Dryden Rubber Co.

In the Matter of DRYDEN RUBBER COMPANY, EMPLOYER and UNITED RUBBER, CORK , LINOLEUM AND PLASTIC WORKERS OF AMERICA, C. I. 0., PETITIONER Case No. 18-R-15d1.Decided October 31, 1946 Sevfarth, Shaw and Fairweather, by Mr. Owen Fairweather, of Chicago, Ill., Mr. Howard M. Garver, of Chicago, Ill., and Mr. U. H. Parker, of Keokuk, Iowa, for the Employer. Mr. Robert E. Shuff, of Akron, Ohio, Mr. Floyd Robinson, of Rock Island, Ill., and Mr. Ernest Payne, of Keokuk, Iowa, for the Petitioner. Mr. L. J. Wadsworth, of Dixon, Ill., and Mr. D. R. Drumlmond, of Keokuk, Iowa, for the Intervenor. Mr. Melvin J. Welles, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Keokuk, Iowa, on July 17, 1946, before Clarence A. Meter, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed.' Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations Board makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER Dryden Rubber Company is an Illinois corporation, with its prin- cipal office and place of business at Chicago, Illinois. Only its plant at Keokuk, Iowa, is involved in this proceeding. At this plant, it is engaged in the manufacture and sale of rubber products . During 1945, the Employer purchased , for its Keokuk plant , raw materials valued in excess of $100,000, of which approximately 95 percent was transported to this plant from points outside the State of Iowa. During the year, 1 The Petitioner has filed a waiver of the right to protest any election which might be directed in this proceeding based on the subject matter of the pending unfair labor practice charge it filed against the Employer (Case No 18-C-1297). 71 N L. R. B , No 82. 572 DRYDEN RUBBER COMPANY 573 the Employer sold, at its Keokuk plant, finished products valued in excess of $100,000, substantially all of which was shipped to points out- side the State of Iowa. The Employer admits, and we find, that it is 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 Employer. Rubber Workers Union No. 22077, herein called the Intervenor, is a labor organizaton affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, claiming to represent employees of the Employer. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION The Employer and the Intervenor commenced their collective bar- gaining relationship in 1939, and have had a succession of yearly contracts since that time. On July 2, 1945 , a new contract was exe- cuted by them , providing that it should remain in effect until June 30, 1946, and from year to year thereafter unless either party notified the other at least 30 days before June 30 of any year of a desire to "modify . . . or terminate." Shortly before April 16, 1946 , the Employer requested a meeting with the Intervenor for the purpose of renegotiating wage rates. Pur- suant to this request, negotiations ensued. A new contract was "agreed upon" by representatives of the employer and an American Federa- tion of Labor organizer on April 16 , 1946. On the following day, April 17, the formal draft of the contract was typed , and at about 10: 00 p. in. of the same day the signatures of the two Employer repre- sentatives and the A. F. L. organizer were affixed . On April 18, the contract was signed by officials of the Intervenor, and April 19, it was signed by additional representatives of the Employer. This new contract was dated April 16, 1946, provided that it should remain in effect until June 30, 1947 , and contained an automatic renewal clause similar to that of the 1945 contract. On April 17, 1946, the Petitioner sent a special delivery letter to the Employer, notifying the latter of its claim to representation. This letter was received by the Employer at about 4 : 00 p. in. on April 17'. On April 19 , the Employer replied to the Petitioner 's letter, stating that when the letter was received an agreement had already been entered into between the Employer and the Intervenor. On May 27, 1946, the petition in this case was filed. The Employer and the Intervenor claim that the 1946 contract is a bar to the present proceeding. We do not agree. 574 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD The 1946 contract, as indicated above, was executed before the oper- ative date of the automatic renewal clause, or Mill B date, of the 1945 contract,, and extended the expiration date of the 1945 contract from June 30, 1946, to June 30, 1947. We have indicated that a contract which prematurely extends an old contract is ineffectual as a bar if a rival union's claim to representation is made known to the employer before, rather than after, the Mill B date of the old contract.-' Although the Employer insists that the Petitioner's letter of April 17, 1946, is inoperative as a valid claim to representation under the General Electric X-Ray rule,' because it was not followed by the filing of a petition within 10 clays, the fact remains that the petition in this case was docketed in our Regional Office on May 27, 1946, 3 days before the Mill B date of the 1945 contract. In view of the tunely filing of the petition itself,a- we find that the 1946 contract does not preclude a current determination of representatives. We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the representation of employees of the Employer, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. Iv. THE APPROPRIATE, UNIT All parties agree, and we find, that all production and maintenance employees of the Employer at its Keokuk, Iowa, plant, excluding laboratory employees, technical and research employees who do man- ual labor, office employees, salesmen, superintendents, assistant superintendents, foremen, floorladies, and all other supervisory em- ployees 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.' DIRECTION OF ELECTION As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Dryden Rubber Company, Keokuk, 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 Di- rector for the Eighteenth Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Sections 203.55 2 See Hatter of Northwestern Publishing Company (IVDAN), a corporation, 71 N L R B 167, Platter of Greenville Finishing Company, Inc, Case No 1-R-3172, 71 N L R B. 436 a See Hatter of Gene,al Electric X-Rag Corporation, 67 N L R B 997 See Hatter of Ste Genesiese Lime cC Quari g Company, 70 N L It B 1259 , flatter of Fifth Ave Shoe Corporation. 69 N L R B 400 s This unit is substantially the sane as that described in the contracts between the En- ploSer and the Intervenor DRYDEN RUBBER COMPANY 575 and 203 .56, of National Labor Relations Board Rules' and Regula- tions-Series 4, 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 they desire to be repre- sented by United Rubber , Cork, Linoleum and Plastic Workers of America, C. I. 0., or by Rubber Workers Union No. 22077, A. F. of L., for the purposes of collective bargauung, or by neither. 717734,-47-A of 71--38