Avion, Inc.

In the Matter of AvION, INC. and' INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS, DISTRICT LODGE No. 94 , FOR AND IN BEHALF OF ITS AFFILI- ATED LOCAL 311 In the Matter of AvION, INC. and INTERNATIONAL UNION, UNITED AuroiroBILE, AIRCRAFT & AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENT WORKERS OF AMERICA, (UAW-CIO) Cases Nos. R-5537 and R-5538 respectively.Decided July 9, 1943 Gibson, Dunn c Cruteher, by Mr. J. H. Peckham, Jr., of Los Angeles, Calif., for the Company. Mr. Roscoe V. Ickes, of Los Angeles, Calif., for the I. A. M. Katz, Gallagher & Margolis, by Mr. Milton S. Tyre; and Mr. John J. Binder, of Los Angeles, Calif., for the C. 1. 0. Mr. Wallace E. Royster, of counsel to the Board. DECISION, DIRECTION OF ELECTION AND ORDER STATEMENT OF THE CASE Upon separate petitions duly filed by International Association of Machinists, District Lodge No. 94, for and in behalf of its affiliated Local 311, herein called the I. A. M., and by International Union, United Automobile, Aircraft & Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW-CIO), herein called the CIO, each alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representa- tion of employees of Avion, Inc., Los Angeles, California, herein called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board consolidated the petitions herein and provided for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before Daniel J. Harrington, Trial Examiner. Said hear- ing was held at Los Angeles, California, on June 14, 1943. The Com- pany, the I. A. M., and the CIO,1 appeared, participated, and were afforded full opportunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine 1 The CIO appears as petitioner in Case No. R-5538 and as intervener in Case No. R-5537. 51 N. L. R. B., No. 40. 174 AVION, INC. 175 witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing on the issues. The Trial- Examiner's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. All parties were afforded opportunity to file briefs with the Board. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following : FINDINGS OF FACT 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY Avion, Inc., was incorporated in California on November 30, 19412, and is engaged in the engineering, manufacturing, fabricating, and assembling of airplanes, airplane parts, and sub-assemblies. The business of the Company is conducted in three locations-on 50th Street, 60th Street, and District Boulevard, in the city of Los Angeles. To the date of the hearing the Company's purchases, consisting of tools and raw materials such as lumber, sheet aluminum and steel products, totaled approximately $2,000,000, of which 90 percent was shipped to the Company from points outside California. All of the Company's finished products are sold to local aircraft companies for ultimate delivery and use outside California. The Company concedes that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act. II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED International Association of Machinists, District Lodge No. 94, and its affiliated Local 311, are labor organizations admitting to member- ship employees of the Company. International Union, United Automobile, Aircraft & Agricultural Impement Workers of America (UAW-CIO), is a labor organiza- tion affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, admit- ting to membership employees of the Company. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION A. The 60th Street plant. Case No. R-5537 It was' stipulated at the hearing that the IAM requested recogni- tion of the Company as exclusive bargaining representative of the employees working in the 60th Street plant and that the Company refused such recognition unless or until the IAM is certified by the Board as such representative or otherwise satisfies the Company that it represents a majority of the employees in that plant. B. The multiple plants. Case No. R-5538 It was stipulated at the hearing that the CIO requested recognition of the Company as exclusive bargaining representative of the employ- 176 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD ees working in all the Company's plants, including the 60th Street plant, and that the Company refused such recognition unless or until the CIO is certified by the Board as such representative or otherwise satisfies the Company that it represents a majority of the employees in the plants. A statement of the Field Examiner, introduced into evidence at the hearing, indicates that the IAM and the CIO each represents a substantial number of employees in the unit it claims appropriate.' 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 At the hearing, the parties stipulated that production and main- tenance employees, including inspectors, assembly workers, clerical employees working in productive areas, and group leaders, but ex- cluding supervisory employees above the rang of group leaders, plant- protection employees (including guards and firemen), administrative employees, clerical employees not working in productive areas, and timekeepers, constitute an appropriate unit. (1) Case No. R-5537. The IAM would restrict the unit described above to the employees working in the 60th Street plant, which is described in the record as a department of the main plant on 50th Street. The chief function of the 60th Street plant is to assemble the products fabricated and, manufactured at the 50th Street and District Boulevard plants. The company maintains a training school at the 50th Street plant where' employees in all plants are instructed in the fundamentals of their work. Employees are frequently transferred among, the plants ; re- ceive the same wage for similar skill; and work under