Remington Rand, Inc.

In the, Matter Of REMINGTON . RAND, INC. and. UNITED ELECTRICAL, z RADIO AND MAOHINE WORB:Ei s OF AMERICA, C. I. O. Case No. 7-R-1740.-Decided July 01,'1944 Mr. J. A. W. Simson, of Buffalo, N. Y., and,Harvey and Fisher, by 'Mr. Vance E. Fisher, of Benton Harbor, Mich., for the Company. Mr-Robert S. Feldman, of Benton Harbor, 'Mich., for the,U. E. Mr. Walter G. Wisdom, of Detroit, Mich., for the-Pressmen. Mr. Bernard Goldberg, of counsel to the Board. r r DECISION' AND DIRECTION OF-ELECTIONS' STATEMENT OF THE CASE r Upon a petition duly'filed by United Electrical , Radid and Machine Workers of Amdrica, ''C.' I0., herein called the U. E., alleging that a question affecting ` commerce had arisen-concerning 'the representa- tion of employees 'of''Remington Rand, Inc., Benton"Harbor, Michi- gan, herein' called he Company , the National Labor ' Relations Board provided for' an' appropriate hearing upon du e notice ' before Robert J. Weiner, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held ' at St. Joseph, Michigan; .on'-June 9; 1944: The Company; the U. E.,: and Inter: national Printing Pressmen and Assistants' Union of North Ameiica, A. F. L., herein called the Pressmen ,-appeared and participated. All parties were afforded, full,opportunity ,to be he.ird,? to' examine -,and cross-examine witnesses ,, and to introduce evidence' bearing :• on the issues. ,' Thd Trial Examiner's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. All ,parties; werejaf? forded an opportunity to file-briefs- with-the.Board.,' r:^, ir' Upon they entire ;record • in the case . the Board, makes the, following : Y r . '. 1 FINDINGS OF FACT 1. THE BUSINESS OF TILE COMPANY Remington Rand, Inc., a Delaware corporation, is engaged in the manufacture of printed office record material at its plant in Benton Harbor, Michigan; this plant and 7 others comprise the' Systems Di- 57N.L. R.B.,No 97. 544 - REMINGTON RAND, IN, C. 545 vision of the Company. In connection with the manufacture of such material; -the Company purchases annually in interstate- commerce raw materials valued at approximately $2,000,000. During' a similar period of time, it ships approximately $4,500,000 worth'of its finished products in interstate commerce. The Company admits that it 'i's engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. H. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED' - United Electrical, Radio and Machine'Workers of America, affil- iated with the Congress' of Industrial Organizations, is, a labor or- ganization admitting to membership employees of the Company. International Printing Pressmen and Assistants' Union of North America, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, is 'a labor organization admitting to membership employees of the Company. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION The Company has refused to grant recognition to the U. E. .as the exclusive bargaining representative 'of its employees, until the 'U. E. 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 U. E. and the Pressmen' represent sub- stantial numbers of employees in the units claimed by each 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 DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES ,The U. E. seeks a unit, comprising, all production and maintenance employees of the Company, excluding office and clerical employees, foremen-and assistant foremen;'and all other'supervisory personnel. The Pressmen contends that a unit including' all'.pressmen, 'pressmen assistants, OK men, press feeders, stockmen, the wash-up man in the cylinder pressroom; foremen' pressmen, and all employees engaged in The Regional Directoi,reported'that the U.,R submitted11152 iuthorizafion'cards all of which bore apparently, genuine original signatures,; that the, names,of 125 persons appearing on the -cards weie, listed on the Company's 'pay roll of May' 1, 1944, which contained the ri'aines of 332 employees in the 'unit' sought bv'the U. E i; and'that"the cards ^%ere dated from, June 1943 to April 1944.' ^ The. Regional, Director, alsojeported- that the Pressmen snibmitted' 26'designatnon cards all of ,which bore apparently genuine•original signatures ; that the names of 18 persons appearing on the cards were listed on the Company's layroli' of May 1;; 1!144, ;which contained the names of 44. employees ,in .the unit,sought- by;the Pressmen ; and that the cards were dated as follows : 13 in March 1944 ; 12 in April 1944 ; and -1" in 11Iay •1944' The Trial-Examiner'reported that at the Bearing the U' E_tsubni'ltted 23 additional authorization cards from employees, whose names appeared on the-Company's payroll of May 1, 1944 ,•^ ; . ...,r. 601248-45-vol. 57 11'"36 `' ,w ; , e- „ n 546 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD the Powers tabulating operation, but excluding the index machine operator and all employees of the lithographing department, is,appro- priate. The Company takes a neutral position with regard to the foregoing unit contentions, except that it opposes the inclusion of any supervisory personnel. We are of the opinion that, the unit sought by the Pressmen; with the inclusion, however, of the index machine operator and. the ex- clusion of all foremen, comprises an identifiable group of employees having substantially similar duties and interests which would permit them to,functioi for the purposes of collecting bargaining either as a separate group or as part-of the larger unit sought by the U. E. In this situation, our determination of the unit issue with respect to these employees will' depend, in, part, upon 'their own desires as expressed in the election hereinafter - directed among them. We shall direct that separate elections by secret ballot be held among the employees in each ,of the voting groups described below who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Elections herein, subject to the limitations and additions,set.forth in the-Directions. 1: All pressmen,' pressmen assistants, OK men, press feeders, the wash-up man in the cylinder pressroom, stockmen, the operator of the index machine, and all employees engaged in 'the Powers tabulating operation, excluding foremen and all other supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or effectively recommend such action. 2. All remaining production and maintenance employees of,--the Company, excluding office 'and clerical employees, foremen and assist- ant foremen, and all or any other supervisory employees with au- thority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in, the, status of employees, or effectively -recommend such action. ,As stated above, there will beno final determination of the appro- priate unit or units pending the results of the elections. DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS 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 •;aiid• Regulations -Series 3; as amerid'ed, it is.hereby. • -DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa- tives for the'purposes of collective bargaining withRemington Rand, 2 This category includes the operator of the carbon machines. 8 This category includes the stockboy in the small pressroom. I REMINGTON RAND, INC. 547 Inc., Benton Harbor; Michigan, separate elections 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 super- vision of the Regional Director for the Seventh Region,-acting in this mmitter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board; and subject to Article III, Sections 10 and .11, of said Rules and,Regula- tions, among the following groups of employees of the Company 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 employees in the armed forces of the United States who present themselves in person at the polls, but excluding those employees who have since quit or been discharged for cause and have not been rehired-or reinstated prior to the date of the elec- tions, as well as all supervisory employees whith authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or effectively recommend such action: (1) A ll^ pressmen, pressmen assistants, OK men, press feeders, the wash-up man in the cylinder pressroom, stockmen, tie operator of the index machine, and all employees engaged in the Powers tabu- lating operation, excluding foremen, to determine whether they desire to be represented by United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America, C. I. 0., or by International Printing Pressmen and As- sistants' Union of North America, A. F. L., for the purposes of collec- tive bargaining, or by neither. (2) All remaining production and maintenance employees, ex- cluding office and clerical employees, foremen and assistant foremen, to determine whether or;irot they desire to be represented by, United , Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America, C. I. 0., for the purposes of collective bargaining.