American Type Founders, Inc.

In the Matter of AMERICAN TYPE FOUNDERS, INCORPORATED and INTER= NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS, LODGE 315 Case No. R-5742.-Decided' September 4, 1943 Mr. Cyril W., O'Gorman, for the Board. Mr. George C. Willis, of Elizabeth, N. J., for the Company. Isserman, Isserman & Kapelsohn, by Mr. Morris Isserman, of Newark, N. J., for the I. A. M. Mr. Robert H. Allen, of Jersey City, N. J., for the Independent. Mr. Joseph E. Gubbins, of'counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION STATEMENT OF THE CASE Upon petition duly filed by International Association of Machinists, Lodge 315, unaffiliated, herein called the I. A. M., alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of American Type Founders, Incorporated, Elizabeth, New Jersey, herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before Mortimer Reimer, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Eliza- beth, New Jersey, on July 23, 1943. The Company, the I. A. M., and Type Workers Union, Local No. 18908, unaffiliated, herein called the Independent, appeared, participated, and were afforded full oppor- tunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing upon the issues. The Trial Examiner's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. The parties were afforded opportunity to file briefs with the Board. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY American Type Founders, Incorporated, is a New Jersey corporation with its main office and plant at Elizabeth, New Jersey, where it is 52 N. L. R. B., No. 61. 410 'AMERICAN TYPE FOUNDERS, INCORPORATED 411 ,engaged in the manufacture of war material and, commercial products. Tor the first 6 months of 1943, the Company purchased for use at the Elizabeth plant, raw materials valued' in excess of $1,000,000, approxi- mately 80 percent of which was shipped to the plant in question from points outside the State of New Jersey. During the same period, the Company sold finished products manufactured at said plant, amount- ing in value in excess of $1,000,000, approximately 85 percent of which was shipped to points outside the State of New Jersey. H. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED • International Association of Machinists, Lodge 315, unaffiliated, and Type 'Workers Union, Local No. 18908, unaffiliated, are labor organizations admitting to membership employees of the company. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION On or about April 26, 1943, the I. A. M. notified the Company that it represented all the employees in Department 21 at the Company's plant in Elizabeth, and requested recognition as the exclusive bargain- ing representative of such employees. On or about May 10, 1943, the Company advised the I. A. M. that since the employees in question were covered by a contract between the Company and the Independent and because the I. A. M. had not been certified as the bargaining representa- tive of said employees, it could not grant such request. On April 24, 1942, the Independent executed a contract with the Company covering all the employees of the foundry division, of which Department 21 is a part. Under the terms of the contract, it was to "remain in full force and effect until cancelled by either party on 'thirty days' written notice to the other party after one year from the date hereof." Neither party has served upon the other a notice of desire to cancel the contract or change its terms and the Independent considers the contract to be in full force and effect. Inasmuch as the original term of the contract ,has expired and the contract is now terminable at any time upon 30 days' written notice, we find that the contract with the Independent is no bar to this proceeding. A statement of the Regional Director, introduced in evidence at the hearing, indicates that the I. A. M. represents a substantial num- ber of employees in the unit alleged in the petition as appropriate, 'The Regional Director's statement shows that the I. A. M. submitted 10 authorization cards, all of which bear names of persons whose names appear on the Company 's pay roll of June 2, 1943, for Department 21 ; there are 11 employees in Department 21. Nine of the cards are dated May 1943, and 1 Is undated. The parties stipulated at the hearing that none,of the employees in Department 21 had been members of the Independent for at least 6 months prior to the hearing. The Regional Director's statement also shows that the Independent stated that none of the employees in question have authorized it to repre- sent them at the present time. The' Independent relies upon its contract with the Com- pany to establish its interest in the proceeding. 412 DECISIONS OF NATION1AL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD 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 DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES The I. A. M. seeks to represent the employees, of Department 21, comprised of three mould makers, one mould setter, six maintenance machinists, and one electrician, and to include such employees under the terms of an existing contract between the Company and the I. A. M. which covers hourly rated production and maintenance em- ployees and toolroom employees in the Company's Kelley press divi- sion. The Independent contends that the employees in Department 21 should remain a part of the unit of foundry employees presently covered by its contract with the Company. The Company's plant is divided into two units, the Kelley press division or machinery division, which is devoted exclusively to. the .manufacture of war materials, and the foundry division, which pro- duces type and replacement parts. The mould makers and mould setter in Department 21 perform skilled work on moulds used in the manufacture of type in the foundry. The maintenance machinists service and repair machines in both the foundry division and the Kelley press division. The employees of Department' 21 are listed on the foundry division pay roll, and a majority of their time is spent in performing duties for the foundry division. However, be- cause of physical limitations and in order to avoid unnecessary dupli- cation of tools and machines the maintenance machinists in Depart- ment 21 do considerable work and spend most of their time in the toolroom which is geographically located in the Kelley press division. While thus engaged in work in the toolroom the maintenance ma- chinists work with tool and die makers in'the Kelley press division, use or interchange tools with them, and associate with employees of the - Kelley press division. 