Harnischfeger Corp.

In the Matter Of HARNISCHFEGER CORPORATION, EMPLOYER and PAT- TERN MAKERS LEAGUE OF NORTH AMERICA, MILWAUKEE ASSOCIATION, A. F. L., PETITIONER Case No. 13211-R-9.-Decided December 22,1947 Mr. T. W. Korb, of Milwaukee, Wis., for the Employer. Mr. George Q. Lynch, of Washington, D. C., for the Petitioner. Mr. W. 0. Sonnemann, of Milwaukee, Wis., for the Intervenor. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Mil- waukee, Wisconsin, on June 25, 1947, before Gustaf B. Erickson, hear- ing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.' Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations Board makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT I. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER Harnischfeger Corporation, a Wisconsin corporation with its office and principal place of business in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is engaged in the assembly, sale and distribution of electric motors, electric over- head cranes, hoists, are welders, position finders; power shovels, trench- ing machines and truck cranes. The Employer annually purchases for use in its manufacturing operations materials valued in excess of $10,000,000, of which approximately 75 percent is shipped to Mil- waukee from points outside the State of Wisconsin. It annually sells finished products valued in excess of $30,000,000, of which approxi- mately 90 percent is shipped to points outside the State. ' The request of the United Steelworkers of America , C. I. 0 , on behalf of the United Steelworkers of America, Lodge No 1114, C I 0, herein called the Intervenor, for oral argument to contest the constitutionality of Section 9 (f), (g) and (h) of the Act, as amended, ?end the Board's authority in connection with the interpretation thereof, is hereby denied See Matter of Rite-Form Corset Company, 75 N L R B 174 74 N L. R. B., No. 74. 642 HARNISCHFEGER CORPORATION 643 We find that the Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, claiming to represent employees of the Em- ployer. United Steelworkers of America, Lodge No. 1114, is a labor organi- zation affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, claiming to represent employees of the Employer. Ill. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION The Employer has refused to recognize the Petitioner as the ex- clusive bargaining representative of employees in the Employer's pattern shop until the Petitioner has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit. We find that a question affecting commerce exists 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 DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES The Petitioner seeks a unit of journeyman pattern makers and ap- prentice pattern makers employed in the pattern department of the Employer's Milwaukee plant, excluding clerks, repairmen, utility and storage men, and supervisors. The Employer and the Intervenor contend that the proposed craft unit is not appropriate, because of a history of collective bargaining on a more inclusive plant-wide basis. In 1938, in an unfair labor practice case,2 the Board ordered the Employer to bargain with Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel and Tin Workers of North America, Lodge No. 1114, C. I. 0., the predecessor of the Intervenor, on a plant-wide basis, including pat- tern makers, but excluding operating engineers.3 No one then re- quested, and consequently no one then secured, a self-determination election among the pattern makers to ascertain whether they desired to bargain separately or to be merged in the over-all production and maintenance unit. From 1939 to the present, the Intervenor, or its predecessor, has been the bargaining representative of the employees 2 Matter of Harnisch feger Corporation, 9N L R B 676. 0 The engineers had thei etofore. affiliated themselves with International Union of Oper- ating Engineers, AFL, and had already bargained successfully on a craft unit basis. 766972-48-voI 75-42 I 644 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD in the plant-wide unit under successive 1-year collective bargaining contracts. Since 1944 the pattern makers have evidently not been wholly satisfied with their representation by the Intervenor. Since that year they have ceased using the Intervenor's bargaining committee for grievance adjustments and have dealt directly with the shop fore- man. On one occasion, by appealing from the foreman to the Works Manager directly, they obtained a wage increase of 21/2 cents per hour greater than that won by the Intervenor for the employees in the larger unit. Eight of the 11 pattern makers and their appren- tices were actual members of the Petitioner at the time of the hearing. The pattern makers comprise a highly skilled craft group frequently recognized as such by the Board. They are employed in an industry in which separate bargaining units of pattern makers are prevalent.4 Under the circumstances, we are of the opinion that the pattern makers may at this time constitute a separate appropriate unit if they so desire. However, we shall make no unit determination pending the outcome of the election directed hereinafter. If, in this election, the employees select the Petitioner, they will be taken to have indicated their desire to constitute a separate bargaining unit. We shall not place the Intervenor's name on the ballot, because, it has not complied with Section 9 (f) and (h) of the amended Act.,' In accordance with the foregoing, we shall direct that an election be held among all pattern makers and apprentices employed by the Employer at its Milwaukee plant, excluding clerks, repairmen, utility and storage men, and supervisors as defined in the amended Act. DIRECTION OF ELECTION As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Harnischfeger Corporation, Milwaukee, 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 supervision of the Regional Director for the Thirteenth Region, and subject to Section 203.61 and 203.62 of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations- Series 5, among the employees in the voting group described in Sec- tion IV, above, who were employed during the pay-roll period imme- a See Matter of Allis Chalmers Manufacturing Company, 64 N. L. R. B. 750; Matter of The Jeffrey Manufacturing Company, 58 N. L. R. B. 1129, and Matter of Erie City Iron Works, 47N L.R.B 381. 6 See Matter of Rite-Form Corset Company, supra. HARNISCHFEGER CORPORATION 645 diately 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 whether or not they desire to be represented by Pattern Makers League of North America, Milwaukee Association, A. F. L., for the purposes of collective bargaining.