Hoffman Radio Corp.

In the Matter of HOFFMAN RADIO CORPORATION, EMPLOYER and UNITED ELECTRICAL, RADIO & MACHINE WORKERS OF AMERICA, CIO, PETITIONER Case No. V-R-3418.Decided January 16, 1947 Adams ct Duque, by Messrs. Herbert Hazeltine, Jr., and A. Andrew Hauk, of Los Angeles, Calif., for the Employer. Miss Judy Dunlcs and Mr. Albert Smith, of Los Angeles, Calif., for the Petitioner. Messrs. Thomas L. Young and C. Walter Fuchs, of Los Angeles, Calif., for the AFL and Affiliated Unions. Mr. Leon C. a'Becket and Miss Ellen Stone, of Los Angeles, Calif., for the Association. Mr. Ralph Winkler, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Los An- geles, California, on September 23 and October 7, 1946, before Daniel J. Harrington, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. At the hearing, the Employer moved to dismiss the petition. For reasons stated hereinafter, the motion is hereby denied. Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations Board makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT I. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER Hoffman Radio Corporation, a California corporation engaged in the business of radio assembly, operates six plants in Los Angeles, California. In 1945 the Employer purchased outside the State of Cali- fornia radio components having a value exceeding $100,000; during the same period it manufactured products having a value exceeding 72 N. L. R B, No 30. 177 178 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD $100,000, of which amount products valued at $50,000 were shipped outside the State. 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. International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local Union B- 11, and Western Warehouse and Produce Council, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen & Helpers of America, herein jointly called the American Federation of Labor and Affiliated Unions, are labor organizations affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, claiming to represent employees of the Em- ployer. Hoffman Employees Association, herein called the Association, was an independent labor organization formerly representing employees of the Employer .2 III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION The Employer refuses to recognize the Petitioner as the exclusive bargaining representative of employees of the Employer, claiming that a collective bargaining contract executed with the Association on May 24, 1946, is a bar to this proceeding. On May 12, 1946, the Petitioner sent a telegram to the Employer which the latter received on May 13, stating that the Petitioner repre- sented a majority of the employees and requesting'recognition as their bargaining representative. On May 22, 1946, the Petitioner filed its petition herein. Inasmuch as the petition was filed before the exe- cution of the afore-mentioned contract,' we find that the 1946 contract is not a bar to a present 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.4 'This was the designation requested at the bearing by these organizations 2 Atter the close of the hearing herein, the Association notified the Board that it had affiliated isith the American Federation of Labor and requested that its name should not be placed on the ballot Both the Petitioner and the American Federation of Labor and Affiliated Union joined in this request It is hereby granted 3 Hatter of Ste. Genevieve Lime et Quarry Company, 70 N L R. B 1259 The Association asserted at the hearing that the present proceeding is premature in view of the Petitioner's participation in a consent election held in March 1946 which it lost The Association was not on the ballot in that election Ten months have now elapsed since the earlier election. Inasmuch as the Petitioner has demonstrated to the HOFFMAN RADIO CORPORATION IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT 179 All the parties agree that the appropriate unit should include all production, maintenance, and cafeteria employees in the Employer's six plants in Los Angeles, California, including lead girls, warehouse- men, janitors, and truck drivers, but excluding executive administra- tive employees, clerks, office employees, engineers, draftsmen, sales- men, guards, employees employed outside the Los Angeles metropoli- tan area, supervisors, foremen, and working foremen. The parties disagree as to the supervisory status of 4 group leaders; the Employer asserts that they are, the other parties that they are not, supervisors within the Board's definition. Each group leader directs the work of from 24 to 75 employees and devotes 90 percent of his time to purely supervisory duties. Although the group leaders have no power to hire or discharge, it does appear that they may effectively recommend a change in the status of their subordinates. Accordingly, we find that they are supervisors within the Board's accepted defini- tion. We shall exclude them from the unit. We find that all production, maintenance, and cafeteria employees in the Employer's six plants in Los Angeles, California, including lead girls, warehousemen, janitors, and truck drivers, but excluding executive administrative employees, clerks, office employees, engineers, draftsmen, salesmen, guards, employees employed outside the Los Angeles Metropolitan area, supervisors, foremen, working foremen, group leaders, 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, con- stitute 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 Hoffman Radio Corporation, Los Angeles, California, an election by secret ballot shall be con- ducted 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 Twenty-first Region, acting in this Board, administratively, that it has since obtained substantial new representation among the employees involved and that the unit has expanded in the inteum, we find that, regard- less of whether or not the petition was seasonably filed, industrial peace can best be achieved by conducting an election at this time In deciding this case on the basis of the situation in January 1947. we aie not to be taken as necessarily approving the Region's action in accepting the petition when it did. Matter of American Pad and Textile Com- pany, 68 N. L. R B. 572, Matter of American 1'rt-State Paper Box Co , 63 N. L. It. B 126. 180 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD 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 in- cluding 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 represented by United Electri- cal, Radio & Machine Workers of America, CIO, or by American Federation of Labor and Affiliated Unions, for the purposes of collec- tive bargaining, or by neither. MR. JAMES J. REYNOLDS , JR., took no part in the consideration of the above Decision and Direction of Election.