The Glidden Co.

In the Matter of THE GLIDDEN COMPANY, SOUTHERN PINE CHEMICAL DIVISION, AND NELIO' RESIN PROCESSING CORPORATION and GAS, COKE AND CHEMICAL WORKERS DIVISION OF INDUSTRIAL UNION OF MARINE AND SHIPBUILDING WORKERS OF AMERICA, LOCAL 32, C. I. O. Case No.10-R-1413.Decided April 3, 1945 - Messrs. E. W. Colledge and Raymond B. Harris, of Jacksonville, Fla., for the Company. Mr. J. L. Rhodes, of Jacksonville, Fla., for the A. F. L. Messrs. Duggan Boart/leld and M. W. Luke, of Jacksonville, Fla., for the C. I. O. Mr. Donald H. Frank, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION STATEMENT OF THE CASE Upon a petition duly filed by Gas, Coke and Chemical Worker's Division of Industrial Union of Marine and Shipbuilding Workers of America, Local 32, C. I. 0., herein called the C. I. 0., alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representa- tion of employees of The Glidden Company and its subsidiaries, Southern Pine Chemical Division and Nelio Resin Processing Corpo- ration, Jacksonville, Florida, herein jointly called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before Erwin C. Catts, Trial' Examiner. Said hear- ing was held at Jacksonville, Florida, on February 19, 1945. The Company, its subsidiaries, and the C. I. O. and International Chemi- cal Workers Union Local No. 148, A. F. L., herein called the A. -F. L., appeared and participated. All parties were afforded full opportunity 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 an opportunity to file briefs with the Board. 61 N. L. R., B., No. 35. 297 298 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS, BOARD Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY The Glidden Company is engaged in the production of naval stores at two plants located in Jacksonville, Florida. One of these plants is owned and operated by the Southern Pine Chemical Division, and the other by the Nelio Resin Processing Corporation. The two plants are jointly termed the Naval Stores Division of The Glidden Com- pany, which owns the Southern Pine Division in its entirety, and owns approximately 80 per cent of the Nelio Resin Processing Corpo- ration. In excess of 90 per cent of the finished products of both plants, valued in excess of $200,000 per year, is shipped outside the State of Florida. We find that the Company is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED Gas, Coke and Chemical Workers Division of Industrial Union of Marine and Shipbuilding Workers of America, Local 32, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, is a labor organization admitting to membership employees of the Company. . International Chemical Workers Union Local No. 148, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, is a labor organization ad- mitting to membership employees of the Company. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION On January 11, 1945, the C. 1. 0. wrote to the Nelio Resin Processing Corporation, stating its claim of majority representation, and re- questing recognition as sole collective bargaining agent of the em- ployees involved herein. Thereafter, on February 3, the C. I. O. filed its petition in the instant proceeding. A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the hearing, indicates that the C. I. O. represents a substantial number of employees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.' I The Field Examiner reported that the C. I. O. submitted 124 cards, that the Company's pay roll contained the names of 152 employees in the appropriate unit, and that the cards were all dated January 1945 The A. F. L. relies upon its contract with the Company, including a maintenance -of-membership provision , as showing its interest in the present proceeding. Since the C I. O.'s notice of its claim of majority representation and its peti- tion were timely , the contract is not a bar to a present determination of representatives; moreover, the contract is not urged as a bar thereto. The A. F. L. filed with its brief 40 sheets bearing the signatures of employees of the Company and purporting to show their disaffiliation from the C. I. O. Since an election is the best method of determining the desires of employees concerning representation, and THE GLIDDEN COMPANY 299 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 In June 1939, Federal Labor Union No. 22072, Pine By-Products and Chemical Workers' Union, A. F. L., began negotiations with the Southern Pine Chemical Company for a collective bargaining con- tract covering all of the employees of that Company. The resultant contract, signed on March 25, 1940, provided that it should run until April 4, 1941, and from year to year thereafter, unless notice of desire to revise, cancel, or amend was served by one party upon the other party thereto 60 days prior to the expiration date. At the time the contract was signed, the Nelio Resin plant was a part of the South- ern Pine Chemical Company, and the contract covered the employees in both plants. Later in 1940 the Nelio Resin plant was separately incorporated, but the contract has until the present time continued to be applied to both plants. The two plants are adjacent to each other and have at all times been operated as' a