Pressed Steel Car Co., Inc.

In the Matter Of PRESSED STEEL CAR COMPANY, INC. and STEEL WORKERS ORGANIZING COMMITTEE Case No. R-3740.-Decided May 16, 194.2 Jurisdiction : railway car manufacturing industry Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question: re- fusal to accord petitioner recognition because of prior certification of another union; prior certification in effect more than a year held no bar to a present determination of representatives; alleged automatic renewal of contract held no bar- where petitioner notified, the Company of its claim to represent the Company's employees before a 60-day notice of termination provision became inoperative; election necessary Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : all production and maintenance employees at ,one of Company's plants, excluding supervisors, clerical and salaried employees, gang leaders, inspectors, timekeepers, and watchmen; agreement as to Thorp, Bostwick, Reed & Armstrong, byMr. C. M. Thorp, Jr., of Pittsburgh, Pa., fdr the Company. Mr. Philip M. Curran, of Pittsburgh, Pa., for the S.- W. O. C. Mr. Joseph I. Winslow, of Pittsburgh, Pa., for the' C. F. W. U. Mr. Robert E. Tillman, of counsel'to the Board. - - DECISION AND DIRECTION OF ELECTION - ,STATEMENT OF THE CASE Upon petition duly filed by Steel Workers Organizing Committee, herein called the S. W. O. C., alleging that a question affecting com- merce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Pressed Steel Car Company, Inc., McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before Henry Shore, Trial Examiner. Said hearing was held at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on April 20, 1942. The Company, the S. W. O. C., and Car and Foundry Workers Union, Inc., herein called the C. F. W. U., ap- peared, participated, and were afforded full opportunity to be heard, 41 N. L. R B., No. 2. 6 PRESSED STEEL CAR COMPANY, INC. 7 to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing on the issues. The Trial Examiner's rulings, made at the hearing, are free from prejudicial errors and are hereby affirmed. On April 29, 1942, the S. W. O. C., and on May 4, 1942, the, Company and the C. F. W. U., respectively, filed briefs, which the Board has considered. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following: FINDINGS of FACT 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY Pressed Steel Car Company, Inc., a Pennsylvania corporation, is engaged in the business of manufacturing and assembling railway passenger cars, freight cars, mine cars and equipment , shell forgings, and armor plate . The Company has a number of subsidiaries located in the United States and foreign countries . It owns and operates a plant in Hegewisch , Illinois, and one in McKees Rocks, Pennsyl- vania. Only the latter plant is involved in this proceeding. During 1941 the Company purchased for use at its McKees Rocks plant raw materials of a value in excess of $22,000,000, of which approximately 50 percent was purchased from sources outside Pennsylvania . During the same period, net sales of the Company at its McKees Rocks plant were in excess of $22,000,000, of which over 80 percent represents the value of products shipped to points outside Pennsylvania. The Company admits that in its operations at its McKees Rocks plant, it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. H. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED Steel Workers Organizing Committee is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations. It admits to membership employees of the Company. Car and Foundry Workers Union, Inc., incorporated in the Com- monwealth of Pennsylvania, is an unaffiliated labor organization. It admits to membership employees of the Company. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION On September 3, 1941, the S. W. O. C. filed a petition alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the repre- sentation of employees of the Company. After a hearing on Sep- tember 29 and 30, 1941, upon this petition, the Board issued a de- 8 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD cision and order dated October 31, 1941,1 dismissing the petition on the ground that in view of the existence of a valid contract be- tween the Company and the C. F. W. U., covering the employees in the unit petitioned for, no question concerning. representation ex- isted. By letter dated January 26, 1942, the S. W. O. C., stating that it represented a majority of the Company's employees, again re- quested the latter to bargain with it. The Company rejected this request because the C. F. W. U. previously had been certified by the Board as collective bargaining agent of the Company's employees. The record discloses that the C. F. W. U. was certified by the Board on February 23, 1940.2 Obviously, this prior certification, having been in effect for over a year, is no bar to a present determination of representatives.3 The C. F. W. U. and the Company again plead the existence of the contract, between them, as renewed, as a bar to such a determina- tion. The contract in question was executed by the parties thereto on February 25, 1941. It contains a provision to the effect that the contract is to remain in force from April 1, 1941, to March 31, 1942, inclusive, and shall continue in force from year to year there- after, unless either party gives written notice "at least sixty (60) days before the said expiration date, of its