Genreal Electric Co.

In the Matter of GENEIUL ELECTRIC COMPANY, NEWARK LAMP WARE- HOUSE and UNITED ' ELECTRICAL; RADIO & MACHINE WORKERS OF AMERICA, C. I., O. Case No. R-100.-Decided November 25, 1938 Electrical Products Manufacturing Industry-Investigation of Representatives: controversy concerning representation of employees : controversy concerning appropriate unit ; employer's refusal to grant recognition of union prior to certification by Board-Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining: warehouse employees, except supervisory employees, office, clerical and salaried workers, and all teamsters , chauffeurs, and drivers ; controversy as to whether truck drivers , eligible to membership in petitioning union and desiring inclusion with inside warehouse workers; should be-excluded from industrial ` unit in accordance with prayer of petition ; truck drivers excluded : absence of community of in- terest ; agreement of petitioner with teamsters' union not to organize truck drivers in metropolitan-area plants ; extent of organization of employees-Cer- tification of Representatives : upon proof of designation by majority in appro- priate unit. Mr. Richard 'J. Hickey, for the Board. Mr. Quincy D. Baldwin, of New York City, for the Company. Mr. Samuel L. Rothbard, of Newark, N. J., for the United. Mr. Bernard Clark, pro se, and for eight other employees. Mr. Eugene R. Thorrens, of counsel to the Board. DECISION AND CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES STATEMENT OF THE CASE On May 6, 1938, United Electrical, Radio and Machine ,Workers of America, herein called the United, filed with the Regional Director for the Second Region (New York City) a petition alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of General Electric Company, Newark Lamp Ware- house, Newark, New Jersey, herein called the Company, and request- ing an investigation and certification of representatives pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act., On September 2, 1938, the National Labor Relations Board, herein called the Board, acting pursuant to Section 9 (c) of 9 N. L. IL B., No. 111. 1213 1214 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD the Act and Article III, Section 3, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 1, as amended, ordered an investigation and authorized the Regional Director to conduct it and to provide for an appropriate hearing upon due notice. On, September 23, 1938, the Regional Director. issued a notice of bearing, copies of which were duly served upon the Company and the United. On October 1, 1938, the United filed an amended peti- tion.1 Copies of the amended petition, accompanied by amended notices of hearing, were duly served upon all parties. Pursuant to the notice, a hearing was held on October 7, 1938, at Newark, New Jersey, before Harlow Hurley, the Trial Examiner duly designated by the Board. The Board, the Company, and the United were repre- sented by counsel: Bernard,Clark, a truck driver in the Company's employ, appeared' at the hearing, claiming to represent himself and eight other truck drivers. All participated in the hearing. Full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing upon the issues- was afforded to all parties. During the course of the hearing the Trial Examiner made several rulings, on objections, to the admission of evidence. The Board has reviewed the rulings of the Trial Examiner and finds that no prejudicial errors were committed. The rulings are, hereby affirmed. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT I. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY 2 General Electric Company, a New York corporation, is engaged in the manufacture of a large variety of electrical devices and equip- ment, including incandescent lamps. In addition to other manu- facturing plants, the Company operates incandescent lamp factories in Cleveland, Niles, Warren, Euclid and Youngstown, Ohio; East Boston, Massachusetts; Oakland, California; Providence, Rhode Is- land; St. Louis, Missouri; Bridgeville, Pennsylvania; Buffalo, New York and Newark, New Jersey. The Company maintains a ware- house in Newark, solely for the storage and distribution of its in- candescent lamps. Only the employees of the Newark Lamp Ware- house are involved in this proceeding. The Company ships lamps in the finished state, from its several lamp factories to the Newark Warehouse, where the lamps are stocked and, upon order, shipped to customers and agents of the Company in various States and foreign countries. During the first 6 months of 1In its amended petition the United narrowed the unit which it claimed to be appro- priate by the exclusion of the Company 's truck drivers 2 The findings in this section are based upon a stipulation of the parties. DECISIONS AND 0EDEIts 1215 1938, the Company shipped from its factories to the Warehouse ap- proximately 84,500,000 lamps, of which approximately 24 per cent originated in factories in States other than New Jersey. In the same period the Company shipped from the Warehouse approximately 71,890,000 lamps, of which approximately 80 per cent were sent to points outside the State of New Jersey. For the purposes of this proceeding, the Company stipulated that it is engaged in• interstate commerce within the meaning of the Act, and consented to the exercise of the Board's jurisdiction. II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America is a labor organization affiliated with the Committee for Industrial Or- ganization, admitting to membership all employees of the Company's Newark Lamp Warehouse. