Ste. Genevieve Lime & Quarry Co.

In the Matter of STE. GENEVIEVE LIMN: e^, QUARRY COMPANY,' EMPLOYER and UNITED GAS, COKE AND CHE M ICAL WORKERS OF AMERICA, CIO, PETITIONER In the Matter of PEERLESS LIME COMPANY, EMPLoYER and UNITED GAS, COKE AND CHEMICAL WORKERS OF AMERICA, CIO, PETITIONER Cases Nos. 14-R-1450 and 14-R-1451, respectively. Decided September 10, 19116 Messrs. Wallace Cooper and Lowell Meyer, of St. Louis, Mo., for the Employers. Mr. Joseph Appelbaum, of St. Louis, Mo., and Mr. Ira Williams, of Ste. Genevieve, Mo., for the Petitioner. Messrs. Harry M. Craig and John 1'. Wiley, Jr., of St. Louis, Mo., and Messrs. Owen L. Femnmer, R. M. Secor, and R. A. Grannemawn, of Ste. Genevieve, Mo., for the Intervenor. Mr. Emil C. Farkas, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION Upon separate petitions duly filed, hearing in these consolidated cases was held at St. Louis, Missouri, on July 15, 1946, before Keith W. Blinn, Trial Examiner. The Trial Examiner reserved for the Board rulings on motions made by the Employers and by the Inter- venors, to dismiss the petitions. For reasons stated in Section III, infra, the motions are hereby denied. The Trial Examiner's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. Upon the entire record-iii the case, the National Labor Relations Board makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYERS Ste. Genevieve Lime S, Quarry Company, a Missouri corporation with its principal office in St. Louis, Missouri, is engaged in the opera- The name of this Employer appears as amended at the hearing 70 N. L R B, No. 114 1259 1260 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD tion of a lime quarry and plant in Ste. Genevieve County, Missouri. During the past year the Employer purchased raw materials and, sup- plies valued in excess of $50,000, of which more than 50 percent was purchased from points outside the State of Missouri. During the sane period, the Employer sold products' valued in excess of $100,000, of which more than 50 percent was sold'and shipped to points outside the State of Missouri. Peerless Lime Company; a Missouri corporation with its principal office in St. Louis, Missouri, is also engaged in the operation of a lmie quarry and plant in Ste. Genevieve County, M!ssofuri. DL1I'111C'Y tile past year the Employer purchased raw materials and supplies valued in excess of $50,000, of which more than 50 percent was purchased from points outside the State of Missouri. During the same period, the Employer sold products valued in excess of $100,000, of which more than'50 percent was sold and shipped to points outside the State of Missouri. The Employers admit and we find that they are engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, claiming-to represent employees of the Employers. - International Hod Carriers' Building and Common Laborers' Union of America, Local No. 829, herein called the Intervenor, is a labor organization affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, claim- ing to represent employees of the Employer. . III. TIIE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION On April 27, 1945, the Employers executed separate collective bar- gaining contracts with the Intervenor, each providing for a 1-year term commencing June 1, 1945, and for automatic renewal for annual periods thereafter, in the absence of notice to change given by either party to the other at least 30 days prior to- June 1 of any year. On February 18, 1946, the Employers and the Intervenor began negotiations for a new contract,' and after several conferences the parties reached agreement on May 3, 1946. Arrangements were made by the parties to reduce the contracts to writing on May 6, 1946, but were postponed at the request of the Intervenor. On May 7, 1946, the Employers executed separate collective bargaining contracts running for a 'period of 1 year from June,1, 1946, each containing a 30-day automatic renewal clause identical to that provided for in the contracts of 1945. STE. GENEVIEVE LIME & QUARRY COMPANY 1261 On April 10, 1946, the Petitioner, by separate letters to the Employ- ers, advised them of its organizational campaign among their employees and stated that such employees had the right to change bargaining agents upon the termination of the 1945 contracts between the Employ- ers and the Intervenor. Thereafter, on May 6, 1946, the Petitioner mailed separate letters to the Employers notifying them that it repre- sented a majority of their employees and requested recognition as exclusive bargaining representative. On the same day the Petitioner filed its petitions in this proceeding. The Employers received the Petitioner's letters of May 6, 1946, on the following day, after the execution of the contracts of 1946. On May 11, 1946, the Employers advised the Petitioner by letter that they could not accord the recogni- tion sought because of their existing contractual obligations with the Intervenor. Arguing that the letters of April 10, 1946, constituted a time claim to representation and that more than 10 days elapsed between the date of these letters and the filing of the petitions in this proceeding, the Intervenor contends that the contracts which were executed on May 7, 1946, operate as a bar to a current determination of representatives under the doctrine of the General Electric X-Ray case.' Apparently, the Employers do not assert that the letters of April 10, 1946, were tantamount to a claim for representation, inasmuch as they argue that the 1946 agreements constitute a bar because they did not receive actual notice of the Petitioner's request for recognition until after these agree- ments were executed. Assuming, as the Intervenor contends, that the letters of April 10, 1946, were an initial claim to representation, nevertheless the doctrine of the General Electric X-Ray case is plainly inapplicable. Unlike the facts in that case, here no collective bargaining agreement was executed in the interval between the claim and the filing of the petitions. Our precedents are clear that a petition filed before the execution of a col- lective bargaining contract prevents the agreement from serving as a bar.' And these precedents are determinative of the contract bar issue in the present proceeding notwithstanding the Employers' assertion that they did not receive actual notice of the Petitioner's claim to repre- sentation until after the execution of the agreements of 1946 4 We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the representation of employees of the Employers, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. 2 Matte? of General Electric Y-Ray Corporation, 67 N L R B 997 Matter of Olin Industries, Inc, 67 N L R B 1043, Matter of Fifth Ave Shoe Cor- poration, 69 N I, R B 400 4 flee Matter of Portland Lumber Mills, 56 N. L. R. B. 1336. 1262 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD 1V. T1lE APPROPRIATE UNIT We find, in accordance with the agreement of all parties, that all production and maintenance employees of the Employers at Ste. Genevieve County, Missouri , excluding office and clerical employees, and all 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 single ap- propriate unit for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 ( b) of the Act. DIRECTION OF ELECTION As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the' purposes of collective bargaining with Ste. Genevieve Lime & Quarry Company and Peerless Lime Company, Ste. Genevieve County, Missouri , 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 Di- rector for the Fourteenth Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Article III, Sec- tions 10 and 11, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regula- tions-Series 3, as amended, 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, includ- ing employees who did not work during said pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation or temporarily laid off, and including em- ployees in the armed forces of the United States who present them- selves 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 they desire to be represented by United Gas, Coke and Chemical Workers of America , CIO, or by International Hod Carriers' Building and Common Laborers' Union of America,-Local No. 829, AFL, for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither. MR. JAMES J. REYNOLDS, JR., took no part in the consideration of the above Decision and Direction of Election.