The Standard Steel Spring Co.

In the Matter of THE STANDARD STEEL SPRING COMPANY, EMPLOYER and INTERNATIONAL UNION OF OPERATING ENGINEERS, LOCAL No. 821 (AFL) , PETITIONER Case No. 8-R-2603.-Decided December 10, 1947 Reed, Smith, Shaw and McClay, by Messrs. 'Nicholas Unkovic and W. D. Armour, of Pittsburgh, Pa., for the Employer. Mr. James A. Rogers, of Akron, Ohio, for the Petitioner. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Warren, Ohio, on May 28, 1947, before John A. Hull, Jr., hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. At the hearing and in its brief, the Employer moved to dismiss the petition on the ground that the Petitioner did not adduce evidence in support of the petition. The motion to dismiss is hereby denied-inas- much as the record made at the hearing is sufficient to permit us to pass on the issues involved in this proceeding. The Employer's re- quest for oral argument is denied inasmuch as the record, in our opinion, adequately presents the issues and positions of the parties. Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations Board makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER The Standard Steel Spring Company is a Pennsylvania corporation with its principal place of business at Coraopolis, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. The Employer has plants in Pennsylvania, Indiana, and Michigan, where it is engaged in the manufacture of automobile bumpers, flat leaf springs, and universal joints, primarily for sale to the automotive trade. 75 N. L R. B.. No. 59. 471 472 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD The sole plant involved in this proceeding is located at Newton Falls, Ohio. The Employer acquired this plant in May 1946 and is preparing it for anticipated completion and production by August 1, 1947. At the date of the hearing such preparations were approxi- mately 75 percent completed. , During the past year, the Employer purchased from outside the State of Ohio for use in the Newton Falls plant, machinery and equipment valued at more than $250,000 and raw materials valued in excess of $5,000. During the same period, the Employer's interstate shipments of finished products from its other plants were valued in excess of $100,000. We find, contrary to the contention of the Employer, that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Rela- tions Act.' H. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED2 The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with American Federation of Labor, claiming to represent employees of the Employer. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION The Employer refuses to recognize the Petitioner as the exclusive bargaining representative of employees of the Employer until the Petitioner has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit. We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the representation of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT The Petitioner seeks a unit of all employees in the Employer's powerhouse at the Newton Falls plant including firemen and laborers. The Employer opposes the proposed unit and contends that only a broad plant-wide unit is appropriate. The Employer maintains that the petition herein is premature since it was filed at a time when less than 50 percent of its anticipated personnel was employed. There is no merit in this contention. Al- though the plant was not fully manned at the date the petition was filed,3 the powerhouse complement was filled at that time and the I The Employer concedes that with respect to its other plants it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act. 3 Subsequent to the hearing the United Steelworkers of America , CIO, filed a motion to intervene and to reopen the record in this proceeding . The motion is hereby denied, inas- much as it was untimely filed. I At the date of the hearing the Employer had on its pay roll approximately 76 hourly paid employees and expected to commence full production about August 1, 1947, with an anticipated complement of 350 employees . It planned in October 1947 to initiate a 3-shift operation and to employ then about 550 workers. THE STANDARD STEEL SPRING COMPANY 473 Employer's general manager testified at the hearing that no change in the present force of powerhouse firemen 4 was contemplated. The employees herein concerned comprise an identifiable skilled group of a sort which we have frequently held may function as a sepa- rate collective bargaining unit.-' However, the Employer maintains that such separate units are inappropriate in the basic steel industry. Pointing to certain Board cases 6 supporting this contention, it alleges that its operations fall within this production category. We do not agree that the Employer is engaged in basic steel production. Instead, its operations more closely approximate those in the automotive in- dustry, in which we have recently held that powerhouse employees may constitute a separate bargaining unit.7 Under all the circumstances herein, we find that the employees working in the powerhouse of the Employer's Newton Falls plant, including the licensed firemen, the fireman second class, and the laborers, but excluding all supervisory employees, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. DIRECTION OF ELECTION As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining with The Standard Steel and Spring Company, Newton Falls, Ohio, 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 Eighth Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Sections 203.61 and 203.62, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regu- lations-Series 5, 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, 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 There are nine powerhouse employees, of whom four are licensed firemen and one, an unlicensed fireman See Matter of The Tivoli Union Company, 73 N L. R. B. 709, Matter of L. E. Shunk Later Products, Inc., 67 N. L. R. B. 552, 554; Matter of Chickasaw Wood Products Com- pany, 65 N. L R B 664, 666; Matter of Medley Distilling Company, 62 N. L. R B. 261, 263. See Matter of General Steel Company, 57 N. L. R. B. 50; Matter of Tennessee Coal, hat and Railroad Company, 39 N L R B 617. 7 See Matter of General Motors Corporation, Fischer Body -Ternstedt Division, 74 N. L. R B. 18 474 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD whether or not they desire to be represented by International Union of Operating Engineers, Local No. 821, AFL, for the purposes of collective bargaining. MEMBERS Mulmoc . and GRAY took no part in the consideration of the above Decision and Direction of Election.