single division of The Glidden Company. Steam for both plants is furnished by one boiler plant; both lie within the same property limits; supervision is furnished by one organization ; and the management is identical for both. In 1944 the membership and contract of Federal Labor Union No. 22072 were transferred to Local No. 148 of the A. F. L., the intervenor herein. The Company, the C. I. 0., and the A. F. L. agree that the appro- priate unit consists of all employees of The Glidden Company and its subsidiaries, Southern Pine Chemical Division and Nelio Resin Processing Corporation, at their plants in Jacksonville, Florida, in- cluding the checker, but excluding office and, clerical employees, chemists, the plant superintendent, powerhouse engineer, purchasing agent, commission salesmen, and supervisory employees with au- thority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees or effectively recommend such action. There are in question the categories of employees listed on the Company's pay roll as technician, laboratory assistant, hourly paid foremen, and working foremen. The record reveals that in actuality the "technician" in the Southern Pine Chemical Division is a female laboratory assistant to the chem- ists. The C.• I. 0. seeks her exclusion, while the A. F. L. would include her in the unit. This employee possesses no particular technical training or education. She performs her laboratory duties under the since the C. I. O. made a prima facie showing sufficient to satisfy the Board of its interest in this proceeding, the matter submitted by the A. F. L. is immaterial to the question before us. 300 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD direct supervision of the chemists. Her laboratory work consists of routine tests of the quality of the Company's products; in addition, she goes into other parts of the plants in order to obtain and return samples. Moreover, she spends a small portion of her time in operat- ing the soft drink machine, in administering minor first aid at the Red Cross room and at other points, and in going to the offices with letters and information. She is paid at an hourly rate, while the laboratory chemists are paid on a monthly basis. The Board has frequently found that employees with similar status and duties should be included in a production and maintenance unit.2 Since this em- ployee is not a professional employee, we see no reason to exclude her from the unit hereinafter found appropriate. Nothing is contained in 'the record to distinguish the laboratory assistant in the Nelio Resin plant from the laboratory assistant in the Southern Pine plant'and we shall therefore treat them similarly. The record reveals that the hourly paid foremen in the Southern Pine plant and the working foremen in the Nelio Resin plant have the same duties, responsibilities, and authority. These foremen, unlike the other foremen of both plants, have no authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of em- ployees, or effectively recommend such action. We shall, therefore, include them in the unit hereinafter found appropriate. We find that all employees of The Glidden Company and its sub- sidiaries, Southern Pine Chemical Division and.Nelio Resin Process- ing Corporation, at their plants in Jacksonville, Florida, including the checker, laboratory assistants, hourly paid foremen and working foremen, but excluding office and clerical employees, chemists, the plant superintendent, powerhouse engineer, purchasing agent, com- mission salesmen, and all or any other supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or effectively recommend such action, constitute a unit appropriate 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 an election by secret ballot among the em- ployees 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. 2 Matter of Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company, 53 N L. R B 1181 , Matter of Monarch Aluminum Mfg Company, 53 N. L. R B. 956; Matter of Armour Fertilizer Works, 53 N. L. R B. 834; Matter of Hammermill Paper Company, 48 N. L. R B. 1269; Matter of Silverstein cE Pin8of, Inc., 40 N. L. It. B. 638 THE GLIDDEN COMPANY DIRECTION OF ELECTION 301 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 Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, as amended, it is hereby DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa- tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with The Glidden Company, Southern Pine Chemical Division, and Nelio Resin Proc- essing Corporation, Jacksonville, Florida, 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 supervi- sion of the Regional Director for the Tenth Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Article III, Sections 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 Direction, including employees who did not work during the 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 they desire to be represented by Gas, Coke and Chemical Workers Division of Industrial Union of Marine and Shipbuilding Workers of America, Local 32, C. I. 0., or by International Chemical Workers Union Local No. 148, A. F. L., for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither. 639678-45-vol. 61-21