Green Bay Drop Forge Co.

In the Matter of GREEN BAY DROP FORGE COMPANY and UNITED FARM EQUIPMENT AND METAL WORKERS OF AMERICA, CIO Case No. 13-R-3663.-Decided February 1, 1915 Mr. F. N. Trowbridge, of Green Bay, Wis., for-the Company. Meyers cfi Meyers, by Mr. H. E. Baker, of Chicago, Ill., for the CIO. Mr. A. J. Eberhardy, of Chicago, Ill., for the AFL. _ Mr. Harold M. Humphreys, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION STATEMENT OF THE CASE Upon a petition duly filed by United Farm Equipment and Metal Workers of America, CIO, herein called the CIO, alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the repre- sentation of employees of Green Bay Drop Forge Company, Green Bay, Wisconsin, herein called the Company, the National Labor Rela- tions Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before Gustaf B. Erickson, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Green Bay, Wisconsin, on December 28, 1944. The Company, the CIO, and International Brotherhood of Blacksmiths, Drop Forg- ers & Helpers, Local 93; AFL, herein called the AFL, 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. At the hearing, the AFL moved to dismiss the petition and the Trial Examiner referred the motion to the Board for determination. For reasons set forth in Section III, infra, the motion is denied. 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 Green Bay Drop Forge Company, a Wisconsin corporation, oper- ates a drop forge plant at Green Bay, Wisconsin, where it is engaged 60 N. L. R B., No. 68. 334 GREEN BAY DROP FORGE COMPANY 335 in jobbing drop forge products; the Company also maintains a ma- chine shop at Green Bay which manufactures precision machinery. Raw materials used by the Company consist of steel bars, fabricated metal sheets, and forgings. During the past 12-month period, the Company purchased raw materials amounting in value to more than $100,000, of which approximately 50 percent was received from points outside the State of Wisconsin. For the same period the Company's sales amounted in value to more than $500,000, of which more than 50 percent was shipped to points outside the State of Wisconsin. The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Relations Act. II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED United Farm Equipment and Metal Workers of America, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, is a labor.organiza- tion admitting to membership employees of the Company. International Brotherhood of Blacksmiths, Drop Forgers & Help- ers,-Local 93, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, is a labor organization admitting to membership employees of the Com- pany. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION The Company has refused, to grant recognition to the CIO as the collective bargaining representative of certain of its employees. Since 1933 the AFL has been recognized by the Company as its employees' exclusive bargaining agent. These parties are bound by a contract whose anniversary date is March 1, and which provides for automatic renewal for yearly periods "unless notice is filed by either party in writing of a desire for a change or modification, 30 days prior to expiration of any such period." In May 1944, the CIO filed a petition with the Board, seeking an investigation and certifi- cation of representatives of employees of the Company, which was dismissed on August 19, 1'944, upon the ground that the agreement between the Company and the AFL constituted a bar to the proceed- ing.' This dismissal was "without prejudice to the right of the CIO to file a petition a reasonable time prior to March 1, 1945, the next renewal date of the contract." On September 18, 1944, the CIO filed the petition in the instant case. It is claimed by the AFL that the CIO's petition was prematurely filed, is consequently defective, and that its contract with the Company precludes a current determination of representatives. The AFL also 'asserts that certain matters now pending before the War Labor Board warrant a dismissal of the petition. We are not persuaded that the ' Matter of Green Bay Drop Forge Company, 57 N. L. R B. 1417. 336 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD petition is fatally defective merely because it was filed in September 1944. The issues in the case were brought to a hearing considerably later, and no prejudice to the contracting parties was shown to have resulted from the CIO's action. Apart from any question of timely notice, inasmuch as the anniversary date of the agreement between the Company and the AFL is approximately 1 InQitth from the pres- ent time, we find that it does not constitute a bar to this proceeding.2 Furthermore, the War Labor Board proceedings adverted to in the record, are insufficient reason to delay a present determination of representatives, for the AFL has been recognized by the Company since 1933 and, during that period, apparently obtained for the em- ployees it represented the benefits of collective bargaining.3 A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the hearing, indicates that the CIO represents a substantial number of employees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.4 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 llNIT The parties are agreed that the appropriate, unit should consist of .all production and., maintenance employees, including probationary employees and watchmen, but excluding office and clerical employees, militarized armed guards, and supervisory employees. They are in disagreement, however, concerning foremen. The Company would exclude these employees on the ground that they are supervisory per- sonnel, the AFL would include them, and the CIO states that it will abide by the- Board's determination. The four foremen in question are also known as working foremen. Originally production workers, they were included in the unit covered by the contract between the Company and the AFL and, after their promotion to their present positions, the AFL continued'to bargain for them. However, they are paid a monthly salary, whereas the production and maintenance employees are paid on an hourly basis, they are the heads of their respective departments, and they have 2 See Matter of Flinthote Company, 55 N L. R B. 1442. See Matter of Bethlehem Supply Company, 56 N. L. R. B. 439. The Field Examiner reported that the CIO submitted 164 membership cards, of which 130 were dated May 1944, 6 in June 1944, 12 in July 1944, 4 in August 1944, and 12 were undated ; and that there were 200 employees In the alleged appropriate unit. The AFL relies upon Its contract with the Company as evidence of Its Interest In the proceeding. We find no merit In the AFL's contention that, since most of the cards submitted by the CIO are dated before the time of the dismissal of the petition In the prior case, the CIO has not demonstrated a present Interest with respect to the employees It seeks to represent. As noted before, the dismissal was predicated on the fact that an agreement operated as a bar, and no election was held. GREEN BAY DROP FORGE COMPANY 337 authority effectively to recommend hiring and discharging. We shall exclude them as supervisory employees. We find that all production and maintenance employees of the Com- pany at its Green Bay, Wisconsin, operations, including probationary employees and watchmen, but excluding office and clerical employees, militarized armed guards, foremen, and all other supervisory employ- ees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or other- wise effect changes in the status of employees, or effectively recom- mend such action, 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 question concerning representation which nas arisen be resolved by an election by secret ballot among the em- ployees in the appropriate unit who were employed during the pay- roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Elec- tion 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 Rela- tions 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 Green Bay Drop Forge Company, Green Bay, Wisconsin, 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 supervi- sion 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, Sections 10 and 11, 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 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 election, to determine whether they desire to be represented by United Farm Equipment and Metal Workers of America, CIO, or by Inter- national Brotherhood of Blacksmiths, Drop Forgers & Helpers, Local 93, AFL, for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither. 625563-45-vol. 60-23