Rowe Manufacturing Co.

In the Matter Of ROWE MANUFACTURING COMPANY and LOCAL UNION No. 1692, UNITED BROTHERHOOD OF CARPENTERS AND JOINERS OF AMERICA, AFFILIATED WITH THE A. F. OF L. Case No. R-51,53.-Decided May 5, 19/3 Mr. Clarence W. Heyl, of Peoria, Ill., for the Company. Messrs. George C. Ottens and John R. Kelley, of Indianapolis, Ind., for the Carpenters. Mr. Harry E. O'Reilly, of Chicago, Ill., and 11r. Arthur E. Ingles, of Galesburg, Ill., for the A. F. or L. Mr. Arthur Leff, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION STATEMENT OF THE CASE Upon amended petition duly filed by American Federation of Labor, herein.called the A. F. of L., alleging that a question affect- ing commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Rowe Manufacturing Company, Galesburg, Illinois, herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before Robert T. Drake, Trial Examiner.' Said hearing was, held at Galesburg, Illinois, on April 9, 1943. The Company, the A. F. of L., and Local Union No. 1692, United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, herein called the Carpenters, appeared, participated, and were afforded full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence hearing on the issues. At the close of the hearing the Company moved to dismiss the petition on the ground that the amendment to the petition, referred to in footnote 1 hereof, deprived the Board of jurisdiction in this proceeding. The said motion is hereby denied. The Trial Examiner's rulings made at the 1 'At the hearing, the Trial Examiner granted a motion to change the name of the peti- tioner from American Federation of Labor to Local Union No 1692, United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, affiliated with the A F. of L., and to change the description of the bargaining unit which' the petitioner claimed to be appropriate The said ruling is hereby affirmed 49 N. L. H. B.. No. 63. 472 ROWE MANUFACTURING COMPANY 473 hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. , On April 15, 1943, the Company filed a brief which has been considered by the Board. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY Rowe Manufacturing Company is an Illinois coporation engaged in the manufacture, assembly and sale of garage doors, farm fenc- ing, silos, and miscellaneous farm and other equipment. It operates a plant at Galesburg, Illinois. The principal raw materials used by the Company are lumber and steel. During 1942 more than 50 percent of the dollar value of such raw materials, totalling more than $50,000, was shipped to its Galesburg, Illinois, plant from points outside the State of Illinois. During the same period, the dollar value of finished products partially or completely malfactured by the Company at its Galesburg, Illinois, plant exceeded $200,000, and approximately 50 percent of the products so sold was shipped 'to points outside the State of Illinois. The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. H. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED The American Federation of Labor and its affiliated organization, Local Union 1692, United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, are labor organizations admitting to membership employees of the Company. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION On March 2 , 1943, the A. F. of L., claiming to represent a majority of the Company 's employees, requested a collective bargaining con- ference with the Company. On March 23, 1943, the A. F. of L. again requested that the Company recognize it, or such labor organi- zation affiliated with it as it might designate for that purpose, as the collective bargaining representative for the Company's employees. At that time the Company , asserting that it doubted the A. F. of L. claim to majority representation , declined to accord the A. F. of L. such recognition . The A. F. of L. then filed the amended petition herein. On April 6 , 1943, the A. F. of L. granted a charter to the Carpenters, as its authorized affiliate to represent employees of the Company. On motion of the A. F. or L. made at the hearing herein, the said amended petition was amended to substitute the name of the Carpenters as the petitioner . At the hearing the Company was 474 DEICfSIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD requested but declined to "recognize the Carpenters as bargaining representative for its employees.2 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 It is the contention of the Carpenters that the appropriate bar- gaining unit should consist of all employees of the Company, exclu- - sive of executives, superintendents, office clerical employees, and guards who are sworn into the Auxiliary Military Police.3 The Carpenters would, include in said unit, whereas the Company would exclude, the 44 persons discussed below.4 'Froman Galyean, James Patterson, John McKenzie, and Glenn Hawkins are classified by the Company as general supervisors. Each is in charge of a separate department which also has a number of sub- foremen. In each such department there are from 12 to 60 employees who are under the general direction of the supervisor in charge. The general supervisors recommend promotion and discharge,' and, such recommendations are generally followed by the management. The general supervisors are paid monthly salaries. Practically all of their time is devoted to supervision. Although at times they perform some manual labor, it appears that such labor is performed by them only when instructing employees under their charge. We shall exclude these general supervisors from-the unit. Gale Carlson and Gale Cunningham are classified by the Company as,foremen in charge of its shipping and receiving departments. Each of them is charged with the duty of supervising the work of 10 to 15 employees. Each has an office and keeps records relating to the work of his department. They make recommendations to the personnel office concerning the hiring and discharging of employees in their de- partments. Although they do some manual work in conjunction with the employees under their supervision, the greater part of their time is devoted to supervisory and clerical functions. We shall exclude these foremen from the unit. I. 