National Lead Co.

0 In the Matter of NATIONAL LEAD COMPANY, ST. Louis LEAD AND OIL WORKS and UNITED GAS, COKE & CHEMICAL WORKERS OF AMERICA, C. I. O. Cases Nos. 14-R-1109 and 14-R-1110.-Decided February 1, 1945 Messrs. Wallace Cooper and Russel C. Stone, of St. Louis, Mo., for the Company. Mr. Robert M. Bickel, of St. Louis, Mo., for the Union. Mr. Harry Nathanson, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS STATEMENT OF THE CASE Upon separate petitions duly filed by United Gas, Coke & Chemical Workers of America, C. I. 0., herein called the Union, each alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the repre- sentation of employees of National Lead Company , St. Louis Lead and Oil Works, St. Louis, Missouri , herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board consolidated the cases and provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before Keith W. Blinn, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at St. Louis, Missouri, on January 11 , 1945. The Company and the Union appeared and par- ticipated . All parties were afforded full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross -examine witnesses , and to introduce evidence bearing on the issues. At the hearing, the'Company moved to dismiss the petitions and the Trial Examiner referred the motion to the Board for determination . The motion is hereby denied .' The Trial Exam- iner'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. 1 We do not find any merit in the Company's contention that the petitions should be dismissed because an existing contract between the Company and the Union is, in effect, an agreement by the Union not to represent the employees it now seeks . The agreement merely provides for the exclusion from its coverage ' of certain categories of employees and it does not contain any provision which constitutes an undertaking by the Union not to represent the excluded classifications. 60 N. L. R. B., No. 67. 330 NATIONAL LEAD COMPANY 331 Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following: FINDINGS OF FACIE I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY National Lead Company, a New Jersey corporation, maintains plants, offices, and warehouses throughout the United States. We are here concerned with its St. Louis Lead and Oil Works, located at St. Louis, Missouri, where it is engaged in the manufacture of red and white pigments. In this operation the Company uses raw materials consisting mainly of fuel, pig lead, and processed materials. During the year 1944, the Company purchased for use- at said operation raw materials valued in excess of $100,000, of which more than 50 percent was shipped to it from points outside the State of Missouri. For the same period, the total value of its finished products at said operation was in excess of $100,000, of which more than 50 percent was shipped by it to points outside the State of Missouri. The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED United Gas, Coke & Chemical Workers of America, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, is a labor organization ad- mitting to membership employees of the Company. III. THE QUESTIONS CONCERNING REPRESENTATION The Coi4ipany has refused to grant recognition to the Union as the exclusive bargaining representative of certain of its employees until the Union has been certified by the Board in appropriate units. Reports of a Board Regional Director, introduced into evidence at the hearing, indicate that the Union represents a substantial number of employees in each of the units hereinafter found appropriate? We find that questions affecting commerce have 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. s The reports of the Regional Director may be summarized by the following chart : Number Number of authorization Case No.: in unit cards submitted 14-R-1109-------------------------------- 8 *11 14-R-1110-------------------------------- 5 4 *Of the 11 authorization cards submitted, 8 bear the names of persons listed on the Company's pay roll for the period ending November 22, 1944. 332 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD IV. TILE APPROPRIATE UNITS Case No.14-R-1109 In this proceeding the Union requests a unit consisting of all clerical and laboratory employees at the Company's St. Louis Lead and Oil Works, excluding supervisory and all other employees. The Company takes no affirmative position with respect to the appropriate unit' except to contend that Kenneth H. Cox, a clerical employee whom the Union would include, should be excluded from the unit because he is a supervisory employee. The record indicates that Kenneth H. Cox has been employed by the Company for about 25 years and earns approximately 25 percent more than any other clerical employee. It appears that he has authority to accept applications and employ workers in the production and main- tenance department. We shall exclude him as a supervisory employee. We find that all clerical and laboratory employees at the Company's St. Louis Lead and Oil Works, 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,3 and all other employees, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.' Case No.14-R 1110 The Union seeks in this proceeding a unit consisting of all "watch- men and/or guards" 5 at the Company's St. Louis Lead and Oil Works, excluding supervisory and all other employees. The Company takes no affirmative position concerning this unit. We find that all watchmen at the Company's St. Louis Lead and Oil Works, 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 all other 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 questions concerning representation which have arisen be resolved by separate elections by secret ballot among the employees in the appropriate units who were employed during the Kenneth H. Cox falls within the meaning of this definition. See Matter of Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation (San Diego Division), $4 N. L R. B. 103. O These employees are neither militarized nor uniformed . They are, in fact, watchmen, performing the usual duties associated with that classification NATIONAL LEAD COMPANY 333 pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Elections herein, subject to the limitations and additions -set forth in the Direction. 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 Relations Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, as amended, it is hereby DIRECTED that, as-part of the investigation to ascertain representa- tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with National Lead Company, St. Louis Lead and Oil Works, St. Louis, Missouri, 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 supervision of the Regional Director for the Four- teenth 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 units found appro- priate 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 the 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 them- selves in person at the polls, but excluding any who have since quit or been discharged for cause and have not been rehired or reinstated prior to the date of the elections, to determine whether or not they desire to be represented by United Gas, Coke & Chemical Workers of America, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, for the pur- poses of collective bargaining.