General Chemical Co.

In the Matter of GENERAL CHEMICAL COMPANY, NATIONAL WORKS.and INTERNATIONAL UNION OF OPERATING ENGINEERS LOCAL 589, (A. F. L.), AND INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOODI OF FIREMEN AND OILERS, LOCAL 52 (A. F. L.) Case No. R-4996.-Decided April 7,1943 Jurisdiction : chemicals manufacturing industry. Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question : re- fusal to accord union recognition until certification by the Board ; collective bargaining agreement which had not been reduced to writing and signed before the assertion of the claim of a rival union, held no bar to a determination of representatives ; request of two co-affiliated labor organizations for joint desig- nation on the ballot, granted ; election necessary. Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : employees in the power house at one of the plants of the company, exclusive of supervisory employees Mr. G. B. Walter, of Cleveland, Ohio, for the Company. Messrs. R. J. Jamieson and Andrew Feuchter, of Cleveland, Ohio, for the A. F. L. Mr. Stanley Delinger, of Akron, Ohio, and Messrs. Carl Bunch and George Leimbach, of Cleveland, Ohio, for the UMWA. Mr. Wallace E. Royster, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION STATEMENT OF THE CASE Upon a joint petition duly filed by.International Union of Operat- ing Engineers, Local 589 (A. F. L.) and International Brotherhood of Firemen and Oilers, Local 52 (A. F. L.), herein called collectively the A. F. L., alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen con- cerning the representation of employees of General Chemical Com- pany, National Works, Garfield Heights, Ohio, herein called the Com-' pany, the National Labor Relations Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before Louis Plost, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Cleveland, Ohio, on March 12, 1943. The Com- pany, the A. F. L., and District 50, United Mine Workers of America, 48 N. L. R B., No. 116. 988 GENERAL CHEMICAL COMPANY 989 Local 12307,-herein called the UMWA, appeared, participated, 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 preju- dicial error and are hereby affirmed. The UMWA has fled a brief 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 General Chemical Company, National Works, a New York corpo- ration, operates 23 plants throughout the United States, among them the plant at Garfield Heights, Ohio, with which we are here concerned. At the Garfield Heights plant the Company produces heavy industrial chemicals, and uses principally as raw materials other chemicals. The Company receives annually at the plant, from points outside Ohio, more than 25,000 tons of chemicals, valued in excess of $400,000. The Company ships annually more than 500,000 tons of chemical products, representing 80 percent of the production of the Garfield Heights plant, to points outside Ohio. The Company concedes that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED International Union of Operating, Engineers, Local 589, and Inter- national Brotherhood of Firemen and Oilers, Local 52, both affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, are labor organizations ad- mitting to membership employees of the Company. District 50, United Mine Workers of America; Local 12307, is a labor organization admitting to membership employees of the Company. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION On November 5, 1941, by a consent election among the Company's production and maintenance employees at the Garfield Heights plant, the UMWA was chosen as bargaining representative for such em- ployees. On February 5, 1942, pursuant to an agreement between the A. F. L. and the UMWA, a second consent election was held at the Garfield Heights plant confined to the employees in the powerhouse. The employees voting were unanimous in their choice of the UMWA. After a protracted period of negotiation, on January 2, 1943, the UMWA and the Company agreed to the terms of a collective bargain- 990 DEGISIONiS OF NATIONAL LABOR , RELATIONS BOARD ing contract covering, among others, the employees in the powerhouse at the Garfield Heights plant. 'On January 7 the terms and conditions of the agreement were embodied in a formal written contract signed by both parties. In the interim between the oral agreement and the execution of the formal contract, the A. F. L. notified the Company 'that it represented,a majority of the employees in the powerhouse and asked recognition as the bargaining representative of such employees. The Company refused recognition because of the relationship then existing between it and the UMIWA and suggested certification pro- ceedings before the Board. On January 5, 1943, the A. F. L. filed the petition in this proceeding. In its brief and at the hearing, the UMWA contended that its con- tract with the Company constitutes a bar to a present investigation of representatives, alid asserted that the formal contract merely re- duced to writing, without change, the agreement of January 2. It does not appear that the A. F. L. had notice that such agreement had been reached. We have recently held that a collective bargaining agreement, which has not been reduced to writing and signed before the assertion of the claim of a rival union, does not constitute a bar to a determination of representatives.' Since the claim of the A. F. L. was made prior to the signing of the0contract, and more than a year has elapsed since the employees in the powerhouse have expressed their choice of repre-, sentatives, we find that the contract does not constitute a bar to a present determination of representatives. A statement, of the Field Examiner, introduced in evidence, indi- cates. that the 'A. F. L. 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 Act. IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT The parties have stipulated that the appropriate unit comprises the employees of the Company in the powerhouse at the Garfield Heights ' See Matter of Eicor, Inc and District No 8, International Association of Machinists, A F of L, 46 N L. R. B. 1035. See also Matter of Joseph P. Cattle & Brothers, Incor- porated and International Union of Mine, Mill & Smelter Workers, C. I. 0., 47 N. L. R. B., No 14. 2 The Field Examiner stated that International Brotherhood of Firemen and Oilers, Local 52, submitted five dues cards, four of which indicated payment of dues through January 1943 , and one of which indicated payment through December 1942. All of the cards appeared to be genuine and foul of the five names theieon appearing ,'are the names of persons listed on the Company's pay roll of January 8 , 1943 International Union of Operating Engineers , Local 589, submitted three application cards ; all bore apparently genuine original signatures and were dated November 11, 1942. All three cards bore the names of persons whose names appear on the Company 's pay roll of January 8 , 1943. The pay roll contains the names of eight persona within the appropriate unit. The UMWA relies upon its contract to establish its interest. GENERAL CHEMICAL COMPANY 991 plant. We accept this stipulation, but in accordance with our usual policy, shall exclude supervisory employees from the unit. Accord- ingly, we find that the employees of the Company employed in the powerhouse at Garfield Heights plant, excluding supervisory em- -ployees, 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 em- ployees'in the appropriate unit who were employed during the pay- roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direction 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 Relations 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 General Chemical Company, National Works, Garfield Heights, 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, act-' mg 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 those 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 A. F. L. Engineers and Firemen, or by District 50 United Mine `Yorkers of America, Local 12307, for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither. 3International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 589 (A. F. L.) and International Brotherhood of Firemen and Oilers, Local 52 (A, F L.) have requested joint designation on the ballot as A. F. L. Engineers and Firemen . No reason has been advanced for deny- ing this request k