Precision Manufacturing Co.

In the Matter of PRECISION MANUFACTURING CO.,' EMPLOYER and INTERNATIONAL UNION, UNITED AUTOMOBILE , AIRCRAFT & AGRICUL- TURAL IMPLEMENT WORKERS OF AMERICA (UAW-CIO), PETITIONER Case No. 7-RC-731.Decided February 3, 1950 DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION Upon a petition duly filed, a hearing was held before Francis E. Burger, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hear- ing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. 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 labor organization involved claims to represent certain employees of the Employer. 3. A question affecting commerce exists concerning the representa- tions of employees of the Employer within the meaning of Section 9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. 4. The following employees of Employer constitute a unit appro- priate for purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act: All employees at the Employer's West Branch, Michigan, plant, excluding office and clerical employees, guards,2 foremen and other supervisors as defined in the Act. 5. The Employer contends that the petition should be dismissed without prejudice because a substantial and representative number ' The name appears as amended at the hearing. 2 The duties of the employees employed under the classification of "guard" appear prin- cipally to be the duties of janitorial workers. As they spend the major portion of their time in the performance of such janitorial duties , they are not guards within the meaning of the Act and therefore will be included in the unit. See Steelweld Equipment Company, Inc., 76 NLRB 831. 88 NLRB No. 103. 509 510 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD of employees is not employed at the present time and that, therefore, an election at this time would be inappropriate. The Employer, a Michigan corporation, and 1 of 4 wholly owned subsidiaries of the Miller Manufacturing Company, is engaged at West Branch, Michigan, in the. manufacture of automotive service tools and equipment. Its present plant and equipment, valued at approximately $575,000, was constructed with a view toward ultimate employment of from 175 to 200 production and maintenance em- ployees. However, when the Employer commenced manufacturing operations sometime in April 1949, accumulated inventories of manu- factured products in the possession of the parent concern and an un- anticipated depressed market made it desirable for the Employer to limit its manufacturing operations to the production of parts neces- sary to keep an inventory of some 600 items in balance.3 Because of such limited operations, employees at the West Branch plant at no time exceeded 18 in number, employed in some 13 of 33 classifications; at the time of the hearing in November 1949 the number had been reduced to 9, exclusive of 3 employees classified as guards. The Em- ployer's president testified that due to a steady reduction in the size of the inventory of manufactured items and the known volume of its current orders, it will definitely have to expand its operations com- mencing January 1950, and enter upon the manufacture of complete items, making full use of existing facilities. It expects, therefore, to employ a.minimum of 65 employees by April 1950.4 The witness also testified that the Employer expects to have its full complement of 175 to 200 employees by the end of 1950, but admitted that this ob- jective, as well as its planned acquisition of additional equipment, was entirely dependent on business conditions. .Under the circumstances, and upon the basis of the Employer's reasonable expectations, it appears that the Employer will have a substantial and representative number of employees employed by April 1950:5 However, its expectations beyond such period are wholly uncertain and speculative being contingent on unpredictable factors in the industrial picture. In view thereof, we shall not dismiss the petition, as requested by the Employer, but shall provide that an election be held during the month of April 1950, or on such earlier 3 Monthly production of such parts have amounted to approximately $15,000 in value whereas monthly sales have totaled $100,000. * The testimony also indicated that the Employer might be able with a working force of about 50 employees to produce sufficient goods to meet the current demands of its customers. 5 Although the Employer estimates that it will have a substantial and representative number of employees by April 1950 , it also appears that it may achieve its objective before that time, because of its stated ability to hire and train as many as 25 to 30 employees each month. PRECISION MANUFACTURING CO. 511 date, to be selected by the Regional Director, as it shall appear that a substantial and representative number of employees are then em- ployed.' Eligibility shall be determined by the payroll period im- mediately preceding the issuance of a notice of election. 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 on a date to be selected by the Regional Director, subject to instructions set forth in paragraph numbered 5, above, under the direction and supervision 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 Regu- lations, among the employees in the unit found appropriate in para- graph numbered 4, above, who are employed during the payroll period immediately preceding the date of the issuance of a notice of election, including employees who do not work during said payroll period because they are ill or on vacation or temporarily laid off, but ex- cluding those employees who thereafter quit or are discharged for cause and are not rehired or reinstated prior to the date of the election, and also excluding employees on strike who are not entitled to rein- statement, to determine whether or not they desire to be represented, for purposes of collective bargaining, by International Union, United Automobile, Aircraft & Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW-CIO). See Waite Carpet Company, 85 NLRB 1130.