 'mine employees. The record indicates that the Union has conducted its organizational cam- paign on a company-wide basis,and that a number of the employees Working - at -the , mill ,have designated •=the 'Union as their bargaining representative. The operations of the mine and the mill are inter- dependent and the pay rates are substantially similar. We conclude that the company-wide unit is the appropriate one in this case. The Union and the Company agree, and we find, that supervisory, technical, and office employees should be excluded from the appro- priate unit. The parties are in disagreement, however, as to whether mill operators and leachnen should be included; the Union urges that both groups be excluded on the ground that they are supervisory employees. The mill -operators, of whom there. are four, are paid -on an hourly basis and receive only a slightly higher rate of pay than their helpers. Each of the operators exercises supervision only over his helper, com- parable to that which a skilled employee customarily exercises with respect to an assistant. The operators have no authority over other employees in the department. There are three employees in the nine classified as leadmen or shift men. The record indicates that these employees spend almost the entire day performing manual work and that the amount of -supervision they exercise is negligible. We find that theg idence• as toy the supervisory authority of the mill.oper- ators and leadmen is insufficient to warrant excluding them. Accord- ingly, we shall include both groups in the unit. We find that all production and maintenance employees of the Company, including mill operators and leadmen, but excluding su- pervisory, technical, and office employees, constitute a' unit appro- priate for the purposes of collective bargaining, within the meaning of,8ection 9 (b) of the Act. V. '1111' DETERMINATION T 'OF REPRESENTATIVES J We shall direct' that the question concerninng.representation' which has arise- be resolved by means of, an election by secret,ballot. ,' ,The Union requests that an election be held in the immediate future. The Company contends that any election that might be directed should be • postpone(] because of pending contract negotiations with the United Sates Government. The. Company is presently negotiating with the United St:tcs Government for contracts which might re-_ quire it to change its operating methods. Such conteinplatcd- change might result in the mine employees becoming independent contrac- tors. However, the record indicates that there is considerable un- certainty as to when any contract will be received and if so whether the contemplated change in operations will be put into effect. We 550 DECISIONS- OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATION28 BOARD shall accordingly proceed with an immediate determination of repre- sentatives. We shall direct that the employees eligible to vote in the election shall be those within the appropriate. unit who were employed dur- ing the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direc- tion of Election herein, 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 DIRECTED that, as,part of the' investigation to ascertain representa- tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Harry M. Wil- liamson and Harry B. Williamson, a partnership, d/b/a Harry M. Williamson & Son, Jamestown, Colorado, an election 1by 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 super- vision of the Regional Director for the Seventeenth 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 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 per- son 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 rep- resented by International' Union of Mine; Mill and-Smelter•Workers; Local 635, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, .for the purposes of collective bargaining.