Red Jacket Manufacturing Co.

in the Matter of RED JACKET MANUFACTURING COMPANY and UNITFD FARM EQUIPMENT AND METAL WORKERS OF AMERICA, CIO Case No 18-R-1262 -Decided June 22, 1945 Mr F. C^ Simonsen , of Davenport , Iowa, and Mr. Ben F. Reidy, of Pock Island, Ill , for the Company VFevers and illevers , by Mr Ben Mevcrs , of Chicago , Ill., for the C. I. O. Mr. W. H. Clawson , of Moline , Ill , and Mr James Ashe , of St. Paul, Minn , for the I. A. M. Mllfr William Parkins , of Davenport , Iowa, for the Molders ll,l iss Helen Hart , of counsel to the Board DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION STATEMENT OF THE CASE Upon a petition duly filed by United Farm Equipment and Metal \Work- crti of America, CTO. herein called the C 1 0, alleging that a question aectung commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Red jacket Manufacturing Company. Davenport, Iowa, herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided for an appro- priate hearing upon clue notice before Stanley D Kane, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Davenport-Iowa, on April 27, 1945. At the com- mencement of the hearing, the Trial Examiner granted motions to inter- vene made by International Association of Machinists, District 102, Local 388, AFL, herein called the I A M., and International Molders and Four- ;lri, Workers of North America, Local 230, herein called the Molders. The Company, the C I 0.. the 1. A M , and the Molders appeared, participated, and were afforded full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-exam- me witnesses, and to introduce evidence hearing on the issues At the close of the hearing, the I A M and the Molders each moved to dismiss the peti- tion in its entirety For reasons set forth hereinafter, the motions are denied. i2 N L R B, No, 94. 740 RED .JACKET MANUFACTURING COMPANY 741 The Trial Examiner's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudi- cial error and are hereby afhrnned. All parties A ere afforded an opportunity to file briefs with the Board. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following FINDINGS OF F.\cT 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY Red Jacket Manufacturing Company, an Iowa corporation, ovv us and operates a plant in Davenport, Iowa, which manufactures pumps, vvater conditioners, water systems and similar products. During 1944, the Com- pany purchased raw materials valued in excess of $100,000,'at least 90 per- cent of which was shipped to the plant from points outside the State of Iowa During the same year, the Company manufactured finished products valued in excess of $100.000, 90 percent of which was transported to points out- side the State of Iowa Forty-five percent of the Company's total produc- tion is consigned to the use of the armed forces The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act If. THE ORGANIZALIONS INVOLVED United Farm Equipment and Metal Workers of America, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, is a labor organization admitting to membership employees of the Company. International Associatioi of Machinists, District 102, Local 388, affili- ated with the American Federation of Labor, is a labor organization admit- ting to membership employees of the Company International Molders and Foundry Workers of North America, Local 230, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, is a labor organiza- tion admitting to membership employees of the Company III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESE NT'\TION Following an election conducted by the Board in which the Molders and the I. A. M. obtained a majority vote in their respective units, the Molders and the I. A. M. were certified by the Board in January 1942, the Molders as the collective bargaining representative for foundry employees and the I. A. M. as the bargaining agent for the remaining employees of the Com- pany.' Pursuant to these certifications, the Company, the Molders, and the I A. M. entered into their first contract as of :March 1942, and in April 1943 executed a revised contract Although each of these contracts was a single instrument, in each the Company recognized the Molders as the repre- sentative of the employees in the unit in which it was certified and the I A. M. as the agent of the employees in the unit in which it was designated, 1 ,latter of Red Jacket Manufacturing C o, 36 N 1 . R B 932 , 38 A I . it 13 468 742 DEC1S1ONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD and each of these contracting unions entered into both contracts and signed them on its own behalf as a separate and distinct entity. Negotiations with the Company leading to these contracts were conducted by representatives from each contracting union and one never acted on behalf of the other. In addition, each union had its own grievance committee and the Company met with each committee separately. The 1943 contract is raised by the Company, the I. A. M., and the Molders as a bar to this proceeding. This contract, effective for a period of l year from April 5. 1943, provided for automatic renewal from year to year thereafter, unless terminated by written notice 60 days prior to any anniver- sary date. It provided, also, that 60 days prior to any anniversary date, the agreement could be "opened" for any changes desired by any party by written notification to that effect and that the parties would "meet for the purpose of endeavoring to consummate a new Agreement."