'C. Cherrington is classified by the Company as foreman of its punch press department. He has 12 to 15 employees under his' super- vision, including about, 3 subforemen or leadmen. He receives his in- 2 The Carpenters presented for the Trial Examiner 's inspection 81 authorization cards dated in March and April 1943, of which 76 bore apparently genuine signatures corre- sponding to names on the Company pay roll of April 9 , 1943, which listed 253 names in the unit claimed by the Carpenters to be appropriate 3 This is according to the description in the petition as amended at the hearing 4 At the hearing the parties agreed to the exclusion from the unit of two additional employees , namely, Nelson Dodge, of the Company 's personnel department, and B ' S Lyons, watchman sworn into the Auxiliary Military Police ROW MAIN- FACTTJRINNG COMPANY 475 struction directly from the general superintendent's office. Insofar as the record discloses, he does not perform any functions, other than supervisory. We shall exclude him from the unit. H. 0. Fullmer is classified by the Company as supervisor of its door assembly department and its crating department. These departments are housed in a separate building, known as Building No. 4, and include about 15 employees, all of whom are,under the supervision of Fullmer. He receives his instructions directly from the general superintendent's office. We shall exclude him from the unit. Carl Luvall is classified by the Company as foreman of its machine shop. Part of his time is devoted to actual production work. He is in charge of the machine shop, and supervises and is responsible for the work of about eight machinists and tool and die makers. Ile receives his instructions from and reports to the office of the general superintendent. We shall exclude him from the unit. Raymond Ancelet and A. E. -Simpkins are classified as subforemen in the Company's hardware department which is under the general supervision of Galyean. Each supervises the work of approximately 20 employees. They have the right to make recommendations concern- ing hiring and discharging, and such recommendations are generally followed. We shall exclude them from the unit. James Conlee is a draftsman and engineer who is paid a monthly salary. He has an office, shared by his assistant, Lowell Yates, the outer door of which bears the legend, "Engineering Department." He does not engage in production work. He reports directly to the execu- tives of the Company. We shall exclude James Coulee from the unit. Lowell Yates, Coulee's assistant, is usually engaged in drafting and, engineering clerical work. At the time of the hearing, however, he was engaged exclusively in supervising 15 employees in the manufac- ture of a skid. He is often given supervisory assignments of the same general character. He does not himself engage in actual production work. We shall exclude him from the unit. De Moss Romine and James Shunick are a mechanical power engineer and an electrical engineer, respectively. Each has a number of assistants.' The former has charge of the plant's heating and diesel engine equipment. The latter, who holds a college engineering degree, has charge of the plant's generators, motors, and switchboard, and also works on the development of electrical parts. We shall exclude Romine and Shunick from the unit. Andrew Lambie and William Doyle are classified by the Company as clerical employees. , They have desks in the factory office used by the department supervisors. Lambie checks orders, writes job tickets, and performs miscellaneous clerical work in the factory. -Doyle keeps stock records and writes orders. Neither does any production work. Since 476 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD their work is not essentially different from the work performed by many clerical employees whom the parties are agreed should be excluded from the unit, we shall exclude Lambie and Doyle. James D. Smith and Arthur Harrison, working under the general direction of Galyean to whom they are responsible, dq welding work, and, at the same time direct and inspect the work of six welders who work with each of them. It appears that Smith and Harrison devote at least one-half of their time to actual welding work. Since the record 'indicates that Smith and Harrison are in effect working leaders, we shall include them. Charles Baughman, Roy Bruner, Bert Swanson, and Angelo Perfy work under the general supervision of Patterson to whom they are responsible, and each at times directs the work of from 6 to 12 em- ployees. While engaged in directing such employees, they also per- form manual work similar to that of employees whose work they direct. Only Perfy is engaged throughout the year as a working subforeman. The others act as subforemen only during certain seasons of the year. Since, as appears from the record, the employees in ques- tion devote a substantial portion of their time to work similar to that of employees whom they direct, and generally do not perform any major supervisory functions, we shall include them in the unit. J. N. Spencer, a subforeman under Fullmer, and C. W. Sutherland, a subforeman under,Patterson, are charged with the duty of directing the work of a small number of employees with whom they work. It appears that a substantial part of their time is devoted to the actual performance of work similar to that of the men whom they direct ,and that they do not perform any major supervisory functions. We shall include them in the unit. Walter -Marsh, head millwright, Allen