General Atlas Carbon

In the Matter of GENERAL ATLAS CARBON and OIL WORKERS INTERNA- TIONAL UNION , LOCAL 235, C. I. O. Case No. 16-R-1184.-Decided March 31, 1945 Mr. B. M. Britain , of Amarillo , Tex., for the Company. Mr. W. A. Richmond, of Wichita Falls , Tex., for the Union. Mr. Louis Colcin, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION STATEMENT OF THE CASE Upon petition duly filed by Oil Workers International Union, Local 235, C. I. 0., herein called the Union, alleging that ,,t question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of General Atlas Carbon, Pampa, Texas, herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before Earl Saunders, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Amarillo, Texas, on February 27, 1945. The Company and the Union appeared, participated, and were afforded full oppor- tunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing on the issues. The Trial Examiner's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. All parties were afforded opportunity to file briefs with the Board. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following:: FINDINGS OF FACT 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY General Atlas Carbon is engaged in the manufacture of furnace type carbon black. We are here concerned with its plant located in the vicinity of Pampa, Texas. During 1944 materials valued at about $75,000 were shipped to the Pampa plant from points outside the State of Texas. During the same period the Company shipped products 61 N L R. B, No. 27. 232 GENERAL ATLAS CARBON 233 from its Pampa plant to points outside the State of Texas, valued at about $1,000,000. The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED Oil Workers International Union, Local 235, is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, admitting to membership employees of the Company. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION On January 29, 1945, the Union requested recognition as the collec- tive bargaining representative of the employees at the Pampa plant. The Company declined to recognize the Union stating that it doubted the Union's claim to a majority. A statement of a Field Examiner of the Board, introduced into evidence at the hearing, indicates that the Union represents a sub- stantial number of employees in the unit hereinafter found to be ap- propriate. ^ We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the representation of employees of the Company, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT The Union urges that all classified and construction employees at the Pampa, Texas, plant of the Company, including shift foremen and the relief foremen, but excluding employees in the laboratory and research development department, engineering department employees, employees in the clerical department, warehouse foremen, and con- struction foreman, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining. The only controversy with respect to the unit concerns the shift foremen and the relief foreman; the Company would exclude them from the unit. The Company employs four shift foremen who work in rotation on three 10-hour shifts. They are directly responsible to the assistant plant superintendent and each of them has three subordinates. They are paid on a weekly basis while their subordinates are paid on an hourly rate. The shift foremen spend about 30 percent of their time working as unit operators but are charged with the responsibility of seeing that the work is properly performed, and they exercise the ' The statement discloses that the Union submitted authorization cards bearing the names of 32 persons who appeared on the Company's January 1945 , pay roll The said pay roll listed approximately 43 employees in the appropriate unit. 234 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD authority to recommend effectively the discharge and promotion of their subordinates. The record discloses that they exercise the same degree and authority as the warehouse and construction foremen, who are admittedly supervisory employees. We find that the shift foremen are supervisory employees, and as such, we shall exclude them from the unit. The relief foreman works as a regular production employee except for 10 to 12 weeks annually when he relieves the shift foremen. We shall include him in the unit. We find that all classified and construction employees at the Pampa, Texas, plant of the Company, including the relief foreman, but ex- cluding employees in the clerical department, engineering department employees, employees in the laboratory and research development de- partment, shift foremen, warehouse foremen, construction foremen, and any other supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of em- ployees, or effectively recommend such action, constitute a unit appro- priate for the purposes of collective bargaining, within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES We shall direct that the question concerning representation which has arisen be resolved by means of an election by secret ballot among the employees in the appropriate unit who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Election herein, subject to the limitations and additions set forth in the Direction. DIRECTION OF ELECTION By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National Labor Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor Rela- tions Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, as amended, it is hereby hereby DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa- tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with General Atlas Carbon, Pampa, Texas, an election by secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later than sixty (60) days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the Sixteenth Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Article III, Sec- tions 10 and 11, of said Rules and Regulations, 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 GENERAL ATLAS CARBON 235 Direction, including employees who did not work during said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation , or temporarily laid off, and including employees in the armed forces of the United States who present themselves in person at the polls, but excluding any 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 Oil Workers International Union, Local 235, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, for the purposes of collective bargaining.