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION The provisions of a national contract entered into between the United and the Company require, inter alia, that the Company recog- nize the United. as • the sole collective. bargaining, agent for the em- ployees of those'General Electric -plants -where the United through a National Labor Relations Board election oi certification has been designated as the exclusive representative for collective bargaining purposes. The Company has refused to accord the United such recognition prior to certification by the Board that it has been so designated. We find that a question has arisen concerning representation of employees of the Company at its Newark Lamp Warehouse. IV. THE EFFECT OF THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION UPON COMMERCE We find that the question concerning representation which has arisen, occurring in connection with the operations of the Company described in Section I above, has a close, intimate, and substantial relation to trade, traffic, and commerce among the several States, and tends to lead to labor disputes burdening and obstructing commerce and the free flow of commerce. ` V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT In its amended petition the United claims a unit composed of all warehouse employees, except supervisory employees, office and clerical workers, salaried workers, and all teamsters, chauffeurs, and drivers,, to be proper fbr- the purposes of collective 'bargaining. In its original petition the United regarded the Company's truck drivers 1216 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD as within the appropriate unit, and prior to the filing of the amended petition , made an abortive attempt to enroll them in its member- ship. The truck drivers, all of whom refuse to join the United, seek to be included with the inside warehouse employees in the ap- propriate unit. At the hearing the Company asserted a neutral position. ' The record in this proceeding discloses that the truck drivers con- sist of 'a class of semi-skilled employees who are required under local law to obtain •motor vehicle operators' licenses for the pursuit of their occupation . By the very nature of their duties , they work outside the Company's property . The truck drivers, including a part-time platform man , and a part-time mechanic who also work as truck drivers, receive a substantially higher rate of compensation than that paid to the, relatively unskilled shipping , receiving and order clerks, order checkers and assemblers , and others , who work inside the warehouse. The hours of work of each group also differ. The truck drivers operate under' a ' 45-houi maximum workweek; the inside warehouse employees work , a weekly maximum of 40 hours. With rare exception, no interchange of-work exists between the ware- house clerks and, the ,truck , drivers. Mpiieover, there is evidence that during the year preceding the hearing each group has dealt sep- arately, through its own informal shop committee , with the manage- ment concerning its respective grievances , with satisfactory results. The history of labor relations at the Company's Warehouse, even though short, thus indicates that collective bargaining can be suc- cessful with a division of the employees into two groups for the purposes of bargaining. Although the United does not exclude truck drivers from its mem- bership, it appears that it is the policy of the United , in recognition of the ,existing bargaining strength of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters , Chauffeurs, Stablemen, and Helpers of America, in large urban centers , to urge truck drivers in such areas to join the Brother- hood. The justification for the United's departure from its more familiar mode of organization is illustrated by the Company's ex- perience in the teamsters' recent general strike in New York City when Company trucks, operated by non-Brotherhood drivers, were barred from the piers in New York harbor , necessitating the transf' r of shipments from Company trucks to those chauffeured by Brother- hood members. In Newark, which is considered a part of the metro- politan area of New York City, the United has modified its plant- wide form of organization in practice by a verbal working arrange- ment with the Brotherhood's Newark 'representative.' Thus it is ap- parent not only that little community of interest exists between the Company's ' inside warehouse' workers and its truck drivers, but also that the'United's' interest; as embodied in its agreement with the DECISIONS AND ORDERS 1217 Brotherhood, in attempting to avoid the possibility of disharmony within labor's own ranks, deserves recognition. Furthermore, as between two or more possible appropriate units, we are inclined to adopt the position of the only labor organization in the case,' based upon the extent. of its successful organization among the employees, since to heed the request of the unorganized truck drivers would' hamper rather than facilitate collective 