Mann, stockroom attendant, 0. G. Wilcox, in charge of sheet metal work, and H. R. Gillette, in charge of shearing work, receive their instructions from the general superintendent's office, and have from one to four assistants, each, who aid them in their work. Only a minor portion of their time is spent in directing the work of their assistants. Since it appears from the record that they, are, at most, working leaders, we shall include them in the unit. Fred Ywrth is employed in the mill department, under the super- vision of Hawkins, principally as an inspector. He checks machine set-ups and also checks the work of approximately 20 to 25 employees in that department. Part of his time is devoted to actual production work. Except to the extent indicated, he does not appear to perform any supervisory functions. We shall include him in the unit. Pearl Channel, Lester Henry, and Hubert Dawson are now employed ROWE MANUFACTURING COMPANY 477 as die setters in the punch press department, which is under the super- vision of I. C. Cherrington, and which now has a total of 15 employees. Part of their time is devoted to instructing other workmen in this department and checking their work. When the punch press depart- ment operated with two shifts, Channel was the foreman of the night crew, but, except to the extent already indicated, he i's now engaged solely in production work. We shall include Channel, Henry, and Dawson in the unit. Glen G. Cherrington at the present time is employed principally as an inspector in the Company's trellis department, which is under the supervision of Patterson, and, as such, has no supervisory duties. At times he also acts as a working foreman of the paint department which includes four employees. The Company does not have sufficient painting work to keep all the employees in that department continu- ously occupied, and members of that department are, therefore, as- signed to other work from time to time. Fifty percent or more of Cherrington's time is devoted to checking and inspecting trellises as distinguished from painting. We shall include him in the unit. L. E. Brant, Eskell Freburg, and Sam Smith, although they were engaged at one time as foremen or subforemen in various departments which are not now in operation, are at present, and have been for some time, employed as general factory workers. We shall include them in the unit. Ross Dunlevy is employed as a clerk in the shipping and receiving department which is under the supervision of Cunningham. He takes charge of the department only on occasions when Cunningham is absent. In addition to checking shipping orders, marking packages, and preparing bills of lading, he also assists other departmental employees in the handling of heavy cases. The parties are agreed that other non-supervisory employees in that department are to be included in the unit. In view of the fact that Dunlevy does not perform any major supervisory functions and his work is closely related to that of other employees in that department, we shall include him in the unit. George Lowery is a full time, and M. C. Welsh and Theodore McAdams are part-time watchmen not sworn into the Auxiliary Mili- tary Police. Welsh and McAdams devote most of their time to pro- duction work. George Epley, John Shaw, and Ralph Brush are janitors. The Company claims that these employees are engaged in occupations which are not within the jurisdiction of the Carpenters. The Carpenters, however, states that these employees are eligible for membership in its organization, and that it has been its practice in other plants to accept employees holding like job classifications. The 478 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Carpenters claims further, that the janitors and watchmen desire representation-by it. No other union seeks to represent the watchmen and janitors, and, in view of their small number, it appears that they will have-no representation if they are excluded from the appropriate unit. On the basis of all the evidence, we are of the opinion that the watchmen and janitors should b,^ included with the other employees. We therefore find that all employees of the Company at Galesburg, Illinois, including the employees named in Appendix A hereof, but excluding executives, superintendents, office clerical employees, guards who are sworn into the Auxiliary Military Police, and the employees named in Appendix B hereof, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes'of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. 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 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 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 Rowe Manufac- turing Company, Galesburg, Illinois, 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 Thirteenth 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 employees who did not work during said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation, or tempo- rarily 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 Local Union No. 1692, United Brot herhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, affiliated with the A. F. of L., for the purposes of collective bargaining. 479 MANUFACTURING COMPANY ROWE Charles Baughman L. E. Branic Roy Bruner, Ralph '.Brush Pearl Channel Glen G. Cherrington Hubert Dawson Ross Dunlevy George Epley Eskell Freburg H. R. Gillete Arthur Harrison Lester Henry George Lowery Raymond Ancelet Gale Carlson I. C. Cherrigton James Conlee Gale Cunningham Nelson Dodge William Doyle H. 0. Fullmer Froman Galyean Glenn Hawkins APPENDIX A I Theodore McAdams Allen Mann Walter Marsh Angelo Perfy John Shaw James D. Smith Sam Smith ; J. N. Spencer C. W. Sutherland" Bert Swanson M. C. Welsh 0. G. Wilcox Fred Yurth APPENDIX B Andrew, Lambie , Carl Luvall B. S. Lyons John McKenzie James Patterson De Moss Romine James Shunick A. E. Simpkins Lowell Yates