the same condi- tions. All have Company-wide seniority and are carried on a central pay roll. Managament and labor policies pertaining to all the plants emanate from the 50th Street plant. Although the 60th Street plant is 6 miles from the other plantsi the separation is only geographical. Functionally all the plants are one integrated unit and only the lack of space at the 50th Street plant compels their dispersion. Many of the employees in all plants live in the same community and, appear to have common interests and problems. Under these circumstances we are persuaded, and find, that the employees of the Company at the 60th Street plant do not alone constitute an appropriate unit. Ac- ' See See the following : 60th Street plant unfit Multiple plant unit IAM represents--------- 62%___________________ 16%. Cards dated------------ May 1943-------------- CIO represents---------- 26%-------------- ---- 31%. Cards dated-----------. April & May 1943 ------ April, May, and June 1943 AVION, INC. 177 cordingly, we shall dismiss the petition filed by the IAM in Case No. R-5537. (2) Case No. R-5538. The CIQ would include in the unit the employees of the Company working in the 50th Street, 60th Street, and District Boulevard plants. The District Boulevard plant houses a department formerly in the 50th Street plant and is adjacent to the main plant . It appears from the record that each of the plants performs a portion of the manufac- turing and assembling process and that none, alone , is a complete functional unit. As stated above, employees are freely interchanged among the plants and one labor policy applies to all employees. In view of these circumstances , we are of the opinion that the interests of the employees will be furthered and the policies of the Act best be effectuated by representation of the employees in a single niultiple- plant unit. The parties have stipulated that group leaders be included in the unit. However, the record reveals that group leaders have the au- thority to recommend the hire and discharge of employees. In ac- cordance with our settled policy in respect to such employees, we shall exclude them from the unit.3 In accordance with the foregoing and the agreement of the par- ties, we find that all production and maintenance employees of the Company in Los Angeles , California, working in the 50th Street, 60th Street and District Boulevard plants, including inspectors, as- sembly workers, and clerical workers in productive areas, but ex- cluding administrative employees , clerical employees not working in productive areas, group leaders, timekeepers , plant-protection em-. ployees (including guards and firemen ), and all supervisory em- ployees with authority to hire, promote , discharge , discipline, or other- wise effect changes in the status of employees or effectively recommend such action, constitute a unit appropriate for the purpose of collec- tive bargaining within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act. V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES At the time of the hearing, the Company employed 800 workers in the 3 plants . Additional workers are being employed at a rate of 100 weekly and a maximum of 2500 will be on the pay roll by the end of 1943. It appears that those now working form a representa- tive group in all categories . Assuming that the rate of employment expansion remains constant , a substantial majority of the projected complement of workers will be employed by August 1, 1943. In con- sideration of this circumstance, we shall direct that the question con- 8 See Matter of The Maryland Drydoci Company , 49 N 7. R- B 733 178 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD cerning representation which has arisen be resolved by an election by secret ballot among the employees in the appropriate unit. We shall however depart from our customary practice in selecting a date for the purpose of eligibility, and shall direct that the employees of the Company eligible to vote in the election shall be those who were em- ployed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding August 1, 1943, subject to the limitations and additions set forth in the Direction 4 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 Relations Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor Rela- tions 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 Avion, Inc., Los Angeles, California, 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 Re- gional Director for the Twenty-first Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board, and subject to Article III, Section 10, of said Rules and Regulations, among the employees in the unit found appropriate in Section IV, above, who were em- ployed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding August 1, 1943, including employees who did not work during such 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 any who have since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whether they desire to be represented by International Union, United Auto- mobile, Aircraft & Agricultural Implement Workers of America Lodge No. 94, for and in behalf of its affiliated Local 311, for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by neither. ORDER Upon the basis of the finding of facts in Section IV (1), above, (UAW-CIO), or by International Association of Machinists , District the National Labor Relations Board hereby orders that the petition for investigation and certification of representatives filed by Inter. national Association of Machinists, District Lodge No. 94, for and in behalf of its affiliated Local 311 , in Case No. R-5537 , be, and it hereby is, dismissed. See Matter of Remington Rand, Inc., Propeller Division, 50 N. L. R. B. 819