` The 1943 agreement was automatically renewed in 1944, and none of the parties gave notice 60 clays prior to April 5, 1945, in accordance with the termination provisions of the contract. On February 21, 1945, however, the Molders wrote the Company as follows: As provided for in Article XI of our contract dated April 5, 1943, and renewal dated April 5, 1944, we desire to renegotiate for the pur- pose of drawing up a new contract and hereby request representatives of the Red Jacket Manufacturing Company to meet with us at their earliest convenience for this specific purpose. The subject we wish to discuss at this time is contained in Article X of the present contract and has to do entirely with wages. The Company and the Molders admit that this letter, received by the presi- dent of the Company on February 21, 1945, was antedated to February 5, 1945, in order to comply with the 60-day notice requirement of the con- tract. The Company and the Molders met on approximately five occasions thereafter, with reference to the matter of wages, and the I. A. M. did not participate in these bargaining conferences. In March 1945, the Molders and the Company reached an agreement on wages and planned to submit this agreement to the National War Labor Board for confirmation as soon as the membership of the Molders approved it. The president of the Com- pany then communicated with "the last members that [he] was familiar with who were representing the U. A. M.l," and through them invited the 1 A. M. to join in the application respecting wages to be submitted to the National War Labor Board 3 To date, however, the I. A. M. has not indi- 2 In view of the record and the language contained in this clause , we construe it to mean that notice to "open" the contract for changes was equivalent to notice to terminated with intent to negotiate a new agreement e The president of the Company testified that he did not tender this invitation to the business agent of District 102 of the International Association of Machinists, and the latter testified that neither the (;ggipany nor the Molders notified him of the "openit g" of the 1943 contract. RED JACKET MANUFACTURING COMPANY 743 cated its willingness to revise the 1943 contract.' In a letter dated March 22, 1945, the C. I. 0. requested a conference with the Company for the pur- pose of entering into contract negotiations , the C. I. 0. claiming it repre- sented a majority of the Company's employees. The original petition of the C. I. 0. was filed herein 2 days later on March 24 and, therefore, the Company did not reply directly to the C. 1. 0. but wrote the Regional Direc- tor of the Eighteenth Region that it could not recognize the C I. 0. because of its contract with the I. A. M. and the Molders. The contracting parties contend that, by the failure of any party to give notice to terminate or "open" the contract for changes on or before Feb- ruary 5, 1945, the contract was automatically renewed and consequently precludes a present determination of representatives. The C. 1 0 contends however, that the contract was "opened" by the negotiations between the Company and the Molders and that the Molders -was acting not only for itself but also on behalf of the I. A. M. It is clear that the Molders and the I. A. MM1 participated in bargaining negotiations leading to both the 1942 and 1943 contracts as separate, dis- tinct parties, each representing a single group of employees. In both-the 1942 and 1943 contracts, the Company recognized each union individually and each union signed the contracts on its own behalf. Furthermore, each union conducted its activity in the plant during this 3-year period by means of separate grievance committees In these circumstances, we find that each contract, although consisting of a single document for convenience, was, in effect, two separate agreements . Neither the Company nor the 1. A. A gave the requisite timely notice in 1945 for staying the operation of the auto- matic renewal clause of the 1943 contract While the Company sought to alter this contract insofar as the.I. A. MI. was concerned subsequent to the effective date of the automatic reneNfal clause, the I. A. M. did not acquiesce. In the past the Molders never acted as agent for the I A. M and there is no evidence that it was so acting in connection with the 1945 negotiations. Consequently, we conclude that the Company's unilateral action does not \\arrant a finding that the 1943 contract was not renewed with respect to the I. A Mil' Since the units established by the Board in its prior certifica- tions are still appropriate, as found in Section IV, below, we find that the 1943 contract is a bar to an immediate determination of representatives for the employees represented by the I. A. M., and that no question of repre- sentation exists as to these employees. It is also true that m 1945 neither the Company nor the Molders gave seasonable notice under the contract However, these parties, by their deal- ings subsequent to February 5, 1945, mutually waived the strict require- 4 The president of the Company testified that it was the policy of the Company not to favor one particular group of employees and that the Compant. therefore. sought to have the I .\ M loin in the application to the National War Labor Board 5 See Matter of Marvel-Schebler Division, Borg-Warner Corp., 56 N. L R B. 105. 