Atlas Power Co.

In the Matter of ATLAS POWDER COMPANY, EMPLOYER and DISTRICT 50, UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA, PETITIONER Case No. 4-R-2209.-Decided November 21, 1946 Messrs. J. A. Laughlin and W. B. Blakey, both of Wilmington, Del., and Mr. J. Randall Ward, of White Haven, Pa., for the Employer. Messrs. Angelo S. Ce f alo and John J. Kmetz, Jr., both of Phila- delphia, Pa., for the Petitioner. Mr. Solomon Golat, of Newark, N. J., for the Intervenor. Mr. Warren H. Leland, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Hazelton, Pennsylvania, on August 6, 1946, before Paul Bisgyer, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudi- cial error and are hereby affirmed. At the hearing the Intervenor moved to dismiss the petition, contending (1) that it has an existing contract with the Employer which operates as a bar to an election at this time; and (2) that the Petitioner has not demonstrated a sufficient showing of interest to warrant further proceedings. For reasons set forth in Section III, infra, we find the Intervenor's first contention to be without merit. And we also are of the opinion that the Intervenor's second contention lacks merit. We have held that the requirement that a petitioning union submit proof of substantial representation is but an administrative expedient "adopted to enable the Board to determine for itself whether or not further proceedings are warranted . . ." 1 Accordingly, the motion is denied. Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations Board makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER Atlas Powder Company, a. Delaware corporation with its principal offices in Wilmington, Delaware, is engaged at its White Haven, Pennsylvania, plant, in the manufacture of industrial explosives. 1 Matter of 0. D. Jennings & Company, 68 N L R B. 516. 71 N. L. R. B., No. 120. 723 724 DECISION S OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD During the past year the Employer received from points outside the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania raw materials valued at approxi- mately $415,000, which represented about 43 percent of its total pur- chases of raw materials for the White Haven plant. During the same period, the Employer manufactured and shipped to points outside the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania finished products valued at approxi- mately $1,300,000, which represented about 59 percent of the White Haven plant's total production. 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 American Federation of Labor, claiming to represent employees of the Employer. United Gas, Coke & Chemical Workers of America, Local 221, herein called the Intervenor, is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, claiming to represent employees of the Company. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION On October 3, 1944, following a consent election conducted under Board auspices,2 the Intervenor was designated as bargaining repre- sentative of the Employer's production and maintenance employees. A period of negotiations for a collective agreement followed and cer- tain disputed issues were submitted to the War Labor Board for resolu- tion. On September 1, 1945, the Employer and the Intervenor .executed a collective bargaining agreement which embodied the War Labor Board's disposition of the disputed issues and which provided that it was to continue in effect for 1 year, and from year to year there- after in the absence of written notice by either party to the other, 30 days prior to any anniversary date, of a desire to "amend or modify." Because of certain "inadequacies" in this contract, particularly the' matter of holiday pay, the Intervenor, in June 1946, requested the Employer to negotiate a more satisfactory agreement. Subsequent negotiations culminated in the execution of a new 1-year contract, dated June 30, 1946, and made retroactive to May 1, 1946. On June 30,1946, the Petitioner notified the Employerpf its claim to representa- tion, and, on July 1, 1946, it filed the petition in this proceeding. The Employer and the Intervenor contend that the June 30, 1946, contract is a bar to a present determination of representatives. We do not agree. It is well established that the filing of a petition before the operative date of an automatic renewal clause, or Mill B date, of, a .collective 'Case No. 4-R-1534. ATLAS POWDER COMPANY 725 agreement, warrants the direction of an election, despite the fact that the contracting parties, either before or after the filing, enter into a new agreement extending the terminal date of their relationship .3 Here, the petition was filed before the Mill B date of the 1945 contract. We conclude, therefore, 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 In substantial accordance with the agreement of the parties, we find that all production and maintenance employees at the Employer's White Haven, Pennsylvania, plant, including employees in the job classifications listed in Appendix A, attached hereto, but excluding office, clerical, laboratory, and technical employees, employees in the job classifications listed in Appendix B, attached hereto, and all 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. DIRECTION OF ELECTION As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Atlas Powder Company, White Haven, Pennsylvania, 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 Fourth Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Sections 203.55 and 203.56, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-- 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 3 If the filing precedes the making of the new agreement , the new agreement is, of course, no bar Matter of Ste Genevieve Lieve & Quarry Company, 70 N. L. R . B. 1259. And if the filing follows the making of the new agreement , the new agreement is no bar under the "premature extension" doctrine. Matter of Worth Hardware Co., Inc, 71 N. L R B. ,684 Contrast, however, Matter of Northwestern Publishing Company (WDAN), a corpora- tion, 71 N. L. R. B. 167 ; and Matter of Greenville Finishing Company, Inc ., 71 N. L. R B. 436. In those cases the Board held that the premature extension doctrine is inapplicable when the filing follows the Mill B date of the old contract. 726 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD 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 District 50, United Mine Workers of America, or by United Gas, Coke & Chemical Workers of America, Local 221, CIO, for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither. APPENDIX A STIPULATED INCLUSIONS Acid Foreman Acid Operator Acid Helper Box Print Operator Box Print Helper No. 1 Box Print Helper No. 2 Box Print Helper No. 3 Dope and Shell Helpers Firemen Ingredient and Soda Dry Operator Ingredient and Soda Dry Helper Labor Locomotive Engineer-Powder Locomotive Engineer-Safety Locomotive Helper-Powder Locomotive Helper-Safety Magazine Keeper 1st Mechanic 2nd Mechanic 3rd Mechanic 4th Mechanic Mechanics' Helpers N. G. Operator No. 1 N. G. Operator No. 2 N. G. Helpers Powder Operators No. 1 (All P o w d e r Building Operators, Dope and Shell) Powder Operators No. 2 (2nd Man in All Powder Buildings, Shell and Dope except Pack House) Powder Helper (All other Helpers in Powder Buildings, Truckers, Magazine Helpers, L a u n d r y Man) Powder Repairman No. 1 Powder Repairman No. 2 Powder Repairman No. 3 Power House Engineer No. 1 Power House Engineer No. 2 Power House Helper Janitress Watchman APPENDIX B STIPULATED EXCLUSIONS General Acid Foreman Bomb Line Foreman Bomb Foreman Bomb Operator No. 1 Bomb Operator No. 2 Bomb Helper Gang Helper Sergeant of the Guards Guards Laboratory Helper No. 1 Laboratory Helper No. 2 Laboratory Helper No. 3 Labor Gang Foreman Labor Foreman General Mechanic Foreman Mechanic Foreman Powder Line Foreman Store Helper Stenographer