'bar-' gaining at the Company's warehouse.3 • Under these circumstances, we conclude that the truck drivers should be excluded from the appropriate unit., -Accordingly, we find that all warehouse employees at the Company's Newark Lamp Ware-_ house, except supervisory employees, office, clerical and salaried workers, and all teamsters, chauffeuis, and drivers, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining with such,;Com- pany with respect to rates of pay, wages; 'hours of employment, and! other conditions of 'employment, and that said unit will insure to employees of the Company the full.' benefit of their right to self-' organization and to collective, bargaining and otherwise. effectuate the policies of the Act., VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES At the hearing the Trial Examiner appointed a committee, consist' ing of the attorney for the Board, the attorney for the'United, and the manager of the Company's Warehouse, to examine, during it recess period, membership application cards introduced by the United and compare the signatures appearing thereon with signatures of, em- ployees endorsed on canceled pay-roll checks which were produced by the Company. After recess the committee reported that 14 of the 16 cards bore genuine signatures of employees, 1 bore a printed signature, making it impossible for the committee to determine its genuineness, and the remaining card was that of an employee who worked in a department of the Company not involved in this pro- ceeding. The committee's findings, were incorporated in the record without objection. The United's shop committeeman testified that Michael Noonan, a warehouse employee, printed his name 'as' his signature on the card in question in the presence of the witness. 'A check of the cards with a job-classification list, submitted by the, Company, shows that the applicants who signed the cards are ware- 'See Matte, of R C. A Communications, Inc and American Radio Teleg , aphists' Association, 2 N. L. R. B 1109; ' Matter of Chase Brass and Copper Co, Inc and'' Waterbury Brass Workers' Union,'4 N. L.'R. B. 47; Matter of Gulf Oil Corp. and Inter- national Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Shipbuilders , Welders & Helpers of America, 4 N. 1. R B . 133; Matter ' of Associated Press and, The American Newspaper Guild, 5 N. L R. B., 43; Matter of United Shipyards, Inc and Locals No. 12, .No 13,. No. 15 of The Industrial Union of Marine and Shipbuilding Workers of America, 5 N..L R. B. 742; Matter of Postal Telegraph -Cable Coihpani, ' of Massachusetts and American Radio'Telep' raphists' Association, 7 N.; L., R. B.'444. ; ' „ 1218 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD house employees of the Company within the unit which we have found to be appropriate. The list further shows that the Company employed.24 persons at the time of the filing of the petition in this proceeding who are classified as inside warehouse employees. We find, therefore, that the United has been designated and selected by a majority of the employees in the appropriate unit as their representative for the purposes of collective bargaining. It is, therefore, the exclusive representative of all the employees in such unit for the purpose of collective bargaining,,and, we,will-so•certify. Upon the basis of the above findings of fact and upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following : CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 1. A question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the repre- sentation of employees of the Newark Lamp Warehouse of General Electric Company, Newark, New Jersey, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act. 2. The warehouse employees of the Company at its Newark Lamp Warehouse, Newark, New Jersey, excluding supervisory employees, office, clerical and salaried workers, and'all teamster's, chauffeurs,.and drivers, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining, within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the National Labor Relations Act. 3. United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America is the exclusive representative of all the employees in such unit for the purposes of collective bargaining, within the meaning of Section 9 (a)- of the National Labor Relations Act. CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National Labor Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Rela- tions Act, and pursuant to Article, III, Section 8, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 1, as amended, IT IS HEREBY CERTIFIED that United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America has been designated and selected by a majority of the employees of the Newark Lamp Warehouse of General Electric Company, Newark, New Jersey, excluding supervisory employees, office, clerical and salaried workers, and all teamsters, chauffeurs and- drivers, as their representative for the purposes of collective bargain- ing and that, pursuant to the provisions-of Section 9 (a) of the Act, United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America is the exclusive representative of all such employees for the purposes of collective bargaining in respect to rates of pay., wages, hours of employment, and other conditions of employment: - -