744 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD nlent, of the termination provisions of the 1943 contract and plainly treated the letter of February 21, 1945, as timely We find, accordingly, that the 1943 contract wa, not renewed as respects the Molders and doe, not bar a current determination of representatives for the employees it repre,culs., - A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the hearing, indicates that the C I. 0 represents a substantial number of employees in the unit of foundry employees hereinafter found appropriate.' We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the i epresentation of the Company's foundry employees, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT The C. I. O. contends that a plant-wide unit of all production and mainte- nance employees, including inspectors and working foremen,' is appro- priate This unit would include all the employees in both units which have been previously found by the Board to be appropriate.' The Company, the Molders, and the I. A. M. contend that the to separate units already estah- lishecl by the Board are appropriate. The evidence indicates that there has been substantially no change in the operation of the Company's plant or in its physical structure since the Board's findings in 1942 that the 2 units sought by the I A M and the IV'Iolders were appropriate. There is still little interchange of employees between the foundry and the remainder of the plant, the president of the Company having testified that only 2 such transfers had occurred since March 1942 Separate supervision is still maintained. There are approxi- mately 40 employees in the foundry unit and 90 employees in the residual unit and the work of each is distinct from that of the other. Since 1942, collective bargaining has been carried on in the plant on this 2-unit basis. In view of the facts stated alone, we find that the unit sought by the C 1 0 is inappropriate and that the two units, one of foundry employees and the other of remaining employees, are appropriate We find that the following groups of employees of the Company consti- tute units appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act: 1 All foundry employees, including employees in the following depart- nments : pattern ; flask, core, bench molding ; floor molding: squeezer mold- a See Matter of Pressed Metals of America, Inc , 59 N L R B 360 7 The Field Examiner i eported the following findings the C I 0 submitted 111 cards and the names of 98 persons appearing on the cards were listed on the Company's pay roll of April 21, 1945, which contained the names of 125 employees in the plant -wide unit the C 1 0 alleges to he appropriate, 105 of the cards were dated March 1945, and 6 in April 1945, the C I 0 presented cards for 39 of the 40 employees in the unit of foundry employees hereinafter found appropriate, and for 59 of the 85 employees in the residual unit, hereinafter found appropriate, and the I A M and the Molders relied on their contract as evidence of their respective interests 8 There are no inspectors or working foremen as such 0 See footnote 1, supra. RED JACKET MANUFACTURING COMPANY 745 iug ; shake out ; foundry labor, melting, iron and coke, cleaning and grind- ing ; foundry inspection, weighing and shipping, and brass foundry ; but excluding employees m mill room performing machine-shop work, watch- men, janitors, clerical employees, salesmen, office employees, foremen, and. other supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or effec- tively recommend such action. 2. All employees in the following departments : machine shop ; mainte- nance, carpenter shop; hand-pump assembly ; water conditioner assembly ; centrifugal-pump assembly; deep-well assembly, shallow-well assembly ; pitcher-spout assembly; clip paint; spray paint ; hand paint ; cylinder and leather packaging ; water-conditioner packaging, motor and switch assem- bly ; water-system final assembly, delivery ; hand-pump final assembly, storage and shipping, engine room and watchmen, receiving, trucking and stockroom ; and including employees performing machine shop work in the null room, but excluding watchmen, janitors, office employees, salesmen, clerical employees, foremen, and other supervisory employees with author- ity to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or effectively recommend such action. V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES We shall direct that the question concerning representation which has arisen among the foundry employees in Unit 1, defined in Section IV, above, be resolved by an election by secret ballot among such employees who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the (late 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 Relations Board ' Rules and Regulations-Series 3 , as amended, it is hereby DIRECTED that , as part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Red Jacket Manufacturing Company. Davenport , Iowa , an election by secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible , but not later than thirty ( 30) clays from the date of this Direction, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the Eighteenth Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Article III. Sections 10 and 11, of said 10 Since we have found that no question concerning representation has arisen with regard to the employees of Unit 2, defined in Section IV, above; we shall not direct an election among them 746 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Rules and Regulations, among the employees i n Unit 1, found appropriate in Section IV, above, who were employed during the,pay-roll period imme- diately 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, and including employees in the armed forces of the United States who present themselves in person at the polls, but exclud- ing 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 deter- mine whether they desire to be representd by United Farm Equipment and Metal Workers of America, CIO, or by International Molders and Foundry Workers of North America, Local 230, AFL, for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither.