A. Papish, Inc.

In the Matter of •A. PAPISH, INC. and INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACI-IINISTS; A. F. OF L. Case ,No. 2-R-4408.-Decided February 28, 1,944 Mr. Leo Papish, of Danbury, Corin., for the Company. Mr. Fred Cederh,olm, of Bridgeport, Conn., for the Union. JIiss S. Catherine 'TVilsov, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION STATEMENT OF THE CASE Upon a petition duly filed by International Association of Machin- ists, A. F. of L.. , herein' called the Union, alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of em- ployees of A. Papish, Inc., Danbury, Connecticut, herein., called the Company, the National' Labor Relations Board provided for an ap- propriate hearing upon due notice before Martin I. Rose, Trial Ex- aminer. Said hearing was held at Danbury, Connecticut, on January 5, 1944. The Company and the Union appeared and participated. All parties 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 prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. All parties were- afforded an 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 A. Papish, Inc., a Connecticut corporation, is engaged in the manu- facture, sale, and distribution of aircraft parts, machine tools, and ordnance. The Company operates a plant in Danbury,,Connecticut, under the name of Leo'Papish and 'Company (division of A. Papish, Inc.)„the only plant involved in'this proceeding, and referred to 55N L R.B,No 16. 91 92 •DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD herein as'the Leo Papish plant. During the year ending December 17,1943, the Company purchased raw materials for this plant amount- ing'in value to more than $5.000, approximately 90 percent of which was purchased outside the State of Connecticut. During the same period the plant produced finished products. amounting in value to more than $100,000, approximately 75 percent of which was shipped to points outside the State of Connecticut. All its finished products are used for Ndar purposes. . The Company admits that it is engaged 'in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED( International Association of Machinists, affiliated with the Amer- ican Federation of Labor, is a labor organization admitting to member- ship employees of the Company. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION The Company has refused to grant recognition to the Union as the exclusive bargaining representative of its employees until tlie. Union has.been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit. A statement of the Regional Director, introduced into evidence at the hearing, indicates that the Union represents a substantial number of employees in the writ hereinafter found a,ppropriate.l - ; , , , 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' aregenerally agreed that alf -production' and mainte- _ nance employees at the Leo Papish plant, excluding' supervisory em- ployees, constitute all ' appropriate unit,.', They are in disagreement, .however, concerning expediters, watcliinen; and office'' alid clerical employees. The Union requests that these classifications of employees be excluded; and the Company,'that they be included. Expediters: The Company employs-two persons, known as produc- tion expediters. They. are engaged in' procuring contracts, materials, and. tools, and in enhancing the efficiency. of production.. One of these employees spends all of his time 'away from the plant; and the other The Regional'Director reported that the IIinon subnutted 21'authorization cards; that the names of, 19 persons alipeaiing on.the cards,were ,11isted'on the Company's pay, roll of Decembei 18, 1943 , which contained the names of 38 employees in the appiopr + ate unit; that'the 19 cards bore apparently genuine oi•iginal'sigriatuiPs .' and that the cards-were dated No'enmber and December 1943 ' A. PAPISH, 'INC. 93 has spent 50 percent of his time away from the plant during the past 10 months.. Both' are paid on a salary basis,, while the, production workers are paid on an hourly basis. Under these circumstances; we shall exclude expediters from the unit.2 , , 1 Watchmen: There are three watchmen involved; they are neither uniformed, armed, nor militarized. Their duties consist of making rounds of the plant, punching station clocks,,and doing cleaning work. Occasionally they cut off machinery left running at closing time. The Union does not admit watchmen to membership.., We shall exclude watchmen from the unit. ' ` Office and Clerical Elhployees : The' Company's two clerical em-)'-, ployees perform ordinary office work, including bookkeeping and typing. In accordance with our usual practice of excluding office and clerical employees from a unit of production and maintenance em- ployees, we shall exclude these employees from the unit. We find that all production and maintenance employees at thwLeo Papish•plant, excluding expediters, watchmen, office and clerical em- ployees and all supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in^the status of em- I,loyees, or effectively recommend such action,-constitute a unit appro- priate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Sectioii 9 (b) of the Act. V. THE DETERMINATION OF 1:EPRESENTATIVES We shall direct that the question concerning representation which has arisen be resolved by an election by secret ballot among the-em- ,. ploye-es in the appropriate unit who were employed during the pay-' roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Elec- tion, Herein', ubject to the limitations and additions'set forth in the Direction. The Union contends that two workmen, Roco Lacava'and O. Ma- dore, should not be permitted to vote in the production and maintenance unit; the Company contends that they fall within the, unit and are eligible to vote. These individuals do not punch the'time clock with the Sammie regularity and at the same time as do the production and maintenance employees due to the fact that they perforih miscellaneous tasks, some of which are carried on in connection with operations of the Company other than those at the plant involved. Lacava drives a truck and performs other functions for the Leo Papish plant and other operations of the Company. During the month prior 'to the hearing, lie was engaged mainly in painting buildings owned and z See Lewis Eugene Wilson d/b/a The W,lson Company, 53 N. L. R B 523. 94 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD, leased to others by the.Company. The-record indicates that he has installed pipes•and machinery, has-done some-production work, at the Leo•Papish plant, and that much of his time goes into the j9b costs of 'that' plant. Madore makes machinery and,building repairs :at the Leo Papish plant and at other property of the Company. He unloads trucks containing materials for the manufacturing operations at the ,,plant involved and for other operations of. the Company. He builds all the shipping boxes for the Leo Papish plant, and has on,occasions performed other work at that plant.- Since Lacava,and Madore apr pear to spend a substantial portion of their time in either production or maintenance work in,connection with the Leo Papish plant, we find that they fall within the'production and maintenance unit, and are eligible to vote in the election hereinafter directed. The Company objects to the participation,iinn the election of Michael Hbracak. Hbracak was employed by the,Company subsequent to his alleged discriminatory discharge by the Turner Machine Co., Inc , Danbury, ' Connecticut. In a prior decision directing an election among the employees of that corporation,' the Board decided that Hbracak should be permitted to vote, but that his, ballot should be segregated pending a determination of the unfair labor practice charges which had been filed 'in, his behalf.4 It appears that at, the time of the hearing Hbracak had been working for the Company for 2 or 3 months, as a screw machine operator. We are of the opinion that lie has a sufficient interest in the proceedings to be eligible to vote. 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 3, it is hereby „DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa- tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with A. Papish, Inc., 'Danbury, Connecticut, an election by secret ballot shall be conducted as'- earlyJas possible, but not later than tlhirty (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 the unit found appropriate in Section IV, above, who were employed dur- ing the,pay-roll period immediately' preceding the date of th i s'Direc- 3 53 N-11; R B 1188, issued December G 1943; amended December 28,'1943 Charges were, filed on September 17, 1943; and amended charges on December 28. 1943 The complaint lease ( 2-C-5278 ) is now pending before the Board . The charges ' and the representation case refer to this employee as "Ilrabcsak." A. PAPISH, INC. 95 tion, 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 employees who have since quit, or been discharged for cause and have not been rehired or reinstated prior to the date of the election to-determine whether or not they desire to be represented by International Association of Machinists, A. , F. of L., for the purposes of collective bargaining.