desire to terminate." The C. ;F. W. U. contends that the contract, was automatically re- newed on January 31, 1942; at which time the 60-day notice pro- vision became inoperative; that the S. W. O. C.'s petition, having been ,filed on, February 4, 1942, was thus filed 4, days after the re- newal, of the contract; and that, therefore, the contract is a bar. This contention is without merit. Written notice was mailed to the Company by the S. W. O. C., regarding its claim to represent a majority of the Company's, employees, more-than 60 days-before-the date for renewal of the contract. This notice was received by the Com- pany on January 28, 1942, 3 days before the 60-day notice provision became inoperative. Under these circumstances automatic renewal' of. the contract would not operate as a bar to a present determination of representatives.' S 1 Matter of Pressed Steel Car Company, Inc. and Steel Workers Organizing Committee, Local Union 1844, 36 N. L. R. B . '560. 2 Matter of Pressed Steel Car Company, Inc. and Steel Workers Organizing Committee, 20 N.L. R B 700: 3 See Matter of LaPlant-Choate Manufacturing Co., Inc. and United Farm Equipment Workers -Organizing Committee, Local 116, affiliated with with. the C. 1. 0., 29 N. L. R. B. 40; and' cases cited therein. -'k See' Matter.. of International Harvester Company Tractor Works; and- Chicago Die Sinkers Local No 100 of the International Die Sinkers Conference , 36 N. L. R. B. 520; .Matter of Mitchell'Battery Company and United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America, Loeali, #1140, of kliated with the C. 1. 0 , 35 . N. ^L. R B ; 198-, Matter of Vincent Steel Process Company and International Union, United Automobile Workers of PRESSED STEEL CAR COMPANY, INC. 9 A statement of the Acting Regional Director, introduced in evi- dence at the hearing, indicates that the S. W. O. C. represents a substantial number of employees in the unit hereinafter found ap- propriate.6 We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the representation of employees of the Company, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act. IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT We find, in accordance with a stipulation of the parties, that all production and maintenance employees of the Company at its McKees Rocks plant, excluding supervisors, clerical and salaried em- ployees, gang leaders, inspectors, timekeepers, and watchmen, con- stitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.6 V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES We shall direct that the question concerning representation which has arisen be resolved by means of an election by secret ballot among the employees in the appropriate unit who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of our Direction of Election, subject to the limitations and additions set forth therein. DIRECTION OF ELECTION By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National Labor Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Re- lations Act, 49 Stat. 449, and pursuant to Article III, Section 8, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, it is hereby DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation to ascertain representa- tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with Pressed Steel Car Company, Inc., McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, an election by secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later America, C. I. 0, 32 N. L. R B 991; Matter of Utica Knitting Company and Textile Workers Federal Labor Union #21500, A. F. of L., 23 N. L. R B, 55; Matter of Colons Fibre Company, Inc, and Cohoes Knit Goods Workers Union No. 21514, A. F. of L., 9 N L R. B, 658 6 The Acting Regional Director stated that the S. W. 0 C. submitted 1368 application- for-membership cards to him ; that 2 were dated in January and 7 in February 1942, 1119 were dated in 1941, 17 were dated simply 1940, and 223 were undated ; that 1327 cards bore apparently genuine original signatures ; and that 1326 of these bore names of persons whose names appeared on the Company's pay roll of February 8, 1942, which listed 2726 employees in the appropriate unit The C F. W. U. relies upon its contract with the Company to establish its interest in this proceeding 6 This is the same unit previously certified as appropriate by the Board. See footnote 2, supra. 10 DECISIONS `OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD than thirty (30) days from the date of this Direction of Election, under the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the Sixth Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Article III, Section 9, of said Rules and Regulations, among all employees of the Compaliy in ,the unit found appropriate in Section IV, above, who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of this Direction of Election, including employees who did not work during such pay- roll period because they were ill or on vacation or in the active military service or training of the United States, or temporarily laid off, but excluding employees who' have since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whether they desire to be represented by Steel Workers Organizing Committee or by Car and Found`r'y Work- ers Union, Inc., for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither. MR. GERARD D. REILLY took no part in the consideration of the above Decision and Direction of Election.