'The -maintenance machinists in Depart- ment 21, at the conclusion of their 8-hour day of work for the foundry division, continue to work, in the same toolroom, for the Kelley press division. Although the kind of work that they -perform for the Kelley press division is different, they continue to use many of the same tools and to associate, as during the first 8 hours of their work- day, with the employees in the Kelley press division. Some of the employees' of Department 21, during the course of a month, spend ' a substantial portion of their regular working time performing duties AMERICAN TYPE FOUNDERS, INCORPORATED 413 for the Kelley press division.' The employees in Department 21 participated in the negotiation of the Independent contract with the Company in April 1942, and shared in a general wage increase granted to the foundry employees pursuant to such contract. On other oc- casions the employees in Department 21 have received wage increases as the result of wage adjustments secured by the I. A. M. for em- ployees in the Kelley press division. None of the employees in Department 21 are production employees; all of them make or maintain the implement's of production used in either the type foundry or the Kelley press division. As members of a separate and distinct service department, they have a community of interest among themselves. We are of the opinion that they should continue to be grouped together for the purposes of collective bargaining, although we do not find that they alone constitute a separate appropriate unit. Four of these 11 employees, the mould men, are peculiarly related by function to the operations of the type foundry; but the maintenance machinists, a majority of the employees in the department, are closely associated in respect to skill and the locale of their work, to employees in the Kelley press division. Func- tionally, the maintenance machinists are concerned with both the foundry and Kelley press division operations. As we noted above, the employees in Department 21 have received benefits as the result, of collective bargaining conducted both by the Independent on be- half of the foundry employees, and by the I. A. M. on behalf of the Kelley press division employees. Under the circumstances, we are of the opinion that the employees in Department 21, as a group, may 'appropriately either remain a part of the unit of foundry employees, or be added to the unit of Kelley press division employees. We shall permit the preference of the Department 21 employees to determine in which of the two existing units they shall be included. In view of the absence of any question concerning representation among the rest of the Company's employees, we shall direct an election only among the employees of Department 21, wherein a question concern- ing representation has arisen. If the employees in this voting group select the I. A. M., they will have thereby indicated their desire to be included in a unit with the production and maintenance employees in the Kelley press division and will be part of such unit. If, how- ever, these employees choose the Independent as their bargaining representative, they shall continue to be part of the unit of foundry employees. 2 Department 21 has a regular foreman who reports to the superintendent of the foundry, but the Department 21 employees are supervised by the foreman of the toolroom in the Kelley press division during periods when they are performing work for that division. 414 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD We shall, accordingly, direct that the question concerning, repre- sentation which has arisen be resolved by an election by secret ballot among. the employees of Department 21, exclusive of supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status, of, employees, or effectively recommend such action, 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 % 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 Re- lations 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 American Type Founders, Incorporated, Elizabeth, New Jersey, 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 Second Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and. subject to Article III, Sections 10 and 11, of said Rules and Regulations, among the employees in Department 21 of the Com- pany's foundry division, 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 em- ployees in the armed forces of the United States who present them- selves in person at the polls, but excluding all supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees or effectively recommend such action, and any who have since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whether they desire to be represented by International Association of Machinists, Lodge 315, unaffiliated, or by Type Work- ers Union, Local No. 18908, unaffiliated, for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither. CHAIRMAN MILLis took no part in the consideration of the aboye Decision and Direction of Election.