United Generator and Armature Service

In the Matter of MAURICE SACHS AND ROSE SACHS, D/B/A UNITED GENERATOR AND ARMATURE SERVICE, EMPLOYERS and AMALGAMATED LOCAL 453, UNITED AUTOMOBILE, AIRCRAFT AND AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENT WORKERS OF AMERICA (UAW-CIO), PETITIONER Case No. 13-R-3983.-Decided February 5,1947 Weiss and Robens, by Mr. Robert Weiss, of Chicago, Ill., for the Employers. Meyers, Meyers and Rothstein, by Messrs. Irving Meyers, Edmund Hatfield, and David B. Rothstein, of Chicago, Ill., for the Petitioner. Mr.,Thomas B. Sweeney, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Chicago, Illinois, on November 7, 1946, before Robert T. Drake, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from preju- dicial error and are hereby affirmed. At the close of the hearing, the Employers moved to dismiss the petition for lack of evidence. The hearing officer referred this motion to the Board for consideration and disposition. Having considered the entire record herein, the Board hereby denies such motion. Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations Board makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYERS Maurice Sachs and Rose Sachs, co-partners, doing business as United Generator and Armature Service, are engaged in the repair of electrical starters and generators. For that purpose they maintain a plant in Chicago, Illinois. The principal raw materials used by the Employers in the operation of their business are copper wire, in- sulation and casings. During the period from January 1, 1946 to November 1, 19461 the Employers rendered services valued at approxi- mately $50,000, about 50 percent of this amount representing billings 72 N. L. R. B., No. 76 - 405 406 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD to customers located outside the State of Illinois. The services thus supplied are performed on motors and generators which are shipped to the Employers' plant and, when repairs are completed, are shipped back to the customers. We find that the Employers are engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, claiming to represent employees of the Employers. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION The Employers refuse to recognize the Petitioner as the exclusive bargaining representative of employees of the Employers until the Petitioner has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit. 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. IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT The Petitioner claims as appropriate a unit composed of all pro- duction and maintenance employees, excluding supervisory and cleri- caf employees. The Petitioner would exclude as supervisors em- ployees Marome, Brennan and Mayer, while the Employers would include them. Maurice Sachs personally directs the operations of the partnership which employs approximately 18 or 20 people. He alone is possessed of authority to employ or discharge personnel. Employees Marome, Brennan and Mayer, whom the Union would exclude from the unit because of their alleged supervisory status, perform the following functions : Marome directs the work of six or seven employees, assigns work to them, tests and checks completed work and instructs new employees. Brennan takes charge in the absence of Sachs, waits on customers, opens the plant in the morning, fires the furnace, works in the shipping department, tests completed work and acts as head of the generator department composed of three employees. Mayer works with Bren- nan and also in the office and shipping department. None of the three above-named employees are authorized to hire discharge, discipline, or make effective recommendations concerning personnel matters. We are of the opinion that none of these three UNITED GENERATOR AND ARMATURE SERVICE 407 employees are supervisors within the Board's customary definition. Accordingly, we shall include them in the unit. We find that all the Employers' production and maintenance em- ployees,' excluding clerical employees and all 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 collec- tive 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 Maurice Sachs and Rose Sachs, d/b/a United Generator and Armature Service, 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 Thir- teenth 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 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 Amalgamated Local 453, United Automobile, Aircraft and Agri- cultural Implement Workers of America (UAW-CIO), for the pur- poses of collective bargaining. ' The unit includes George Hill, a part-time employee, Patrick Brennan, Sue Marome and Leonard Mayer.