American Buff Co.

In the Matter of BEN P. SAX, LEONARD B. SAX, HAROLD N. SAX, STAN- LEY P. SAX, D/B/A AMERICAN BUFF COMPANY and WAREHOUSE & DISTRIBUTION WORKERS UNION5 LOCAL 208 , ILWU-CIO Case No. 13-RD433.Decided April 17, 1946 Mr. Albert J. Gilson, of Chicago, Ill., for the Company. Mr. David B. Rothstein, of Chicago, Ill., for the Union. Mr. Hyman H. Ostrin, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION STATEMENT OF THE CASE Upon a petition duly filed by Warehouse & Distribution Workers Union, Local 208, ILWU-CIO, herein called the Union,' alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Ben P. Sax, Leonard B. Sax, Harold N. Sax, Stanley P. Sax, d/b/a American Buff Company, Chicago, Illinois, herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before Benjamin B. Salvaty, Jr., Trial Examiner. The hearing was held at Chicago, Illinois, on March 14, 1946. The Company and the Union 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 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 The Company, a partnership composed of Ben P. Sax, Leonard B. Sax, Harold N. Sax, and Stanley P. Sax, doing business as American Buff Company, is engaged in the manufacture and sale of buffers and ' The name of the Union appears herein as amended at the hearing. 67 N. L. R. B., No. 62. 473 474 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD polishing wheels at its plant in Chicago, Illinois. The principal raw materials used by the Company are cotton sheetings, remnants, and rags. During the calendar year 1945 the Company purchased approx- imately $75,000 worth of such raw materials, about 75 percent of which was shipped to the Company from points outside the State of Illinois. During the same period the Company's sales amounted to approximately $150,000, about 75 percent of which represented ship- ments by it to points outside the State. We find that the Company is engaged in commerce within the mean- ing of the National Labor Relations Act. N. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED Warehouse & Distribution Workers Union, Local 208, is a labor organization affiliated with the International Longshoremen's & Warehousemen's Union, which, in turn, is affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, admitting to membership employees of the Company. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION The Company has refused to grant recognition to the Union as the exclusive bargaining representative of employees in the alleged ap- propriate unit until the Union has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit. A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the hear- ing, indicates that the Union represents a substantial number of em- ployees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.' 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 We find, in accordance with the agreement of the parties, that all production and maintenance employees of the Company, excluding office and clerical employees, plant superintendent, and all or any 'The Field Examiner reported that the Union submitted 19 application cards bearing the names of employees listed on the Company 's pay roll of January 31. 1946 There are approximately 50 employees in the appropriate unit. 8 The Company, relying on the fact that it is engaged in an industry different from any of the industries defined by the jurisdictional clause of the constitution of the Union's parent organization , contends , in effect, that Its employees are ineligible to membership in the Union and that consequently the Union is incompetent to represent them . We do not agree. The authority of the bargaining agent in such circumstances must be sought in the employees' consent. Inasmuch as the employees have designated the petitioner as their representative for collective bargaining purposes , we find that it is a competent labor organization See Matter of Lock Nut Corporatsoin of Amer,ca and /or The Boss Bolt and Nut Company, 66 N. L. R. B. 754 ; Pueblo Gas and Fuel Company v . N. L. R. B., 118 F. (2d) 304 (C C. A. 10 ) ; Matter of Pass & Seymour, Inc, 51 N. L. R. B 1135. AMERICAN BUFF COMPANY 475 other supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, dis- charge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of em- ployees, or effectively recommend such action, constitute a unit ap- propriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) o r' 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 Elec- tion 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 DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa- tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Ben P. Sax, Leonard B. Sax, Harold N. Sax, Stanley P. Sax, d/b/a American Buff Company, Chicago, Illinois, an election by secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later than thirty (30) days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the Thirteenth 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 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 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 determine whether or not they desire to be represented by Warehouse & Distribution Workers Union, Local 208, ILWU-CIO, for the purposes of collective bargaining.