Olin Industries

In the Matter Of OLIN INDUSTRIES, WINCHESTER REPEATING ARMS COMPANY DIVISION,1 EMPLOYER and AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR, PETITIONER Case No. 1-RC-943.Decided July 27, 194 DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION . Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before Sidney A. Coven, hearing officer 'of the National Labor Relations Board. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. The hearing officer reserved for the Board ruling upon the Employer's motion to dismiss the petition. The motion is hereby denied for the reasons set forth below.2 Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (b) of the National Labor Relations Act, the Board has delegated its powers in connection with this case to a three-member panel [Chairman Herzog and Members Reynolds and Murdock]. Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds : 1. The Employer is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. 2. The Petitioner is a labor organization,3 claiming to represent. employees of the Employer. 1 The name of the Employer appears as amended at the hearing. 2 One of the grounds advanced by the Employer in support of its motion to dismiss is that there are unfair labor practice cases against the Employer pending before the Board, and that until these cases are disposed of it is improper for an election to be held. The Petitioner has waived any right to object to an election held in the present proceeding on the basis of any acts alleged as unfair labor practices in the charges in Cases Nos. 1-C-3107 and 1-CA-436. To delay the holding of an election until the validity of the charges re- ferred to are decided, would not only be without purpose, but would, moreover, result in postponing if not defeating the exercise by the employees of their rights to the free expres- sion of their wishes concerning representation, which is guaranteed by the Act. Accord- ingly, we reject this contention of the Employer. See Matter of Wilson and Co., Inc., 80 N. L. R. B. 1466; platter of Raab-R Engraving Company, 79 N. L. R. B. 332 ; Matter of Linde Air Products Company, 77 N. L. R. B. 1206. 3 We find, contrary to the Employer's contention, that the Petitioner meets the test of a "labor organization" prescribed in Section 2 (5) of the Act. The record shows that the Petitioner not only engages in collective bargaining with Employers but also executes collective bargaining agreements. In addition, it appears that the Petitioner's purpose here is to represent the Employer's employees in their dealings with the Employer. In this connection, we note that in other cases involving the Petitioner before the Board, we have 85 N. L. R. B., No. 72. 396 OLIN INDUSTRIES 397 3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa- tion of certain employees of the Employer within the meaning of Sec- tion 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. 4.: The following employees of the Employer constitute a unit ap- propriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act: All hourly and weekly paid production and maintenance em- ployees, including shop clerks, production clerks, timekeepers, fire inspectors, process inspectors, powerhouse employees, re- ceiving and shipping clerks but excluding watchmen,5 executives, experimental technicians, monthly paid engineers, time-study employees, nurses, uniformed guards and all supervisors. DIRECTION OF ELECTION As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining with the Employer, an election by secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible but not later than 30 days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and super- vision of the Regional Director for the Region in which this case was heard, and subject to Sections 203.61 and 203.62 of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations, among the employees in the unit found appropriate in paragraph numbered 4, above, who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction of Election, including employees who did not work held that the Petitioner is a labor organization within the meaning of the Act. Matter of Dun and Bradstreet, Inc., 80 N. L. R . B. 56; Matter of American Fruit Growers, Inc., 75 N. L. R. B. 1157 ; Matter of S. W. Evans & Son, 75 N. L. R. B. 811. , At the hearing , the Employer urged the dismissal of the petition upon the ground that the Petitioner failed to make an adequate showing of representation . In its brief before the Board , the Employer contended in addition that it has serious doubts as to whether the Petitioner's showing of interest was carefully checked against the Employer's pay roll and whether the signatures on the authorization cards are authentic . We have long held that a showing of interest is an administrative matter not subject to direct or col- lateral attack. When we are satisfied that a prima facie showing has been made, as we are in this case, we shall proceed to determine the question concerning representation, which in the present case can best be resolved by a secret ballot election . Matter of. Noblitt -Sparks Industries, Inc., 76 N. L. R. B. 1230 ; Matter of W. C. Nabors, 79 N. L. R. B. 40; Matter of Modern Upholstered Chair Company, Inc., 84 N. L . R. B. 95. 6 We have excluded the watchmen from the unit although the parties agreed to their inclusion because , as we stated in our Decision in Matter of C. V. Hill and Company, 76 N. L. R. B. 158, Section 9 (b) (3) of the Act as amended prohibits the Board from in- cluding in any unit any individual who has a duty to protect the property of the Employer against theft whether by employees or other persons . The record is here clear that the watchmen have such a duty. 398 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD 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, and also excluding employees on strike who are not entitled to reinstatement, to determine whether or not they desire to be represented, for -purposes of collective bargain- ing, by American Federation of Labor. I