Harrison Sheet Steel Co.

In the Matter of HARRISON SHEET STEEL COMPANY, EMPLOYER and UNITED ELECTRICAL, RADIO AND MACHINE WORKERS OF AMERICA, CIO, PETITIONER Case No. 13-R-3839.-Decided February 6, 1947 Messrs. S. Stone, C. Cain, and IF. Opperman, of Chicago, Ill., for the Employer. Messrs. David B. Rothstein and Sam Kuchner, of Chicago, Ill., and Mr. David Scribner, of New York City, for the Petitioner. Mr. Albert G. Fox, of Chicago, Ill., for Local 115 and Local 391. Mr. Jerome A. Reiner, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS Upon a petition duly filed, hearing in this case was held at Chicago, Illinois, on September 24, 1946, before Robert T. Drake, hearing of- ficer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. The Employer's request for oral argument is denied inasmuch as the record, in our opinion, adequately presents the issues and position of the parties. Upon the entire record in the case, the National Labor Relations Board makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT I. THE BUSINESS OF THE EMPLOYER Harrison Sheet Steel Company, an Illinois corporation, maintains a plant and warehouses in Chicago and Cicero, Illinois, where it is engaged in the production and sale of fabricated steel products. An- nually the Employer purchases raw materials valued in excess of $300,000, of which 70 percent is obtained outside the State of Illinois. Annually the Employer sells finished products valued in excess of $5,820,000, of which 60 percent represents shipments to points outside the State. The Employer admits and we find that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. 72 N. L R B., No. 79. 432 HARRISON SHEET STEEL COMPANY 433 II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED The Petitioner is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, claiming to represent employees of the Employer. Sheet Metal Workers Union, Local 115, herein called Local 115, is a labor organization affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, claiming to represent employees of the Employer. House Painters & Decorators Union, Local 391, herein called Local 391, is a labor organization affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, claiming to represent certain employees of the Employer. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION The Employer refuses to recognize the Petitioner as the exclusive bargaining representative of employees of the Employer , the Em- ployer and Local 115 both claiming that a collective bargain agreement executed by them on July 29, 1946 , is a bar to such recognition and to this proceeding . On July 26, 1946, the Petitioner requested the Employer to recognize it as collective bargaining agent and on August 2, 1946, filed its petition herein. Since the request for recognition preceded the execution of the contract and since the petition was seasonably filed within a 10-day period after the request for recogni- tion, albeit after the execution of the contract , we find that the contract does not bar a present determination of the question con- cerning representation.' 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 ; THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES The parties are in general agreement upon a unit composed-of all production and maintenance employees including working foremen, but excluding office and clerical workers, time-study men, outside truck drivers, and supervisory employees. However, the parties disagree concerning the inclusion in the unit of top foremen whom the Peti- tioner would exclude and the Employer and Local 115 would include; and spray painters whom the Petitioner and the Employer would include, and Locals 115 and 391 would exclude. Top Foremen. The record reveals that under the supervision Qf higher management are 4 top foremen who have general over-all supervisory authority in the plant and have, in addition to other employees, 33 working foremen subordinate to them. While these 1 Matter of General Electric X-Ray Corporation, 67 N. L. R. B. 997. 434 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD top foremen perform some manual work, the record shows that their activity is generally supervisory and that they have authority, which they have effectively exercised, to recommend changes in the employ- ment status of employees. We find that the top foremen are super- visors within our customary definition of the term. We shall there- fore exclude them from the unit. Spray painters.-These employees have been separately represented by Local 391 for more than 8 years, thus indicating the appropriate= ness of their own bargaining unit. They are a necessary link in the chain of the Employer's production and they perform their duties in a section of the plant adjacent to the other employees in the unit peti- tioned for, and under the same general working conditions. Thus the record shows that the painters could also be appropriately included in a plant-wide unit of production and maintenance employees. We shall, therefore, make no final determination at this time with respect to the appropriate unit or units. Instead, we shall conduct a separate election among the spray painters to determine their desires with respect to the matter of representation.2 Accordingly, we shall direct that separate elections be held among the employees in the voting groups described below, excluding time- study men, outside truck drivers, office and clerical employees, top foremen, and all other supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect change in the status of employees, or effectively recommend such action : 1. All production and maintenance employees, including working foremen, but excluding spray painters. 2. All spray painters. DIRECTION OF ELECTIONS As part of the investigation to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Harrison Sheet Steel Company, Chicago, Illinois, elections 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 Direc- tor for the Thirteenth 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 voting groups listed 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 vaca- tion or temporarily laid off, and including employees in the armed 2 Matter of B F. Goodrich Company, 59 N. L. R. B. 1477. HARRISON SHEET STEEL COMPANY 435 forces of the United States who present themselves in person at the polls, but excluding those employees who have since quit or been dis- charged for cause and have not been rehired or reinstated prior to the date of the election, to determine whether, for purposes of collective bargaining : (1) The employees in group (1) desire to be represented by United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America, C. I. 0., or by Sheet Metal Workers Union, Local 115, A. F. L., or by neither. (2) The employees in group (2) desire to be represented by United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America, C. I. 0., or by House Painters & Decorators Union, Local 391, A. F. L., or by neither.