General Shale Products Corp.

In the Matter of GENERAL SHALE PRODUCTS CORPORATION, EMPLOYER and UNITED STONE AND ALLIED PRODUCTS WORKERS OF AMERICA, CIO, PETITIONER Case No. 10-R-2737.-Decided January 13, 1948 Penn, Hunter, Smith, d Davis, by E. G. Hunter, Esq., of Kingsport, 'Tenn., for the Employer. Mr. J. B. Foreman, of Nashville, Tenn., for the Petitioner. Messrs. Thomas Davis and Gerald Keller, of Johnson City, Tenn., -for the Intervenor. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing in this case was held at Johnson City, Tennessee, on August 19, 1947, before Charles M. Paschal, hearing 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 General Shale Products Corporation, a Delaware corporation, is -engaged at its various plants in the United States in the manufacture, vale, and distribution of face and common bricks, hollow building tiles and cinder blocks. The Employer's Johnson City, Tennessee, plant is the only one involved in this proceeding. During the past year, the Employer purchased for this plant supplies valued in excess of $100,000, of which approximately 50 percent was shipped from points outside the State of Tennessee. During the same period, the Em- ployer produced finished products in this plant valued at approxi- mately $250,000, of which about 66 percent was shipped to points outside the State of Tennessee. The Employer admits, and we find, that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. 75 N. L. R. B., No. 94. 778 GENERAL SHALE PRODUCTS CORPORATION H. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED 779 The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, claiming to represent employees of the Employer. The United Construction Workers, UMWA, herein called the Inter- venor, is a labor organization claiming to represent employees of the Employer. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION On May 31, 1947, the Petitioner requested the Employer to re- cognize it as the exclusive bargaining representative of the production and maintenance employees at the Johnson City, Tennessee, plant, and on June 4, 1947, filed its petition with the Board. The Employer notified the Petitioner that it would not comply with the Petitioner's request until certified in an appropriate unit by the Board. The Employer and the Intervenor contend that their collective bar- gaining agreement entered into on October 1, 1946, is a bar to this pro- ceeding. The duration clause of this contract provides that it is to continue in existence for 1 year and be renewable automatically from year to year thereafter unless either party notifies the other of an in- tention to terminate or revise the agreement at least 30 days before the annual expiration date. No notice of such desire to terminate has been served by either of the contracting parties. However, inas- much as the Petitioner gave notice of its claim to representation on May 31, 1947, and filed its petition on June 4, 1947, 3 months prior to the operative date of the renewal clause, we find that the 1946 contract can not preclude the instant proceeding.' We find that a question affecting commerce exists concerning the representation of the 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 We find, in accordance with the agreement of the parties, that all production and maintenance employees employed at the Employer's Johnson City, Tennessee, plant, including truck drivers who are em- ployees of the Employer,2 but excluding clerical workers, technical employees, brick masons, and all supervisory employees, as defined in the Act, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. I See Matter of Westinghouse Electric Corporation, 71 N L. R B 983 ; Matter of Elder Manufactairing Company, 73 N L R B 230 2 The Employer uses certain tiuck drivers who are employees of independent contractors; the paities agree to exclude then from the unit 780 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD DIRECTION OF ELECTION 3 As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining with General Shale Products Cor- poration, at Johnson City, Tennessee, 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 super- vision of the Regional Director for the Tenth 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 Regulations-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 ex- cluding 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 United Stone and Allied Products Workers of America, CIO, for the purposes of collective bargaining. 3 Having failed , by October 31, 1947 , to achieve compliance or to initiate steps for com- pliance with the filing requirements of Section 9 (f), (g), and (h) of the Act, as amended, the Inteivenor will not be accorded a place on the ballot See Matter of Stewartstoibn Furniture Company, 75 N L It B 344